NHL
The Islanders plan to move their AHL club from Bridgeport, Conn., to downtown Hamilton, Ontario, where it will play in the newly renovated 18,000-seat TD Coliseum. Michael Chisholm / Getty Images
Professional hockey has a long history in Hamilton, Ontario, and the city could soon be home to the New York Islanders’ American Hockey League affiliate.
The Islanders plan to move their AHL club from Bridgeport, Conn., to downtown Hamilton, where it will play in the newly renovated 18,000-seat TD Coliseum. NHL insider Frank Seravalli initially reported on the move, though league sources tell The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun that a deal has yet to be finalized.
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Some hurdles must be cleared before the Bridgeport Islanders head north of the border in time to start the 2026-27 AHL season as a potentially rechristened Hamilton team.
The NHL’s Islanders must get out of the 10-year lease they signed in 2021 to continue playing at Total Mortgage Arena, the 10,000-seat facility in Bridgeport that has been home to an AHL team since the expansion Bridgeport Sound Tigers joined the league in 2001-02. The Islanders later bought the Sound Tigers and changed their name in 2021. Oak View Group operates Total Mortgage Arena and TD Coliseum, so that figures to be a formality.
The Islanders must also get a favorable vote by the Hamilton City Council, which is expected to take place next month. The team must also gain approval from the AHL, though a league source told LeBrun it does not intend to stand in the way of a relocation.
Moving from Bridgeport to Hamilton runs counter to the recent trend of NHL teams shifting their AHL affiliate closer in proximity, with one of the main reasons being easier player movement when it comes to call-ups and assignments. Bridgeport is 60 miles from the Islanders’ home in Elmont, N.Y.
But the franchise has struggled in recent years with results and attendance. Though Bridgeport is 17-17-2-1 this season, it was an AHL-worst 15-50-4-3 in 2024-25 and has consistently finished in the lower part of the Atlantic Division standings since 2018-19. The Islanders also are typically near the bottom of the AHL in average attendance, though they have spiked upward to 4,235 in 2025-26.
Meanwhile, TD Coliseum officially reopened in November with a Paul McCartney concert after undergoing a $300 million renovation. The arena played host to its first hockey game Jan. 3, a 3-2 shootout victory by the Seattle Torrent over the Toronto Sceptres in front of 16,012 as part of the PWHL’s Takeover Tour this season in North America.
Hamilton, which once was a central part of Jim Balsillie’s failed attempts to bring an NHL team to the city, was home to an AHL team from 1996 to 2015. The Bulldogs were the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers until 2002, then operated in a joint venture between the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens for the 2002-03 season before serving as the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate until 2015.
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Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer — now the owner of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators — sold the franchise back to the Canadiens, who moved their AHL affiliate to St. John’s, Newfoundland. Andlauer acquired the Ontario Hockey League’s Belleville Bulls and brought their junior team to Hamilton under the Bulldogs name.
The Bulldogs played in Hamilton for eight OHL seasons before being sold and moved to Brantford, Ontario, as the renovations to what was then-named FirstOntario Centre began in 2023. The arena, which opened in 1985 as Copps Coliseum, was renamed TD Coliseum in June and has hosted numerous sporting events and concerts over its four-decade lifespan.
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