Enga, who ranked second in the WCHL last season with 48 goals, got his first goal in a Gulls uniform at 2:32 of the third period, assisted by Cousineau and Tiltgen, to up the hosts’ margin to 4-0. Enga scored his second goal of the game at 11:58 on a power play to make it 5-0 Gulls – beating Boxma through the 5-hole. The goal prompted new Ice Dogs coach Kevin Kaminski to replace Boxma with the first female goaltender in Long Beach history – Danielle Dube.

Dube, who trained with Team Canada for two years prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and has played in male leagues since she was four years old, gave up her first WCHL goal 2:04 after being inserted into the game but otherwise played well positionally with 12 saves on 13 shots in 8:02 of work and defending two Gulls power plays, including a five-on-three situation.

Aaron Plumb, a returner who spent part of last season with both San Diego and Tacoma, got the Gulls’ final goal even strength by roofing a shot past Dube, who admitted she had little chance on the shot because of its placement. Kaminski lauded the play of Dube, saying his undermanned defense gave up holes for the Gulls to shoot at. “That girl brings great work ethic to our team,” Kaminski said of Dube, who started two games in the WPHL with the Central Texas Stampede. “The great thing is that she’s competitive. She came in the game and did a good job. She gave the young kid (the 21-year-old Boxma, on assignment from the AHL Manchester Monarchs) a break to come back tomorrow.”

Garrow, the WCHL’s Rookie of the Year last season with Colorado, drew an assist on Tiltgen’s 2-0 goal. Also finishing with an assist in the game for San Diego was Clint Cabana, who combined with Neale and Plumb of the Gulls’ 6-0 marker.

Koenig, who tied a league record last season with five shutouts, made 30 saves in his 2002-03 season debut. “I thought our defense played very well. We play as a team and the better our team defense plays, the more chances we’ll have at being successful,” he said.

San Diego killed all eight Long Beach power plays while the Gulls finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage. Boxma, who participated in the L.A. Kings training camp, made 23 saves on 28 shots in 51:58 of service.

The size of the home opening crowd may have made the biggest splash as 12,920 filed in to watch the clash of divisional rivals. The Gulls drew 11,886 fans to an Oct. 20, 2001 game against Bakersfield.

The teams rematch Sunday, Oct. 13, at 5 p.m. at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Ice Dogs are then off 12 days before their home opener at the Long Beach Arena. Kaminski said he’ll be looking a defensemen who become available after final cuts are made by NHL and AHL teams.

Notepad
The Gulls giveaway promotion featured free caps and magnetic schedules – or, at least, was supposed to. Fans received the magnetic schedules but were given vouchers for the caps to be picked up at a later date. The caps had arrived but because of a dock workers strike still had to be unloaded in port.

Dube trained with the then Bakersfield Fog during the WCHL’s inaugural season but never saw any game action. She also was the Vancouver Voodoo’s third-string goaltender for two seasons in Roller Hockey International.

San Diego returns nine players off last season’s roster: right wing Dennis Purdie, centers Jamie Black and Joe Bianchi, defensemen Samy Nasreddinne, Clint Cabana and Trevor Sherban, left wings Sandro Sbrocca and Aaron Plumb and two-time WCHL Outstanding goaltender Trevor Koenig. Sherban finished third in team scoring last season with 52 points (12 goals, 40 assists) in 66 games to rank as the Gulls’ top returning scorer. Sherban was a 2001-2002 First Team All-WCHL selection, ranking among the top five defensemen in the league in points (third, 52), fourth in goals (12), second in assists (40), third in power play goals (7) and first in short-handed goals (2). Koenig led the WCHL last season in wins (42), minutes played (3,693), saves (1,728), shootout wins (9), shutouts (5) and save percentage (.913). The five shutouts are a league record.

San Diego opened the season with three players still in the AHL Hershey Bears training camp: defenseman Marc Busenburg and forwards Sylvain Deschatelets and Rob Voltera. Bianchi was serving a league-imposed suspension.

Long Beach returns eight players off last year’s roster – goaltender Mike Buzak, right wings Chris Kenady, Jeff Ewasko and Zdenek Vanc, centers Jeff Attard, Tomas Hradecky and Tomas Kapusta and defenseman Roger Maxwell. Kenady is the Ice Dogs’ leading returning scorer after posting 35 goals and 34 assists for 69 points in 68 games. Hradecky ranked fourth in team scoring with 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists) in 70 games while Maxwell and Ewasko led Long Beach with 289 and 259 penalty minutes, respectively. Buzak, who is currently on injured reserve, ranked first among WCHL goaltenders last season with a 2.39 GAA and was third overall in save percentage (.913).

Defending Northern Division champion Idaho officially ushered in the WCHL’s eighth season with a 6-2 home-ice victory against the Anchorage Aces on Friday, Oct. 11. Dan Shermerhorn had a goal and two assists the Steelheads, who outshot the Aces 41-17 in front of a standing room only crowd of 5,091 fans at the Bank of America Centre in Boise. Dean Larson had both Anchorage goals.