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The New York Islanders opening night was on October 14 and instead of goalies Rick DiPietro and Mike Dunham hearing their names called to skate through the smoke and pyrotechnics, it was Wade Dubielewicz. He was serving as the back-up that night for Dunham as franchise goalie, DiPietro was hurt. Little did the fans know, how much of an impact Dubielewicz would have on the season.

No Sound Tigers graduate has ever had such a dramatic impact on the Islanders as Wade Dubielewicz did last season. With Islanders starter, DiPietro, side-lined with post-concussion syndrome late in the season, Dubielewicz received the call to join the big club. An un-drafted free agent out of the University of Denver, Dubielewicz back-stopped the Islanders into the 2007 playoffs, rattling off four wins in the final four games to clinch the final playoff spot on the last day of the season.

The Islanders held a 2-1 lead against New Jersey in a game they needed to win but Devil's center chipped a shot over an outstretched Dubielewicz to tie the score at 2-2 with less than a second remaining in the third period. Nobody scored in the overtime session, so the Islanders season came down to a shootout with career Sound Tiger goalie, Dubielewicz, in net.

Islanders, Viktor Kozlov and Miroslav Satan, scored to put them up 2-1 with Dubielewicz needing one more stop on Devils forward Sergei Brylin. Brylin streaked into the zone but was unable to pull a move to his backhand because Dubielewicz had already poke-checked the puck off of his stick. The save erupted a celebration on the ice and back in Bridgeport with all of the "Dubie" fans ecstatic that he had made such an impact for the big-club.

Dubielewicz had been a call-up throughout the season, dressing as the back-up for either DiPietro or Dunham but never got the chance to shine until late in the season when he started the final five games.

As a Sound Tiger, Dubielewicz has claimed numerous records for shutouts (15), saves in a game (52) and highest save percentage in a season (.946), which is also an AHL record. His numbers throughout the 2006-07 season were once again stellar posting a 22-12-5 record with a .922 save percentage and 2.69 goals against average. Those numbers earned him a spot on the Canadian All-Star roster.

Talk about the first time you were called up to the Islanders and how your experiences have changed since then.
When I first got the call to join the Islanders in 2003, I was bright eyed and eager to learn anything I could. The organization was great at making sure I was ready to play and comfortable to make my NHL debut. Since then I have just tried to carry over my experiences in Bridgeport and the couple on the Island that I'd had, to make sure I am always ready to help the organization when I am called upon.

What was it like knowing that you were starting that huge Rangers game on April 3 that the Islanders had to win to have any shot at making the playoffs?
There was no way of getting around the fact that it was a huge game in my mind so the way I approached the game was that it was just a big game for the organization and not a rivalry game. The possibility of being knocked out of the playoffs was one thing but to add to it that it could happen with a loss to the team's biggest rival, the Rangers would have been too much.

How were you not rattled throughout those four final games of the Islanders season, winning each to send the team to the playoffs?
Honestly I hadn't felt much pressure because everyone was counting us out in the first place. Nobody thought that a starting goalie in the AHL had a shot at winning four straight games in the NHL. In addition, we needed a lot of help from other teams so I just looked at the games as one at a time and hopefully things would fall our way that in the end if we won all of our games we would make it.

Tell me about the infamous "poke-check" that you executed on numerous players in the final four games and what went through your mind on the final one to New Jersey's, Brylin?
In the Rangers game, it was just reacting to things that I had seen and studied about the three shooters. Nylander, I knew would come slow, wait for me to make the first move and then 'back-hand shelf' a shot over my glove. What I wanted to do was get the stick out there before he could make the move and it worked. Jagr read my poke-check pretty well but I was able to get my pad out on the far side and stop it. In Jersey, Parise burnt me pretty bad and I should have known he was going to make that move because I received a phone call after the game from one of my coaches at Denver and they reminded me that he made that same move in one of our games when he was playing for North Dakota. When Brylin came in, my instincts were telling me that he was going to pull the same move since Parise made me look so bad on it the first time. I made up my mind that's what I was going to do and it worked. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.

This has been an unforgettable year for you from marriage before the season to having a new born baby in March to back-stopping the Islanders into the playoffs in April to now receiving a one-way contract from the Islanders for next season.
It has definitely been unforgettable, the best in my life. I can't thank the Sound Tigers fans enough for supporting me throughout some highs and lows in Bridgeport. I owe a lot to them because they are a big reason why I won those games and have now received a contract from the Islanders. My family, I owe everything to for their support. In the back of my mind, I knew that those final games were my chance to help support my wife and baby financially and now that I have this new contract, we're thrilled.