“The message for him is to come in play and have fun. You’ve got a ton of games ahead of you in your career,” - Matthew Highmore
The argument can be made that Rocky Thompson is having the most impressive head coaching season in the American Hockey League. He won’t win the Coach of the Year Award, which will probably go to Ryan Mougenel, Pascal Vincent, Kirk MacDonald, or another coach leading a great team in the league. However, it’s important to consider the team he took over.
The Bridgeport Islanders were the worst team in the league last season and had a historically bad year. Thompson has them sitting one point out of fourth place with 10 games to go. Yes, the team went through a lot of turnover, and they had to be better by default but this team’s success starts at the top and the culture Thompson built.
Viktor Eklund is joining the Islanders to finish the season. A year ago, the New York Islanders kept him overseas and prevented him from joining an AHL team that would have hurt his development. Now, they can confidently send him to a team where he’ll take a step forward in his development, which speaks volumes to how far they’ve come.
Bridgeport Has an Identity & Is Leaning Into It
The Islanders hosted the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday night, a game where both teams, in some ways, are looking in the mirror. Thompson wants the Islanders to play the same way the Checkers do, even if they aren’t as talented and don't have the players to play a fast-paced, high-volume game.
It’s given the Islanders plenty of highs, like the three-game winning streak where they’ve scored 12 goals. Likewise, there are the low points that include brutal losses from 5-0 defeats to 6-0 embarrassments, like the one on March 6 against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Lately, the players have bought into Thompson’s system, and it’s resulted in success. “We figured out how we have to play to be successful, and we’re starting to reap the benefits of it,” Matthew Highmore mentioned in a conversation with The Hockey News, adding, “Our game is going to be very straightforward, wearing teams down.” The Islanders are forcing teams to make mistakes with their pressure and generating enough shots to make a difference. It’s made a difference with the wins, including the recent 3-2 defeat against the Checkers.
Islanders Goaltending is Good Enough
When a team plays a high-volume style, it’s pivotal to have a good goaltender to compensate for the rush chances the other way. Moreover, the goaltender must make the initial save and stop breakaway chances because there will be plenty of them.
The Islanders signed Parker Gahagen this offseason, hoping he’d be the answer. He wasn’t, and it’s why he’s spent most of the season in the ECHL. The good news is that Henrik Tikkanen has been that goaltender. He has a .900 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.48 goals-against average (GAA), which is a significant improvement from his .865 SV% and 4.12 GAA last season. Tikkanen is good enough to make that first stop and hold down the fort, which explains his drastic turnaround in the net.
Paired with Marcus Hogberg, the Islanders have good enough goaltending this time around. It won’t win them games, and from time to time, the tandem will cost them a game. However, it’s good enough, and with the rest of the roster stepping up as well, the Islanders suddenly have a group good enough for the playoff push.
Islanders Can Shut The Door When Needed
It’s not a coincidence that the Islanders turned things around when Ethan Bear joined them. The veteran defenseman missed the first three months of the season with an injury and made his season debut on Jan. 10 against the Utica Comets. The Islanders won their first five games following Bear’s return and have won half of their games since then.
Bear is a defenseman who can step up and shut things down in his own end. Yet, he’s not the only one on the Islanders who can do so. The Islanders have gotten strong play defensively all season from Isaiah George, who was called up lately by the NHL team because of his all-around play. Even with George up, Marshall Warren has stepped up to fill the void on the defensive end.
The other layer to the turnaround, both defensively and in general, is the veteran additions. The Islanders added two midseason acquisitions who have taken them to the next level. Perrick Dube was brought in after spending the first three months overseason, and Matt Luff was added in a trade with the Springfield Thunderbirds. Both veterans provide stability and add plenty to the offensive end as well.
A year ago, the Islanders looked like a broken team. There was a rocky road that they had to take back to contention. They’ve taken that rocky road and are now not only in playoff position, but a point behind the Hershey Bears for the fourth seed in the Atlantic Division, which they’ll want by season’s end in hopes of hosting some playoff games at Total Mortgage Arena.