YAHOO! YOU'RE ALL CLEAR, KID...

...now let's blow this thing and go home!*

(This site will remain up but won't be updated except in case of emergency. And don't say it doesn't happen (9F02). Please point all links back there, and if you have any RSS trouble, let me know immediately.)

If you use this site for the links on the right, you may want to keep the URL handy, because I can't fully update the template back home yet.

Thank you for your patience.

*-This footnote isn't necessary, is it?

Inconceivable!

What was that?

Between call after call (was that Jamie St. Laurent tonight?), and shot after shot, this one would make you dizzy.

It's one thing to do nothing against Philadelphia for 30 minutes and come back. It's another to do it against a much healthier Hershey team, particularly when they didn't look like they belonged on the same ice for the first period.

As Wade Dubielewicz noted, Bridgeport got pucks to the net, got traffic, and "got some ugly ones." Which is what they've been talking about having to get for, what, 40 games or so.

The other end is going to take some work. They have allowed at least 34 shots in every game since New Year's Eve. Even with everything that has changed since then, they're still allowing too much. One day -- and but for a post or two, it could have been this day -- it will cost them.

But yeah. They're being outshot 45-13 with 12 minutes left, and they trail only 3-2, and they pull it out.

There are games that restore your faith, that make you believe again in the mind-boggling possibilities of this sport, that captivate you all over again.

This wasn't one of them. This one, you just shake your head in wonder. Sometimes, crazy stuff happens right in front of you.

As overheard in the dressing room tonight, that stuff includes larceny. They ran to the bus quickly in case someone called to report those two points stolen.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nielsen-Nilsson
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton
Comeau-Regier-Nolan
Ferraro/Boguniecki
D: Fata-Wotton (C)
Mitchell-Fraser
Malec-Rourke (A)

HERSHEY
F: Fleischmann-Tenute-Giroux
Wiseman-Klepis-Fehr
Laing (A)-Steckel (A)-Bourque
Robitaille-Hendricks-(Wilson-scratch)
D: Sloan-Arsene (A)
Byrne-Helbling
Hunt-Busenburg

Bridgeport was 18-18-2-2 last year at the midpoint, but that's deceiving because of a coin flip: Last year's Tigers had gone to only three shootouts at this point, winning just one, while this year's has won five in the bonus round. Translate the shootouts back to ties, and this team is 13-18-9. (Or, point-for-the-OTL style, 13-17-9-1.)

Dubielewicz's 51 saves break Dieter Kochan's team record of 49, but Kochan still holds the mark for saves in regulation.

The Malec-Giroux fight outta nowhere -- I think everyone up here was looking down, and the video zoomed in on the celebration and misses the start of the fight -- is Bridgeport's 19th this year. That tops last year's 18.

I spend most of my time immediately after games like this trying to put the top on my story, and then praying my computer works no later than the second or third time. Here, that allows me to hear the start of Bruce Boudreau's press conference, which they run on the video board.* And tonight, it began with Bruce saying he had a read on Dubielewicz, but the first few shooters didn't use it. "I think I'm pretty sharp on how to read a goalie," Boudreau said. Well, maybe, but how many of the top 35 AHL scoring seasons in history have you had?**

Boudreau on Dubielewicz, courtesy of Tim Leone of the Patriot News: "You knew the goalie was getting hotter and hotter. I've faced Dubliewicz for years now and I've seen him when he gets like this. He's pretty tough to beat."

Campoli will supposedly join the team for practice Monday, and the week to come will be played by ear, said Dan Marshall. The Isles are back to work Friday in Atlanta, so assuming he does go back -- which Greg Logan's story in Newsday seemed to make clear -- the only game in question would be Wednesday's.

Koharski hat trick: Jamie Monday, Terry Friday, Jamie tonight. Hershey fans booed the announcement of the ref. They booed the arrival of the ref.

Kiddie PSA: The Sound Tigers are running a "youth hockey shootout next week. "All mite, squirt, pee wee and bantam players currently enrolled in a Connecticut Hockey Conference program are eligible to compete in a regional shootout competition (at local rinks)." See the link for details if you're so inclined (but kids, ask your parents' permiss... hey, wait, what are you doing reading this?)

*-Yeah, our deadlines in this town would be FUN.
**-A: Three, including Nos. 7, 19 and 32 all-time.

Tom McCormack

Register legend Tom McCormack, for whom the press box at the Coliseum was named, died Friday at 77. Tributes today from Chris Elsberry and Dave Solomon. Update: Jim Fuller posts a tribute of his own on his blog.

By an exclamation point

Right now on the score sheet, the shots for Bridgeport read 14-24-21-3-1 for a total of 63. Yikes! Well, the overtime and shootout are right.

The first period is definitely not right. After they took four shots on a first-minute power play, the Sound Tigers were outshot 14-1. Ick! The only good news was they only trailed 1-0 and hadn't quite been run out of the building.

The second period was better, but things really turned around with a Drew Fata fight with Triston Grant. Pow!

Then the Sound Tigers took the lead in the third on goals a couple of minutes apart, Tambellini's 20th and Ferraro's ninth. But then on a power play, Tony Voce popped one in from the side of the net. Wade Dubielewicz was ticked at himself. To paraphrase: Darn!

But he redeemed himself in the shootout, couple of pokechecks and a couple of straight-up saves, finally sliding out (whee!) to knock Lars Jonsson in the wrong direction, and that was that. Unfortunately, Scott Munroe left with a groin injury he suffered on Tambellini's shootout-opening score. Yow! That's not fair... well, look up the rest.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nielsen-Nilsson
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton
Comeau-Regier-Nolan
Ferraro/Boguniecki
D: Fata-Berry
Mitchell-Fraser
Malec-Rourke (A)

PHILADELPHIA
F: Tolpeko-Ellison-Reid
Kane (A)-Voce-Ruzicka
Grant-Meloche-Dimitrakos
Cote-Davis-(Zingoni-scratch)
D: Timonen-Slaney (C)
Jonsson-Baumgartner (A)
Printz-Grenier

Frans Nielsen's scoring streak ended.

Albany's loss puts Bridgeport two points behind the Rats with three games in hand.

Tambellini's is the 15th 20-goal season by a Sound Tiger. He scored 25 in 56 games for Manchester last season. "It's something I've been shooting for every year," Tambellini said. "I set the bar much higher that that, but every 10 is a good number."

Nilsson's shootout attempt, apparently, kept rolling and went over the line; the goal light went on. Koharski waved no, then pointed yes, then half-heartedly waved no again, then talked it over, then said no. Nilsson said he could have made it all moot had he just buried it into the open net he gave himself, but...

Here's a lengthy Hockey's Future profile on Sergei Ogorodnikov.

Kinda neat pennant on eBay. That starting bid's a little steep for me, though.

Cody Rudkowsky got one game for his adventures last week.

You gotta love it when Eric Godard is the lead photo and story on TSN.ca.

And last but not least, RIP Denny Doherty.

DeCamp

Chris Campoli is "here" but not here. More later, if warranted.

Just stuff

Really liked one Frans Nielsen quote this morning and rearranged Friday's story to get it in. Try 'n' pick it out. Meanwhile, here's some links to the weekly stuff.

Here's where to find the All-Star Game in a couple of weeks.

In that other league, the one with the salary cap and three-man bonus rounds, they're of course wearing different pajamas next week. Punchline withheld.

In that other other league, the one with the salary cap and the initials that don't stand for anything anymore... oh, wait, that joke works either... anyway. In the ECHL, Mike Jarmuth won a skills competition competition, and in the game, Luke Curtin had a goal, and training-camper Ken Magowan had a goal and an assist.

Up I-91, Sean Burke's back in the NHL. And this has probably been around, but I just noticed it in the weekly release: the Wolf Pack's 10th anniversary site.

Brandon Smith gets Bill Ballou's midseason Eddie Shore Award. (Have I said how great it is to have Bill Ballou back in the AHL? If so, I haven't said it often enough.)

From ThePensBlog.com: David Volek hits the post... and an alternate-reality 1993 ensues. (Filthy. Horrible. Hilarious.)

More random than usual: Why Mark Cuban doesn't wear a suit. Democratic frat row house exposed in the NYT. Sammy Sosa is setting the bar high for a second consecutive Doug Gilmour Memorial "I Retire. No, Wait, I Don't -- Do I?" Award.

Adding: Eric Godard got the call again.

And as they bring down the shattered shell of the Coliseum this weekend, one last tip of the cap to Kimber Auerbach for putting the Nighthawks Reunion together last week. A nice day.

Where's Greg Cronin when you need him?

Well, chalk up another win for the Nighthawks. (Sons of, anyway.)

Koharski put his arm up as Boguniecki was taken out, and I thought that was a weird, weird call at that point. Then Boguniecki put the puck to Nolan, and Nolan shot it in after Richmond knocked the net off, and that's when I heard the whistle, and I thought, OK, yeah, net off. No goal. Started writing down the, ahem, "trip" on Jordan Hendry when...

...when Regier went to the box for "hooking" Richmond.

If anything, it inspired probably Dan Marshall's most animated postgame interview session*. Disbelief. At worst, four-on-four, Marshall figured. Instead, his team has to kill a penalty. They had killed 26 consecutive chances before Bochenski -- OK, OK, I take it back; he deserved the all-rookie honors a couple of years ago** --
one-timed a pass back against the grain, back where Thompson had been...

Look, the team was not perfect, again, but for the second day in a row, you could really argue with a straight face that Bridgeport -- as a team, and not just its goalie -- deserved better.

Bridgeport took eight shots on one power play to end the first period, giving them 17 for the period, the most they've had after one this year. They didn't score on that power play nor five others, failing on the PP for just the second game out of six.

Bochenski's first one was a tough one, right past the glove, great shot for a 30th goal. Brandon Nolan answered off a good, solid all-around play; Wotton got it deep, Marjamaki kept it deep and moved it along, and then Nolan made a sweet move out from behind the net, spun in the left circle and lasered it high-blocker to tie it.

Nielsen tied Hamilton late second off Tambellini's good play to move it out and then ahead, Nielsen's second short-hander and the team's eighth.

Colin Fraser tied it off a giveaway, Bochenski won it on a power play, and then you just wonder after that what might have been.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nielsen-Nilsson
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton
Nolan-Comeau-Regier ('A')
Ferraro/Boguniecki
D: Fata-Berry
Mitchell-Fraser
Malec-Wotton (C)

NORFOLK
F: Brouwer-St. Pierre-Bochenski
Corazzini (A)-Nordqvist-Parenteau
Johnson-Fraser (A)-Bickell
Berti/Bolland
D: Richmond (A)-Hendry
Koci-Rogers
St. Jacques-Domish

Nobody had an A in warmup. Tambellini had one by gametime, and Regier's was a phantom but still his first assigned letter.

Corey Crawford has won five in a row and 10 out of 11. Thompson had won two in a row.

Todd Griffith went back to Bakersfield. He's in the ECHL All-Star Game this week.

Nielsen on the streak: "It's a little tough to enjoy it when you just lost. It's fun to have a streak going on. ... I don't think too much about it." On his play since coming back: "I don't think I've played that well. I haven't been feeling that well. I didn't play that much with the Islanders. I've got to get used to playing this much ice time again. Our line, we can do a little better. ... We've got to take our game one step up."

Eric Godard went back to Omaha. Mission accomplished, I guess, though.

*-Hence, to clear it up, the allusion in the header. Cronin, if you're new to these parts, was famous/infamous for tirades on the officials...
**-Voted Zach Parise that year. Won't apologize for that.

Blast from the past

Chalk up one more victory for the New Haven Nighthawks. Scott Gordon's boys worked hard, forced turnovers, generated odd-man rushes and came back to win.

A great afternoon for the ol' Nighthawks, and a great job by Kimber Auerbach putting it together. Not a bad first 42 minutes for the Sound Tigers. A couple of mistakes cost the Sound Tigers a point, though not the second. They probably deserved better; Jack Capuano said as much, but they're going to have to be better tomorrow when the mighty (so says the record) Admirals come in.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nielsen-Nilsson
Comeau-Ferraro-Boguniecki
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton
Nolan/Regier
D: Fata-Berry
Mitchell-Fraser
Rourke (A)-Wotton (C)

PROVIDENCE
F: Versteeg-Krejci-Stastny
Kalus-Thompson-Karsums
Pelletier-Walter-Trevelyan
Rosa/DiCasmirro
D: Stuart-Leach (C)
Jon. Sigalet-Allen (A)
Zinger (A)-Dempsey

Nathan Dempsey. Never thought I'd be seeing him in this league again. Did I ever tell the Nathan Dempsey story? Game 4 at St. John's, in '02, Bridgeport finishes the sweep with the only noncompetitive game in the series, and the 6,247 fans at Mile One are on their feet cheering from the final-minute announcement. The teams shake hands, the Leafs start off, and the fans are going nuts. And then Dempsey, in his final game on the Rock after spending eight seasons there, salutes the fans, and the roof almost blows off the barn. Classy guy, and they loved him. One of the more touching things I've ever seen at a hockey game.

From the possibly dumb-coincidences file: the 12th game of Jeff Hamilton's 12-game scoring streak was... January 15, 2006.

On the play that turned into the Boguniecki goal, Steve Regier said, he thought his pass went off Zinger's thigh, above the knee.

Gorgeous hip check by Mitchell on Petr Kalus.

Fata and Berry were just about double-shifting in the first.

Chris Elsberry will have all the Nighthawks stuff for you tomorrow.

Grin and Bear it

You notice a bunch of the names who are out for Hershey. Frederic Cassivi. Chad Wiseman. Dean Arsene. Lawrence Nycholat, apparently never to return.

Then you notice who's back for Bridgeport. Frans Nielsen, who adds the final component to a line that does crazy things every night. Wade Dubielewicz, who came back as if he'd never left.

And then there's the penalty kill, the old standby, with Nielsen back. (Is it telling that the most consistent thing in Bridgeport's season is the penalty kill?) The Sound Tigers held Hershey to seven shots on the Bears' first six power plays; I didn't note the seventh, but it didn't matter much by then. In fact, Bridgeport had three shots of its own on Hershey power plays.

That third line keeps getting better. Marjamaki's getting closer; Pitton keeps improving; Nokelainen keeps showing more and more what he'll become.

It isn't perfect. But it's a far cry from what it was two weeks ago. And that's a start.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nielsen-Nilsson
Comeau-Ferraro-Boguniecki
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton
Nolan-Regier-(Griffith-scratch)
D: Fata-Wotton (C)
Mitchell-Fraser
Malec-Rourke (A)

HERSHEY
F: Giroux (A)-Tenute-Bourque
Fleischmann-Steckel (A)-Fehr
Laing (A)-Wilson-Johansson
MacMillan/Robitaille
D: Sloan-Engelland
Schultz-Helbling
Hunt-Busenberg

Regier was good to go, so Griffith was scratched; Berry was the rotating veteran.

Dubielewicz, said Dan Marshall, will go again Sunday against Providence.

And yes, when you read the story, I am embarrassed by the Peaches and Herb reference.

I had thought "Nokelainen" for the second assist on the first goal, too, but what Marjamaki said is that Nokelainen let Wotton's puck go through him to Marjamaki for the two-on-one. Nifty little play ("TSN turning point," said Wotton), and he gets the puck to Pitton for the goal.

Those who watched: How nutty was the end of that Islanders-Devils game?

Fixed the link on the Koalska/Potulny story below, in case you were perturbed by an error. ("nhttp://" doesn't work. (Non-hyper-text transfer protocol?))

Albany loses to Norfolk, which is off tomorrow to make the long trip. Bridgeport closes to three points. Looks like things got a little testy at the end of that one. (And yes, it's way too early to start the scoreboard-watching feature.)

Norfolk's week ahead: Day off, at Bridgeport, day off, at Albany, day off, home to Wilkes-Barre, at Wilkes-Barre, at Philadelphia. Have fun, boys.

Boy, you go out for a couple of hours...

Frans Nielsen returned on loan. This probably makes Steve Regier much less likely for Saturday, though still possible.

Sad, weird, wild and otherwise

Garrett Burnett, one of only a few guys to play for three state teams, is reported to be in a coma after a Dec. 26 incident at a nightclub. "Police say Burnett was 'severely' hit in the head during the incident," THN reported on TSN.ca. (Cap tip to Phil Giubileo, who worked with Burnett in Danbury...)

From there, let's run the gamut... Eric McErlain's Off Wing has a good roundup of something buzzing around online: did Votes for Rory vanish?

Word has filtered to Fort Wayne, apparently, that Captain Eddie Campbell made it on The Price Is Right, to air Feb. 14. Click on Blake Sebring's blog entry if you want the spoiler.

Bruno Gervais apparently didn't leave the ice last night.

No more Lawrence Nycholat in Hershey? Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post blogs out the waivers rule that might keep a good man up.

The right side of 3M, David Masse, is off to Hidalgo to join his former Hershey coach Paul Fixter (and Rich Bocchini) with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. Fairfield native Bill Newson went to to Tulsa in the deal.

Kroggerific

Sam Weinman of the Journal News blogs that the Rangers have plucked Jason Krog off waivers.

So of the 2001-02 Sound Tigers, there are now as many in the Rangers organization (Krog, Valiquette, Gordie Clark) as there are in the Islanders (DiPietro, Hunter, Garrett Timms)...

But gimme some good news

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: When Wade Dubielewicz needed a couple of extra seconds late in OT, it sure enough wasn't for the groin. The puck missed the pad and hit him in the knee. Not pretty, but it wasn't the groin.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: Dubielewicz looked just fine. He was moving across the crease to make saves. He used that goal stick in the bonus round to pokecheck the puck away. He was beaten only on a wide-open shot in the slot. Not bad for the all-star.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: The penalty kill was solid again. Missing three of its top forwards and its defensive workhorse, the units limited Philly's scoring chances.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: Petteri Nokelainen was a force tonight, doing just about everything right, playing with an edge, and getting open for a nifty little Allan Rourke pass for the Sound Tigers' goal.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: Robert Nilsson did some penalty killin'... and looked pretty good at it. Steve Regier was behind me in the press box, and it was funny to hear him talking quietly to his teammates up there. He was whispering out some instructions to Nilsson, and Nilsson was following along.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: Sounds like Regier may be ready for the weekend.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: They played a tough game, and they were rewarded. After Jeff Tambellini got nailed in the neutral zone and lost his helmet, Tambellini stayed right in the play and got Martin Grenier good behind the net. At the end of it all, Grenier was slugging Brandon Nolan; Nilsson went to keep Matt Ellison out of the scrum and got popped for his trouble. For their troubles, the Sound Tigers got a power play.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: With Dubielewicz still hurting and Boyd Kane a stride away from a breakaway in the closing seconds of overtime, Drew Fata came back to catch up to him and break it up.

Here's some good news for the Sound Tigers: a two-game winning streak for the first time since Nov. 29-Dec. 2.


LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Tambellini (A)-Nolan-Nilsson
Comeau-Ferraro-Boguniecki
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton
Griffith
D: Fata-Berry ('C')
Mitchell-Fraser
Malec-Rourke (A)

PHILADELPHIA
F: Tolpeko-Ellison-Reid
Kane (A)-Cabana-Dimitrakos
Grant-Voce-Cote
Zingoni-Davis-(Pisellini-scratch)
D: Slaney (C)-Guenin
Jonsson-Baumgartner (A)
Morrison-Grenier

Shootout+7:30 start=frazzled sportswriter. Technically, we missed first-edition deadline. Here's some good news for me: Day off tomorrow. (Which is today by now, I suppose.) You'll get a follow-up notebook Friday, because even for second edition tonight, basically all I had time to do was gut the first four grafs and quote Dubielewicz a couple of times.

Berry wore (didn't wear) a phantom C with Wotton the vets scratch. Like the A he had (didn't have) a couple of weeks ago, it was on the sheet but not on the sweater. Tip o'cap (ha) to veteran commenter Stan, who saw Tambellini had a road-white A in warmup; it was blue by gametime. In either color, that's the first time he's worn one here.

I don't think anyone was designated a C-for-a-day ever before for Bridgeport.

No special reason to start with Wotton, was the word tonight, except that the rotation had to start somewhere, and he had played a lot in the past few weeks; remember, there were a couple of games where he played just about every second of every kill.

(There is, incidentally, no vets rule for commenters. A couple of you guys are probably up around 260.)

Scouting meetings this week, so almost every one was there tonight. Made the dressing room a maze, too.

Good to see Peter Zingoni notch an assist in his return home. Gave the cheering section something to, y'know, cheer about.

Luch Aquino surfaced in Utah tonight.

Michael Sharp up in Bingo has a Matt Koalska/Grant Potulny story today.

Tomorrow is (or may not be) the 250th birthday of Alexander Hamilton. Given his alma mater and his adopted hometown, you can probably guess why I feel a kinship. (Among the other reasons.)

Golly 'G'

Guite!

Godard!

Streak struck

Darren Haydar's streak is over at the hands of Dave Baseggio and the Peoria Rivermen. The Wolves' radio guys said Bags gave Haydar a little handshake at the end.

Ends at 39 games, 24 goals and 55 assists. Respectable.

Comeback star

He should be back tomorrow night, so Wade Dubielewicz will make his return as an all-star. A bit of a surprise, but well deserved. Full rosters are here, including Jason Krog, T.J. Kemp, two Wolf Packers, and three high-profile former Packers who'll start for Canada. Oh, and some guy named Haydar*; what were the voters thinking?

Speaking of all-star stuff, it looks like the Sound Tigers do like Jamie Fraser: The ECHL replaced him on its all-star rosters today.

Frans Nielsen went back up. Todd Griffith made it to town.

If you're going tomorrow, $12 tickets are available by calling Shane at 334-4625 x313. At 4:30, the Bridgeport Fire Department meets the Stamford Police Department in the championship of the Heroes Tournament. They're having a happy hour beforehand, too, with $2 beers.

And the Ronettes are Hall of Famers. About time. (Underrated gem: "(The Best Part of) Breakin' Up.")

*-This will not count as Game 50.

Sneakin' up on me, eh?

In the dead of night*, Bakersfield (ECHL) announced it has loaned centerman Todd Griffith to Bridgeport.

*-Or maybe that's just when I found it.

Bad, good and Godard

--Jeremy Colliton's shoulder will likely keep him out two to four weeks. Steve Regier took a shot off the leg Friday and is day to day.
--Frans Nielsen was back from the Island. Had a nice talk that will run either Wednesday or in the Thursday weekly.
--Tomas Malec arrived and practiced. No number on his lid, and I didn't ask Paul Camelio. The online roster has him in 12, but that's the number he wore in Binghamton, so it could just be a carry-over.
--Calgary recalled offensive powerhouse Eric Godard from Omaha today.

"I like to say 'Quark'!"*

In a most welcome development, the Rats have taken to showing clips from "The Muppet Show" on the board at the Pepsi Knickerbocker** Times Union Center after opposition goals. I didn't notice any particular theme to the clips. Interestingly, after the seventh goal, they went back to the first clip.

Which made me wonder something. That first clip was of the Swedish Chef, singing his theme song, tossing his spoons around, the usual***. What I'm wondering: What does Robert Nilsson think of the Swedish Chef? Gotta ask that one at some point.

Anyway. Frans Nielsen makes the NHL debut and plays even in 7:38. Coupla shots, coupla hits, and 1-5 on draws. Welcome to the Show.

Up the Quickway, Matt Koalska makes the Bingo debut with an assist.

Two press-release headlines of note: From Augusta and Manchester.

The Everblades announced Chris Lee's return to there.

Haydar's slipping. Just one point?

And finally, crossing party lines: We tuned in Cowboys-Seahawks with about seven minutes to play (Seahawks third-and-goal before turning it over on downs, then getting an incompletion-turned-fumble-turned-touchdown-turned-safety, then...). And those might have been the craziest seven minutes of football I've ever seen. At least, y'know, since the five plays I saw at the end of Boise State-Oklahoma last week.

*-I miss these guys.
**-Yeah, that hasn't gotten old already.
***-One of my favorite bits on "Robot Chicken" is a Swedish Chef bit that had him walking down the block, spying and commenting on all kinds of things that, naturally, end in "-ork" sounds.

Spare change

Fascinating well before the start: Koalska for Malec.

Fascinating before the start: Joe Ferras and Bernie Cassell upstairs.

Fascinating at the start: Dan Marshall changing the defense, and Jack Capuano changing the forwards.

Fascinating at 13:02: a lead.

Fascinating at 36:07, 15 seconds after Albany came back to tie the game (Jakub Petruzalek sighting) and threatened to blend, puree or dice whatever dicey confidence Bridgeport had left: Mitchell in deep, Boguniecki recovers, centers to Ferraro, and Bridgeport is on its way to a win.

That's right. A win.

A 7-4 win.

(Blink.)

So while scoring half the number of goals they had scored in their previous eight, Bridgeport paid attention to detail, created traffic, worked hard, did all those little things they have talked about ad nauseam for the past month.

So Jeremy Colliton went down with a shoulder injury after five shifts, and Steve Regier, pressed into the middle when Frans Nielsen went up, then hurt his Achilles in the second. Peter Ferraro and Eric Boguniecki play probably the most they've played all year, and oh boy does that work out. Brandon Nolan gets the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Jamie Fraser scores again. Kevin Mitchell goes plus-5. The team looks entirely different.

It's a dumb little thing, but one thing that caught my eye in the third was, on one shift, Nolan and Robert Nilsson both certain to stay high, staying out of the scrums, staying back. Bridgeport had a two-goal lead at the time and didn't need to go chasing more.

As it turned out, they got more later, anyway. And isn't that a change.

LINEUPS
BRIDGEPORT
F: Comeau-Colliton (A)-Boguniecki
Tambellini-Regier-Nilsson
Nolan-Nokelainen-Ferraro
Marjamaki/Pitton
D: Fata-Berry
Mitchell-Fraser
Lee-Wotton (C)

ALBANY
F: Dwyer-Aucoin (C)-Willis (A)
Angelidis-Richardson-Murley
McLeod-Gove-McCormick
Estrada-Petruzalek
D: Vernace-Boychuk
Love-Conboy
Carson-Flood

The Bridgeport lines devolved to this after Regier left:
Comeau-Ferraro-Boguniecki
Tambellini-Nolan-Nilsson
Marjamaki-Nokelainen-Pitton

They were going in Central Red Armyish units of five to start the third: Ferraro's with Lee and Wotton, Nolan's with Fata and Berry, and Nokelainen's with Mitchell and Fraser. I'll let you pick out which one is the Green Unit.

Hey, maybe those meetings do pay off.

Now I gotta go look up plus-5's and Gordie Howe Hat Tricks. (Regier said he'd frame the scoresheet for Mitchell, BTW.)

The boys have two days off, so maybe not much between now and Monday. Unless there's more coming. When Rourke rejoins, there's six veterans, including four defensemen, with Malec's arrival.

Ryan O'Marra had an assist as Canada won World Juniors gold for the third year in a row. The United States won the bronze over Sweden.

Anon 5:43 noted it in previous comments, but it's got to be beheld in agate type: a four-point night for Eric Godard. Two goals, two assists. (Jason Guerriero had two points, too.)

Patrik Stefan's blown-empty-netter-turned-tying-goal (James Mirtle has the video embedded in this blog entry) reminded me of a story Steve Stirling told a couple of years ago, though I never did hear if they found out the details: Stirling said the Isles' Czech scout had sent around a clip of a player in Europe skating alone toward an empty net, and the player put on a fake -- a fake on the empty net -- and missed.

Can someone help John Dellapina out? (I remember the incident well, but not the line.)

(Pls pardon any formatting errors. Incredible Crashing Work Computer has shut itself down six (six!) times in the Knick Pepsi Times Union Center heat.)

Matty finds a home

The deal isn't official until physicals, but announcement is supposed to be forthcoming that Matt Koalska is off to Ottawa -- and thus Binghamton -- for defenseman Tomas Malec. Good for Koalska, who sounded very happy. (I gave him a little grief about going one-on-one with Caldwell in the Bingo-Syracuse rivalry. That'll be fun.)

More later.

Breaking from the Island...

Frans Nielsen is getting the call to accompany the Islanders to Raleigh. He's expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow night. Freddy Meyer is ready to go, so Allan Rourke was sent back to the Sound Tigers.

Edit: BTW, I know I bought into the whole "first Danish player in the NHL" thing back in the summer, but it looks like Poul Popiel beat Frans by a coupla-three decades. Frans would become, as the IIHF better put it, the first Danish-born and -trained player in the NHL; Popiel played his junior in St. Catharines. (How much of a technicality this is is left as an exercise for the reader.)

Three, four, five (hey!)...

Chris Lee was here.

Wade Dubielewicz was not (this morning, at least). That infection is likely to keep him out for tomorrow night.

(Well, that posted rather magically. Maybe I control-S'ed it by accident. Anyway...)

Get past the vertical-stripes stuff at the top, and today's Uni Watch Blog post has some nice hockey stuff, including all kinds of links to Steve Yzerman Night stuff, a comparison of the Wings' old retired-number banners and the new (nice change), and La Presse's recap of the Canadiens' sweaters from their first few seasons.

Haydar rolled on last night.

Carolina called up Ryan Bayda.

Nice to see that Phil Kessel is back in practice.

(OK, NOW, control-S...)

One, two, three (hey!)...

As reported by Jeff in the comments below, and then by Andy Kent in Naples (or maybe the order was different), Chris Lee appears to be on his way.

Practical stuff

--Wade Dubielewicz didn't skate with a chest cold, which makes him a little more questionable for Friday.

--Jason Goulet is back in Pensacola.

--Colorado has recalled Ben Guite.

--Darren Haydar has gone up and gone back.

--The WNEW call letters will soon be off the New York airwaves entirely, which does not seem possible. Last stronghold WNEW-FM (where rock lived) will soon switch, reports David Hinckley.

--Oh well. After that Germany loss, I'm almost surprised they're around to play for a medal. (Edit, 7 p.m.: Razor seems excited.)

--Adding: Pat Bingham, Frederic Cloutier and Mario Larocque are Western Conference UHL All-Stars.