The Bridgeport Islanders are going out with a whimper, with a playoff exit, leaving fans who deserved more wanting more.
In the second period of a 1-1 game, the Hershey Bears forward Grant Cruikshank took the puck to the net and collided with Bridgeport Islanders defenseman Marshall Warren and goaltender Marcus Hogberg. The play dislodged the net and left the puck in the crease for Bears forward Sam Bitten to fire it where the net would have been. The goal was waved off but the officials gathered, reviewed the play, and overturned it.
The Bears took a 2-1 lead, and a few shifts later, the game was 3-1. The Islanders were chasing the game and ultimately came up short in a 5-2 loss. That call was a borderline call, one that either fanbase could justify as right or wrong. Yet, it went the Bears' way and ultimately ended the Islanders' season and their run in Bridgeport.
The play, in many ways, reflects how hockey can sometimes feel unfair. The refs, who are a neutral party and make game-changing calls, can change the dynamics of a game. And in some ways, that’s life. Life is unfair.
The Islanders are relocating to Hamilton, Ontario, to start the 2026-27 American Hockey League season. The fans dealt with 25 years of heartbreak and tough seasons. 2024-25 was a historic low, and things were only getting better from there. Just as the Islanders started turning a corner, with a new team that was young and exciting with plenty of optimism, the rug was pulled out from underneath the fans. The team moves to Hamilton, and they won’t experience the glory years.
It’s what Arizona is experiencing now. The Coyotes fans saw years of rebuilding only to see the team move to Utah just as they started to improve. Now, the Mammoth are in the playoffs with a team that’s on the rise.
Hockey and sports can provide some harsh lessons. Not moral ones per se, as much as a look into the real world. Some things are out of control, and it’s frustrating. It’s how Chris Terry felt in the press area of Game Two at Giants Center in the Calder Cup series against the Bears. The longtime Islanders veteran was scratched from the lineup, and all he could do was watch as the Islanders dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards in what would become their final game before relocating.
Terry didn’t want the run to end. He admitted it was a special group that was built to win. “It’s a special group. I think from training camp on, it’s been a group that’s naturally bonded,” Terry noted in a conversation with The Hockey News. It’s why he came back at 37 years old, with a bet that the Islanders could build a winner. They ended the season with 10 consecutive home wins to secure a home playoff game in the first round. Then the team saw their season end suddenly with two quick losses, and it left him with an uncertain future. Maybe he returns for one more year? Maybe he goes into coaching? Maybe he just retires and settles down in Fairfield County, where he’s built a life and family for himself.
Terry is left with an uncertain future, and he’s not the only one. The Islanders fans are in the same boat, and it’s all because of factors out of their control. Hockey is a game of luck, both good and bad. That said, in hockey, good teams find ways to create their own good luck. The cynic looks at the Islanders and says they put themselves in this spot. Would they lose Game Two against the Bears if a skater were around for the loose puck and didn’t let Bitten crash the net for the rebound? Would the team relocate if there was a winning AHL team in Bridgeport and the fans weren’t turned off by the on-ice product? The Islanders are leaving, and the fans ultimately suffer from it but the move was years in the making.
Speaking of the fans, they are left with an uncertain future as well. Do they still support the Hamilton team and the prospects they fell in love with this season? Do they root for the Hartford Wolf Pack, the affiliate of the New York Rangers and the only team left in Connecticut? For live hockey and a look at future NHLers, where do they go? Fairfield County is within two hours of three NHL teams and three AHL teams but most of them are rival teams (although it’s worth adding that a large contingency of the county supports the Rangers, which explains in part why the Islanders never took off in Bridgeport).
For the Islanders fans, it’s another run of bad luck for a team that’s had plenty of it. The team wanted to go out with a bang and is going out with a whimper instead. After the 5-2 loss to end the season, Islanders head coach Rocky Thompson was asked about how it was a tough way to go out. “That’s hockey,” he replied with the realization that in a short series, anything can happen. The Islanders were prepared to go on a run, yet it wasn’t meant to be. That said, the season wasn’t a failure and can still be seen as a success, something Thompson acknowledged. He turned the team around and is building something special. The downside is that what he’s building will be finished in Hamilton, and the Bridgeport fans will have to watch from a distance.