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Sound TigersTV spoke with team President, Howard Saffan about the past season and what he sees lying ahead for the Sound Tigers. In the following interview, Saffan breaks down the season and discusses what lies ahead for the team as far as the draft and the upcoming free agency period. Click on the video link to watch the second half of the interview where Saffan explains the numerous off-season training camps, several players he expects to have break out years next season, and breaking news about upcoming Western Conference opponents

Interview

Sound TigersTV: What areas do you feel need to be improved upon for the growth of the team?

Howard Saffan: Our main goal is development. The most important thing we do at the Sound Tigers is to get as many players as possible to Long Island. Having said that, we also want to win the Calder Cup.

STV: What do you predict for the Sound Tigers in the up-coming season?

Saffan: I don’t want to put all the pressure on Cappy (Sound Tigers’ head coach Jack Capuano), but I predict that we’re going to win the Calder Cup.

STV: How important is it that the team connects with the community?

Saffan: It’s critical. One of the first things that I did as President of the team was to reach out to the community to initiate a grassroots-marketing program. To be part of the community is essential to the Sound Tigers and the New York Islanders. For us, we need to be out in the community everyday, whether that be Storm or a player, it’s absolutely critical that we do that.

STV: How does the team plan on continuing its’ community involvement in the off season?

Saffan: We’ve brought on two new members to our community relations staff, to help increase awareness in the area. We’ve expanded our New Haven area, into the Housatonic Valley and we plan on being out there more and more times through the year.

STV: Which player or players were you most impressed by this season and what do you see their future holding for the upcoming season?

Saffan: That’s hard. I look at development from training camp through the end of the season. When you see the Trevor Smith’s and the Dustin Kohn’s of the world and the leaps and bounds that they took over the course, it is really satisfying. Trevor started the season with us but was then sent down to Utah (ECHL affiliate). By the end of the season he was probably one of the top forwards on our club. So when you see the difference of the play between Dustin Kohn and Trevor Smith from the start of the season to now, it makes the entire staff very proud.

STV: Which AHL team do you feel is your greatest competitor or rival and why?

Saffan: Rival is very, very easy. The New York Islanders and New York Rangers have shared a rivalry since 1972 that has trickled down to the team’s AHL affiliates. I’d say they’re our biggest rivals. We enjoy it. Our staffs happen to like each other, so that makes it even more fun.

STV: Are there rumbling in the Islanders’ war room of what could help both the big club and the team here?

Saffan: Well that’s Garth’s (Islanders General Manager Garth Snow) job. He’s constantly working phones and dealing with agents. I’m sure he’ll do a few things for us. We have five draft picks in the first three rounds. The majority of those boys will be future Sound Tigers.

STV: In what ways do the Sound Tigers collaborate with the New York Islanders in and off -season?

Saffan: We collaborate constantly. Everyday is about the betterment of the Islanders or the Sound Tigers. Right now we’re planning the numerous training camps, which is an on-going process. The Hockey Operations is strictly Garth’s responsibility. He’s the General Manager for both the Islanders and the Sound Tigers. What he’s doing now is planning free agency and the upcoming draft at the end of the month. July 1st starts our free agency in the AHL and NHL so he splits the research with his assistant general manager, Kerry Gwydir. They have gone out throughout the season to scout players so now they take their reports and decide what direction the organization is going to go as far as what type of player they need to draft and sign this off-season.

STV: What programs are the Sound Tigers doing with the local school systems?

Saffan: We have an initiative with the local school systems. We’re pushing to broaden our horizons in the schools. We have various ways for students to be rewarded for their hard work with the “Blades for Grades” program or the musical element of singing the National Anthem or God Bless America. Cool Fun101 where we invite the schools out to an 11 a.m. game in November. It’s a tremendous time for the kids and the players get a big kick out of seeing all the kids the day of the game.

STV: How important is the Kids Club to the team?

Saffan: The Kids Club is everything because that is where we see the growth of our team. We start the Sound Tigers fans out this way. We have a new program with our practice facility, The Rinks at Shelton, called Tiny Tigers. Kids between the ages of two through four start out as “Little Sound Tigers.” The Kids Club enables the players and members to skate on the ice together. They also get a free ticket to a Sound Tiger game. The more people we have part of the Kids Club, the better it is for us. We’ve changed the program this year. The Kids Club is now going to be free because we want to reach out to more kids in the community and get them to become Sound Tiger fans.

STV: Where do you see the Sound Tigers in 5 years?

Saffan: I see the Sound Tigers as perennial champions and continuing to develop players for the Islanders. We talked about Garth Snow, and his efforts towards the draft. We see the next few year’s drafts as being stocked with a lot of skilled players. Our coaching staff is a developmental coaching staff and they’ve done an exceedingly wonderful job. I see them growing with our players and becoming a powerhouse, very similar to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

STV: What players do you expect to make the jump to the Islanders next season?

Saffan: That’s Coach Nolan’s job. I can only tell you that we had 14 of them go up there and several of them have wonderful seasons in the NHL such as Kyle Okposo, Blake Comeau, Jeremy Colliton, Jeff Tambellini, and Frans Nielsen. We expect to see them be on Long Island but when, where, and how, that’s up to Coach Nolan.

STV: How does the effort of your front office team play into the success of the team?

Saffan: We’re all Islanders. That’s from the interns, to the coaching staff, to the players. It’s very important that our front office makes every fan that we have feel special. We run ourselves like a family business. Charles Wang, the owner of our franchise, taught us to respect our fans and our players and I think we do an outstanding job of that. Our staff is the lifeblood and backbone to what we do.