First the Sound Tigers era ended, and now, the Islanders' minor-league tenure in Connecticut is ending for good.
American Hockey League President and CEO Scott Howson announced Tuesday that the AHL Board of Governors has unanimously approved the relocation of the Bridgeport Islanders to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, beginning with the 2026-27 season.
A message to our fans, from the New York Islanders regarding the team’s relocation.
Press release link: https://t.co/Am6ouVqnwf pic.twitter.com/9q2xvTpp3R
— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) March 31, 2026
Those plans were announced earlier this month pending AHL approval, and now, it's official that the Isles' top affiliate will be moving from just across the sound to across the border, marking the return of AHL hockey to Hamilton for the first time since the then-Bulldogs moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, after the 2014-15 season.
They will move to the AHL's North Division and play in the recently-renovated TD Coliseum - which seats nearly 18,000 for hockey, double the capacity of Bridgeport's Total Mortgage Arena, and is, like both UBS Arena and Total Mortgage Arena, operated in part by Oak View Group.
Such ends a run that saw the then-Sound Tigers begin play as an expansion team in 2001, moving the Islanders' AHL affiliate from a shared team with the Kings in Lowell, Mass., to just across the ferry, and saw the Islanders purchase full franchise rights in 2004 ahead of eventually rebranding the team name to their own ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Bridgeport hockey saw its best season right off the bat, as the Sound Tigers won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy (the AHL's version of the President's Trophy) for the league's best record in their inaugural 2001-02 season, and won both the East Division and Eastern Conference titles to advance to their so-far only Calder Cup Finals appearance.
That was the team's apex, however, as they have just one division title since (2011-12) since, and have won just one playoff series in nine subsequent appearances - that coming all the way back in 2002-03.
Bridgeport hopes to have one last chance to add to that legacy, as they entered Wednesday in fifth place in the East Division, two points up on both Lehigh Valley and Springfield, with eight games left.
The top six teams in the eight-team division advance to the playoffs, and if the Isles cannot hold off the Phantoms and Thunderbirds, then April 12 will go down as the final game in Bridgeport for now - and that, fittingly, is against the in-state rival Hartford Wolfpack, the AHL affiliate of the Isles' rival New York Rangers.
