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“Gulls–Hockey Season Over Too Soon”

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There is no more hockey this season, at least in the American Hockey League, at least in America’s Finest City..

That means no chance for the hottest team in the AHL, the San Diego Gulls, to make a run to win the Calder Cup, the league championship.

It’s the first time since 1937, 83 years, no Cup will be awarded.

The NHL hopes to restart its season with the playoffs sometime in June or July, but not so the 30-team AHL, spread across the US and parts of Canada..

And so a Gulls team, which has roared from last place to fourth place, won’t get the chance to finish off the job, despite a (5-1-1) streak on the road just before play was suspended, or the amazing (14-2-2) stretch of road games from Christmas on.

The team’s lead executives talked about the end of the season and the AHL decision to shutdown:

(Matt Savant-Gulls President)

,,AHL working for last several weeks, how to consider all options
..Put it to vote…all 30-teams voted cancel…1st time in 83-years un AHL history
..Gulls small business in San Diego..takes a toll on us..
..Won’t tell you the amount of gate revenue we lose, but it is a lot
..Safety of fans and community was important
,,A lot of discussion was the unknown..travel restrictions for one.
..Unknown of what city-state orders would be..so many teams-so many states
..Majority of our teams are owned by NHL franchises…
..We had to look at the locally owned teams and the help they needed
..We all wanted our fans in each city to be able and come back next year
..Concern independently owned teams-not all have strong resource base
..Viability of AHL is very strong-we can come thru this
..AHL needs fans to survive as business entity.
..We went thru multiple scenarios…some fans…no fans…if we have to delay in fall
..We have models to open October with fans-no fans…we have every scenario
..If NHL pushes back start season to December…we don’t know what future holds
..If AHL has to start in December like NHL-we will do it…
..Board of Governors was very business like…came after weeks and weeks of discussion
..Friday vote was fairly business like..no emotion…had to do it

(Kevin Dineen-Coach)

..Question of how long players need in camp…was big discussion point
..Don’t know what NHL teams think they need
..Our players did not have access to ice time in hometowns
..None of our players have tested positive for virus
..Players had level of commitment to return but cannot do it
..Coming from players background…we are all disappointed…reality has set in
..The Best hockey would have been in the weeks to come
..Our trainers have set up video off season workouts for our players
..Gulls stretch run impressive…we had (5-1-1) stretch on road at the end
..One of best runs of the season…we were trending in the right direction
..We were ready for the playoffs…we walked out and knew we arrived
..Woke up the next morning and knew things would change at quick pace
..It was a tough (0-6) start-wondered what did I get myself into
..We did not put personnel in best of spots…as season wore on-we found a formula
..My second time with Ducks organization-learned a lot from Samueli family
..Players will be excited to be back when we come
..We left unfinished business with way the AHL season ended
..If Ducks make playoffs…some Gulls might be part of that.
..Dallas Eakins reached out to each of our players about being ready
..I have re-reached with our players a second time to keep them updated
..There are all kinds of scenarios that will play out
..Young players having so much time off..there will be change for them
..The young kids are learning about this life-they appreciate now how blessed they are.

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