Bolduc, Gill Excited for 'Homecoming' This Week
Mar 10, 2025By Michael Fornabaio (@fornabaioctp)
It's normally a pretty simple question, how many tickets Sam Bolduc will need for a Bridgeport Islanders road game. Bolduc needed a second to think this time, though.
"I don't know," he said, and he paused, then smiled. "A lot."
Bridgeport will play Wednesday night in Bolduc's hometown of Laval, Quebec, against the Rocket at Place Bell. He has not played there since 2021 despite possibilities that included the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic.
"It's always fun. There's always a lot of people. I've got a lot of friends there," the fifth-year defenseman said. "I'll probably go home Tuesday and go for dinner after with friends on Wednesday."
For Justin Gill, Wednesday will be his first pro homecoming. He's from Blainville, and from home to Place Bell, he said, is about 15 minutes. His father is a detective in Laval.
"To go back to the city where you grew up, see everyone, spend some time with family and friends and play in front of them, you don't get to do that often," said Gill, 22. "I've been away from home since I was 16 years old. Going back home once a year is pretty special."
Bolduc, 24, has only played at Place Bell for Bridgeport once, in his first, as he called it, "real year" -- his first unreal year was the 24-game 2021 season as the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laval, the Montreal Canadiens' top affiliate, won that game in overtime on Nov. 12, 2021, but Bolduc was +2, on the ice for goals by then-teammates Arnaud Durandeau and Paul LaDue.
"It's a pretty sick rink to play, too, a lot of people," Bolduc said.
Place Bell also includes two other rinks, one the wider Olympic size and another NHL-sized. Gill, a forward in his first pro season, said he has practiced there, but this will be his first time on the showcase sheet of ice. Bolduc said he'd practiced there too when he was younger but always thought it would be fun to play there.
Bolduc has since grown to 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. He was an AHL All-Star in 2023, but he'd been up with the New York Islanders. He was also up in both 2023 and 2024 when Bridgeport visited his hometown.
As the all-star selection suggests, Bolduc has had some very solid moments as a pro. A second-round draft pick in 2019, he is working on making those moments happen more often, and he feels he has been more consistent over the second half.
Bridgeport coach Rick Kowalsky was an assistant coach for Bolduc's first two full pro seasons and saw some good stretches from the defenseman. There were times the coach thought he saw Bolduc about to break out, but there have also been times he has gone up to New York and not played a lot, or hasn't seized chances to stick in the lineup.
"He really got off to a slow start with us here" this season, Kowalsky said. "He has to use his physical attributes. He's so big, so strong. He can cover so much ice. He has this habit that probably goes back junior because it was easy, where he didn't have to move much. When he does, he's a completely different player.
"The biggest thing, I've noticed, is when he's trusting his feet...when he's got good gaps, when he's physically engaged, he's so much harder to play against. When he was at his best this year, there was about a month stretch where he looked like a legit NHL defenseman. The challenge with all these guys is bottling that type of game night-in, night-out."
Bolduc said he got a little confidence a month ago when, with captain Cole Bardreau out, the Islanders put an alternate-captain's A on Bolduc's sweater for a weekend. Confidence, he said, can help lead to consistency.
"You want to be consistent other ways," Bolduc said, "but a lot comes from that and having fun, finding ways to have fun and keep pushing."
Gill was a fifth-round draft pick in 2023; he's playing on an AHL contract this season. Though he started the year in the ECHL with Bridgeport's affiliate in Worcester, he has been a Bridgeport regular since mid-January.
"It's a learning process," Gill said. "I'm trying to get as much experience as I can, as many games as I can. It's growing your game, getting used to the pro life and pro hockey."
Bridgeport goes on from Laval to Belleville, Ontario, to face the Senators on Friday and Saturday. (The Islanders come back home the following weekend, Saturday, March 22, against Springfield at 5 p.m. for Hockey And Hops, then the next day against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 3 p.m. for Autism Awareness Day.)
In Laval, though, Gill said he plans dinner with his family and his girlfriend and hopefully a chance to see a lot of friends.
"It's going to be so much fun to be there," Gill said. "There will probably be a little nerves before the game knowing so many people are there for me."