Gulls Gear Up for First Game Against Firebirds
Oct 9, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are set to take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the first time this season tonight at Acrisure Arena (7 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network). Erik Pessolano will join the broadcast tonight, filling in for Gulls broadcaster TJ Chillot.
The Gulls and Firebirds last met on April 18, 2026 when Coachella Valley defeated San Diego 6-4 in their last regular season game of the season. San Diego ended the 2025-26 season going 2-4-2-0 against the Firebirds and hold an all-time record of 9-17-6-0 against the team.
"I think Coachella is probably going to be our biggest challenge so far," assistant coach Steve McCarthy said. "Really well-structured team and they're at home, so we worked on a few things this week, but definitely a tough challenge. Hopefully we keep the momentum, and we got to get off to a good start."
San Diego has played two games so far posting a record of 1-0-1-0, collecting three out of four possible points. The Gulls have netted nine total goals, and 12 skaters have logged points so far. Stian Solberg currently leads all Gulls skaters with 2-2=4 points logged, Anton Wahlberg follows close behind with 1-2=3 points logged and eight other Gulls skaters are tied at two points.
“" think we've been keeping it simple," Roman Kinal said. "That's been kind of the theme here, and we've been very connected too. All five guys on the ice are buying in and keeping it simple, delivering pucks on net, outcompeting them in the corners, and I think if we keep doing that, keep buying into being simple, we're going to continue to have success."
Those two games were played last weekend against the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena. The Gulls took the victory in the first match, walking away 5-1. This marked a second consecutive season opening win and the first win for Dave Manson as head coach. The second game got away from the Gulls as the Barracuda beat them to the net in overtime to take two points.
Special teams played a large role throughout the weekend and are an area the team looks to continue to focus on, especially against the Firebirds. San Diego’s power play stands at 33.3% which currently ranks second in the Pacific Division. Their penalty kill is at 75.0% ranking eighth in the division. Coachella Valley’s power play is first in the division at 62.5%, and their penalty kill is fifth at 81.8%.
"Something that obviously we've noticed is they have a really good power play," McCarthy said. "So obviously we want our guys to be physical and intense. It's a little bit of a heated rivalry, but you have to play within the rules, and I think that's one of our biggest things is staying out of the penalty box and limiting the opportunities we give them on the power play. But like I said, from our first weekend, our guys played intensely, they played hard, so we're looking for the same."
Hockey will return to San Diego tomorrow as the Gulls take on the Henderson Silver Knights in their home opener at Pechanga Arena San Diego (6 p.m. PDT).