The biggest
break could be the emergence of Jeff Hamilton.
Two years ago, fresh out of Yale, Hamilton couldn't land a roster spot anywhere
and had to go play in Finland.
Now he's
the AHL's leader in goals (25 and counting), points (42), and a hefty plus
13 to boot.
"There's
no doubt that he's been our biggest catalyst, offensively," said Cronin,
speaking of his number one sniper. (Hamilton is also profiled in MLN story Larger Than
Life.)
Between
the pipes, goaltender Wade Dubielewicz allowed just five goals in six games
during the month of December, while posting a 5-0-1 record, two shutouts,
a 0.82 goals against average and a .964 save percentage.
The Invermere,
British Columbia native went 12 games without a loss, (from October 25th
through December 27th) and finished 2003 leading the league's netminders
with a 1.26 goals against average.
Still,
there's something else that makes the Sound Tigers tick. It's beyond the
numbers, the big saves, the timely goals, the things you can put your finger
on.
Some would
call it esprit de corps, while others might say that there's a lot of love
in the room.
Fortune,
fate, karma, or whatever you want to call it, to Brandon Smith, the Tigers
have the look and feel of that Providence team he skated with five seasons
ago.
"It
does remind me of that bunch," Smith said. "It has that family
atmosphere. There's no egos here, no different styles of play. Everyone's
on the same page and that's exactly what we had in Providence. I see a lot
of resemblance at practice, and away from the rink, too. There's a real
camaraderie there, and that's the biggest (similarity)."
Perhaps
the camaraderie and lack of egos stems from the host of PWP's (players without
pedigree) who've landed in Bridgeport.
You won't
find a single premium Islander draft choice on the roster. What you will
see are names like Eric Manlow, Derek Bekar, Martin Kariya, Ryan Kraft,
Kevin Colley, and Dieter Kochan.
They are
the unwanted, undrafted, or unheard of. Not a single blue chipper in the
bunch.
"We
have guys from different leagues, and guys of different ages," said
Brandon Smith, who has bounced around plenty in his 10-year professional
career. "I think the reason we're winning is that we're hungry. We
have some guys who haven't been on winning teams before. Some guys who haven't
been drafted, and want to prove people wrong."
This collection
of castoffs, tweeners, and the lightly regarded, have defied convention,
not to mention, having made scrap paper out of the best written scouting
reports.
