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San Diego Gulls

Sellout Sees Gulls Fall in Home Opener

October 23, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The Gulls fell 6-2 to the Stockton Heat at Pechanga Arena San Diego in their Home Opener. Tonight's Home Opener was the Gulls first game in San Diego in 608 days and featured a sellout crowd of 12,920, marking the 15th sellout in Gulls AHL history.

Alex Limoges scored his first of the season on the power play at 13:41 of the first period. Jacob Perreault and Bryce Kindopp each earned assists on the goal, their first helpers of the campaign.

Brogan Rafferty netted his first goal of the season and first as a Gull at 2:14 of the third period. He has recorded a point in each of San Diego's first two games of the season (1-1=2).

Alexander Volkov and Buddy Robinson each recorded their first points (assist) as Gulls.

Three Gulls made their San Diego debut, including Morgan Adams-Moisan, Vincent Marleau and Greg Pateryn.

The Gulls will begin a three-game road swing starting Saturday, Oct. 23 against Ontario at Toyota Arena (6 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Alex Limoges

On how it felt to get back on the ice, despite the overall result:

Really good. It's my first time here, first experience and the fans were amazing. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the year and their support throughout it.

On what can be learned from a game like this:

It's not always going to go our way and we've just got to keep sticking with our systems and that's really, when we get a little in over our heads out there, we try to make plays that aren't us so once we get down, we've just got to stick with our roots and keep playing our hockey.

On what he took from his first time playing at Pechanga Arena:

I tried to go into it with no expectations. I heard there was going to be pretty good crowd tonight and $2 Bud Light Night. I've heard rumors and they surpassed all of them so it was a lot of fun standing out here, waiting to go out for opening puck drop.

On if he likes the quick turnaround for tomorrow's game:

Yeah, it leaves a sour taste on our mouths, obviously. Anytime we can kind of have that quick mindset, turnaround and look forward to playing tomorrow. That's fun and I know we're going to be ready to go.

On some of the things to correct for tomorrow's game against Ontario:

That's a good question. Honestly, just keeping it simple. Tonight, we tried to overcomplicate things a little bit and keeping it simple, getting on the forecheck, force them to make turnovers and then we throw everything at the net. Obviously, we didn't get a lot of shots tonight and have a lot of possession so I know that's got to be the first thing we've got to change.

On the overall feeling of the locker room before the game:

Yeah, there's definitely a lot of emotions going to start the game. A lot of guys' first time here. We're still new, we're still trying to figure it out. It's a good learning opportunity and like mentioned earlier, we're right back tomorrow so we can forget about this one and learn a couple good things and move on, look forward to tomorrow.

Head Coach Joel Bouchard

On tonight's atmosphere:

Well, I think the fans were there from the beginning. I think our team is behind the eight ball here a little bit for a lot of different reasons. A lot of new faces, kind of an odd week with some adversity this week. Didn't have the practice time that we would like. That being said, we have a lot of work to do and it's not coming out, it's not going to be easy. The fans were there and let's see where we are in a few weeks.

On his message to the team following the game:

I've played the game, I know it's hard. Right now, there's a lot of guys coming from everywhere. There's not really a big team chemistry, we've only been together. I don't see an identity and it's my job to make sure we have one and we work on it, but we get shortened time here. We need to play a few more games, see how we go. Some effort there time to time. I think Dostal was actually fighting really hard in the net. It's too bad for him, but let's call a spade a spade, he wasn't very good. We had a tough time- we struggled on structure, we struggled on a lot of things. Let's see how we react in a few weeks.

On what is needed for a quick turnaround for tomorrow's game:

They've just got to get their fluid, get food and sleep because it's not going to get easier tomorrow and we're not in game fit shape. We're not in sync, we're independent contractors now and it's our job to try to find something to glue those guys together.

On if he likes anything he's seen from the team's power play:

Yeah, I think it's probably the area we're most comfortable. Yeah, it's one area, but the power play is not out of trouble. If it does, it's once in a while, but you're right if you look at the bright side. When I look at the big picture, we've got a lot of work to do, my friends.

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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.

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