AHL announces 2016-17 schedule, Sound Tigers and Wolf Pack gear up for new season

While it may be true that the summer of 2016 will be remembered for its brutal heat and humidity, there is relief on the horizon. What proof? The American Hockey League has released its 2016-17 schedule, which will result in plenty of action for the AHL’s two Connecticut-based franchises, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Hartford Wolf Pack.

The Sound Tigers will play two preseason games: Wed., Oct. 5, vs. Hartford at Trinity College, and Sat., Oct. 8, vs. the Providence Bruins at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport. First puck drops at 7 p.m. for both contests. Tickets for the Wonderland game will be $10, with proceeds going towards youth hockey. Gates will open at 6 p.m. The regular season opens a week later, Sat., Oct. 15 vs. the P-Bruins at the Webster Bank Arena. Faceoff is at 7 p.m.

In all, 31 of the Sound Tigers’ 38 home games will be on weekends, this season: three on Friday night, 15 on Saturday night, and 13 on Sunday afternoon. In addition, the annual “Cool Fun 101” school-day game will take place Wed. Nov. 2 when the Tigers entertain the Albany Devils with an 11 a.m. faceoff. The Tigers will also have a “Spring Fun 102” game on Tues., Apr. 4, vs. Springfield at 11 a.m. The team’s full promotional schedule with details on Opening Night and all other theme nights will be released over the next two weeks. For a complete schedule, please click HERE.

“We are excited to have more than 80 percent of our home games on the weekend,” said Sound Tigers’ president Michael Picker. “There’s a lot to look forward to, including the return of 3 p.m. starts for most of our Sunday contests. [Last season, most Sunday games started at 5 p.m.] In addition, we are incorporating fun themed activities into a significant amount of our home games.”

Bridgeport will play division rivals Providence and Springfield (who this year will be known as the Thunderbirds) 12 times apiece. Meanwhile, the Sound Tigers and Wolf Pack will do battle eight times in the 2016-17 season. Bridgeport will also play the Hershey Bears and Lehigh Valley Phantoms eight times each, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins six times.

Season, partial and group ticket plans are on sale now through the Sound Tigers front office. Please call (203) 345-2300 for more information. Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com , by phone at (800) 745-3000 or at the Webster Bank Arena Click It Or Ticket Box Office located at 600 Main Street, Bridgeport. Executive suites & premium seat packages are also available by calling 203-345-2300 ext 8.

The Wolf Pack will kick off the regular season at home with a game against the St. John’s IceCaps at 7:15 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 14, at the XL Center. A special discount package is available for the home opener, including one Red-level ticket as well as one complimentary Red-level ticket to an October, November or December Wolf Pack home game of the purchaser’s choice.  In addition, every package purchased will include a $5 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card. The Opening Night package is priced at $30, and will be available starting on Wed., Aug. 24, through Sept. 7, and is available only on the Wolf Pack’s official website, www.hartfordwolfpack.com. The home opener will be the first of 12 Friday night games on the Wolf Pack’s home schedule that will also include 10 Saturday night games and seven Sunday home dates. The Wolf Pack will also have one Tuesday night and eight Wednesday night home games.

Wednesday, Nov. 2, will be Pack’s third annual “Sonar’s Edu-skate” school-day home game with an 11 a.m. faceoff. First puck will drop at 7:15 p.m. for all Friday night home games, while the remainder of the non-Sunday home contests will start at 7:00 p.m.—except for Sat., Jan. 7 and Sat., Feb. 4, which will start at 7:30; Sat., Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), which will have a 5 p.m. faceoff, and Sat., Mar. 4, which will have a 3 p.m. start. All Sunday home dates will start at 5 p.m., except for Mar. 5, in which first puck will drop at 3 p.m.

The Wolf Pack’s most familiar foes will be Atlantic Division opponents Springfield and Providence, whom the Pack will face 10 time each—five home, and five away. Hartford will face the rest of their divisional rivals—Bridgeport, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton—eight times each (four home, four away).

In addition to those 52 divisional games, the Wolf Pack will play 24 contests against North Division competition, including four games (two home, two away) vs. Albany, Rochester, Toronto, Utica and St. John’s, and two games each (home-and-home) with Binghamton and Syracuse.

Wolf Pack 2016-17 single-game tickets will go on sale Tue., Sept. 13, at noon, at the XL Center box office, on-line at www.hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.  Also, similar to the past three seasons, on Sept. 13, fans will be invited to participate in the ice-painting process during the installation of the XL Center ice surface.  Fans are encouraged to come to the XL Center between noon and 1 p.m. that day, to take paint brush in hand and apply some of the special red and blue “Jet Ice” paint to the newly-frozen rink. Those interested are asked to come to the XL Center atrium, where Wolf Pack staff will be on hand to escort them to ice level.