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10 TO REMEMBER

The 2006-07 Bridgeport Sound Tigers Top-10 Games

Jun 5, 2007   |  By By Phil Giubileo

 

Wade Dubielewicz may have been the big hero for the New York Islanders and their final week "mad dash" into the NHL playoffs, but before his late-season call-up to the big club, "Dubie" and the Sound Tigers provided a number of memorable moments during the past season, despite just missing the playoffs.

Having experienced the opportunity to follow the team all season long, I've been treated to a number of exciting moments. Strangely enough, many of those moments occurred against the Hershey Bears, who are in the Calder Cup Finals and trying to win their 2nd straight AHL Championship Title.

It's always tough to rank the games, and I'm sure there are others who may disagree on some of my selections or have other moments in mind, but that's what makes a list like this fun as it often starts a discussion. Here is a recap of the first half of my list:

10. March 10 vs. Philadelphia (5-4 regulation win)Video Highlights
This is a game that had everything's of goals, fights and drama. The Sound Tigers trailed 2-0 entering the 3rd period, but Eric Boguniecki led a comeback with a goal and three assists in the final period, as the club tied their franchise record with a five-goal period. Bogey's 5-on-3 goal, gave Bridgeport their second lead of the period, followed by a Frans Nielsen goal with three minutes remaining.

However, in their NHL parent team's typical "Broad Street Bully" style, the Phantoms "gooned it up" and racked up 105 penalty minutes in the game (95 in the 3rd period). The game included some questionable moments from Philadelphia's Martin Grenier and Riley Cote, who ended up receiving suspensions for leaving the bench to join the festivities.

9. February 4 at Providence (5-3 win)
It might have been Super Bowl Sunday, but it was also a super day for the Sound Tigers at the Dunkin Donuts Center. After a disappointing 5-1 loss the night before in Portland, the Sound Tigers clawed their way to a come from behind 5-3 win over the Bruins. The victory began a season-high, six game winning streak and it was sparked by a 43- save effort by Billy Thompson, who stopped 19 of 21 shots in the first period. Other highlights included Petteri Nokelainen scoring two of his six goals of the season in the game, while Steve Regier crashed the net for the game-winning goal at 11:47 of the final period.

8. January 27 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (4-1 win)Video Highlights
Not very often do goaltenders earn a game misconduct, but Penguins netminder Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers was tossed from the game late in the first period after a confrontation with referee Terry Koharski. At the time of the ejection, Deslauriers had stopped all seven shots he faced, but his replacement Andrew Penner surrendered goals to Brandon Nolan and Jeff Tambellini late in the 2nd period to hand the game over to the Sound Tigers. Wade Dubielewicz stopped 38 shots against one of the league's highest scoring teams.

7. November 18 at Hershey (4-3 overtime win)
The Sound Tigers enjoyed tremendous success against the defending Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears, who were very happy to see the Sound Tigers just miss out on the playoffs this season. Winning six of the eight games (nearly seven), the Sound Tigers showed a dominance and confidence against the best team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.

After overcoming a 1-0 first period deficit, the Sound Tigers built a 3-1 lead by the 3rd period, only to watch it disappear on a pair of goals by Joey Tenute and Quintin Laing, Laing's marker tied the game with 2:08 remaining to send the game into overtime. The goal gave the Bears a point but the Sound Tigers earned the victory on the strength of a breakaway goal by Blake Comeau in the extra session. Billy Thompson faced a barrage of shots all evening, finishing with 41 saves.

6. February 9 vs. Hershey (4-2 win) Video Highlights
Wade Dubielewicz broke his saves in a game franchise mark with 52 saves, in the Sound Tigers 4-2 win over the Hershey Bears. While the Bears were able to overcome a 2-0 Sound Tiger lead in the 1st period to tie the score early in the second, it was Eric Bogueniecki's one-timer off a Robert Nilsson cross-ice pass on the power play at 5:40 of the 2nd period, to put the Sound Tigers ahead for good.

Dubie's best moments came down the stretch, as he was a perfect 21-21 in shots during the final period closing the door on any Bears' comeback attempts. Unlike his previous record set back in January, this one was set in regulation, while he needed overtime to achieve his previous mark.

Next week's article will feature my top five games from last season. While I won't divulge too much, one of the games was briefly mentioned somewhere above. That game is in the top five, but it's not the top game (at least on my list) from this past season.