Bridgeport Islanders
Rink: Total Mortgage Arena
Capacity: 8,412
Built: 2001
League: AHL
City: Bridgeport, Connecticut
Home Of: Bridgeport Islanders
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: January 17, 2025 vs Syracuse
Unique Arena: #103
AHL Arena: #15
Originally named The Arena at Harbor Yard, and for good reason as the arena sits wedged between the Harbor on one side and an elevated highway on the other. Also, there is a separate amphitheater next door for concerts. Unfortunately, there is little else in the immediate neighbourhood to keep you around. Despite closing in on its 25th birthday, the rink still looks fairly modern from the outside and there’s no mistake on what team calls Total Mortgage Arena home, with Islanders logos on the front of the building. While calling a mainland team the Islanders might be odd even with the NYI affiliation, the rink sits right by the Bridgeport/Port Jefferson Ferry terminal, which is the quickest way across the Long Island Sound and is an easy way to avoid New York City to get to Long Island.
Once entering the arena, the main concourse sits at ice level and is laid out in a U shape. The concourse is decked out in Islanders colours and is a nice touch compared to bland soulless buildings. When entering the bowl, you’re met with a large sea of blue seats mostly laid out in a U shape, with a couple levels of suites and club seating stacked on top of it. The building has good sight lines, decent A/V production and very friendly staff.
Unfortunately, the biggest draw back in Bridgeport is the crowd, or lack thereof. Any rink can have a bad night with a small crowd or one that isn’t really into it. But the tiny crowd we saw is the norm in Bridgeport and it’s kind of amazing to think the team can survive with crowds so small, even with NHL money backing it. For years the team was known as the Sound Tigers and just switched to the Islanders since the pandemic. When the New York Islanders debuted the Fisherman’s Friend logo in the mid 90s people treated it like the abomination it was. However, it being the main logo now for their AHL affiliate seems to work nicely. One thing that helps is Bridgeport wears the classic Islanders jerseys with just the logo changed. It’s much better than the wavy teal the NHL club tried pulling off nearly 30 years ago.
Total Mortgage Arena is a solid building that still feels very new, and it’s been kept up nicely and is a fantastic home for any AHL club. It’s just so unfortunate that the crowds are so small and the atmosphere is so lackluster. If you happen to be in the area it’s worth checking out, but unless you have an arena addiction like yours truly it might not be worth traveling hours and hours to see.
