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The San Diego Gulls face off their 2026-27 home schedule Saturday at 6 p.m. with a game against the Pacific Division rival Henderson (Nev.) Silver Knights.
It’s the first of 36 home games for the NHL Anaheim Ducks’ top developmental affiliate in the American Hockey League. There appears to be a lot of potential based on last weekend’s season-opening two-game series in San Jose. The Gulls defeated the host Barracuda, 5-1, in Saturday’s opener and came up just shy with a 5-4 overtime setback on Sunday.
After being swept out of last season’s Calder Cup playoffs by the Colorado Eagles, the Gulls faced off the new season — under a new coaching staff — by capturing three out of four possible standings points.
“Overall good weekend to build off of,” new San Diego head coach Dave Manson said.
The Gulls received points from 12 players — an impressive number — in the two games.
Heading into Friday’s road game in Coachella Valley, third-year defenseman Stian Solberg keyed the team with four points on two goals an two assists, followed by new acquisition Anton Wahlberg with three points (one goal, two assists).
Eight players followed each with two points: center Roger McQueen (two goals), right wing Matthew Phillips (one goal, one assist), left wing James Hamblin (one goal, one assist), center Nathan Gaucher (one goal, one assist), left wing Nico Maytovic (one goal, one assist), defensemen Jett Woo (two assists) and Roman Kinal (two assists), centers Sean Farrell (two assists), and Ryan Carpenter and Ethan Procyszyn each withg one assist.
Solberg, 20, a first-round pick (23rd overall) by the NHL parent Anaheim Ducks in the 2024 entry draft, led the Gulls with three points (one goal, two assists) in the season opener. He closed out the victory with an empty-net goal.
Wahlberg, 21, a second-round pick (39th overall) in the 2023 draft by the Buffalo Sabres, joined San Diego after an offseason trade by the Ducks for defenseman Olen Zellweger, who appeared in 44 games for the Gulls in 2023-24 with 12 goals and 37 points.
McQueen, 20, was drafted by Anaheim in the first-found (No. 10 overall) in the 2025 draft.
Solberg, Wahlberg and McQueen are among 10 Gulls under the age of 23 on the roster. Solberg and McQueen are among nine Ducks picks on the team who were taken in the opening three rounds of the NHL draft.
“It’s always nice when you can spread the scoring out,” Manson noted. “There’s not a hockey player in the world that doesn’t like to score, so it’s good to see guys, different guys, get on the sheet, and that helps their confidence.”
The Gulls won behind goaltender Laurent Brossoit, a Stanley Cup champion with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, who stopped 29 of 30 shots in Game 1 in his San Diego debut.
Damian Clara, who represented Italy in the 2026 Winter Olympics, got the start in Game 2 with 28 saves on 33 shots.
The Gulls scored two power play goals in Game 1 and led 4-2 midway through Game 2.
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
James Hamblin scored the first San Diego goal of the 2026-27 season and later added an assist in his Gulls debut. Hamblin posted an AHL career-high 27 goals last season with the Bakersfield Condors.
Matthew Phillips netted a power play goal and tacked on an assist in his first game of 2026-27 as the Gulls’ leading returning scorer from last season (52 points in 71 games).
Nico Myatovic posted his first two points on the new season with a goal and assist.
Roger McQueen recorded his first goal of the season, his first power play goal in his AHL career and his second AHL goal.
Ryan Carpenter, Anton Wahlberg and Sean Farrell each earned their first assists of the season.
Phillips called the season opener “a good game.”
“A lot of guys haven’t played more than one game yet, but I think we started well,” he said. “I think we had a slight dip in the second, but overall, I think there was a lot to like, and everyone was pretty predictable and played well.
“We have a ton of talented players here, so you could pribably write up 10 different power play units and they’d look good. We have a lot of smart players, so I think when you just combine hockey IQ, then find a way to figure it out.
“I think we have a really good group of guys. I think we already get along really well and enjoy playing and working with each other, so that’s a huge part of it. I think we’ve done a lot of five-on-five drills in practice, and just drills that help us work as a unit. I think that helped us just kind of turn the brains off and play today.”
Hamblin said he enjoyed his San Diego debut and getting his first goal with the team “out of the way.”
“I thknk it was cool putting that jersey on,” he said. “Definitely different, but I got used to it quick, and I’m looking forward to moving forward here.”
Manson concurred about getting his first win as Gulls head coach.
“That’s a really good feeling,” he said. “The guys worked hard all camp, and they were pushed, and responded here with a good win, so it;s nice. Goalie was good on both ends. It’s nice to get the first one out of the way.”
Ahead 1-0 through two periods, the Gulls took control of the game with three goals in a 3:47 span early in the third period, including two power play goals.
“We’re rolling right along, abd we had a two-man advantage,” Manson said. “San Jsoer did a real good job on the kill, and then kind of built some momentum off that, and so we kept plugging, kep working, and we’re able to draw a couple more, and then capitalize on them. So aytime you know your special teams can contribute like that, it’s huge.”
A sellout crowd of 4,329 attended the game at Tech CU Arena.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
Stian Solberg collected his fourth point of the weekend with his second goal of the season.
Anton Wahlberg scored his first goal and earned his second assist. Dating back to the 2025-26 season, he has scored in three consecutive games, the longest goal streak in his AHL career.
Roger McQueen scored for the second game in a row. He now has five points (three goals, two assists) in nine career AHL games.
Nathan Gaucher notched his first goal and first assist for his first multi-point outing of the season. Gaucher set AHL career highs with 15 goals and 29 points in 2025-26.
Ethan Procyszyn notched his first first professional point in his second AHL game.
Jett Wood tallied his first points in a Gulls uniform with his first two assists on the season.
Roman Kinal also earned two assists, the first multi-assist and multi-point game in his AHL career.
Sean Farrell collected an assist to give him two helpers in back-to-back contests.
Damian Clara stopped 28 shots in his season debut.
Jackson Niedermayer made his AHL debut.
Solberg and Gaucher gave San Diego an early 2-0 lead in the opening period before the Cuda came back with tow of their own for a 2-2 first period standoff on the scoreboard.
McQueen and Wahlberg then scored to open up a 4-2 lead in the second period for the visitors.
San Jose forced overtime on Filip Bystedt’s second goal of the game, on the power play, to force overtime. Former Gull Roland McKeown netted the game-winner against his former team three minutes into the five-minute overtime period.
