On January 29, 2015, the
Anaheim Ducks announced that they would purchase the
Norfolk Admirals of the
American Hockey League, and move the team to San Diego as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The team plays at
Pechanga Arena in San Diego, the sixth professional hockey team to play there, following the
original San Diego Gulls of the
WHL (1966–74), the
San Diego Mariners of the
WHA (1974–1977), the
San Diego Hawks of the
Pacific Hockey League (1977–1979), the
second San Diego Gulls of the
IHL (1990–1995), and the
third San Diego Gulls of the
West Coast Hockey League (1995–2003) and
ECHL (2003–2006). The current team is the fifth hockey team in San Diego to use the "Gulls" name. The Gulls' name, logo, and colors were revealed on February 22, 2015, at HockeyFest. HockeyFest was deemed a success, drawing over 8,500 enthusiastic hockey fans. The San Diego Gulls played their first home game on October 10, 2015, against the
Grand Rapids Griffins. The team finished its inaugural season with an average attendance of 8,675, second in the league after the
Hershey Bears. After four seasons and three playoff appearances, the Anaheim Ducks promoted Gulls' head coach
Dallas Eakins to the same position with the Ducks. Former
Florida Panthers' head coach
Kevin Dineen was hired as the next head coach. Approaching the delayed
2020–21 season, due to
COVID-19 pandemic considerations, the Gulls announced they would temporarily relocate and play the season out of the Ducks' practice rink,
Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena, in
Irvine, California. The Gulls finished third in the Pacific Division and lost in the semifinals to the second place
Bakersfield Condors in division postseason tournament. After two seasons, the Ducks did not extend head coach Dineen, instead hiring former
Laval Rocket head coach
Joel Bouchard. After a lackluster season under Bouchard, the Gulls would hire long-time AHL head coach
Roy Sommer to be their fourth head coach in team history. In Sommer's only season as head coach of the Gulls, the Gulls finished with the fewest number of points in the AHL. He retired at the end of the season. Matt McIlvane was hired as the new coach for the
2023–24 season, specifically due to his experience of working with younger players. The teams faced each other in the
2016 division finals, where the Reign defeated the Gulls 4–1 in a best-of-seven series. San Diego then defeated the Reign in the
2017 Calder Cup playoffs 3-games-to-2 in the division semifinals. Ontario would one-up San Diego with another postseason series victory after sweeping San Diego 2 games to none during the 2021–22 playoffs.
Bakersfield Condors The Gulls have a rivalry with the Bakersfield Condors, the affiliate of the
Edmonton Oilers. Bakersfield, then known as the
Bakersfield Fog from 1995 until 1998 when the franchise was rebranded as the Condors, and San Diego, were charter members of the
West Coast Hockey League from its inception in 1995 until the league was absorbed by the
East Coast Hockey League in 2003. In the 2015–16 season, Bakersfield and San Diego had multiple fights and line brawls during a game played at
Mechanics Bank Arena. Each team has scored a postseason series victory over the other. Notably, on May 3, 2019, in the Pacific Division Finals of the
2019 Calder Cup playoffs, the Gulls defeated the Condors 3–2 in quadruple overtime for the 1–0 series lead.
Maxime Comtois scored the game winning goal 4:20 into the fourth overtime period, ending the game after five hours and ten minutes of play. San Diego would upset Bakersfield by winning the series 4 games to 2. Bakersfield played San Diego during the COVID-shortened 2020–21 Pacific Division playoffs, defeating San Diego 2 games to 1 in the best of 3 series.
Tucson Roadrunners The Gulls also share a rivalry with the
Tucson Roadrunners, the AHL affiliate of the
Utah Mammoth and formerly the
Arizona Coyotes' affiliate. San Diego and Tucson's rivalry has been dubbed the "I-8 Border Cup" with the winner of each season's series between the two teams being presented with the "I-8 Border Cup Trophy", which has been in the possession of the Roadrunners since the 2018–19 season. As of the 2024–25, the two teams have faced each other 80 times during the regular season, with the Roadrunners holding a record of 43–34–2–1 against the Gulls. In the 2024–25 season, Tucson secured the series with a 5–3–0–0 record. ==Season-by-season records==