Pat Bingham Out As Sound Tigers Interim Coach

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Updated:
Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio had Pat Bingham's comments.

"I'd just like to thank the entire organization, from the owner to those 63 players. Mark Wotton, a great friend, a great leader," Bingham said.

"Management, Jack, Howard (Saffan, Bridgeport's president), the staff, everyone. I just hate to see it end." "We didn't win a lot, but we made a lot of strides. We got better. "The Islanders rebuild, I felt like a big part of it. Today, I don't."

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports Sound Tigers interim coach, Pat Bingham will not be back, however Matt Bertani is expected back as an assistant, along with trainer Mike Schroeder and equipment manager Leni DiCostanzo.

Mr Fornabaio reports Bingham seemed mostly shocked but thanked a bunch of people.

Bridgeport went 24-30-4-7 under Bingham after Jack Capuano went up to the Islanders on Nov. 15.

NYIFC Comments:
Pat Bingham was with the organization for five years.

I'm viewing this from afar and only by numbers.

Hard to see this making sense based on bringing back Jack Capuano, who's results were very similar under very rough circumstances and finished even better down the stretch than the Islanders.

If Garth Snow wanted to go in another direction and had someone pre-determined to be the choice they should not be locked into Pat Bingham's assistant so retaining the assistant limits an incoming coach.

I did not see anyone come up among the Bridgeport veterans/regulars who did not look prepared or out of place (conditioning) among Wishart, Joensuu, Katic among the many players (not counting ATO signings) Bingham was coaching.

Perhaps the deck is being cleared for Eric Cairns/Doug Weight/Mark Wotton or someone with coaching aspirations internally. No one coming from the outside is going to wish to inherit someone else's assistant.



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Bridgeport Sound Tigers Update: Pat Bingham's Interim Status?

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Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio addresses the compete season in Bridgeport with speculation on the future of Interim Coach, Pat Bingham, along with player comment.

"I give credit to anybody and everybody who was here who tried to battle through," coach Pat Bingham said. "We didn't have a lot of slackers. We really didn't have any."

An organizational breakdown is also provided that list a signing deadline for prospect Brian Day, who is a college senior of 8/15.

NYIFC Comments:
All of the numbers are copied from the article. (below) I can add the club responded well to Josh Bailey going down, along with Jeremy Colliton's return to the organization. When both were called up to New York things really got off track.

Pat Bingham got a ton out of a lineup comprised largely of ATO signings down the stretch.

My viewpoint from afar is coach Pat Bingham and his assistant, Matt Bertani deserve a full season (contracts expiring) with a better mix of prospects and especially veterans to go with one more year from Captain Mark Wotton. If Bruno Gervais wants to return a two-way contract would be an alternative from Wotton.

David Ullstrom, Mark Katic, Justin DiBenedetto and Rhett Rakhshani had excellent seasons.

From Mr Fornabaio's numbers:
Bridgeport lost 380 man-games to injury, a team record. (with smaller roster)

Only four teams in the past 15 AHL seasons used more players than Bridgeport's 62 this year.

On Dec. 31, the Sound Tigers were 18-14-1-2. Then January was the worst month in team history. Then February was the second-worst month. On the morning of March 13, Bridgeport was 21-36-3-5, having gone 3-22-2-3 in the meantime.

They went 9-3-1-2 in their last 15 games, After winning just six of their first 33 road games, they won six of their last seven.



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Jack Capuano's First Day, More from Snow, Weight Speaks.

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Islanders website: Had more from General Manager Garth Snow, comments from Interim Head Coach, Jack Capuano, along with team Captain Doug Weight.

Assistant coaches Dean Chynoweth and Scott Allen will remain on staff in their current capacities. In Capuano's absence, Sound Tigers assistant coach Pat Bingham will assume head coaching duties.

NYIFC Comments:
Doug Weight did not throw Gordon under the bus, and acknowledged the players are responsible for this, however he did not sound like a man who disagreed with the decision to make a change.

Scott Gordon for his part was first class, and showed a side of himself as fans we rarely got to see. I do believe Snow-Capuano comments were genuine about how they liked Gordon. Only the gm knows if Gordon will be an active part of things or will find himself an assistant to the gm, who has the job in title only.

As for Jack Capuano's long-term status, he could be here a week or less, another coach could be hired quickly. It depends on whether the general manager is permitted to hire another coach or does this set the stage for a housecleaning next summer that includes Garth Snow?

I will add this on Capuano, if he's been teaching Scott Gordon's system for over two years, what's different that he can bring to the position?

Bottom line, this team does not start winning soon at six games under five hundred soon it's not going to matter who the coach is. They have to produce at even strength, they have to go on a winning streak.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio has comments from Pat Bingham who takes the role as Sound Tigers head coach.

Misc:
Did you really expect some media shockjocks to do anything but blame Wang because they could not count how many max rookie contracts or forwards were already here with long-term contracts signed? They are not interested in the contract offer made to Paul Martin or others, it's not Pittsburgh or Chicago/Toronto or a market where they will give the teams all benefits of the doubt because those clubs are important to their businesses/status. The only thing most of them they have proven is their knowledge, information and viewpoints are irrelevant/obsolete.

There is no excuse for the New York Islanders losing streak, there is even less excuse for such lazy, outdated media coverage.



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Scott Gordon Fired As Head Coach, Jack Capuano Promoted on Interim Basis

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Islanders website: The New York Islanders announced today that Jack Capuano has been named interim head coach, replacing Scott Gordon. Gordon will remain with the organization as an adviser to General Manager.

“We believe we need a change in direction and, with the majority of the regular season still ahead of us, our goal remains to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Snow said. “Scott has made tremendous strides with our team the past three seasons and I look forward to continuing our relationship in an advisory capacity.”

NYIFC Comments:
I cannot put this on the head coach, however when you cannot change all the players, you have to change the voice in the room. Having written that when a team struggles this long offensively, the coach usually takes the hit unless it is a true partnership (see Nashville-Buffalo) many sold (not Garth Snow) when Gordon was selected as head coach.

Was it fair to Scott Gordon inheriting the NHL's most injured team his first year or losing another 250 man games lost last year, or having no Okposo-Streit this season? Absolutely not.

This is a results-oriented business with a bottom line, this team accumulated one out of twenty points in it's last ten games.

Too many players on this roster were struggling. Gordon had the most tenure of any Atlantic coach, John Anderson was fired in Atlanta and came in around the same time as Gordon with far more talent.

When the team captain employs the word pathetic with regard to the players work ethic something is going to change.

As for Jack Capuano, Bridgeport is tied for last place, and by record did not merit this opportunity even on an interim basis.

This also suggests the general manager's tenure is on shaky ground and must produce improvement he felt the team must make this season.

Do I think a coaching change will fix the offensive struggles at five on five? No, this goes to the offensive resume's of the players at even strength, however it's Capuano's opportunity which will likely be just for this season with his time in Bridgeport ending.

Of course interim can also mean a game or two before another coach is hired.

What happened today goes entirely on the general manager, he made the decision to keep or resign some veterans in Hunter-Weight, he signed Parenteau, gave Nielsen a four year contract and built a large majority of the roster.

Scott Gordon was also Garth Snow's coaching choice.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports no announcement at this time on the status of Pat Bingham, Jack Capuano's assistant in Bridgeport in terms of a replacement or promotion.



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Islander News Articles 2/10:

Newsday: Greg Logan recaps the loss with Jeff Tambellini's comments on his missed breakaway, Ted Nolan who thought they could not play much better but was not happy how his club did not come back on the winning goal.

Newsday: Greg Logan had more from Sean Hill on his suspension.

NYI Fan Central Comments:
The Daily News has a full Ranger article and a three part Sunday feature but did not cover the Islander game. The Devils game was covered by a reporter.

Jay Greenberg was permitted to travel to Philadelphia for an extra Ranger article from Philadelphia with Larry Brooks and of course Mr Brooks had his usual Ranger centric Sunday feature. Mark Everson had a full Devils article.

At Newsday Ranger beat writer Steve Zipay controls the Sunday hockey agenda where it's usually more Ranger centric but about the NHL in general.

It's not the Islanders folks, it's the people in the offices making the decisions and it seems to come down to who is a fan of what team. This is why we need more Islander fans in the decision making process at these publications and that starts with Islander fans covering the team who will push the editors hard for print space and blogs.

Anyone think Greg Logan should have picked up on this and maybe just let the blog on Sean Hill be enough and used the space for his second article on the Islanders? Instead all we got in his second article is Aaron Johnson's scratch. He did not even report Colliton was sent back to Bridgeport, despite Mr Fornabaio telling us he could not get back in time to play against Portland and was sent down.

Star-Tribine: Michael Russo recaps Minnesota's win with Mark Parrish's comments on how he tried to convince the refs Blake Comeau knocked out his teeth, even though they were missing already which is very funny.

Pioneer Press: John Shipley recaps the game with Bill Guerin's comments that it was not a good point because his team did not finish the job.

The News: Has more on Jon Sim and Hockey weekend in Canada where Sim and Devin Smith of the NHL Association donated ninety sets of hockey gear through the NHL Dreams and Goals program and was praised by mayor New Glasgow Mayor Ann MacLean who presented Sim with a hand-tinted photograph of the Westside rink Sim skated on as a youth.

Chronicle Herald: Tom Mccoag has more on Jon Sim.

Sports Illustrated/AP: Has Brian Burke's and Chris Botta's comments on what happened with Pat Lafontaine and the Ducks gm Tuesday night and points out Lafontaine has been to several Islander games this season.

Sound Tigers website: Recaps the Sound Tigers loss to Portland.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio reports on the Sound Tigers 5-2 loss to Portland in a very physical game in front of the biggest crowd of the year at Harbor Yard. Kyle Okposo got a favorable bounce for his goal. Jeremy Colliton was sent back to Bridgeport but did not arrive in time to play. Kip Brennan was given a match penalty for sticking up for a teammate. Pat Bingham was behind the bench for Jack Capuano who had the flu.

Ct Post: Michael Fornabaio's game recap also includes Kyle Okposo suffering from the flu and the Sound Tigers race to qualify for the playoffs with only thirty games left and Bridgeport on the outside.

Islanders website: Had a late Saturday feature on Kyle Okposo's two goals and assist which included his comments after the Portland Pirates loss.

Portland Press-Telegram: Has the Pirates coverage.