PREVIEW: Gulls Host Reign On Annual Star Wars Night
Feb 18, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls prepare to battle the Dark Side tonight when they host the rival Ontario Reign for the team’s annual Star Wars Night at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m. PT; TV: Fox 5 San Diego; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The annual theme night promises to deliver fun from a galaxy far, far away while benefitting Rady Children’s Hospital. Fans are encouraged to join the team for its Star Wars-themed tailgate in the North VIP lot from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m., where they can take photos with characters, play Star Wars arcade games and more. In addition, the Gulls want fans to dress in their best costume – but leave the lightsabers, helmets and toy guns at home. The best-dressed fan will receive one of the team’s Chewbacca-inspired specialty jerseys.
The San Diego Gulls Foundation will host its annual Star Wars Night auction featuring limited edition, Star Wars-themed hockey helmets and Chewbacca-inspired jerseys signed by select Gulls players. Each helmet is a one-of-a-kind piece specially created by Shell Shock Designs for the Gulls and can be viewed outside the Community Relations booth located at Section 10 on the concourse. Fans can bid and find more information at sandiegogulls.com/auction. All proceeds from the night will support Rady Children’s Hospital.
The night is one fans – and players – circled on their calendars.
"It's gonna be pretty cool," Gulls center Josh Lopina said. "I've never been a part of a Star Wars Night before. It's going to be fun for me. I watched those movies growing up as a kid, all the new Star Wars shows, so Chewbacca is a good option for the jerseys. Looking forward to it; going to be fun."
San Diego hopes the presence of several Jedi continue the team’s success on home ice. They’ve won back-to-back contests at Pechanga Arena San Diego, including a 5-1 victory on Valentine’s Day over the Tucson Roadrunners. The game marked the American Hockey League debut of goaltender Gage Alexander, who stopped 29 shots to earn his first AHL win.
"It was an outstanding performance," Gulls head coach Roy Sommer said following the win. "I mean, his first American League game, you know, allowed one goal and made some great, you know, back-door saves and kept us in the game and gave us an opportunity to win. And that's kind of what you asked for in a goaltender and he filled all those boxes for us tonight."
The team’s offense came alive to support the rookie, with Rocco Grimaldi’s two goals leading the charge. The right wing enters tonight with a team-leading 21-25=46 points. The Rossmoor, CA native hit the 20-goal mark for a second consecutive season – and the third time in his AHL career – with Tuesday’s showing. As of Feb. 17, he sat tied for eighth among all skaters in points.
Both Glenn Gawdin and Drew Helleson also posted 1-1=2 in the victory. It marked the first multi-point performance of Helleson’s AHL career and gave Gawdin 1-3=4 points in his last five games.
The Gulls dropped the last three head-to-head matchups with their Southern California rival and enter tonight just 1-5-0-0 against the Reign this season. San Diego holds a 44-35-4-2 regular season record all-time against the Reign, including a 22-18-3-0 in record in San Diego (22-17-1-2 in Ontario). Benoit-Olivier Groulx (1-4=5) and Grimaldi (3-2=5) are tied for the most points earned against the Reign this season.
"It's definitely a heated rivalry," Lopina said. "I feel like we play these guys all the time. They're a good team; we know what we have to do to prepare to play a good game against them. They're really good on the transition, so we're going to clean up our neutral zone against them. Should be a good game, Stars Wars Night (on) Saturday."
Ontario heads into the weekend fifth in the Pacific Division, comfortably ahead of the sixth-place Tucson Roadrunners and just five points back of the Colorado Eagles. Tynan remains an offensive force, sitting tied for second in the AHL with 7-49=56 points and leading all skaters in assists. The Reign captain collected four assists in the most recent matchup with San Diego, a 7-2 win on Jan. 28.
While his 11-8-2-1 record may not show it, goaltender Cal Petersen once again found his game at the AHL level, posting a 2.66 goals-against average (GAA) and .918 save percentage (SV%). He’s allowed two-or-fewer goals in five of his last six starts.