San Diego Gulls

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San Diego Gulls
CitySan Diego, California
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionPacific
Founded2000
Home arenaPechanga Arena
ColorsBlack, orange, blue, white
       
Owner(s)Henry Samueli & Susan Samueli
General managerRob DiMaio
Head coachMatt McIlvane
CaptainChase De Leo
MediaSan Diego Union-Tribune
KGB-AM (San Diego Sports 760)
AHL.TV (Internet)
AffiliatesAnaheim Ducks (NHL)
Tulsa Oilers (ECHL)
Websitesandiegogulls.com
Franchise history
2000–2015Norfolk Admirals
2015–presentSan Diego Gulls
Current season

The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego, California, playing in the American Hockey League (AHL). The Gulls began play in the 2015–16 season. The team plays their home games at Pechanga Arena. The Gulls are the affiliate team of the National Hockey League (NHL's) Anaheim Ducks.

History[edit]

On January 29, 2015, the Anaheim Ducks announced that they would purchase their AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, and would be moving the team to San Diego as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The team plays at the Pechanga Arena San Diego, the sixth professional hockey team to play there, following the original San Diego Gulls of the WHL (1966–74), the San Diego Mariners of the WHA (1974–77), the San Diego Hawks/Mariners of the Pacific Hockey League (1977–79), the second San Diego Gulls of the IHL (1990–1995), and the third San Diego Gulls of the West Coast Hockey League (1995–2003) and later the ECHL (2003–06).[1] The team is the fifth hockey team in San Diego to use the "Gulls" name.

The Gulls' name, logo and colors were revealed on February 22, 2015 at HockeyFest.[2][3] HockeyFest was deemed a success, drawing over 8,500 enthusiastic hockey fans.[4]

The San Diego Gulls played their first home game on October 10, 2015, against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The team finished its inaugural season with an average attendance of 8,675, second in the league after the Hershey Bears.[5]

After four seasons and three playoff appearances, the Anaheim Ducks promoted Gulls' head coach Dallas Eakins to the same position with the Ducks.[6] Former Florida Panthers' head coach Kevin Dineen was hired as the next head coach.[7]

Approaching the delayed 2020–21 season, due to COVID-19 pandemic considerations, the Gulls announced they would temporarily relocate and play the season out of the Ducks' practice rink, Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena, in Irvine, California.[8] The Gulls finished third in the Pacific Division and lost in the semifinals to the second place Bakersfield Condors in division postseason tournament. After two seasons, the Ducks did not extend head coach Dineen, instead hiring former Laval Rocket head coach Joel Bouchard.[9] After a lackluster season under Bouchard, the Gulls would hire long-time AHL head coach Roy Sommer to be their fourth head coach in team history.

In Sommer's only season as head coach of the Gulls, the Gulls finished with the worst points percentage and least amount of points in the AHL. Their .299 points percentage was the worst in franchise history.

Rivalries[edit]

The Gulls consider the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate, to be their main rivals and advertise games as "Rivalry Night".[10][11] The teams faced each other in the 2016 division finals, where the Reign defeated the Gulls 4–1 in a best-of-seven series.[12] San Diego then defeated the Reign in the 2017 Calder Cup playoffs 3-games-to-2 in the division semifinals.

Season-by-season records[edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season GP W L OTL SOL Pts PCT GF GA Standing Avg. attendance Year Prelims 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals
2015–16 68 39 23 4 2 84 .618 208 200 2nd, Pacific 8,675 2016 W, 3–1, TEX L, 1–4, ONT
2016–17 68 43 20 3 2 91 .669 221 178 2nd, Pacific 8,876 2017 W, 3–2, ONT L, 1–4, SJ
2017–18 68 36 28 3 1 76 .559 202 197 5th, Pacific 9,305 2018 Did not qualify
2018–19 68 36 24 5 3 80 .588 239 221 3rd, Pacific 9,021 2019 W, 3–1, SJ W, 4–2, BAK L, 2–4, CHI
2019–20 57 30 19 6 2 68 .596 185 164 4th, Pacific 7,582 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 44 26 17 1 0 53 .602 153 142 3rd, Pacific 2021[a] BYE BYE L, 1–2, BAK
2021–22 68 28 33 4 3 63 .463 197 223 7th, Pacific 6,992 2022 L, 0–2, ONT
2022–23 72 20 49 2 1 43 .299 180 281 10th, Pacific 6,953 2023 Did not qualify
  1. ^ The 2021 Calder Cup playoffs were not held; the Pacific Division held a postseason tournament for the division title. The bottom four teams had single-elimination play-in games to qualify for the semifinals (the first two rounds). The division semifinals and finals were best-of-three for the John D. Chick Trophy (the last two rounds).

Players[edit]

Current roster[edit]

Updated March 25, 2024.[13]

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
26 Canada Andrew Agozzino (A) C L 33 2023 Kleinburg, Ontario Ducks
44 Canada Trevor Carrick (A) D L 29 2023 Stouffville, Ontario Ducks
28 United States Judd Caufield RW R 23 2023 Grand Forks, North Dakota Ducks
31 Sweden Calle Clang G L 21 2023 Olofström, Sweden Ducks
39 Canada Anthony Costantini D R 21 2023 Hamilton, Ontario Gulls
19 United States Chase De Leo (C) LW L 28 2022 La Mirada, California Ducks
17 Canada Nathan Gaucher C R 20 2023 Chambly, Quebec Ducks
21 Canada Glenn Gawdin C R 27 2022 Richmond, British Columbia Ducks
34 Sweden Robert Hagg D L 29 2023 Uppsala, Sweden Ducks
4 United States Drew Helleson D R 22 2022 Farmington, Minnesota Ducks
5 Canada Tyson Hinds D L 21 2023 Gatineau, Quebec Ducks
42 United States Travis Howe (PTO) RW R 30 2022 Hull, Massachusetts Gulls
14 Canada Ben King C R 21 2022 Vernon, British Columbia Gulls
10 United States Josh Lopina C R 23 2022 Minooka, Illinois Ducks
11 Czech Republic Jan Mysak C L 21 2024 Litvinov, Czech Republic Ducks
13 United States Nikita Nesterenko C L 22 2023 Brooklyn, New York Ducks
16 United States Sasha Pastujov RW L 20 2023 Bradenton, Florida Ducks
38 Canada Luka Profaca D R 21 2022 Mississauga, Ontario Gulls
12 Slovakia Pavol Regenda LW L 24 2022 Michalovce, Slovakia Ducks
32 United States Alex Stalock G L 36 2023 St. Paul, Minnesota Ducks
30 Czech Republic Tomas Suchanek G L 20 2023 Přerov, Czech Republic Gulls
7 Canada Brayden Tracey LW L 22 2021 Calgary, Alberta Ducks
2 Canada Colton White Injured Reserve D L 26 2022 London, Ontario Ducks
23 Canada Jaxsen Wiebe RW L 21 2023 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Ducks
6 United States Nick Wolff D L 27 2023 Eagan, Minnesota Gulls

Team captains[edit]

Team records and leaders[edit]

Scoring leaders[edit]

These are the top-ten point-scorers for the San Diego Gulls in the AHL. Figures are updated after each completed season.[14]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;   = current Gulls player

Points
Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Sam Carrick C 222 86 95 181 .82
Corey Tropp RW 205 64 93 157 .76
Kalle Kossila LW 170 51 90 141 .83
Chase De Leo C 176 54 84 138 .78
Nikolas Brouillard D 167 22 70 92 .55
Benoit-Olivier Groulx C 145 39 51 90 .62
Brandon Montour D 104 25 64 89 .85
Kevin Roy LW 125 31 57 88 .70
Andy Welinski D 149 24 59 83 .55
Nicolas Kerdiles LW 121 37 39 76 .63

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ducks Launch American Hockey League Franchise in San Diego". Anaheim Ducks. January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  2. ^ "Ducks to Hold 'San Diego Hockeyfest' on Sunday, February 22". Anaheim Ducks. January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "The Gulls Are Back In Town". February 22, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  4. ^ "Hockey Fest a Hit". February 22, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  5. ^ AHL teams establish all-time attendance record
  6. ^ "Ducks hire Dallas Eakins as new head coach". Sporting News. June 17, 2019.
  7. ^ "DUCKS NAME KEVIN DINEEN GULLS HEAD COACH". San Diego Gulls. July 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "28 teams to participate in 2020-21 season". American Hockey League. January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "Anaheim Ducks Name Joel Bouchard San Diego Gulls Head Coach". OurSports Central. July 9, 2021.
  10. ^ "RIVALRY NIGHT IN SAN DIEGO". San Diego Gulls. October 15, 2016.
  11. ^ "FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT AS REIGN, GULLS TAKE RIVALRY TO PLAYOFFS". Ontario Reign. May 4, 2016.
  12. ^ "2016 Playoffs". Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  13. ^ "San Diego Gulls playing roster". American Hockey League. 2024-03-25. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  14. ^ "San Diego Gulls - All Time AHL leaders". hockeydb.com. April 16, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.

External links[edit]