Team captain Sam Carrick played in the opener but was called up by Anaheim earlier in the week and was with the Ducks as of Thursday. The shifty, smooth-skating Perrault is a 2020 first-round pick who scored three goals with 27 assists as a Gull last season and is considered to be one of the organization’s top 10 prospects. Per arena policy, fans attending the game must provide either proof of COVID-19 vaccination or the results of a recent negative COVID-19 test.īecause many of the organization’s top prospects such as forwards Trevor Zegras and Benoit-Olivier Groulx and defenseman Jamie Drysdale are currently with the Ducks, Friday’s lineup should feature players such as forwards Jacob Perreault and Vinni Lettieri, the players who scored goals in the season-opening loss at Ontario, and defenseman Brogan Rafferty, who had a pair of assists. It’s gonna take a little bit but it is fun to realize we’re back and things are getting back to normal.”Īs of Thursday afternoon, approximately 10,000 tickets had been sold for the nearly 12,000-seat arena. So, a lot of new faces but it’s an exciting time to have the fans back. Another few guys who just came in for a cup of tea and played a few games. We had one guy who played one game last year. As coaches, you have to realize that some of the guys haven’t played much either. “The last year has been challenging for everybody to be honest. “It’s exciting for everybody,” Bouchard said.
The current Gulls went through a training camp with the entire Ducks preseason roster in Orange County, then held a pair of practices on their own at Poway Ice before last weekend’s opener in Ontario.īouchard pushed his team through a brisk practice Wednesday at Pechanga, gave the team Thursday off and will conduct a morning skate Friday. It is notable that several recent Gulls alumni such as Isac Lundestrom, Troy Terry, Max Jones, Sam Steel and Josh Mahura are key pieces to the rebuild taking place in Anaheim where former Gulls coach Dallas Eakins had the Ducks off to a 2-2 start heading into Thursday night’s game at Winnipeg. San Diego has also consistently ranked among the AHL’s leaders in fan attendance. Since making the move from Norfolk, Va., before the 2015-16 season, the Gulls have made the playoffs four out of five times (the 2020 playoffs were canceled after the pandemic ended the season in March) and consistently been among the better teams in the Pacific Division. Bouchard, who also played in 293 AHL games, led the Montreal Canadiens’ top affiliate to a record of 83-67-4 over three seasons while earning praise for helping develop players into NHL contributors.Īs the hockey world returns to something approaching normal, Bouchard’s task will be to mold a roster of Anaheim Ducks prospects into the kind of winning team San Diego fans are used to seeing.