If Gulls Work as Hard as Waddell . . . : Hockey: As vice president, general manager and coach, he puts in a long day. But ever-changing rosters could make for a long IHL season.

At 6 a.m., with the sun barely showing on the Eastern horizon, Don Waddell has just unlocked the front door of the Gulls’ office and is heading straight to the coffee machine.

It’s the start of another 15-hour work day.

Waddell, who has come to San Diego from Michigan to cultivate ice hockey, knows he must have all his cylinders revving to face his bulging daily workload. So he throws down a fresh pot of black coffee to get the engine started.

He arrives two hours before anyone else. He wears conservative navy blue suits. He’s 32 and he’s the boss. He combs his dark brown hair straight back. The hair is never out of place, but, lately, he has noticed some gray.

Gray hair started appearing sometime between the day Waddell--already the team’s vice president and general manager--took a physical exam and the day he accepted the job as coach of the Gulls. The Gulls open the 1991-92 International Hockey League season at 7:05 tonight against the Salt Lake Golden Eagles at the San Diego Sports Arena.

The Gulls were fifth in the IHL West Division last season at 30-45-8. Their quest for improvement (and the playoff berth that eluded them on the final weekend of the 1990-91 season) probably will depend on how well Waddell performs his duties.

With several personnel changes--including an ownership transfer--occuring during the off-season, a number of key questions will be answered during the team’s 82-game campaign.

Here are just a few:

Can the man with three hats do the trick?

Credit Waddell with a hat trick if the Gulls finish .500 and get to the playoffs. A 15-game turnaround would make Waddell an executive/coaching success. But he’ll need a little luck and a lot of stamina.

After an ownership change put him on hold during the spring, Waddell scrambled to fix a poorly planned schedule, establish some NHL affiliations and locate some good free-agent talent. As he jumps in and out of the dressing room--from suit to sweats--Waddell is still working on two of the above.

And as he races through the day to get the Gulls ready, skating through drills on the ice and negotiating contracts from his car phone, Waddell soaks up three to four pots of coffee.

“I’m a big coffee drinker,” he said. “I’m not a big sleeper.”

They can skate on ice, but can they walk on water?

A huge task confronts Waddell and the Gulls already. San Diego is one of only two IHL teams that is not a minor-league outpost for an NHL franchise, which would send down talented players just before season’s start. The Gulls, who opened camp only 13 days ago, are borrowing players from Minnesota, Philadelphia and the New York Rangers.

But Waddell said the roster you see today may not be the roster you’ll see tonight at the Sports Arena. The Gulls are behind schedule forming a team. They have not played an exhibition game and probably will go into the season playing catch-up.

At the same time, they’re looking for the last three months of 1991 to be different from the first three. After going 17-17-4 from October to December in their debut season, the Gulls were 13-28-4 after New Year’s Day. Waddell said he’s approaching the first 10 games like it is still training camp.

“Obviously, we have to treat them like real games,” he said. “Six of the first 10 are on the road. If we can come out 4-6 or better, I think I’ll be pretty happy. If we go 2-8, I won’t push the panic button. If we’re 0-10, yeah, I may push the panic button.”

What’s in the name, Gretzky?

Keith Gretzky, younger brother of hockey’s greatest player, began hearing the cries of passion at the first public scrimmage 12 days ago.

Little boys, pen and paper in hand, their noses mashed against the Plexiglas, yelling: “Gretzkeeeeeeee!”

Gulls fans must not fall under the illusion that it’s King Wayne--”The Great One”--on the ice, instead of Keith, who has been dubbed “The Good One.” This Gretzky hopes to elude IHL defenders and the spotlight.

“It’s no big deal, really,” said Keith, 24. “Friends of mine by mistake always call me Wayne. I’ll pass the puck and be more of a playmaker than shooting the puck. As long as I give 120% and after the game I’m happy, that’s all that matters.”

Gretzky had 15 goals and 51 assists for 66 points in 62 games at Winston-Salem of the East Coast Hockey League last season.

Comprende, Comrades?

The Gulls return four of their top six scorers from last season--Darcy Norton, Soren True, Brent Sapergia and Larry Floyd--and look to be bigger and more physical on both ends of the rink with the addition of two Russian players. But do they know sign language? Defenseman Sergei Starikov (5-10, 200, two-time Olympic gold medalist) speaks little English, and right wing Dmitri Kvartalnov (5-10, 175), who has been in the United States less than a week, speaks none.

“I’ve bought a Russian dictionary and I’m trying to learn a few words,” Waddell said. “I have to explain things by blackboard. They’ll learn the important words. They’re both going to get a lot of ice time.”

Gulls Roster

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. 1990-91 Team 2 Alan Leggett D 6-2 205 Czechoslovakian League 3 Scott Drevitch D 5-10 181 New Haven (AHL) 4 Brian Straub D 6-2 195 Maine (HE) 5 Sergei Starikov D 5-10 200 Utica (AHL) 6 Marc Laniel D 6-1 194 Utica (AHL) 7 Dave Korol D 6-1 185 Gulls 8 Mitch Wilson RW 5-9 195 Muskegon 9 Keith Gretzky C 5-9 165 Winston-Salem (ECHL) 10 Jason LaFreniere C 5-11 195 Canadian Olympic Team 11 Charlie Simmer LW 6-3 210 Gulls 12 Robbie Nichols RW 6-1 190 Gulls 14 Soren True RW 6-0 185 Gulls 15 Len Hachborn C 5-10 180 Binghamton (AHL) 16 Brent Sapergia RW 6-0 195 Gulls 17 Larry Floyd LW 5-8 180 Gulls 18 Dmitri Kvartalnov RW 5-10 175 Khimik Voskresenska (USSR) 19 Jason Prosofsky RW 6-4 220 Medicine Hat (WHL) 22 Rick Barkovich C 5-10 188 Kansas City 23 Alan Hepple D 5-10 195 Newmarket (AHL) 25 Darcy Norton RW 6-1 190 Gulls 27 Rod Houk G 5-8 165 Regina (CWUAA) 28 Steve Martinson LW 6-1 200 Gulls 30 Bruce Hoffort G 5-10 185 Kansas City 35 Rick Knickle G 5-11 170 Springfield (AHL)