Preview: Gulls Meet Reign In Lone Exhibition Contest
Oct 8, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
It’s time for the San Diego Gulls to put themselves to the test.
The team heads north into the Inland Empire to face the rival Ontario Reign in their lone preseason contest today at 3 p.m. PT at Toyota Arena (Radio: Gulls Audio Network). It marks the preseason AHL debut of new head coach Matt McIlvane, who joined San Diego as its fifth head coach in April. He takes over following a 2022-23 season where the Gulls posted a 20-49-2-1 record for 43 points. They ranked 10th in the Pacific Division and 17th in the Western Conference. It marked the first time since the 2018-19 season the Gulls did not play in the postseason.
"I think it's a fresh slate for everybody," he said. "There's not a judgment that's passed on what's happened in the past. Certainly, guys carry reputations of what they've done, but the reality is it's a clean slate and a brand-new opportunity to prove what we can do."
With recent cuts to the team’s camp – and the addition of new faces from the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks – McIlvane expects his players to bring their best in their first – and only – exhibition contest.
"There's spots on the line," he said. "There's some internal competition going on right now. I think, from a team perspective, we want to see some energy. We want to see our identity show, our hunt show. Should see a lot of aggressive play. We want to see what the guys can do with the puck as well, to be able to advance our gameplan."
One of the Gulls returning from last year’s team is Brayden Tracey. An Anaheim first-round selection in the 2019 Draft, he posted 10-18=28 points with 40 PIM in 62 games with the Gulls last season.
"I think we're ready," he said following yesterday’s training camp practice. "Looking around the room, we got a bunch of smiles going around. I think we're all excited. We got a new coaching staff this year, new team; it's kind of like a fresh start. Obviously, we're not happy with last year, so we just want to start off good, come out strong and play hard."
Tracey is one of 15 players under the age of 23 on today’s roster, joining Josh Lopina, Jacob Perreault, Ben King, Sasha Pastujov, Nathan Gaucher, Jaxsen Wiebe, Nikita Nesterenko, Judd Caulfield, Drew Helleson, Tyson Hinds, Luka Profaca, Tomas Suchanek, Calle Clang and Gage Alexander. Of those 15 players, eight are Anaheim draft picks (Tracey, Lopina, Perrault, King, Pastujov, Gaucher, Hinds, Alexander) and three are former first-round selections (Tracey, Perreault, Gaucher).
As the elder statesman of that young group, Tracey spent this first week of camp searching for leadership opportunities.
"I think maturity is a big one," he explained when asked how his role changed heading into this season. "Obviously, you know, I'm getting older. I've been here for a couple of years now, and I've kind of seen it. Just kind of come in, be that role model for the new guys. I'm not an older guy with a lot of experience but I can help out here and there, and I feel like that's something I've been trying to do a lot is kind of help guys find the dressing room, the locker room, or whatever it may be, I'm just here to help and be a good teammate."
While the game won’t count toward the standings, McIlvane and his staff know it’s another chance to reinforce the lessons learned through the team’s training camp.
"Between rookie camp and then into the Ducks main camp, I think there's so much learning that takes place in that time," the Gulls’ head coach said. "All we're doing is keeping the momentum going. At the Ducks, we've got great systems, we're very organized and we think that we can just keep that ball rolling from there."