Best in the ECHL

Published on February 15, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO –– The San Diego Gulls just completed another perfect week of hockey and now share the best record in the entire ECHL.

The Gulls started the week with a hard-fought shootout win against the Long Beach Ice Dogs. Then they beat the Las Vegas Wranglers and Texas Wildcatters over the weekend.

Add it all together and you'll find the Blue and Orange with 72 points, tied with the Wheeling Nailers for the best record in the league. San Diego, however has played one fewer game and holds the league's best winning percentage (.735)... The Gulls are two points ahead of the Louisiana IceGators for the top spot in the Western Conference, while maintaining a stranglehold over the Pacific Division...

WEEK IN REVIEW:

Feb. 10 vs. Long Beach:

The Ice Dogs made things interesting but the Gulls managed to stretch their unbeaten streak to 21 games over their Southern California rival with a 4-3 shootout victory. Teams traded goals in the first three periods, highlighted by Mark Pederson's two tallies. After a scoreless overtime session, the game headed to a shootout. Long Beach netted goals from two of its first three shooters, but David Burleigh turned away the next two shots, while Greg Barber, Billy Tibbetts and Chris Gobert scored on consecutive attempts to give San Diego the win.

Feb. 13 vs. Las Vegas:

Pederson, Barber and Sylvain Deschatelets connected on all three goals, leading the Gulls to a 3-2 victory over the second-place Wranglers. Pederson gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead before Las Vegas tied it early in the second. Barber netted back-to-back goals late in the second to put the game away. The Wranglers cut the lead back to one midway through the third, but that's as close as they could get.

Feb. 14 @ Texas

Clayton Read bagged his second-career hat trick and added an assist, lifting the Blue and Orange to an 8-4 thrashing of the Wildcatters. The Gulls scored four in the first period, three in the second and added another in the third. David Neale (1g, 2a) and Deschatelets (0g, 3a) each had three-point nights, while Barber (1g, 1a), Dean Tiltgen (1g, 1a), Tibbetts (0g, 2a) and Gobert (0g, 2a) all had two-point games.

THIS WEEK:

San Diego continues its Central Division swing Monday in Louisiana, with game-time set for 5:05 p.m. (PST). The Gulls will then play the Mississippi Sea Wolves Tuesday at 4:05 p.m. (PST) before opening a two-game homestand. The Blue and Orange will host the Las Vegas Wranglers Thursday and the Fresno Falcons Saturday, with both games starting at 7:05 p.m. (PST). Saturday's game will be "Mullet Night" and special Gulls long-sleeved T-shirts will be given to the first 10,000 fans.

Player Notes:

Pederson, Barber and Deschatelets have combined for 87 points (33g, 54a) in the last 19 games... Pederson has 39 points (24g, 15a) in his last 24 games. He leads the league with 35 goals and is tied for sixth with 60 points... Barber has 32 points (12g, 20a) in his last 19 games. He leads all ECHL rookies with 53 points and 32 goals. Barber is tied for second among rookies with 21 assists... Deschatelets has 38 points (6g, 32a) in the last 24 games... Read has 10 points (4g, 6a) in the last six games... Tibbetts has 12 points (3g, 9a) in the last seven games... Brain Gornick joined the Gulls after being assigned by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Josh Gratton remains with AHL's Mighty Ducks... Dennis Purdie (sprained shoulder) and Kevin Grant (neck strain) both remain on the injured list...

Team Notes:

San Diego has won 13 straight games at home... The Gulls are now 3-3-0 against teams outside their division... Saturday was San Diego's first-ever road game against a non-Pacific Division team... The Blue and Orange are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 games (13-1-1) and 27 of their last 31 overall (25-4-2), outscoring their opponents 115-69...

Both Monday's and Tuesday's games will be tape delayed on KPOP 1360AM until 7 p.m. (PST). All other games can be heard live on KPOP and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. The next edition of the Gulls Internet Radio show, hosted by Tera Black and Jeremy Zager on wsRadio.com, will air live Monday Feb. 23 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com.

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