Bridgeport Islanders (American Hockey League) @ Total Mortgage Arena (Bridgeport, CT)

26 IN 26 STOP 1

*This trip occurred on January 11, 2026.

Also, since this is my first trip of the new year, this marks the debut of the "FIRST VISIT" badge - an idea that came from a pin I got at the Gotham FC match I went to last year, though I'm not sure it's my "best" work (visual art isn't exactly my thing).

If you’re like me, you might be surprised to learn that Bridgeport is the largest city in Connecticut. Approximately 40 miles from the Bronx (aka the edge of New York City), it was a major manufacturing city back in the day, and while that industry has largely died out, it is still a major part of the New York City metropolitan area.

In 2001, the city of Bridgeport, CT received an American Hockey League team: the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. They were successful right out the gate - making the Calder Cup Finals (the AHL’s championship) in their very first year before coming up short (how Vegas of them). Unlike Vegas, however, the Sound Tigers were never able to come close to replicating that success - the furthest they’ve been since that inaugural season is the second round (proper) of the playoffs, and they’ve only been there once: the year after they lost the final.

In 2021, the team rebranded and became the Bridgeport Islanders (they’ve been the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders for their entire history, and were purchased outright by the NHL team in 2004). Since the rebrand...things have not gone well. They’ve been near the bottom of their division pretty much every year (with a random playoff appearance because...sure), have been bottom 5 in the AHL in attendance each year (though the decline began before the rebrand), and in 2024-25, they had their worst season to date - winning only 15 games overall while setting the mark for fewest home wins in a season for an AHL team. In addition, in the summer of 2025, rumors began circulating about a potential sale and move of the team to Hamilton, Ontario - where a newly renovated arena that ALMOST got an NHL team back in the day seeks a "prime" tenant (because as popular as the Toronto Rock may be, it's hard to consider the NLL a "marquee" draw)¹.

When I started thinking about making this trip, I wasn’t super sure about it: it’s around an hour and a half from me, and I feel like I’ve heard that Bridgeport isn’t exactly the best place around (like a lot of former manufacturing places)². With the rumors about the move, however, I figured that if I didn’t do it SOON, it may never happen. Thankfully, they had a decent amount of Sunday games available (i.e. the only day of the week teams play in the afternoon), and they all started at 3, so I figured this would be worth a go. Originally, I had planned for this trip to occur back in 2025, but then I decided to push it back to 2026 around the time I started planning for the 26 in 26 challenge (among other reasons). Strangely enough, this is actually my first ever AHL regular season game: I've been to two other AHL games before: one in Providence prior to starting this blog (which I didn't write about at the time unlike the college hockey games), and one in the Lehigh Valley - both were "preseason" games however.

Since attendance has, as mentioned earlier, been on the lighter side, I decided to "try my luck" at the arena box office with pricing (i.e. see if I could avoid Ticketmaster shenanigans), and I got a standing room only ticket for less than I would have buying it online (I'll discuss the SRO section more in a bit). I also had SOME thoughts about trying to find street parking since this game was on a Sunday, but I was SUPER unsure about safety, so I opted to just play it safe and park in the arena lot (though it is quite pricey; I later found another lot in the area but further from the arena that wanted EVEN MORE).

Total Mortgage Arena (what a name) opened with the team’s debut in 2001. Originally just "The Arena at Harbor Yard", the arena is located near an outdoor music amphitheater which used to be a baseball stadium (at Harbor Yard)³. In addition to the AHL franchise, it also hosted a few seasons of Sacred Heart Pioneers hockey, SOME New York Sirens in their first year (i.e. before they moved full time to New Jersey), several basketball teams/programs, a pro wrestling event or two (since WWE's headquarters is 22 miles away in Stamford), a few NHL preseason games, and was also the original home for Connecticut Ice - a college hockey tournament between the state's four college hockey programs (UConn, Yale, Quinnipiac, and the aforementioned Sacred Heart).

In what I think is a first for indoor arenas on this blog, the main concourse is at floor level (i.e. the same level as the ice)⁴; therefore, there are limited views of the ice from the concourse. In addition, it doesn't wrap fully around the seating area; I THINK the part that's "cut off" is where the teams' dressing rooms and zamboni garage are. The top of the seating bowl does feature a walkway to get around, but awkwardly, the only way to access it (generally) is from the seats (i.e. it's difficult to get to from the concourse - a situation made even more awkward by ushers blocking you from accessing the seats while the puck is in play). In addition, there's only three things going on here: A bar area in one corner, the press box on one side blocking "full 360" access, and a drinks cart in the standing room section I bought my ticket in. While it's called the "party zone", there's really not much of a party going on here...but you do get THIS actually pretty neat view of the ice:

The good news for the Bridgeport Islanders: the night before this game, they recorded their fifth home win of the season - one more than their total (4) from ALL OF LAST SEASON (which, again, was a league record for fewest home wins). The better news: a third period stretch of three goals in just over two minutes helped the team add win six against probably their biggest rivals (who they were tied at the bottom of their division with): the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers - only making things more intense). While it's difficult to gauge how much the crowd was getting into the game (partially because despite the reported attendance being close to 6,000, there were still a lot of empty seats), there was a fight during the game, which is always a crowd pleaser - for better or worse (and also signifies the "rivalry" aspect of this game).

Also, something I find kinda interesting: the Bridgeport Islanders use the same sequence of sounds that the New York Islanders use when they score - almost. For a few years (seemingly ever since they became the Islanders), they were using the same horn as the NHL team (or at least a recording of it), but this year, they're using a recording of their original goal horn (which sounds closer to the Buffalo Sabres IMO).

MERCH

Before I continue, I should mention that I once bought a Bridgeport Sound Tigers puck in a somewhat unusual place: Worcester, MA! The team there (the Worcester Railers) is currently the ECHL affiliate of the Islanders, and I visited their team store one day and they had Sound Tigers pucks for some reason!⁵

Anyway, merchandise is tucket into one of the corners of the arena (i.e. one of the ends of the"horseshoe" that is the concourse) - though I saw a photo of them putting a merchandise booth on the arena floor for a preseason event for season ticket holders. In honor of the fact that the current Bridgeport Islanders logo is based on the parent team's infamous "fisherman" logo from the 1990s, the store is called the "Bait Shop".

While most of the things you find here don't stray too far from what you'd expect at a hockey game (though the Islanders do sell game worn jerseys⁶), I should mention that the team is celebrating its 25th year in Bridgeport by bringing back the Sound Tigers identity for a few games (read: games where the team wears Sound Tigers jerseys). As such, they had a number of Sound Tigers items - including a "signing board": a piece of (what I think was) plastic in the shape of a jersey with the Sound Tigers logo on it. I bring this up because the team signed autographs after the game (something I later found out only happens three times this season - this being the second time), and I considered getting one of these for the guys to sign...

...but why get the board when YOU CAN JUST GET THE JERSEY AND HAVE THE TEAM SIGN THAT?

Totally worth the hour I spent standing in line - partially because it influenced my decision to try the nearby pizza place afterwards (since it was almost 7:00 PM by that point).