New Hockey Team Selects Old Favorite for Name: Gulls

San Diego obtained a new minor league hockey team on June 14. One month and 13 days later, the team has been given a familiar name: the Gulls.

Vin Ciruzzi, president of the International Hockey League club, made the announcement Friday, saying, “Our goal was to revive the essence and mystique of the San Diego Gulls.”

San Diego had three professional hockey teams between 1966 and 1979: the Hawks of the Pacific Hockey League, the Mariners of the World Hockey Association and the Gulls of the World Hockey League.

The Gulls, who sometimes outdrew the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings during their tenure here and routinely drew 10,000 to 11,000 fans on Saturday nights, were considered the most successful of the three.

San Diego was able to use the name Gulls only after getting an OK Thursday from Bob Breitbard, the former owner of the WHL Gulls, who still owns rights to the name.

The Gulls will open their IHL season Oct. 5.

FOOTBALL

San Diego State’s football team will play a two-game series against Arizona, beginning in 2000, Athletic Director Fred Miller announced. The Aztecs will face the Wildcats Sept. 16, 2000, in Tucson and Sept. 15, 2001, at home. Arizona leads the series between the two teams, 6-5, and beat SDSU, 42-10, the last time they played, in 1979.

SOCCER

The San Diego Nomads battled to a 0-0 tie before dropping a Western Soccer League game to Colorado, 3-2, on penalty kicks in Denver. The Nomads fell to 7-9.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Manuela Maleeva, 23, ranked eighth in the world in women’s singles, has entered the Great American Bank tennis tournament to be played at the San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club Aug. 6-12. The field also includes top-ranked Steffi Graf and Wimbledon champ Martina Navratilova.