On Wednesday morning, the San Diego Gulls gathered to celebrate legendary forward Willie O’Ree’s 89th birthday.
The team sang “Happy Birthday” to O’Ree, who broke the NHL color line in 1958 with the Boston Bruins and later starred for the Gulls of the WHL from 1967 to 1974. The Gulls presented O’Ree with a sharp new fedora. Several current and former NHL players served up video tributes.
“It’s been a great morning,” said O’Ree, who grew up in Canada but has long called San Diego home. “I was so overwhelmed.”
O’Ree will be in attendance Friday night as the Gulls (0-2) take the ice at Pechanga Arena seeking their first win of the new AHL season.
The Gulls opened with 4-3 and 4-1 losses to the Toronto Marlies last weekend. They’ll host the Coachella Valley Firebirds Friday night before heading to Bakersfield for a game Saturday night. It will be the squad’s lone home game until Nov. 2, when the Abbotsford Canucks visit San Diego for a two-game home set.
The Gulls are looking to avoid the kind of disastrous start that doomed them to a 26-35-10-1 record last season. San Diego started the 2023-24 schedule 2-0, then went 40 days without a victory.
Coachella Valley (0-2) is coming off consecutive Calder Cup Finals appearances but have a new coach in Derek Laxdel and several new players. The Firebirds opened their season with losses to Bakersfield and Calgary.
Special teams will be key to San Diego’s success. The Gulls went 0-for-5 on the power play against Toronto while allowing three power-play goals in five penalty-kill chances.
“I thought there was a lot of good in our game; specifically, we spent a lot of time on special teams,” coach Matt McIlvane said. “Talking about it both in meetings on the ice. Trying to create more offense together as a group. There’s plenty to be excited about.”
The Gulls debuted several new players in Toronto and are in the process of creating chemistry after a truncated preseason training camp and one exhibition game. They held their own during five-on-five play, with Nikita Nesterenko, Carson Meyer, Jansen Harkins and Tyson Hinds finding the back of the net in the two games.
The Gulls scored first in both games and came back from a two-goal deficit in the opener before losing.
“We competed hard,” said veteran defenseman Dillon Heatherington, who is in his first season with the Gulls.
“Each of the first periods in both games, I thought we outplayed them. We outchanced them. We lost the special teams battle. But there were a lot positives in both games. We just have to continue that work ethic and continue that belief that we are a good team and find a way to win.”
Since coming to San Diego from Norfolk before the 2015-16 season, the Gulls have enjoyed one of the strongest home-ice advantages in the AHL. The club drew more than 12,000 fans for last year’s home opener against Ontario.
Friday’s game was nearing a sellout as of Thursday evening, and players were excited about playing in front of a jacked-up crowd.
“They know,” McIlvane said. “Guys come to San Diego for a reason, and they can’t wait to be out in front of America’s finest fans.”
