Thank you, Brent Thompson, for 10 seasons of leadership. A franchise-record 328 wins. Best of luck in Anaheim. pic.twitter.com/rfa5eUuuNW
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) July 11, 2023
NYIFC Comments:
I was very outspoken many years that it's time for a change. AHL teams are not supposed to be this bad, this long. Is that all Brent Thompson, who won a division title there, and worked behind NYI bench? Absolutely not, but clearly that franchise has had no success since 2003, and their leading scorer just went to the KHL. My personal thought it was simply time for a change for change skake. Ken Gernander was terrible in Hartford for almost as long, and came to Bridgeport. I have no answers on this, but at some point your AHL fans need a winning team that has playoff success. Providence does, it seems WBS Pens, or Hershey do every year. How come this franchise had a great inagural season, had moderate success in year two, and that's been it in terms of playoff success whether it be Cronin (now an NHL coach) Marshall, Baseggio, Pellerin, Bingham. Best of luck to Brent Thompson, we'll see who Lamoriello's son hires.
The AHL schedule will be out tomorrow/posted on prospect site.