It’s June but ice hockey is in the news.
The NHL crowned its 2023 Stanley Cup champion last week when the Vegas Golden Knights, the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, defeated the Florida Panthers, the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed, by a score of 9-3 to lay claim to the league’s top prize via a four-games-to-one series victory.
It marked the second time in six years that the VGK had advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals after falling in five games to the Washington Capitals during the team’s expansion season in 2017-18.
The Golden Knights have reached for the top since they first stepped on the ice at T-Mobile Arena and completed their final ascent on June 13 to fulfill the dream of majority owner Bill Foley, the man who brought the coolest game on earth to the Nevada desert.
Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps, responded with a parade down the glitzy Strip and rally at Toshiba Plaza outside T-Mobile Arena last Saturday night to celebrate the city’s first major sports championship. It was very watchable stuff for a franchise known for its over-the-top pregame introductions.
The one-mile parade and raucous rally had immeasurable meaning for the tens of thousands of fans who turned out for the piece of history and also for the hockey world in general.
The Original Six owners never envisioned that the Sun Belt would support their sport, much less excel in it.
Jonathan Marschessault received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP while team captain Mark Smith netted a hat trick in the series-clinching Game 5 victory.
Marschessault, one of six original Golden Knights taken in the NHL expansion draft still on the team, was deservedly among the first players to touch the Stanley Cup trophy upon its presentation following the game. He quickly shared the prize with the other five “misfits,” as they have been endearingly called after being taken into the VGK fold as supposed cast-offs from the league’s other teams.
Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, Brayden McNabb and William Carrier joined Marschessault in a once-in-a-lifetime personal celebration.
Raising the Stanley Cup definitely had meaning for those players, among them Theodore, who was selected from the Anaheim Ducks, who serve as the parent club for the San Diego Gulls, the Ducks’ American Hockey League top developmental affiliate.
Local hockey fans got the chance to see a Stanley Cup champion in the making when Theodore, a first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, skated in 76 games for the Gulls (with 14 goals and 57 points) during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
He received 53 call-ups to the Ducks those two seasons.
Marschessault was ironically selected from the Panthers in the expansion draft.
The AHL’s Calder Cup Finals wrapped up Wednesday in Palm Desert as the league’s newest club, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, faced off against the league’s oldest club, the Hershey Bears, in a winner-take-all Game 7 championship tilt.
The Firebirds, who had the chance to showcase their talent locally during games against the Gulls this season, are the top developmental affiliate of the NHL Seattle Kraken.
Hershey won 3-2 in overtime to claim its 12th Calder Cup.
Red and Black
June is also time for college teams to start cobbling together their training camp rosters for the upcoming season. San Diego State University head coach Phil Bateman is hoping his team’s second season at the ACHA Division 1 level in 2023-24 is more prosperous than last season’s 1-20-1 foray into the higher division.
Bateman expects 45 to 50 players at tryouts Aug. 25-27. He’s already released a list of 31 prospects, including nine returners. On the list are a pair of high-profile South County marksmen: Eastlake’s Braden Mayer and Otay Ranch’s Sean Devaney.
Both Mayer and Devaney played roller hockey in the CIF-Metro Conference and were among the top players on wheels. They appear to be just as good — or even better — on ice skates.
Mayer, a Chula Vista native, grew up locally playing elite travel team club hockey for the San Diego Jr. Gulls and Anaheim Jr. Ducks. He made the jump the past two seasons to the United States Premier Hockey League playing for the Boston Jr. Bruins in 2021-22 and the Florida Jr. Blades in 2022-23.
A defenseman, he appeared in 38 games for the Jr. Bruins with 15 points on three goals and 12 assists; he collected 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 43 games with the Jr. Blades.
He also played in the North American Prospects Hockey League from 2019-21, racking up 12 goals and 54 points in 96 games for Merijer Hockey’s 18U AAA squad.
Mayer, who is now 20 and appears to be maturing in the game, posted 35 points in 29 games with the Jr. Gulls 18U-AA team in 2019-20.
Devaney, who is now 21, also grew up playing for the Jr. Gulls. He racked up 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 45 games as a forward while playing with Mayer during the 2019-20 season.
Devaney also played in the Western States Hockey League with the San Diego Sabres, collecting 11 points in 39 games during the 2018-19 season.
Both locals look to impact the 2023-24 SDSU squad in a positive way.
The current training camp list includes 15 players with California roots as well as two players from New Jersey and one player each from Arizona, Massachusetts, Washington, Colorado and Georgia. Bateman has turned his attention across North America for the new incoming class of recruits. Eight prospects hail from Canada.
Swede Daniel Flodman is among the returners.
Other Southern Californians on the training camp roster include defensemen Zachary Casinghino (San Diego Saints/L.A. Jr. Kings)and Zachary Strooza (Yorba Linda) and forwards Marcus Kim (Irvine), Brandon Grant (Irvine), Nolan Conrad (Corona), Gavin O’Bryan (Tustin) and Shane Ege (Patrick Henry).
SDSU remains the lone Division I ACHA team in California and is a steppingstone to higher levels of play in the sport.
“Ultimately, it’s a field of dreams scenario,” Bateman said. “As painful as last year was on the ice with our results, we needed to ‘build it’ so this year they would all come. The collection of incoming, extremely talented players this year are so excited to take on this challenge and be a part of the upward trajectory.”
The Aztecs entered their final homestand at the Kroc Center Ice Arena Feb. 17-18 against George Mason University with a numbing 0-19-1 record. SDSU pulled out a thrilling 5-3 victory with late third period goals by Conrad and Luke Desmarais to snap a 3-3 tie.
Ege, Ian Stentz and Michael Eng also scored for the host team while Isaiah Tano and Kim both picked up two assists. Michael Pellegrino, the team’s season scoring leader with 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) in 22 games, also drew a helper in support of Parks Owensby, the winning goaltender, who made 26 saves on 29 shots.
“The guys celebrated like they had just won the Stanley Cup,” Bateman enthused.
But the celebration was mixed with a dose of reality as GMU won the season-ending game 9-3.
SDSU’s 2023-24 season faces off following the conclusion of training camp. Aztecs opponents for the upcoming season include Colorado Boulder, Colorado State, George Mason University, the Naval Academy, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Grand Canyon University, UNLV, University of Utah and University of Oregon.
Bateman remains optimistic about the upcoming season with a much larger and deeper recuirting class to take on Division 1 opponents this season.
“I don’t think anyone in the division wanted us to go through the season without a win,” the SDSU bench boss said. “After we beat George Mason, I received emails from 12 programs congratulating us. That was good to get respect.”
Birds of a feather
The Gulls announced the signing of new head coach Matt McIlvane on April 25. He succeeds Roy Sommer, the winningest coach in AHL history with 828 career wins, who retired following the 2022-23 season.
Sommer went 20-49-0-2-1 in his only season with the Gulls; McIlvane, armed with incoming classes of high profile draft picks from the Ducks, hopes to develop players in a winning environment over the coming seasons.
Sommer did the best with what he had as the Gulls organization went through a transition season with much of last season’s talent either pulled up to the NHL or lost due to free agency. It was a difficult season all around as the Gulls posted franchise (and league) lows for wins (20), losses (49), standings points (43) and winning percentage (0.299).
A 12-game losing streak in midseason proved to be the deciding factor as the Gulls missed the playoffs for only the second time since establishing their roost in America’s Finest City in 2015-16. It seemed every time the team took one step forward, it took two (or even three) steps backward. The Gulls ended the season 1-8-1 in their last 10 games, including a season-ending five-game losing streak.
But the team wasn’t necessarily embarrased on the ice, dropping their final two games to the host Colorado Eagles by consecutive 3-1 scores. The Gulls played badly at times and deserved to lose but they also played well at times but couldn’t buy a break.
The San Diego team battled the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Wranglers, the team with the best record in the league, to 4-2 and 3-2 setbacks during its final regular season homestand at Pechanga Arena.
But the team remained together to the end and honored Sommer’s illustrious career with a class nod to their outgoing coach, who had announced his retirement prior to the season-ending road trip. Sommer, a native of Oakland and one of the first Californians to play in the NHL, ended a 60-year career in hockey since first picking up a stick at age 6 and 27 consecutive years as a coach in the AHL with both the San Jose Sharks and Duck’s organizations.
Sommer, who appeared in 741 professional games as a player in the NHL, AHL, International Hockey League, Central Hockey League and Pacific Hockey League, did his job well by developing more than 150 players to the NHL during his long coaching tenure.
Sommer earned accolades as the AHL Coach of the year in 2016-17 as the San Jose Barracuda reached the Western Conference Finals. Prior to coaching in the AHL, Sommer compiled a 176-124-34 record in the East Coast Hockey League, winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1995 with the Richmond Renegades and earning ECHL Coach of the Year award in 1995-96 after leading the team to a league record 105 points with a 46-11-13 record.
Sommer’s history-making coaching timeline included 1,004 wins between the ECHL and AHL. He tacked on 28 more wins with the San Jose Rhinos in Roller Hockey International.
On a personal level, he scored a goal in his NHL debut with the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers in 1981. He won a Calder Cup championship with the Maine Mariners in 1984 and helped the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the IHL championship in 1985-86.
Originally a sixth-round draft pick (101st overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft, he represented Team USA at the World Junior Championships in 1976-77.
He helped guide the Barracuda to five playoff appearances in seven seasons behind the bench.
Sommer oversaw the continued development of Ducks prospects this past season, including goaltender Lukas Dostal, forward Benoit-Olivier Groulx and defenseman Drew Helleson. Dostal appeared in 19 games with Anaheim and 40 with the Gulls.
Gulls players gave Sommer, who owns a ranch in Montana, a fitting farewell by wearing cowboy hats during their final pregame warmup. The coach was obviously touched by the gesture.
“It was special,” Sommer admitted. “You know, like, they all got cowboy hats. A guy that’s coaching in this league right now, who’s coaching in Providence, Ryan Mougenel, kind of gave me the name ‘cowboy’ and it kind of stuck, and kind of rolled with it. And everyone wore cowboy hats on the ice and got a little photo with it. You know, (it’ll) be something I’ll remember the rest of my life.
“I started this career when I was 6 years old and I have been in it ever since. I would like to thank the Anaheim Ducks, the San Diego Gulls, and all the fans for their support throughout the entire season.”
“In his short time with our organization, Roy made an important impact on our coaching staff, players and fans, and we wish him the best in his retirement,” Ducks assistant general manager and Gulls GM Rob Dimaio said.
A new era for the Gulls now starts with McIlvane, who brings his own substantial coaching pedigree to the club after winning five European league championships, including two consecutive.
“Matt brings a winning pedigree to our organization in addition to a strong culture of development and performance,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “Our players in San Diego will benefit from his leadership, philosophy and his championship experience in Europe and the international level.”
McIlvane will not have long to wait to get personally acquainted with his new team as the Ducks prospect development camp is slated following the team’s selections in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft on June 28-29 in Nashville.
For just the third time in franchise history, the Ducks will have the No. 2 overall selection in the league.
McIlvane, 37, said he is both humbled and excited at the prospect of developing future NHL talent for the Ducks through the Gulls. “I think we will be an exciting team to watch,” he said. “I believe the best way (to develop players) is to build a winning environment alongside a learning environment.
“Success in hockey is not possible without the team. Hockey is the ultimate team sport, players are reliant on each other, building those bonds and reinforcing them is what we want to do in San Diego.”
He comes to San Diego after 10 highly successful years in Europe as an assistant coach, associate coach and head coach in top tier leagues there, winning five league championships. He joins the Gulls after serving as head coach of EC Red Bull in the International Central European Hockey League, the top tier league in Austria with additional teams in Hungary, Italy and Slovenia from 2019-23. He led Salzburg to back-to-back league championships in 2021-22 and 2022-23 while compiling a 94-42-22-19 record the past four seasons (0.650 winning percentage) and 31-8 mark in postseason play (0.795 winning percentage).
Prior to that, he spent five seasons with EHC Red Bull Munich in Germany’s top tier league, winning three consecutive championships from 2016-18 as an assistant coach.
As a player, he compiled 52 points in 156 games with Ohio State from 2004-08, serving as captain his senior season. He played four seasons at the professional level (AHL, ECHL, International Hockey League and Germany), before his career was cut short by injury.
The Illinois native occupies a key role in the Ducks organization as the top developmental coach at the AHL level.
“It’s an extremely important job to develop players so the Anaheim Ducks can move forward to win a Stanley Cup,” Verbeek said. “There’s going to be a lot of prospects showing up here over the next two to three years.”
McIlvane could be charged with developing as many as 10 players who are 21 years and younger here in the near future. His job will be to make them understand what it takes to be a pro, and more importantly, what it takes to play in the NHL.
“It’s an extremely important job to develop players so the Anaheim Ducks can move forward to win a Stanley Cup,” Verbeek said. “There’s going to be a lot of prospects showing up here over the next two to three years.”
The Anaheim GM is high on McIlvane’s people skills.
“He understands what it takes to build a winner, knows how to work with players, young players, older players, how to merge them into a cohesive unit.
“He wins everywhere he goes, the ECHL (Orlando Solar Bears), Federal Prospects Hockey League (Danville Dashers), a silver medal as an assistant coach with Germany at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.”
One of McIlvane’s first priorities will be to shore up a sagging defense. The Gulls were out-scored 281-180 last season.
That may not be an easy task but certainly the new coach is up to the challenge, and he has his ideas on how to turn things around.
“We want to play suffocating team defense,” he said. “We have a lot of players who can create offensive opportunities, but they have to learn defense. We’ll surround our young players with that mind-set.
“We are ready for the challenge to develop Ducks prospects to the NHL and give fans at Pechanga Arena San Diego an exciting team to cheer for.”
The AHL set attendance records for both the regular season and playoffs during the 2022-23 season. All seven games in the Calder Cup Finals were sellouts for the home team.
- DUCKS ACQUIRE ANDREW AGOZZINO FROM SAN JOSE
Forward returns after spending the 2020-21 season with the Gulls
The Ducks today announced on June 27 that the NHL club has acquired center Andrew Agozzino from San Jose for defenseman Andrej Sustr.
Agozzino, 32 (1/3/91), has recorded 3-9=12 points with a +4 rating and four penalty minutes (PIM) in 51 career NHL games with Anaheim, San Jose, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Colorado. The 5-10, 187-pound forward split the 2022-23 season with the San Jose Sharks organization, scoring 1-2=3 points in four NHL games with the Sharks. He also led the San Jose Barracuda in points (26-35=61), goals and assists in 63 American Hockey League (AHL) games while serving as the club’s captain.
Agozinno joins the Ducks for the second time, spending parts of two seasons with Anaheim in 2019-20 and 2020-21 after being claimed on waivers from Pittsburgh Feb. 24, 2020. He combined for 1-1=2 points and a +3 rating in eight games with the Ducks in that span. He also scored 13-14=27 points in 31 games with the San Diego Gulls (AHL) in 2020-21. Agozzino has posted 219-297=516 points and 608 PIM in 664 career AHL games, ranking fourth in goals and fifth in points since joining the league full-time in 2010-11. The Kleinburg, Ontario native is a three-time AHL All-Star, appearing in the AHL All-Star Classic in 2013, 2019 and 2020.
Sustr, 32 (11/29/90), appeared in 361 career NHL games with Anaheim and Tampa Bay, recording 11-58=69 points with 163 penalty minutes (PIM). The 6-7, 217-pound blueliner was acquired by the Ducks with Nikita Nesterenko and a 2025 fourth-round selection in the NHL Draft from Minnesota for John Klingberg, Mar. 3, 2023.
Sustr has combined for 3-11=14 points with a +8 rating in 51 AHL games with San Diego and Iowa. Sustr has earned 1-1=2 points and six PIM in 12 games with the Gulls after beginning the season with Iowa, recording 2-10=12 points with a +12 rating and 35 PIM in 39 games. The Plzen, Czechia native has appeared in 135 career AHL games with San Diego, Iowa and Syracuse, collecting 8-28=36 points with a +3 rating and 103 PIM.
DUCKS TO HOST PRESEASON GAME AT PECHANGA ARENA SAN DIEGO
Preseason NHL hockey returns to San Diego for the first time in nearly 30 years
The Ducks’ 2023-24 exhibition schedule will include a preseason matchup against the Los Angeles Kings at Pechanga Arena San Diego on Friday, Sept. 29 (7 p.m.).
The contest will mark the third official preseason game the Ducks will host in San Diego, with the prior contests coming Sept. 11, 1994 against. Los Angeles (3-2 loss) and Sept. 21, 1994 against Boston (4-3 win). Anaheim also visited the San Diego Gulls (International Hockey League) in the club’s inaugural 1993 preseason game, which ended in a 5-1 win for the club (did not count in preseason standings). Ticket information and additional details for Anaheim’s preseason contest in San Diego will be announced at a later date.
The Gulls own an all-time record of 258-213-28-14, including 137-98-15-6 at home and 121-115-13-8 on the road to rank second in the Pacific Division in all-time wins and tied for third in all-time points (558) since the division’s inception in 2015-16. Twelve players skated with both San Diego and Anaheim last season, including 2023 American Hockey League All Star Lukas Dostal. In total, 84 players spent time with the Gulls and Ducks, including current roster players Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Simon Benoit.
Tickets for all Gulls home games at Pechanga Arena are currently on sale through a Gulls Elite membership. Memberships can be purchased for as little as $15 per game ($540) for the 2023-24 season and include exclusive benefits such as free parking, a dedicated members-only entrance into Pechanga Arena, access to exclusive Gulls Elite Member events with Gulls players and coaches, playoff priority, Stella Artois Lounge access and much more. Fans can join the Gulls Elite Membership program or place deposits on mini plan and group ticket packages by calling (844) GO-GULLS or visiting sandiegogulls.com/gullselite. Individual game tickets will go on sale later this summer.
DUCKS NAME GETZLAF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Franchise icon and Anaheim’s all-time leading scorer to help prepare and educate Ducks prospects for a career in professional hockey
The Ducks have named Ryan Getzlaf, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, to the post of Player Development Coordinator. In his new role, Getzlaf will assist Director of Player Development Jim Johnson prepare and educate Anaheim’s prospects for a career in professional hockey.
“We are thrilled to have a player of Ryan’s stature stay with the club into his post-playing career,” Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek said. “His experience and knowledge from his NHL and international career will be invaluable for our young prospects. He can help prospects reach their full potential on and off the ice based on his 17 years as an NHL player and valuable insight of the necessary steps from junior or college hockey to the NHL.”
Getzlaf helped the Ducks to a 2007 Stanley Cup and was the longest-serving captain in Anaheim history (12 seasons, 2010-22). He scored a franchise-record 282-737=1,019 points with a +102 rating in Ducks record 1,157 career NHL games with the hockey club. On Oct. 31, 2021, Getzlaf earned a primary assist, surpassing Teemu Selanne to become Anaheim’s all-time leading scorer (279-710=989). He also recorded his 1,000th career point on Nov. 16, 2021 vs. Washington, the only player in Ducks history to reach the milestone.
“I am so excited to be back in a role where I feel I can help our young players, who are the focal point of both the future and present of our hockey club,” said Getzlaf. “This opportunity will give me the chance to help them in the critical years of their development and share the many years of experiences that I have had. I would also like to thank Pat and his staff for giving me the chance to come in and learn, as well as help where I can.”
Getzlaf retired from hockey following the 2021-22 NHL season after his final game on Sunday, April 24, 2022 against St. Louis at Honda Center. He retired as Anaheim’s all-time leading scorer in both the regular season and playoffs, and is one of 12 players in NHL history to have captained the same team for 10 years and have scored 1,000 points. He is also one of 13 players in hockey history to win two Olympic gold medals and a Stanley Cup championship and one of 46 NHL players to record 1,000 points with a single franchise. He ranks in the top 100 on the NHL’s all-time points (91st) and assists (51st) lists.
Selected by Anaheim in the first round (19th overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft, Getzlaf also leads Anaheim in all-time assists, even-strength points (664), overtime goals (11) and power-play assists (255). He ranks second among franchise leaders in power-play points (341), plus/minus (+102) and PIM (960), is third in game-winning goals (57) and fourth in goals. Among players selected in 2003, Getzlaf has the highest points per game (.88), most assists (737) and power-play points (341), and the highest time on ice per game among forwards (19:29).
A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Getzlaf represented Team Canada at nine international tournaments in a span of 14 years (2002-16), recording 20-47=67 points in 60 tournament contests. He helped his country to five gold medals, including the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games, 2016 World Cup of Hockey, 2005 World Junior Championship and 2003 U-18 World Championship. He also earned silver medals at the 2008 World Championship and 2004 World Junior Championship while appearing at the 2012 World Championship and 2002 U-17 World Hockey Challenge.
