Bridgeport Sound Tigers @ Albany Devils 11/23/14

Before Thanksgiving, I went to one more Albany Devils game before going home for the break. Unlike a couple other times this season, I went to the game between the Sound Tigers and Devils on November 23. It was a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do, so my friend and I got some cheap tickets and were off to the Times Union Center. I had already met most of the Sound Tigers and Devils earlier this season, but this was likely going to be the last time I saw the Sound Tigers this season, so I figured I'd go.

The game was a tough one for the Sound Tigers, they lost 5-2. I got one of the Albany goals on video.  
It was a rough night for Bridgeport. I'm pretty sure goalie David Leggio got hurt during that game. But, after the game, I was back outside in the usual spot to try and get some autographs before I went home.

One of the first guys going to the bus was recently sent down Colin McDonald. He was the captain of the Sound Tigers during the NHL lockout in 2012-13, and he was sent down a few games into the season. He signed two 4x6 photos for me before signing for everyone else and going on the bus. I also met him during Islanders clean out day in April.

One of the next Bridgeport guys to walk out the door was Harry Zolnierczk. He signed a photo for me last time, and I didn't really have much for him. Before he got on the bus, I got him to sign an index card because I figured I'd get him on something if I don't see him again for a while.



Shortly after was defenseman Ryan Pulock. He was called up to the Islanders for less than a day last weekend. He will be playing on the Islanders real soon. He signed a picture from his Barclays Center goal for me.


The last Sound Tiger whose autograph I got was that of starting goalie David Leggio. Like I mentioned earlier, he had a rough game in the loss. I took a picture of him at Barclays Center, and I was very happy to get him to sign it, even though the signature is very thin. He probably won't play a regular season game for the Islanders, but it was cool to get my own picture signed.

Since the weather wasn't too cold out, my friend and I figured we'd stay and get some Devils autographs as well. I had a photo that I took at the end of a Devils game last season, and I wanted to try and get that signed by some of the Albany players. I ended up getting eight Devils to sign the 4x6 photo that I printed out, as you can see below. It was signed by the following players:

15-Paul Thompson (He wasn't even on the Devils last year, oops.)
19-Mike Sislo
8-Dan Kelly 9-Joe Whitney
29-Raman Hrabarenka
23-Darcy Zajac
25-David Wohlberg
18-Stefan Matteau




That was it for the Albany players. We waited for the coaches as well. I got goalie coach Johan Hedberg to sign an index card. I also got assistant coach Sergei Brylin to sign a pocket schedule from last season. I have a bunch of those and that was the first one I got signed. That was it for this game.

Now, here's something I forgot to write about a few weeks ago when it actually happened. Longtime backup Scott Clemmensen was sent down to Albany in early November. I went one day after a game to try and get his autograph, and I got it. He was extremely nice, signed everything for everyone, and even took a photo with me. He signed the only 4x6 I had with me.

That's it for this entry. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing!

Back to Bridgeport in Albany 10/25/14 & 11/1/14

Thankfully, my favorite time of the year is finally here. Hockey season is back, which means that there are autographs to be had here in Albany. The Albany Devils played the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders AHL team, twice already. I figured I'll combine both of those into one entry, since it is mostly the same players. 

Saturday, Oct. 18 was opening night for the Albany Devils, and luckily for me, the Sound Tigers were the opponents. The Devils did the traditional pre-game introductions of every single player, then wore their traditional red road jerseys during the game. 

The game itself was a very entertaining one, and well worth the price of admission. However, from a Sound Tigers standpoint, the game ended terribly. Paul Thompson scored a short handed goal for the Devils with 44 seconds to play in the third period, giving them a crazy 3-2 opening night victory. In the second meeting in November, the Sound Tigers won handily by a 4-1 scoreline. 

After both times, I went outside to where the team bus was waiting for the Sound Tigers and waited in position for the team to come out. I wasn't able to take any photos when I was outside by the bus because it was dark and cold, but here is everything that I ended up getting after both games.  

One of the first people out was Kevin Poulin. He is clearly the third goalie in the Islanders organization, so if Chad Johnson or Jaroslav Halak ever get hurt, he will be on the Isles. After opening night, he signed a 4x6 photo and his page in the Islanders 2013-14 yearbook. After the second game, in which he earned the win in net, he signed a 4x6 photo from the Stadium Series.

One of the other guys who came out early was former first round draft pick Griffin Reinhart. It was debated all summer whether or not he would make the Islanders out of training camp. He did make the team and played in the Islanders first three games, all wins, but was sent down to Bridgeport after the third game. After the first time, he signed a 4x6 and his part in the yearbook. After the second game, he signed another 4x6 and didn't add his number. 

Another guy that looked like he was going to make the Islanders out of training camp was Anders Lee. Unfortunately for him, he didn't make the team out of camp and played the first week of the season for the Sound Tigers. After the first game, he signed a card that a friend had given me. I got him a bunch of times in Albany last year, and had nothing else for him to sign going into this season. A couple days after I got that card signed, Lee got called up and probably won't get sent down again if he plays well. 

Another first round draft pick, Ryan Pulock of the 2013 draft, signed a photo and his part in the yearbook after the first game. I didn't have anything for him after the second game. I took the photo myself at this summer's rookie scrimmage.

After the first game, Sound Tigers captain Aaron Ness signed his page in the Islanders yearbook. After the second, I didn't have anything for him, but he in a good mood despite the drizzle outside. I got him to sign an index card after that one. I keep a small bunch of them with me for that reason.

Last year, Kevin Czuczman (pronounced Church-man) played the last part of the season on the Islanders straight out of college. Now, he is getting his first taste of AHL action. He seems to be one of the defensemen that could see more time with the Islanders in the near future. He signed a picture after each game for me. The one of him in the black jersey is from after the first game. I'm just happy I don't have to try and write his last name all the time. 

Scott Mayfield and Johan Sundstrom each played a handful of games with the Islanders last season. They both signed photos for me. Sundstrom signed the photo on the right after the first game and Mayfield signed the photo on the left after the second game. Like pretty much everyone else, they were nice and happy to sign for anyone that asked.  

Colton Gillies and Harry Zolnierczyk have both played in the NHL before, just not for the Islanders. The Isles invited both of them to training camp, and now they are in Bridgeport playing for a job. After the first game, both of them signed a generic Islanders 4x6 photo that I printed out. Gillies' signature is on the top. I really feel sorry for the Sound Tigers people who have to spell Zolnierczyk and Czuczman every night. 

Here's the last thing for this entry. Former NHLer and Islanders assistant and current Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson signed his part of the Islanders yearbook in silver. 

That's it for this entry. I've gotten some autographs from people and other teams in the past few weeks, and I'll get to those as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! 

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1/31/14

Last Friday, I went to see the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Albany for the third time. Remember the first and second time I saw them? Those were fun. This time, during the game, I was involved in a little bit of controversy. If you want to read about it on my other blog, click HERE. I didn't get too much on this night, but I got enough.

After the game, I went to my spot outside the Times Union Center to see what autographs I could get.
With about six other people waiting also, I knew there wouldn't be many players walking by that we would miss.

One of the first guys out was Pierre-Marc Bouchard. He was sent down in December after struggling with the Islanders. After taking a picture with one of the Sound Tigers fanatics, he walked over to me. He signed my two cards, and then took my sharpie to sign one card each for the rest of people that had cards. I can't explain why I got two, but I'll take it because I don't get cards too often.

I was hoping to see Aaron Ness, I had some cool photos of him, but I'm pretty sure he snuck out behind me when Bouchard was signing for me. The next person out that I wanted to see was Anders Lee, and he signed a photo I had of him from his first NHL goal. 

Shortly after, the now-injured Ryan Strome walked out, with his injured hand in his shirt pocket. Thankfully for the autograph seekers there, he injured his non-writing hand. I had two pictures from when Strome scored his first NHL goal, a game I attended. He didn't say anything about his hand, and he signed two photos for me, pretty sloppily, and signed for others before running onto the bus. Hopefully he will be fine soon. 

The last member of the Sound Tigers that I got on this night was goaltender Anders Nilsson. He signed a photo and his page in the Islanders yearbook before telling the fans he was the last player to come out. Once he got on the bus, it drove away, bound for Bridgeport.

That's all I have for this entry. Good luck graphing!

Bridgeport Sound Tigers @ Albany Devils 12/13/13

Just about a month after I first saw the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Albany, they were back again to play the Devils, and I was there once again on a chilly Friday the 13th. After the game, a 6-1 Devils rout of the Sound Tigers, I was back outside the Times Union Center. However this time, it was cold. A ski mask, winter hat, coat, and gloves couldn't keep me warm on this night.

Although the teams were the same, there were plenty of different faces. The Islanders just sent down Pierre-Marc Bouchard to make room for Ryan Strome. Matt Donovan had been sent down as well to make room for another player. The Islanders were in the midst of a long losing streak, and things were changing.

When I was home for Thanksgiving, I bought an Islanders yearbook and planned to get that signed by as many people as possible. Some of the players had full pages, others had portions of pages in the prospects section, and others didn't have any mention in the yearbook.

The first player to come out was someone I have met a bunch of times and easily recognized. Jon Sim was in the midst of a professional tryout contract that he has since been released from. He signed a page in the yearbook that had the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' schedule on it. I used that page to get a bunch of people.

After Sim, the next person out was fighter Justin Johnson, who was thrown out of the game. He also signed the page that Sim had just signed. I asked him what the referee told him as he left, and he responded by going on a rant, saying f**k at least three times, and complaining that the referees were, "their (the Albany Devils) daddies." That was interesting to say the least.

As players were coming out, I got more to sign that page in the yearbook. I asked pretty much everybody, "What's your last name?" as I couldn't recognize almost everyone. When one of the guys said, "Bruton," I realized it was the captain of the Sound Tigers and a person who had a section in the yearbook, Chris Bruton. If his name sounds familiar, THIS may be why. He signed his part, said he hadn't seen it before, and boarded the bus.

Shortly after Bruton came out, I thought I recognized someone. I said, "Matt?" And it turns out I was right. Recently sent down Matt Donovan was standing in front of me. I flipped to his page in the yearbook, and he signed it along with two 4x6 photos I had of him. I asked if he could write 'First NHL Goal' one one of them from his first NHL goal, and he was happy to oblige. I told him how I was watching that goal live in my dorm room, and he seemed amused by it. I thanked him, and he went on the bus.

I didn't recognize too many other players right off the bat. But one player who I recognized pretty easily was Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The Islanders surprised the hockey world by placing him on waivers, he went unclaimed, and he was playing in his first game for the Sound Tigers. Whenever he was on the ice, he didn't look too happy to be playing in the AHL, but who can blame him? After the game, I recognized him because he is completely bald. Like many other stars on the Islanders, (Tavares, Okposo, Nabokov) Bouchard had a two page spread in the yearbook. It was mostly black, and I couldn't dig out my silver sharpies in the cold, so Bouchard signed his page on the top part of the page as well as two 4x6 photos. He signed a few cards for someone else, then went onto the bus. 

One other player who has had a good stint of NHL time is Anders Lee. After I figured out who he was, he signed his page in the yearbook for me along with a 4x6 photo. He also took a minute to take a picture with me, unfortunately it was dark and there was something wrong with my iPhone camera, but it is still a picture with Anders Lee, and it shows you how cold I was. If you want to see the picture I took with Anders, click HERE or scroll down to the bottom of the entry.

The last Bridgeport player I got was Alan Quine, a 6th round pick from this past year's draft. He had a part in the yearbook and he signed it after he said that his hometown was listed wrong.


Here is the page that I got a bunch of the Sound Tigers to sign, listed in no particular order.

24-Sean Wiles
21-Dallas Jackson
49-Justin Johnson
11-Jon Sim
44-Brett Gallant
17-Matt Lowry
19-Riley Wetmore
35-Kenny Reiter
I think I got everyone but there is a chance I might have missed someone.








I also got a couple of Albany Devils autographs. After the Sound Tigers bus left, a few Devils season ticket holders showed up and started handing out holiday cupcakes to the players. That helped me recognize some of them. Goalie Keith Kinkaid signed a 4x6 photo for me, and here is a picture of him talking with some of the other fans.



I also got Harri Pesonen to sign a 4x6 photo from his brief stint with the New Jersey Devils.

That is all I have for this entry. Here is the picture I took with Anders Lee. Good luck graphing and remember, you never know who you are going to run into. Thanks for reading!