The City Council Tuesday proclaimed Saturday to be San Diego Gulls Day, in conjunction with the hockey team’s season opener and the return of professional hockey to the area.
The Gulls will serve as the Anaheim Ducks’ top minor league affiliate and play its home games at the Valley View Casino Center.
Several American Hockey League teams were moved west during the off- season to be closer to their affiliated National Hockey League franchises.
The Pacific Division will include teams in San Diego, San Jose, Ontario, Bakersfield, Stockton, San Antonio and Austin.
Ari Segal, the Gulls’ president of business operations, said San Diego has passionate and loyal fans.
“At every turn, every event that we’ve done, the people of San Diego have exceeded our expectations,” Segal told the council members. “We expected 2,500 for our Hockey Fest; we got 8,500. We expected 400 for our block party, which raised money for our San Diego Gulls Foundation; 1,300 people came through the doors.”
Segal said the franchise would embrace San Diego’s hockey tradition. The team is the seventh professional hockey franchise located in San Diego dating back to 1944 — the fourth with the Gulls nickname.
The AHL season begins Saturday against Grand Rapids.
—City News Service
