San Diego Faces Huge Test This Week

January 6, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Gulls have won 12 in a row and are undoubtedly the hottest club in the West Coast Hockey League. They've moved all the way from fifth to second place in the standings during that span. But this could be the biggest week of the season for the Blue and Orange.

That's because the high-flying, first place Idaho Steelheads come to town for three games, closing out San Diego's longest homestand of the year. The Gulls come into the week trailing Idaho by 10 points (with three games in hand). With that in mind, San Diego can be anywhere from four to 16 points out when this week concludes.

If Trevor Koenig plays anywhere near the way he has the last few weeks, the Gulls should be in good shape. Koenig has won a career-high 11 games in a row and has five shutouts and a 0.94 goals against average during that span. He's the overall leader in the WCHL with 19 wins, a 1.75 GAA and six shutouts (a new single-season record).

R.J. Enga has been San Diego's latest go-to guy offensively. Enga now leads the club with 33 points (16g, 17a), placing him seventh in the league. His 16 goals put him in a three-way tie (along with Dean Tiltgen) for third most in the WCHL. The all-star center needs to play in the Gulls' next two games to reach 500 straight in his pro career.

Cory Cyrenne is in the midst of a seven-game point streak. He has 20 points since joining the Blue and Orange 14 games ago.

TRANSACTIONS:

Dennis Purdie remains on injured reserve... Mike Garrow remains with the American Hockey League's Utah Grizzlies... Marc Busenburg and Rob Voltera still remain with the AHL's Hershey Bears...

COMMUNITY UPDATE: Wednesday: Join the Gulls players for a night of fun, food, autographs and more!

Dave and Busters will be hosting the team for dinner and games from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. For ONLY $15, fans can enjoy a delicious appetizer buffet, a FREE $10 Power Card and mingling with the Gulls players. Don't pass up this opportunity to hang out with your Four-Time Taylor Cup Champions! Kids of all ages are welcome! To sign up call Julie Patton at 619-224-4625 ext 385.

Thursday: Come out and join the fun as all Gulls players will be participating in a skate session at the Horton Plaza ice rink. The players will be on hand for autographs, questions and skating from 5-7 p.m. The proceeds from the cost of the skate session will benefit Children's Hospital. (Note: this date was changed from the original scheduled date: Dec. 23)

Thursday: Gulls players and staff will attend an assembly at Mar Vista Middle School to congratulate students for their good attendance and stellar academic performance. For their accomplishments students were rewarded with tickets to the Gulls game this Saturday.

LAST WEEK:

GULLS 2, Bakersfield 0; at San Diego, Friday, Jan. 3: Koenig steered aside all 39 Bakersfield shots en route to his league-leading sixth shutout of the season.

The Gulls drew first blood at 18:50 of the first on Enga's first goal of the night. Enga gave the Gulls a 2-0 cushion midway through the second period. That was more than enough for Koenig, who shut the door from there.

GULLS 4, Ice Dogs 2; at San Diego, Saturday, Jan. 4: San Diego jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring twice with a two-man advantage. The Dogs cut the lead to one early in the third period, but that's as close as they could get. It was the most goals Koenig has allowed (2) since allowing four on Dec. 14.

THIS WEEK:

San Diego closes out its homestand with three games against Idaho this week: Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. All games start at 7 p.m. Beanie caps, presented by the All-New Barona Valley Ranch, will be given to the first 5,000 fans on Friday. The first 5,000 on Saturday receive a Trevor Koenig bobble head doll, courtesy of City's Ace Rent-A-Car. After Saturday's game a postgame party will be held at the Tilted Stick, located in Ocean Beach. All games can be heard live on 1130AM-KSDO and at www.ksdo.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. The Gulls' Internet radio show broadcasts live every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on wsradio.com with Tera Black and Jeremy Zager hosting.



ECHL Stories from January 6, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central