Inside moving the AHL San Diego Gulls to Irvine (2024)

Matt Savant had plenty of options in his mind. All of them led to having the American Hockey League playing and the San Diego Gulls back on the ice. Their own arena. Their own practice rink. Another arena. Another practice rink. Somewhere. Somehow.

Even if it was guaranteed that it would not be a money-making experience.

“The process started months and months ago and was shelved pretty good,” said Savant, the Gulls’ president of business operations who was once in the Anaheim Ducks’ fan development and brand management department. “It was, ‘Let’s look at all of our options.’ The first option being let’s play at Pechanga and go through our traditional process because we do have a multi-year lease with Pechanga Arena and AEG. Then it was, if for whatever reason we are able to get out of that contract, we’ll look at Poway (ICE). Let’s also look at Great Park. Let’s look at Honda Center.

“And then there was even discussion about an AHL bubble in states that would allow. There was even loose talk about the entire division moving to Arizona or Texas where the restrictions were a little bit less impactful on the team and the entire division would start there. As you could see there was a lot of gray area.”

Clarity has been found. The Gulls won’t be in San Diego to start and may not at all for the AHL season. But they have a place to play. Homebase will be the 2,500-seat FivePoint Arena at Great Park Ice in Irvine, the sprawling facility that Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli built.

No fans will be in those seats. The pandemic that shows no signs of abating has made that so. But through the Ducks and their desire to keep the organization’s players under one tent and try to limit the opportunities of COVID-19 entering the dressing room, the Gulls will start their home schedule up Interstate 5 as the AHL prepares to get going on Feb. 5.

It has Kevin Dineen, the former NHL forward and head coach who is now running the bench in San Diego, beaming and ready to do what he does. His first season with the Gulls started disastrously – they were 0-6 and “were red rotten for the first month” as he points out – but ended with them driving toward the Calder Cup playoffs with Anaheim sending him Troy Terry and, potentially, Trevor Zegras.

“They haven’t been in a game atmosphere for eight months or whatever the number is,” Dineen said. “It’s been a long time. I think you have a bunch of athletes that are really chomping at the bit. Let’s not kid ourselves.”

The hope Savant has is the Gulls will play a little more than 40 games. A schedule is still being worked out as to which the opponents they will face, although it figures that the slate will lean heavily toward division teams. But Savant did tell The Athletic that it is possible each of the Pacific’s eight teams will play a different number of contests. It could be slightly more than 40 or fewer than that number.

And, of course, this is with all the games going off as scheduled without postponements or cancellations. But they will be playing. Whereas three AHL teams – the Milwaukee Admirals, Springfield Falcons and Charlotte Checkers – have opted out of the 2020-21 season. The three are among 12 franchises in the 31-team league that are independently owned and not bankrolled by their NHL affiliate.

In 2015, the Samuelis purchased the Norfolk Admirals and relocated the Ducks’ AHL affiliate to San Diego. The Gulls, whose nickname has long been part of the city’s hockey history, have since been one of the league’s attendance leaders over the last five seasons. Savant did not have specifics on how much the club will lose this season but did say the amount would be in the six figures.

“We’ve got terrific owners and because of their investment in the teams and the long-term development of the players and the communities we play in, they’ve decided that we’re going to move forward,” Savant said. “I’m thrilled about that. But I understand the tough decision those three teams had to make. It’s a business and it’s a tough decision.”

Savant said the Irvine plan resurfaced about 2 ½ months ago. One of the major considerations was the ability to televise a handful of games within the San Diego market. There was also dealing with AEG and the Pechanga Arena contract.

From there, it was many discussions with Ducks general manager Bob Murray and Anaheim president of business operations Aaron Teats on the health and legal ramifications with having all the players under the Great Park umbrella. Murray “wanted to make sure that all the players were following the same NHL protocols so that we didn’t have any issues,” Savant said.

“It was a wild ride,” he added. “Ultimately it does make a ton of sense to move the team up there for this one year. The health and safety and long-term viability of these players is really what we’re focusing on.”

Attendance for the Gulls’ home game at Pechanga has slid downward from a league-leading peak of 9,305 in 2017-18 to 7,582 in 2019-20. But they have been in the AHL’s top five since Anaheim planted the franchise’s stakes in San Diego, providing a financial boost in addition to having their minor leaguers within proximity of the NHL club.

Leaving the market is something Savant did not want to do. Hope remains for fans being able to return to the arena before the season ends. There is also the realism and feasibility of Irvine being the best bet in a shortened year before tackling the possibility of returning in 2021-22.

“We’ve got a really good understanding with ASM Global and AEG down at Pechanga Arena that if we’re able to get (the OK for) fans from the state, our plan is to move back to San Diego and really invite the fans back,” Savant said. “Start to generate revenue. I will say there’s a caveat with that. If we’ve got one or two games left, it’s not realistic that we would go down there and ask them to pour ice, prepare the building and get everything ready for one or two games. But if we’re able and it makes sense for both Pechanga and the Ducks and Gulls, we’ll go back.”

Dineen never lost faith in a season. In November, he had already lined up a rental residence in San Diego and was in it at the start of December. The way the NHL managed the bubble environments in Toronto and Edmonton over the summer left him encouraged and optimistic. This won’t be the same and they will be in other cities playing road games in other arenas. But where they play matters little in this unique situation.

“I just had confidence that we were going to get a chance to play,” he said. “There were a lot of players down here working out. You got to have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening around both leagues. I think our players have done a fabulous job making sure they’re doing their part to make sure everybody stays healthy.

“At the end of it, there was just so many unknowns. You waited, you waited. And we were excited when we heard Feb. 5. We were excited when we heard that there was going to be a training camp. And now we’re really excited to know that they’re dropping the puck. We’re looking forward to getting on the ice and getting to where we really enjoy ourselves.”

(Photo: Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

Eric Stephens is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Southern California. Eric has been writing and talking about sports for newspapers and media outlets for more than 30 years. He has previously covered the NHL for The Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. He is also an occasional contributor on NHL Network. Follow Eric on Twitter @icemancometh