2023-2024 Game 1: San Diego Gulls at Ontario Reign

Kicking off another season with a brand new coach and a highly anticipated revamped line-up the San Diego Gulls traveled inland to test out their mettle against their oldest and most bitter rivals.

With Chase De Leo once again injured and out of action to begin the season – the Gulls still managed to ice a squad that featured a balanced mix of experience and talented youth as the latest wave of Ducks talent finally arrived. New Coach – Same Separation as once again Brayden Tracey and Jacob Perreault were split across two lines while Blake McLaughlin played his way into the line-up with a strong camp to earn the left wing spot on the fourth line. Tough-guy Travis Howe also made is return to the team to slot in on the right on that same line.

On defense Trevor Carrick – returned after a brief sojourn away and was joined by fellow veterans Robert Haag and Colton White. Second year pro Drew Helleson welcomed in the highly touted Olen Zellweger and the ever reliable Tyson Hinds as they made their AHL debuts.

While in net the Ducks off-season veteran signing Alex Stalock earned the start between the pipes in the all-important season opening game

First Period:

As to be expected the Gulls took some time to adjust to not only a new system but new team-mates as play was somewhat choppy – culminating in either goaltender seeing just the one shot each through the first four minutes.

Olen Zellweger showed just why he is so highly regarded among Ducks prospects as he took matters into his own hands and led the way in creating an attacking sequence in the Reign zone that over two successful Gulls line-changes finished with an instant four shot lead and one unlucky shot that hit the crossbar from Nikita Nesterenko.

The Reign answered right back and took advantage of some poor Gulls breakouts on their left side boards to keep them under pressure and even the shot total at four a piece.

As the midway point of the period approached the Reigns Charles Hudon was found guilty of tripping to give the Gulls their first Power Play of the game and season.

Again – much like their initial start in the game – the Gulls first unit struggled to get in sequence and the Reign gained three easy clears while San Diego tried to get set. But then Olen Zellweger once again proved the difference as he gained the zone, created space for his line mates to properly get set and as Nesterenko and Pastujov passed the puck around the right perimeter a great pass from Pastujov found Pavol Regenda open in-front. The Slovakian then used both his size and hands to execute a nifty move to pull and drag the puck around then over David Rittich to make it 1-0 Gulls.

Teams settled into some semblance of neutral zone warfare with neither giving an edge as time crept closer to periods end and shots stayed stagnant at six a piece.

Once again a poor breakout on the left side boards in the final minute of play led to Nikita Nesterenko being called for cross-checking as he desperately fought Joe Hicketts for the puck and the Reign settled into an offensive zone man-advantage in the final six seconds of the opening frame. A face-off win and ensuing net-front chaos thankfully ended as the buzzer sounded allowing the Gulls to escape with the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Shots were 10-8 for the Gulls after the low-scoring low intensity opening frame.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Ontario Reign 0

Picking up where they left off – the Reign dominated San Diego in their zone while maintaining possession as they pushed for an equalizer with the man advantage. TJ Tynan owning the best opportunity to do so as he found space off a beautiful passing sequence but elected to make one extra pass after staring down an open net from the slot.

The Gulls once again escaped the minor unharmed and set about looking to shift momentum their way – making progress via some nice work from Nikita Nesterenko and Olen Zellweger after some great fore-checking pressure caused back to back turnovers in the Ontario zone.

The back and forth momentum swings continued as the Reign started to press again – placing Alex Stalock under siege with chance after chance but the veteran net-minder was cool, calm and up to the task.

Olen Zellweger again was the change-maker to shift momentum back the Gulls way as he took a pass from Judd Caulfield and rang the post on a sneaky snap-shot that was later reviewed by Officials and deemed to have definitely stayed out.

A standard questionable call for holding on Tyson Hinds put the Gulls down a man and allowed the Reign to mount pressure once again – but again Stalock was equal to the task as well as the San Diego defence astutely scrambling to win any loose puck battles and get the clear.

The Gulls were awarded a Power Play of their own when the Reign were caught with too many men – allowing San Diego to ease the non-stop Ontario possession. However Ontario played a perfect penalty kill setup and prevented the Gulls to enter the zone let-alone get setup then erased the minor part way through as Jacob Perreault was called for slashing after he tried to prevent a Brandt Clarke rush that was eventually stopped by Stalock.

Just as the first period ended – so too did the second – with the Reign on the Power Play looking to equalize while San Diego kept things at 1-0.

Shots were 20-17 for the Reign after forty as the home side dominated both possession and the chances in the middle frame while Alex Stalock proved the difference.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Ontario Reign 0

With San Diego down a man to start the period again – they were the rare winners of a lucky bounce as a shorthanded rush by both Trevor Carrick and Pavol Regenda ended up in the back of the Ontario net after a comedy of errors. As Reign net-minder David Rittich made the inital stop on a Regenda redirect the puck snuck through to the goal-line without his knowing – the lone Reign defender back then attempted to poke it back to his own goaltender but inadvertently pushed it off of Regendas skate and into the net. 2-0 Gulls. Thank you Hockey Gods.

Ontario appeared to dispute the goal and the Reign play by play guys (who I unfortunately had the displeasure of listening to on the AHLTV replay) were outraged that the play was not reviewed due to an “obvious kicking motion” that was actually Regendas skate moving forward as he was pulled down from behind by Martin Chromiak on the play.

Upping the ante the Reign kicked things up a notch and had Stalock sprawling to make saves on back to back plays before an against the grain play gave the Gulls a 3-0 lead when Jacob Perreault finished off a sizzling one-timer from the low slot.

Play began to open up somewhat after the goal as teams exchanged chances but the Gulls managed to maintain momentum for much of the final frame.

That is until Andrew Aggozino was forced into taking a holding penalty to prevent a TJ Tynan breakaway and Ontario made San Diego pay on the resulting man advantage, finally solving Stalock via a Mikhail Maltsev shot off an errant rebound in front. 3-1 Gulls.

Ontario rode momentum from the goal and sent wave after wave of attack into the San Diego zone but Stalock was a wall and continued to frustrate,

Ontario pulled Rittich with just under three minutes remaining and added all that they could to their assault on the San Diego net but Glen Gawdin made sure by jumping on a loose puck down low and sending it 200 feet for the Gulls fourth goal. 4-1 San Diego, their first win of the season in their season opener stunning their much higher powered rivals.

Post Game Notes:

Oh Yes Olen

Olen Zellweger should have stood out in this game and that he most definitely did – every time he had the puck you just knew he was going to attack the offensive zone with speed. He was also very obviously targeted – particularly by the Reigns newest pest Charles Hudon. I looked to see if the extra attention and attempt at bullying frustrated or got under the youngsters skin and it did not seem to phase him at all. This kid just loves having fun and causes absolute havoc with opposition defense by floating around the offensive zone – sometimes as low as the goal line. Some vintage Scotty Neidermayer style play out there. His two assists has him tied for the early lead in team scoring with Pavol Regenda’s two goals. He also is in the very early mix for the league rookie scoring lead – tied for second with six other players.

Stalocked In

It’s been a hot minute since the Gulls had an NHL caliber vet as part of their tandem but seeing Stalock calmly handle any and all Ontario chances with somewhat nonchalant ease brought back memories of the days of Anton Khudobin and Reto Berra. The good old days. I am sure Clang will get his starts – I am guessing he is being saved for the home opener but it is so good to know that San Diego has a very good quality tandem with some depth waiting in Tulsa also in Suchanek and Alexander. It definitely helps with the anxiety given the previous two years they have had to pull in ECHL spot-duty assignments during some pretty crucial points in the season.

Too Early Style Signs

Given it was just the first game it is way too early to tell exactly what kind of style McIlvane is trying to introduce, but you could see glimpses of it. Quick one-touch pass breakouts on the half-wall. Similarly half-wall cycles on offense – looking to free up space for an open spot either at the point or the opposite wing. The only aspect of the overall game-plan that seems to need a lot more work is the left-side breakout. More than a few times the Reign caused a turnover by putting the Gulls player on the wall under pressure and cutting off the pass to the neutral zone. San Diego were also guilty of not making sure in the neutral zone and saw the majority of their self-inflicted turnovers occur there.

I listened to the first two periods on radio then caught the actual game on AHL TV the next day. On radio you could hear McIlvane clearly on the bench providing some very vocal motivational support to his players during action. Something I am sure they love and was so good to hear as a fan listening at home.