The San Diego Gulls fantastic first foray in to the American Hockey League came to an end on Saturday night. The Gulls lost 2-1 to the Ontario Reign, ending their Calder Cup Playoffs run in the Pacific Division Finals.
Chris Wagner scored to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period but just 25 seconds later Justin Auger beat Matt Hackett for what turned out to be the game-winner. The Reign win the series 4-1 and advance to the AHL’s Western Conference Finals, where they’ll face either Lake Erie or Grand Rapids.
San Diego finishes the season with a record of 43-28-4-2 (including playoffs), and have set themselves up for what is hopefully a long and successful stay in America’s Finest City.
“I think that’s a good starting point for our franchise,” said Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins. “This group came from Norfolk last year. It was a team that finished well out of the playoffs, I think in the bottom five of the league. We came into a new market where we were heavily supported; we were inspired by our community and our fans. They responded with filling a building that is full of excitement and we were able to give them a little bit of playoff hockey. I think it’s a great step for our players, a great step for our organization and a great step for the community.”
A playoff run, indeed, was one heck of a way to welcome hockey back to San Diego.
