Saturday, October 13, 2018

Sound Tigers Home Opener


Opening Weekend flyer.

At the Milford Oyster Festival, Richard won a pair of (free) tickets to a game of our choice for Opening Weekend for the Sound Tigers, an AHL hockey team and farm team for the NHL New York Islanders.

In the past, we attended opening day in order to obtain the magnetic schedule. This year, however, that was not an option since this promotion was not offered (to our disappointment). Nonetheless, we decided it best to attend the literal home opener despite the early start time (1 p.m. vs 7:30 pm or 3 p.m.)

My free ticket.

As usual, we arrived early so we could watch from behind the net the Tigers warm-up skate. We parked on the street in order to save a few bucks and were delighted to note that one of the long-time concessionaires, the beer man, parked right behind us. We enjoyed seeing this familiar face again and chatting with him (both before and after the game). We also were glad to see another familiar face as we entered the Arena. Don't know his name but he is now in charge of all the security screeners and ticket takers.

Sound Tigers seating plan at Webster Bank Arena.

The free tickets were pretty good. We had our choice of several center ice sections (but not the center). The regular box office price for Section 104 is listed as $31 (!). Despite the promotional draw of free backpacks to the first 2,500 kids (14 and under)-they were surprisingly impressive- and an impressive list of school groups, the announced attendance was only 4272. Another continuing tradition we were glad to see/hear was the singing of the Star Spangled Banner (the national anthem) by the Fairfield County Children's Choir.

Richard during warm-ups. Note the Sound Tigers practice jersey.

Another familiar face was the official scorer (who sits right at the ice by the net). He's been doing this for decades and we enjoyed seeing him again.

Sound Tigers warming up.

As far as the game was concerned, the Tigers lived up to their heritage of being the NY Islanders farm team. They scored first but soon after, allowed their opponent to tie. After taking the lead 3-1 in the middle of the second period, they faded and allowed three unanswered goals, the winning goal coming with only a minute left to play. They lost 4-3.

Courtesy of SoundtTgers.com

While we were disappointed with (but not surprised by) the loss, we were glad that we attended. The free tickets were a blessing.  Attending a live sporting event can be expensive. Purchasing an internet season package is about the same as the cost of a single game. Ironically, we found ourselves watching the replays on the scoreboard as well as when the action was in corners out of our view. Throw in excessively loud sound, mediocre and expensive refreshments, and cramped seating and one has good reason to stay home and view via cable TV or the internet.


If the past if a predictor, we will probably not return to Bridgeport this season for another game. If we attend any games it will likely be when the Tigers visit Hartford.

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