A Perfect Start: Gulls Win, 4-3

Flashing lights and fistfights. Cheers and jeers and spilled beers.

Welcome back, boys, the fans said. You’ve been missed.

Hockey returned to San Diego Friday night with all the hoopla of a New Year’s Eve party at the turn of the century.

Fans poured it on in a massive show of support for their infant team, and the Gulls responded with a 4-3 victory over Salt Lake City in the teams’ International Hockey League opener at the San Diego Sports Arena.

The paid crowd of 9,046 fell short of the 11,692 who saw the original Gulls defeat Seattle on Nov. 17, 1966. General Manager Don Waddell, a former coach and player, was wringing his hands all night, but not over the attendance.

“I’m very happy,” Waddell said. “This is a great start for us.”

Waddell has made it clear that putting an average of 5,000 in the arena for the remaining 41 home games is imperative.

But the quick and aggressive style of hockey that Coach Mike O’Connell introduced seemed to impress fans and indicate it was a big step in the right direction for the Gulls.

Center Larry Floyd, who had a hat trick and assisted on the Gulls other goal, was introduced to the fans after the game and said, “We appreciate all you coming out. We had a great turnout, and keep coming back.”

Said Waddell: “When a sporting event gives people something to cheer about, they’ll cheer, and they’ll come back.”

San Diego’s Jim Green was an avid fan of the original Gulls and said he was psyched to see them back in town.

“I’m very impressed,” he said. “They seem to be an exciting team. I think they’ll do well.”

Green even made excuses for the Gulls, who played a brand of hockey not totally unfamiliar to San Diego--little defense, particularly in a first period that accounted for all of the scoring.

The city has grown accustomed to that face. We expect it from the Charger and San Diego State football team, but from the Gulls? Say it isn’t so.

“I think it was just first-game jitters,” Green said. “They were a little sloppy in the first period, but they started checking more and had a couple of fights in the second.”

San Diego had several scoring opportunities late in the third, but they fizzled. With 1:17 remaining, Salt Lake City pulled goalie Warren Sharples but couldn’t penetrate a sharper defense.

With 20 seconds remaining, Gull goaltender Mark Reimer was flanked by Salt Lake City players, but he deflected a potential tying goal.

Salt Lake City and the Gulls exchanged four goals before the halfway point of the first period.

With the Gulls on the power play, center Randy Bucyk scored from the inside corner of the left circle at 3:39. Twenty-one seconds later, with the Gulls still holding a man advantage, Charlie Simmer nudged it in from close range on the right wing, taking a pass from Floyd after Floyd got the puck from teammate Paul Kelly in the left circle.

Floyd, who scored 39 goals last season for Phoenix, made it 2-1 with a slap shot straight up the middle at 8:59, Simmer and Kelly assisting. But Salt Lake City’s C.J. Young tied it, 2-2, at 9:21.

Floyd scored his second goal unassisted to give the Gulls a 3-2 lead at 14:21. Salt Lake goalie Wayne Cowley was screened by a Gull in the crease.

Kerry Clark evened the score at 16:04 for Salt Lake, but after the Gulls threatened to score twice, Floyd finally made it 4-3 by completing his hat trick, taking a pass on the right wing from Dave Korol and tipping it in.

Gulls Notes

Not all the cast of the original Gulls hung up their skates when the club ceased operations in 1974. Mark Richards was 3 years old when he skated as “Gulliver,” the team’s original mascot. Richards, saying he had to find a way to see free hockey this year, made his debut as “Sandy Gull” Friday . . . Rusty, but loud and clear: Ron Oakes, after a six-year absence from the air, is back as the play-by-play announcer for the Gulls. Oakes previous announced for the Kings, the St. Louis Blues and the old Gulls and the Hawks of the Pacific Hockey League. . . . Aging gracefully: Charlie Simmer, the Gulls’ player/assistant coach, played for Salt Lake City in the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons. Two of his former teammates are still with the Golden Eagles . . . in the broadcast booth. . . . Cliff Fletcher, president and general manager of the Calgary Flames, watched the host Flames defeat Vancouver, 3-2, in overtime Thursday, flew to San Diego Friday to watch his top farm club’s opener and will fly to Boston today for the Flames-Bruins game.