Gulls Open 2020-21 Season Against Condors
Feb 5, 2021By Joe Spurrier/SanDiegoGulls.com
Three-hundred and thirty-one days.
The last time the San Diego Gulls played a regular-season game came on March 11, 2020, a 4-2 victory over the Tucson Roadrunners.
Tonight, that changes.
The Gulls open the 2020-21 regular season against the Bakersfield Condors tonight at FivePoint Arena (7 p.m., Radio: iHeartRadio, Free stream: AHLTV). San Diego comes into this season with an all-time record of 183-114-21-10, including 96-54-9-5 at home. The club leads the Pacific Division in all-time wins, points (329) and points percentage (.606%) since the division’s inception five seasons ago.
The Gulls look to hit the ground running as the team prepares for a busy February schedule including 11 contests, seven of which are at the team's temporary home in Irvine. The club is traditionally dominant in February, posting a 40-10-3-1 record all-time.
San Diego opens the season with a number of young, exciting prospect on its roster, including four players chosen in the first round by the Anaheim Ducks - Trevor Zegras (9th overall in 2019), Brayden Tracey (29th overall in 2019), Jamie Drysdale (6th overall in 2020) and Jacob Perreault (27th overall in 2020).
“When you have three players that would be obligated to either play for the Ducks or go back to their junior teams,” said Kevin Dineen. “That scenario has changed this year. As of today, we have eight rookies in our lineup. That’s exciting for us as a staff, knowing that development is the number one priority for us.”
Sam Carrick makes his return as the Gulls captain after leading the team in scoring (23-20=43) and goals for the second straight season in 2019-20. The captain also paced all San Diego skaters in plus/minus (+27), shorthanded goals (4), shots (144) and co-led in power-play goals (5). He finished the campaign leading AHL forwards and ranking second among all skaters in plus/minus and was the only AHL player to record four separate six-game point streaks.
With 71-85=156 points as a Gull from 2017-20, Carrick leads the Gulls all-time in goals and shorthanded goals (9), ranks second in points and plus/minus, and third in assists and games played (189).The fifth-year Gull also scored the first Gulls hat trick on home ice, Nov. 13, 2019 vs. San Jose (3-0=3).
Joining him will be his younger brother Trevor Carrick, acquired by the Ducks in a three-team trade with the San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators. The defenseman earned 10-13=23 points and a team-leading +17 rating. The younger Carrick also made three career NHL appearances with the Sharks.
San Diego and Bakersfield continue their rivalry as tonight opens an eight-game series. In 2019-20, the Gulls posted a 4-2-0-1 record against the Condors, winning the season series for the third time in the past four seasons. San Diego is 25-17-1-2 all-time against Bakersfield, including 12-9-0-1 on home ice.
San Diego also defeated Bakersfield in the only postseason matchup between the clubs, eliminating the Condors in six games (4-2) in the Pacific Division Finals of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs. Three of the six games reached overtime, including the fifth-longest game in AHL History where Max Comtois ended Game 1 at 4:20 of the fourth OT, the fifth-longest game in AHL history (124:20).
After spending three years with the Condors, including two as the team's captain, defenseman Keegan Lowe signed with the Gulls on Jan. 11, 2021. The 6-2, 194-pound blueliner recorded 16-80=96 points with 530 penalty minutes (PIM) in 434 career AHL games with Bakersfield, the St. John’s IceCaps and Charlotte Checkers.
Lowe, playing in first regular season game outside of the Edmonton Oilers organization since the 2016-17 season, makes his Gulls debut against his former team.
Following tonight’s game, the Gulls will conclude their two-game series with Bakersfield on Saturday, Feb. 6 (5 p.m.) and continue their six-game homestand on Wednesday, Feb. 10 (7 p.m.) against the Ontario Reign.