Gulls - Aces Game 1 Preview
April 6, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
This is the first game of the best-of-five Pacific Division Semifinals. The Gulls and Aces met 10 times in the regular season, with San Diego holding a 6-3-1 edge.
2003-04 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES (REGULAR SEASON):
11/11/03 San Diego 1 @ Alaska 8
11/12/03 San Diego 0 @ Alaska 3
11/25/03 Alaska 2 @ San Diego 3 (SO)
12/07/03 Alaska 3 @ San Diego 4 (SO)
01/09/04 San Diego 4 @ Alaska 2
01/10/04 San Diego 2 @ Alaska 4
01/11/04 San Diego 3 @ Alaska 4 (SO)
01/17/04 Alaska 2 @ San Diego 4
01/18/04 Alaska 1 @ San Diego 2
04/03/04 Alaska 1 @ San Diego 2
The Gulls are 4-0 lifetime against the Aces in the playoffs. They eliminated them in the 1997 West Coast Hockey League Finals to clinch their second Taylor Cup. San Diego owns a 63-17-5 record against its Pacific Division rival during the regular season.
LAST HEAD-TO-HEAD MEETING: APRIL 3:
San Diego clinched the Brabham Cup for having the best overall regular season record with a tight 2-1 victory over the Aces. David Neale drew first blood for the Gulls with 37.3 seconds left in the first period before Brian Gornick gave the Blue and Orange a two-goal lead midway through the second. Alaska scored on its first third-period shot, 16:33 into the frame, to pull within one. That's as close as the Aces could get however.
GULLS UPDATE:
The Gulls finished the regular season with a 49-13-10 record, tops in the ECHL. Their 108 points is a new franchise record. The previous high was 107 points, set in 1997-98... They will have home-ice advantage throughout the Kelly Cup Playoffs... San Diego was 30-5-1 at the Sports Arena this season and 21-1-1 in its final 23 games on home ice... PLAYOFF HISTORY:
San Diego has an all-time record of 57-27 in the playoffs, which includes eight seasons in the WCHL... The Gulls won five Taylor Cups in the WCHL (1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2003)... Trevor Koenig is 22-11 with a 2.33 goals-against average in the postseason with the Blue and Orange...
OTHER NOTES:
San Diego finished the regular season unbeaten in 18 of its final 19 games (14-1-4)... The Gulls were 45-10-5 against Pacific Division teams... They lost in regulation only three times in their final 38 games (28-3-7) and six times in their final 54 games (40-6-8)... The Blue and Orange broke the ECHL record for most wins by an expansion team... Koenig finished second in the ECHL with 37 wins and fourth with a 2.17 goals-against average. He was unbeaten in 28 of his final 30 games (22-2-6)... Mark Pederson was given the 2003-04 ECHL Sportsmanship Award, along with being named to the All-ECHL Second team. He led the league with 44 goals and was tied for sixth with Sylvain Deschatelets, each with 81 points... Greg Barber, who was named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team, was second among rookies with 76 points, 30 goals and 46 assists... Clayton Read finished the regular season with a career-high eight-game point streak (5g, 7a)... Gornick, the reigning ECHL Player of the Week, finished with a career-high six-game point streak and had 14 points in his final eight games (7g, 7a)...
ALASKA UPDATE:
The Aces finished the regular season with a 38-28-6 record and the No. 4 seed in the Pacific Division... They finished 9-9 this season in one-goal games decided in regulation... Alaska hasn't been to the playoffs since 2002 (WCHL) and has lost its last three playoff series... The Aces have lost 12 of their last 14 playoff games overall, dating back to 1999... Alaska finished 10 games over .500 this year, leaving the club exactly one game over .500 in its history...
TRANSACTIONS:
Nick Lent was returned from the American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons yesterday... Igor Pohanka was assigned by the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks yesterday... Kevin Grant, Chris Gobert, Jamie Black and Dennis Purdie all remain on the injured list... Billy Tibbetts remains with the AHL's Houston Aeros...
FUTURE HEAD-TO-HEAD GAMES:
The Pacific Division Semifinals is a best-of-five format. The remaining schedule is as follows...
Game 2 @ San Diego Wednesday, April 7 (7:05 p.m.)
Game 3 @ Alaska Friday, April 9 (8 p.m. PST)
Game 4 @ Alaska Saturday, April 10 (8 p.m. PST)*
Game 5 @ San Diego Tuesday, April 13 (7:05 p.m.)*
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