The 2019-20 Anaheim Ducks look a lot like the 2018-19 San Diego Gulls. No fewer than seven players ... plus head coach Dallas Eakins ... in Anaheim spent substantial time in San Diego a season ago.
With that kind of movement there's going to be a transition period. The Gulls opened their year with a 2-1 loss to the defending Pacific Division champion Condors in Bakersfield on Friday night.
San Diego fell behind 2-0 after 11 minutes but then settled in defensively and pitched a shutout for the final 49 minutes. New goalie Anthony Soltarz, one of seven players who made their Gulls debut, stopped 26 of 28 shots in a solid outing.
In the 2nd period Kiefer Sherwood got the first San Diego goal of the year but they couldn't find the equalizer. This was also the first game under new head coach Kevin Dineen, the first man other than Eakins to ever coach an American Hockey League game for the Gulls. Overall he was OK with what he saw.
"I liked our pushback," said Dineen. "It’s just very early on in the season and you like to think that you addressed a lot of things in training camp. All of a sudden the game kicks up and you realize that there are areas to continue to work on. We have a long week that will keep us busy and our preparation will be much more solid heading into next week."
In a wacky bit of early-season scheduling the Gulls don't play again until Friday, October 11 in San Jose. They play Stockton the next night then take nearly another week off before FINALLY playing their home opener on Friday, October 18 against the Heat (from Stockton not Miami).
