2023-24 San Diego Gulls/Tulsa Oilers

[The Midnight Burrito]

Second consecutive game in which they gave up a 3 goal lead in the 3rd, even. Terrible.

Like Cronin, McIlvane has quite a hill to climb before we can say he was a good hire.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

So did any defenseman not named Zellweger down there take a significant step forward over the course of the year, because it sure doesn’t seem like it

 

[Kalv]

Second consecutive game in which they gave up a 3 goal lead in the 3rd, even. Terrible.

Like Cronin, McIlvane has quite a hill to climb before we can say he was a good hire.

I wonder if people are still portraying as our sure-fire next HC

 

[Rasp]

I was hoping for better than we got this year...

 

[190Octane]

Whoa... San Diego collapsed in the 3rd period again! It had to go to the shootout with Pastujov getting the only goal made out of both teams. G Suchanek with 42 saves on 45 shots! The Gulls barely got 20 shots on the Firebirds. Yikes.

Huh... I didn't realize Dan Bylsma is the coach of Coachella Valley.

Another Canadian snowbird wintering in Palm Springs.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Zell was somebody Mcilvane had to help get right and he did it appears which is a big deal so he should get high marks for that although Zell might be the type who'd excel no matter what.

I didn't really watch the Gulls much but if you just look at the stat lines of some of our more 'promising' forwards there like Nesterenko, Pasta and Gaucher, it's pretty disappointing. Nester barely above .5 ppg, Pasta right at .5 ppg, and Gaucher well below.

 

[McDonald19]

I didn't really watch the Gulls much but if you just look at the stat lines of some of our more 'promising' forwards there like Nesterenko, Pasta and Gaucher, it's pretty disappointing. Nester barely above .5 ppg, Pasta right at .5 ppg, and Gaucher well below.

They were all better in the second half of the season. Nester did earn a cup of coffee with the Ducks towards the end, I guess.

 

[tomd]

They were all better in the second half of the season. Nester did earn a cup of coffee with the Ducks towards the end, I guess.

I'm mildly surprised that Gaucher didn't get a game with the Ducks. Not sure if the PV was sending a message to him or not but why wouldn't they give him a game in an otherwise lost season?

 

[JAHV]

I'm mildly surprised that Gaucher didn't get a game with the Ducks. Not sure if the PV was sending a message to him or not but why wouldn't they give him a game in an otherwise lost season?

Why would they if Gaucher didn't earn it? I think it sends an important message that they're not going to promote him until he's earned it, as Nesterenko and Regenda did. I don't think it's a message to Gaucher as much as it's a message to the entire organization - we're not going to promote you to the NHL unless you've put the work in and have hit the benchmarks we've asked you to hit at a lower level.

 

[tomd]

Why would they if Gaucher didn't earn it? I think it sends an important message that they're not going to promote him until he's earned it, as Nesterenko and Regenda did. I don't think it's a message to Gaucher as much as it's a message to the entire organization - we're not going to promote you to the NHL unless you've put the work in and have hit the benchmarks we've asked you to hit at a lower level.

I don’t disagree at all and we are saying the same thing in different words. We can only hope that he starts playing more like a 1st rounder next year.

 

[JAHV]

I don’t disagree at all and we are saying the same thing in different words. We can only hope that he starts playing more like a 1st rounder next year.

I think he's fine. He was always the type of player who, if he was going to make an impact in the NHL, would take longer to get there.

The important thing for him is to keep taking significant steps forward. If he stalls, then he's in trouble. I don't think he needs to play in the NHL next season, but we need to see him play in San Diego in a way that makes us think the NHL is right around the corner.

 

[McDonald19]

 

[tomd]

Luke Henman 5'11" 170 lbs or 6'0" 152 lbs depending on the source. Not impressed.

 

[Rasp]

We need more of that in the Ducks

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I'm mildly surprised that Gaucher didn't get a game with the Ducks. Not sure if the PV was sending a message to him or not but why wouldn't they give him a game in an otherwise lost season?

PV said that Gaucher is still a couple of years away, at the Migration Event. The video should start at 36:02. There is no message being sent, just reality.

 

[forever1922]

I think the consensus was that most guys on the Gulls didn't play well enough to make it a must to give them NHL games.

Also the case exists that the Ducks sucked so bad it was probably best they play for Gulls in an ever so slightly more competitive environment.

 

[Kalv]

I feel there was a good progress for some guys and the team throughout the year. The problem is that we started the season playing like we don't belong even in the ECHL, so at the end we're looking like just meh, but there was an improvement.

It sucks we have not young dynamic offensive talent outside I guess Pasta.
Zell was great
I hope Gaucher, Caulfield, Nesty, King continue their improvements next year.
Would have liked to see more from our D. I had high hopes for Hinds.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I feel there was a good progress for some guys and the team throughout the year. The problem is that we started the season playing like we don't belong even in the ECHL, so at the end we're looking like just meh, but there was an improvement.

It sucks we have not young dynamic offensive talent outside I guess Pasta.
Zell was great
I hope Gaucher, Caulfield, Nesty, King continue their improvements next year.
Would have liked to see more from our D. I had high hopes for Hinds.

The team didn't start to improve until captain De Leo returned from injury. Before his return, we were 3-10-3, on a 13-game losing streak.

Gulls 2023-24	Splits
Split	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	Pts%
No De Leo (Oct/Nov)	16​	3​	10​	3​	9​	0.281​
Nov-Feb	33​	15​	12​	6​	36​	0.545​
No Zell (Mar/Apr)	23​	8​	13​	2​	18​	0.391​
Total	72​	26​	35​	11​	63​	0.438​

What this split chart shows is that we don't possess high-end talent depth with the AHL club. Sure, we had injuries during Nov-Feb, but as along as it didn't affect our top-end guys, then it wasn't dire. We needed more top-end scoring forward. The only player at 1.00 ppg or higher was Colangelo with a 1.00 ppg rate (4 pts in 4 games).

I looked at a with and without Colangelo split, which was an April split.

April

With Colangelo: 2-1-1​

Without Colangelo: 1-3-2​

This goes back to roster construction and the Gulls needed more top-end scoring, veteran help. Of course, an improved backend would have also helped.

Next season, we're going to have another influx of kids. If Colangelo and Zell are not part of the AHL contingent, then we might have a problem - especially if we're going to go more youth than high end AHL veterans.

 

[Deuce22]

The team didn't start to improve until captain De Leo returned from injury. Before his return, we were 3-10-3, on a 13-game losing streak.

Gulls 2023-24	Splits
Split	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	Pts%
No De Leo (Oct/Nov)	16​	3​	10​	3​	9​	0.281​
Nov-Feb	33​	15​	12​	6​	36​	0.545​
No Zell (Mar/Apr)	23​	8​	13​	2​	18​	0.391​
Total	72​	26​	35​	11​	63​	0.438​

What this split chart shows is that we don't possess high-end talent depth with the AHL club. Sure, we had injuries during Nov-Feb, but as along as it didn't affect our top-end guys, then it wasn't dire. We needed more top-end scoring forward. The only player at 1.00 ppg or higher was Colangelo with a 1.00 ppg rate (4 pts in 4 games).

I looked at a with and without Colangelo split, which was an April split.

April

With Colangelo: 2-1-1​

Without Colangelo: 1-3-2​

This goes back to roster construction and the Gulls needed more top-end scoring, veteran help. Of course, an improved backend would have also helped.

Next season, we're going to have another influx of kids. If Colangelo and Zell are not part of the AHL contingent, then we might have a problem - especially if we're going to go more youth than high end AHL veterans.

Zellweger isn't going back to SD. Colangelo is 50/50 IMO. The organizational depth isn't there yet to where the Gulls will be good. Verbeek (despite what he's said) wants his prospects in the NHL if they can hang there.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Zellweger isn't going back to SD. Colangelo is 50/50 IMO. The organizational depth isn't there yet to where the Gulls will be good. Verbeek (despite what he's said) wants his prospects in the NHL if they can hang there.

Or Verbeek can grab high end AHL talents to help the AHL club. For example, on defense, Verbeek reacquired Carrick while sending White and Hagg down to the AHL. We're a +36 GF and +36 GA this year. We still need more higher end talents or better coaching. Seeing that we've had the same assistant coaches for the past two seasons, I'm not banking on our coaching.

 

[duxfan1101]

Sounds like De Leo is committed to playing in San Diego long term.