Gulls Ready for 10-Year Anniversary Home Opener
Oct 18, 2025
By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are ready to play in front of America’s finest fans on home ice tonight at their 10 Year Anniversary Home Opener at Pechanga Arena San Diego against the Henderson Silver Knights (6 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network).
The last time the Gulls played on home ice, they defeated the Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-4 in overtime to close out the 2024-25 AHL season in front of a sold-out crowd of over 12,000 people.
"I can’t wait to be back at Pechanga in front of the best fans in the league," forward Sasha Pastujov said. "They really bring it, especially at the first game of the year. It’s going to be hard to put those emotions aside and focus on the game at hand and getting the job done, but with that we’ll give the crowd some reasons to cheer and have some fun with it."
The team is coming off a high as they opened the season with a 5-0 victory over the Firebirds last Friday in their season opener and are now ready to show that grit at home.
This was the first time in Gulls AHL history that San Diego shutout their opponent in the opening game of the season. Goaltender Ville Husso stopped all 26 shots and has now started two back-to-back seasons with a shutout in the opening game.
The Gulls came out strong with five separate players logging their first goals of the season during this matchup. Gulls captain Ryan Carpenter opened the scoring and was followed by Tim Washe, who scored his first professional goal. Forward Judd Caulfield increased the lead to 3-0 in the second period. Pastujov scored to open the final frame and Matthew Phillips followed shortly after, finding the net for the first time in a Gulls sweater.
"We were playing together as a team and playing with confidence," Caulfield said. "We were playing for each other out there and we knew everyone was going to be doing their jobs, so it made it easy to play a simple game and get the job done."
This season will include multiple special celebrations for the Gulls 10-year Anniversary. The Home Opener will begin with a tailgate starting at 2:30 p.m. in the East parking lot featuring music from Anaheim Duck’s DJ JoJo, yard games, photo opportunities, and food and drink specials.
The fun will continue at 3:15 p.m. as the Orange Carpet Ceremony begins featuring the 2025-26 Gulls team. Players will be signing autographs and interacting with fans as they make their way into Pechanga Arena.
Each seat at Pechanga Arena San Diego will include a 10th Anniversary rally towel and the first 8,000 Gulls fans in attendance will receive a light up wristband.