bosrs1

One has to wonder if Utica is a long term solution. I mean the rest of the western teams bought and moved their teams when a suitable location was found in California or Arizona. You'd have to think the Canucks will follow suit eventually with all of the potential AHL markets on the western US or Vancouver itself. And of course I'm sure they're keeping their eyes on what Las Vegas does as well with regard to an AHL team.

When they're dead last in attendance and 2 of the new California teams are 2nd and 4th in attendance (and the other 3 were solid) it's not hard to see why they'd roll the dice on another westward move. And Tucson does for the Yotes exactly what the Gulls, Reign, and Cuda have done for the Ducks, Kings and Sharks. They can have a prospect up from the AHL team in less than 2 hours.

I actively follow the Gulls and don't mind at all. Granted I'm on the positive side of the unequal schedule so it's nothing negative for my team, beyond not having as many home games to enjoy. That said, ideally the league will eventually compromise it out further getting all the teams to something between the two extremes now. But for now I'm not going to complain about less wear on our players and less money I have to shell out for season tickets.

Speaking of the Gulls game this weekend, here's a picture of the fog at the end of the game. Not as bad as it got at a couple of points during the game but you can get the idea.

I get what you're saying, but it still seems awkward to cheer for your hated rival's prospects. Most Gulls fans will probably root for the Ducks too. The Gulls even wear the Ducks logo on their shoulders. As someone above said, I cheer for them because they're the home town team. No other reason. Once the players leave that connection ends. Is it a little awkward, sure, but not something I'm entirely unfamiliar with having grown up watching the San Jose Giants (High A) but utterly loathing the San Francisco Giants. And I've already removed the Ducks patch from the shoulder of the Gulls jersey I bought Saturday night so it's all good. I think of it this way, yes some of the players under contract with Anaheim rather than San Diego may eventually play for the Ducks, but that's true of players on even the Sharks in this day and age thanks to trades and free agency. As for most Gulls fans rooting for the Ducks, based on what I saw at the arena last weekend I'd question that assertion. I saw far and away more Kings, Bruins, Canucks, Canadiens, Jets, Sharks, Red Wings, and even Whalers gear on fans not wearing Gulls gear in the crowd than I did Ducks. Which tracks with the name reveal back in March where the crowd was similar. Mind you that's obviously an anecdote, but I have a feeling most Gulls fans are simply San Diego based hockey fans who want to watch some live hockey and will root for the Gulls like me because they're local, not because but in spite of any ties some of the players have to the Ducks. And will similarly go on rooting for their chosen NHL team despite some of the better Gulls players under contract with Anaheim's ultimate destination. Polling those around me at the arena that was definitely the case as there were fans of over a half dozen NHL teams near me and only one person was a Ducks fan.

Gulls opening night was on Saturday night. They sold out the entire Valley View Casino Center (not just their planned reduced capacity) with just shy of 13,000 in attendance (The Gulls have sold just shy of 3,000 season tickets which is good enough for 5th in the league). The place was absolutely hopping. I haven't seen San Diego this hyped up for a pro-sporting event in a very long time. Didn't hurt that the Gulls pulled out a 4-2 win over Grand Rapids in their debut. The city of San Diego also declared Saturday San Diego Gulls Day in the city. The night didn't go glitch free as they did have a few one ice technical issues in the first period, and they had a reoccurring fog issue that cropped up from time to time due to the old arena's air conditioning not being entirely up to the task of cooling 13,000 fans on a freakish for October, 97 degree day. But overall it was apparently a big success. The Samuelis, Gulls and the arena too their combined credit did a lot to gussy the old arena up with new locker rooms, suites, ice, dasher boards, glass, scoreboards, food options, bars, etc... I hardly recognized the old place. All they really need is to pump up the A/C a little more if possible and work on the sound system. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/10/gulls-opener-american-hockey/ http://www.latimes.com/sports/kings/la-sp-kings-ducks-erskine-20151008-column.html

Including myself. I love my Bisons, I love my Marlies, I love my Keys, and not because they are the minor league affiliate of a team i care about. I want my major teams affilates to do well, but not at the expense of my teams. EDIT: my point was, that the price that Neulion charges is insane, not that their service is bad and is something i would like to have, but not at that price Right there with you. I'm pulling for the local AHL Gulls all the way even though I'm a Sharks fan. Once the players move up, well then they're just Ducks, whom are the enemy.

I'm hoping that the NHL will be followed by the AHL and ECHL over the guys running MLB.TV and MiLB.TV. Far better services used by the baseball league.

The AHL Live subscription for comparison is $300 though for early bird. So the ECHL isn't the only minor league hockey outfit ripping you off. MiLB.tv for comparison is the same as MLB, $130. And that's for all levels of MiLB and their far more expansive team list.

It's like everything related to hockey... overpriced.

Hopefully they're not the only ones. Would love to see the Gulls play an outdoor game at Petco Park. The same artist who created the logo for the game also made logos representing Hollywood and San Diego. Not sure where in Hollywood he and league are thinking. There was a post about these logos on Icethetics, but it seems to have been deleted. The logos also seem to have been deleted as well. Images are the wrong format, but here is the link that I found them under. https://www.google.com/search?q=golden+state+hockey+hollywood&rlz=1C1TSNO_enUS500US500&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMIxe3SuJrpxwIViCqICh0iWgZM&biw=1600&bih=799#imgrc=_ They do seem to be very much related to the official one being used for the already announced outdoor game in Sacramento. With one featuring San Diego's Coronado bridge and the other the obvious Hollywood sign. And this guy has been involved with doing logos for previous outdoor AHL games too. Hopefully this means an outdoor game in San Diego between the Gulls and ? and/or an outdoor game in LA between the Reign and ?

Hopefully they're not the only ones. Would love to see the Gulls play an outdoor game at Petco Park.

Huh?

I can't think that this different schedule thing is a long term solution. They'll have to either increase the Pacific's amount of games, reduce the rest, or meet in the middle eventually.

Seems to be the case for many teams. The Gulls are barely leaving the state and only leave the conference a handful of times that I can see. I for one was hoping to see a game against the Wolfpack back east but I guess that was too much to hope for.

The full slate of AHL schedules can be seen here. http://cdn.rapidmanager.com/ahl/files/15_16_sked_team.pdf

Looks like we won't have to wait until opening day to get a glimpse of some of the new Pacific Division teams. The Ontario Reign and the San Diego Gulls are playing a pair of exhibition games October 2 in Ontario and October 5 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The latter game is free to anyone who wants to attend. Opening day for the Gulls at least is still October 10. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/aug/11/san-diego-gulls-free-preseason-game/

Didn't take a rocket scientist to make the statement Garber did. Anyone not taking a FIFA bribe could see Qatar was going to be a :censored:show.

Not sure what the other new teams are doing with regard to media, but the Gulls just signed a radio deal with Southern California's most powerful AM radio station, the Mighty 1090AM (the San Diego Padres flagship station) and their sister station ESPN1700 to broadcast all 68 games of the Pacific's abbreviated season. This will allow them to be heard though all of southern California including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and Ventura Counties (and beyond as 1090 can often be heard in the Central Valley). So Ducks fans will be able to listen to their minor league team (while ironically enough the Ducks flagship 830 is partially available in San Diego (largely depending on which direction your antenna is facing)). The deal also includes a pre and post game show and segments on one of the stations talk radio shows. Pretty extensive deal for a minor league club from anything else I've seen, hockey or otherwise. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/jul/28/gulls-radio-broadcasts-on-mighty-1090-espn-1700/

Who'd have guessed 20 years ago that MLB would end up being the sane league when it came to labor relations.

Jesus they're already planning for a lockout in 2020?

So the Lake Elsinore Storm are giving this beauty away this Saturday to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their affiliation with the Padres. It of course harkens back to the Padres logo of the era when they first affiliated.

Idea! Someone should make an edible taco cap for their Tuesday home games!

Looks like it's getting harder for Bettman to find a way not to give Quebec City a team. Seems like. I mean at this point his only out is to cancel expansion completely. Which I suppose is still possible. The Coyotes still have no deal in Glendale. If he relocates them to Vegas he can call of expansion without too much fuss.

About the only benefit I can see from Tukwila is that it puts the team within reach of those who live/work in the Tacoma area.