After one of the worst seasons in AHL history in the post-1967 NHL expansion era, Bridgeport Islanders will have a new coaching staff next season.
The upcoming New York Islanders general manager and executive vice president Mathieu Darche announced Thursday that Bridgeport head coach Rick Kowalsky and his coaching staff will not return next season. Bridgeport scored 15-50-4-3 with 37 points, scoring just four home wins in 36 games at Total Mortgage Arena to set a new league record in vain for Home-Ice.
“I'm a new guy,” Dutch said at his introductory press conference when asked about Bridgeport's plans. “I hope there are new employees moving towards us.”
Darche has no news on whether New York assistant general manager Chris Lamoriello will return. Lamoriello has been in New York since joining the organization as Player Personnel Director in 2016. He held his current role in the 2017-18 season.
“It’s all being evaluated,” Dutch said. “There are a lot of good people here. Now, my focus is on coaching, because a lot of teams are looking for coaching at this time of year, so you don't want to be too late for that. But the overall structure of how we work with the AHL will be enhanced.”
Darche arrived at the organization after serving as director of the hockey operation after six seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning last Friday. He also served as an additional role as assistant general manager of Tampa Bay before the 2022-23 season. Although the outlook pipeline in Tampa Bay has slowed down significantly in recent years, their AHL membership has slowed down, Syracuse has not missed the Calder Cup playoffs since 2016.
As a player, Darche spent part of nine seasons in the AHL, serving as captain, and won the Calder Cup in 2004 and served as a member of the Milwaukee Admiral in 2004. Overall, he played in the regular season AHL in the 552 seasons and won 212-231-443 games, and he scored 30 goals in 30 goals. He also participated in 250 regular season NHL games.
“I believe in developing in a successful environment,” Dutch said. “That doesn’t mean you win every year because the AHL is one of the toughest coaching venues… So, the AHL is definitely my focus because your players have to be prepared.
“Player development is an important part of developing a winning organization. I hope we can develop well. I hope we can succeed in the AHL. When I say [the organization] This is “vertical integration”. You can't have a good NHL team [say]'I don't care about AHL [affiliate]. 'That's your pipeline. You have to move forward. Player development, that's where I think Tampa Bay Lightning has done an incredible job. ”
Dutch also said the organization's ECHL member Worcester Railing will play a key role. AHL clubs rely heavily on their ECHL branches to block the roster, and the ECHL may also be a valuable training ground for developing goalkeepers and other original talents.
Darche and his staff have a daunting task before them as they try to build a long-struggled action in Bridgeport. Bridgeport entered the AHL of 2001-02 and reached the Calder Cup final that season. However, since then, the team has missed the playoffs 11 times and won only one Calder Cup playoff series.
Bridgeport's 2024-25 performance put the team in the Atlantic Division seventh place, behind the Hartford Wolves in the seventh place, 37 points behind the playoffs, 59 points behind the regular season champion Hershey Bears. The team had 113 goals, lost the last seven games, winning only seven of 36 games in the second half of the season.
Veterans Chris Terry, Brian Pinho and Liam Foudy had to make up 35.3% of the team's score due to the high prospects for Bridgeport. Terry managed to finish fourth in AHL score (19-47-66), while Pinho made the team in the AHL All-Star Classic in February. Highlights beyond them are hard to find. Bridgeport scored 4.08 goals per game, ranking 31st overall with 2.51 goals per game. The Power play finished 29th (15.6%), while the fines killed 74.2%.
Goalkeeper Marcus Hogberg ended up spending most of his time with the NHL club, while Jakub Skarek played only 22 games for Bridgeport. Their absence left most of the goalkeepers to Henrik Tikkanen (6-18-3 in 30 games | 4.12 | .865) and Hunter Miska (2-8-0 | 4.28 | .861), who joined the team from the KHL.
The change in coach Bridgeport is the second in the AHL this week. The Philadelphia Flyers have previously announced that Lehigh Valley Phantom head coach Ian Laperriere will be transferred from the position to a hockey operation consultant.
If Darche seeks experienced options, several former AHL coaches may be considered. Chris Taylor, assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils, has five seasons. He served as head coach for the Rochester American for three seasons before going to New Jersey. The Anaheim Ducks did not retain assistant coach Brent Thompson, who had been at Bridgeport before heading to the West. Drew Bannister, who released mid-season in St. Louis Blues, directed five seasons with San Antonio’s rampage and Springfield Thunderbirds. Syracuse assistant coach JD Forrest served as head coach for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for four seasons.
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