Something
To Shout About! The 2003-04 Bridgeport Sound Tigers are coming
off a 20-game unbeaten streak and are within reach of the American Hockey
League's record for overall wins in one season.
Dan
Hickling MinorLeagueNews.com
01.15.04
- Bridgeport, Conn. -- Large enough to choke a mule.
That's
one way to describe the championship ring collected by the Providence Bruins
after winning 1998-99 Calder Cup. More impressive still, is the accomplishment
it represents, and the inscription it bears.
"The
best ever," as in the best season ever.
Sixty-nine
wins, including playoffs. To date, there has been none better in American
Hockey League history.
Brandon
Smith, one of the top offensive defensemen the AHL has ever seen, was a
big part of that ‘best ever' Bruins team and owns one of those
championship rings.
Now patrolling
the blue line for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Smith could find himself
owning a ring etched with an even bolder statement.
"Even
better."
That is,
if the Sound Tigers can duplicate what has been a sensational first half
of the 2003-04 campaign.
As the
season nears its midpoint, the Tigers are the runaway leaders of the East
Division with just six regulation losses in the first 35 games.
Under
rookie head coach Greg Cronin, Bridgeport has been the class of the AHL,
though the coach quickly redirects the credit.
"Believe
me, I've been blessed," said Cronin, who spent the last five seasons
as an assistant with the New York Islanders, Bridgeport's parent club. "I've
got a great assistant coach (in former Yalie and career minor leaguer Dave
Baseggio). He played in the league, understands the culture here, and he
knows our players."
