Gulls Close With Loss, Questions

The Gulls played with an unusual amount of inspiration and perspiration in their season-ending 7-5 loss to playoff-bound Salt Lake City in front of 5,069 at the San Diego Sports Arena Sunday.

There was plenty scoring, hard checks and fights on a night when one could ask, “Why bother?” For the final two months of the International Hockey League season the Gulls seemed to have their minds on other things, according to Don Waddell, Gull general manager.

“I was warned when I came to San Diego that there is a San Diego syndrome,” he said. “I said, ‘That’s impossible.’ But let’s face it. The weather puts you in a relaxed mood.

“You wonder if the (San Diego lifestyle) has something to do with it. We can’t lock the guys up 24 hours a day. They go to the beach, they like to play golf, they go to Sea World, they go to the zoo. We couldn’t win at home in the month of February. Teams were getting two- and three-goal leads on us early.”

The Gulls (30-45-8) went 2-8 at the Sports Arena in February. Overall, they were 4-12 that month and 3-9 in March. They entered the season finale losing nine of 11 and four consecutive. Waddell’s comments came after Milwaukee clinched the final spot Saturday.

Said Gull Coach Mike O’Connell: “I don’t think there were too many games where we quit all year. I was happy with their work ethic. But, definitely, the distractions are far greater here than everywhere else. It’s frustrating. I felt the playoffs were an attainable goal.”

After the Golden Eagles (50-28-5) took a 1-0 lead 2:40 into the game, the Gulls scored three power-play goals and led, 3-1, at 10:48 into the first period.

A minute and 19 seconds after the Salt Lake goal, Eagle defenseman Kevin Grant got two minutes for hooking. Eighteen seconds later Darren Lowe tied it with his 21st goal off a rebound. At 7:21, Salt Lake forward Richard Zemlak was whistled for tripping. Steve Martinson scored 11 seconds into the penalty to make it 2-1.

At 7:21, Lyons was called for tripping. Gull Martin Bergeron nailed a 30-foot slap shot straight away. But with a 3-1 lead, the Gulls started playing like a team that had its mind on a post-game beach party.

A fourth power play for the Gulls produced a short-handed score by Salt Lake’s Todd Harkins at 14:14. A minute and six seconds later Martin Simard tied it, 3-3. Then Gull Dennis Holland drew a double minor for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct. Mark Osiecki scored on the power play to make 4-3, Eagles, capping a free-for-all first period. The seven goals tied the Gulls’ season high for one period.

The Gulls tied it in the second period on a goal by Darcy Norton and pulled ahead, 5-4, when Dennis Holland scored 20 seconds into the third period. They had a golden opportunity to put some padding on that lead when they went on a two-man power-play advantage at 10:43. But they couldn’t cash in.

Instead, they put the Eagles on the power play and, with the score tied 5-5, Darryl Olson slapped one past Scott Brower from 40 feet to make it 6-5. Salt Lake finished the Gulls off with 21 seconds left, when Harkins completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal.

Perhaps some Gull players will spend the offseason in San Diego to get used to the sun and fun. Player/coach Charlie Simmer will be one of them. He’s a long-time Southern California resident, having played several seasons with the Kings before moving on to Boston and Pittsburgh.

“It’s a tough adjustment,” Simmer said of playing hockey here. “It’s positive in a way. I guess it’s negative in more ways. I don’t think it was a major cause of our downfall.”