by Lindsay Kramer || NHL.com
Lindsay Kramer, the AHL correspondent for NHL.com, profiles an up-and-coming player each Monday during the season, and his AHL notebook appears each Thursday on NHL.com.
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers had their team golf outing earlier this week, and already wing Mike Iggulden was in midseason form.
He loosened the ties that held teammate Joe Callahan‘s bag to his cart. When Callahan drove off, the bag tumbled out.
Callahan countered by secretly placing a large rock in Iggulden’s bag, making it tough to lug around until Iggulden figured it out.
"I’d never really seen the rock in the bag (trick) before. I thought it was kind of fun," Iggulden said.
The veteran had no idea all the yuks he signed on for when he inked a free-agent deal with the Islanders in the offseason.
Shortly after his decision, New York pulled Scott Gordon away from Providence to coach up top. Gordon’s P-Bruins were second in the AHL last season with 280 goals. That free-wheeling system has trickled down to the Sound Tigers, where Iggulden, who spent his first three seasons in the San Jose organization, romped to the tune of four goals and four assists in his team’s first six games.
"It’s a lot more high-speed, up-tempo of a system. It’s all about always moving your feet, going and going," said Iggulden, 25. "For someone who has some speed, it’s a good system to be in. It’s taking it to them. It’s not sitting back."
If Iggulden’s career has been about anything, it’s about moving forward. He boosted his scoring totals each of his first three seasons — from 48 to 57 to 66 points, respectively.
"I try to set my goals higher and higher each year. You build up more confidence," Iggulden said. "I’d love to have a point a game. That was sort of my goal before the year, or more than that."
His early pace would have him furthering that trend by miles. Unless, of course, Gordon and the Islanders help him raise a more important number — one. As in the number of games San Jose gave him in his three years there.
"They were saying I needed to be more consistent, and sometimes a little more physical," Iggulden said. "But usually when I talked to them, it was positive. Nothing really ever came out of it."
Iggulden has probably seen the last of the links for a while. He’ll be too busy trying to get the last laugh of another sort with his new organization.
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