Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
No one pushed around Rocky Thompson during his playing days.
Spending most of his 10-year career skating in the AHL, Thompson built a reputation as someone who protected his teammates and brought an energetic, all-in mentality with him each day.
Now as he steps behind the bench for the Bridgeport Islanders, Thompson wants to bring that same enthusiasm to a team that endured a 57-loss season in 2024-25. The parent New York Islanders named Thompson the head coach in Bridgeport on June 23 as part of an extensive makeover for their AHL affiliate. New general manager Mathieu Darche quickly identified righting the AHL affiliate as a top organizational priority.
“We’re not going to be the punching bags anymore,” Thompson vowed.
Management has been aggressive about fortifying its organizational depth. To start, Bridgeport re-signed forward Chris Terry, the franchise’s all-time leader in points and assists and the third-leading scorer in the AHL in 2024-25. New York also signed defenseman Ethan Bear, a Second Team AHL All-Star this past season, and dependable two-way forward Matthew Highmore, who split the season between Ottawa and Belleville. David Rittich to addresses depth in net, and forward Julien Gauthier, a former Calder Cup champion who was limited to nine games this past season by injury, is staying on a new one-year contract.
Thompson last worked in the AHL when he spent three seasons as head coach of the Chicago Wolves, leading them to the Calder Cup Finals in 2019. He has since spent two years as an associate coach with the San Jose Sharks and three more as an assistant on John Tortorella’s staff with the Philadelphia Flyers.
One of Thompson’s key tasks will be to create a new identity around a Bridgeport club that has missed the Calder Cup Playoffs for three seasons in a row.
“There was no identity here in Philly when we got there,” Thompson said. “And [Tortorella] created an identity with this hockey team. He’s very demanding, he’s very passionate, and he’s very caring. And I was able to see how players can respond to his style of coaching because of the type of person that he is, and they know that he cares about them.
“It’s not for everybody, and there have been a handful of players over the years that maybe didn’t feel like they excelled in that environment. But I saw how he created an environment that was competitive.”
That said, Thompson has his own strong personality that he will bring with him to Bridgeport. For the players who will return from last season’s team, Thompson will also have to work to build confidence within the dressing room. A couple of days after his hiring became official, the always-talkative Thompson had a 45-minute conversation with Terry.
“The AHL humbles everybody when they come there,” said Thompson, who played 566 games in the league before retiring in 2007. “It’s such a difficult league to play in. Being in that environment (last season), it can be very tough for everybody. But that was last year. We’re no longer the punching bag of the American Hockey League.
“This is a fresh start for everybody. They know that coming in. When you come to the rink, they’re not going to see me walking down the hall always holding a computer in my hand showing them what they did wrong. I’m going to be asking them what they did last night. That’s my personality. I like getting to know the guys. I like talking with them and just socializing. To me, that’s fun.”
The organization’s first steps toward rebuilding Bridgeport have been taken this summer. More will follow come training camp and into October as Thompson’s roster starts to come together.
“When it’s time to work,” Thompson said. “it’s time to work.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.