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By Phillip Brents
Jan. 04, 2003

What’s that axiom that evokes the beauty of blunt simplicity? When the going gets tough, the tough get going?

Those very words appear to have turned the San Diego Gulls from pretenders in a league they set the standard for to once-again contenders. A 12-game winning streak -- best in the WCHL this season — will tend to do that, of course.

Prior the holidays, things were not looking so rosy for the Gulls, who were off to their worst start in their eight-year existence and stood fifth in a six-team league that rewards playoff berths to only its top four finishers.

The 24-point surge has since lifted the Gulls from fifth place to second place . . . and nipping at the heels of the Idaho Steelheads, season-long front-runners in the WCHL.

The Gulls were pushing to match their all-time franchise record of 15 consecutive wins set in 1995-96. Their previous best run had been 11 straight wins in 1998-99.

The timing could not be better as teams hit the midpoint of the 2002-03 season.

The Gulls (20-10-1) set themselves up for a pivotal three-game home ice showdown against Idaho (24-7-3) following a 2-0 victory against the Bakersfield Condors on Jan. 3 and a 4-2 win against the Long Beach Ice Dogs on Jan. 4. Gulls goaltender Trevor Koenig stopped all 39 shots he faced against the Condors to record his sixth shutout this season (a new league record) and his 15 WCHL career regular season shutout (also a new league record). The win against the Ice Dogs was Koenig’s 11th straight to set a new career high. In those 11 victories, the two-time WCHL Outstanding Goaltender had played perhaps his best hockey in the league by posting five shutouts and a 0.94 GAA.

Koenig entered the showdown series for first place against Idaho leading the WCHL with 19 wins and a 1.75 GAA.

Ironically, the Gulls’ 12-game winning streak began with a 2-0 victory against the Steelheads on Dec. 9.

“When you get it rolling, there are a number of reasons,” said Gulls head coach Steve Martinson. “Number one, we stopped beating ourselves. We were losing games 2-1 and 3-2. We’re not doing those things any more. Number two, Koenig’s been a huge factor. Number three, our power play is back. We’ve outscored our opponents by a margin of three to one (52-14 in the 12 games).”

Koenig entered the Long Beach game with a shutout streak of 139:43. Another 60 minutes of goose egg hockey would have topped his existing league record of 197:13 set in 2000-01. However, the Ice Dogs’ Tyler Willis scored at 15:17 of the second period to end that current streak at 175:00 (and cut into an early 3-0 San Diego lead).

“That win was a little ugly for us. We have veteran leadership that carried us,” Koenig said after the Jan. 4 win against Long Beach.

Prior to earning a call-up to the AHL, Gulls defenseman Mike Garrow said he had felt the team had finally found its right chemistry and line combinations.

“We really demanded better defense. We’ve produced that,” said Garrow. “Our talent has taken over. We have the players who can score.”

R.J. Enga, who needed to play in the Gulls’ Jan. 7 and Jan. 10 games to reach 500 consecutive suit-ups in his pro career, has sparked the team offensively during the streak. Enga took over the club scoring lead with 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) to place him seventh in the league while his 16 goals ranked in a three-way tie (along with teammate Dean Tiltgen) for third most in the WCHL. Enga’s five game-winning goals tied for the WCHL lead in that category.

The addition of center Cory Cyrenne (a CHL All-Star in 2001) has also proven to be a key ingredient to the success of the streak. An eighth-round selection of the San Jose Sharks in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, the 5-9, 186-pound Cyrenne was in the midst of a seven-game point streak that had seen him tally 20 points in 14 games since joining San Diego. Other key performances have come from first-year Gull Clayton Read, who has continued to build on his 2001-02 breakout season with the now defunct Tacoma Sabercats. Read led the Gulls in shots (ahead of linemates Tiltgen and Mark Pederson) while ranking fourth in team scoring (behind Enga, Pederson and Tiltgen).

The Gulls power play — virtually non-existent a month into the season — has since risen to second in the league behind Idaho. In the 12-game win streak, Enga led San Diego with four game-winners while Read had three.

The Gulls had the chance to tie the franchise mark for most consecutive wins heading into a key three-game homestand against the league-leading Steelheads — a series Martinson called a “battle for first place.” With a sweep, the Gulls could draw within four standings points of Idaho (with three games in hand) or drop 16 points behind the Steelheads with an Idaho sweep.

“You got to start with one but we want them all,” Martinson said. “We’re looking to get started with those guys. They are getting it tough now in their schedule with something like seven games in 12 days. Here is where we need to hit them with everything — fast and hard.”

In the community:
Thursday (Jan. 9): Come out and join the fun as all Gulls players will be participating in a skate session at the Horton Plaza ice rink. The players will be on hand for autographs, questions and skating from 5-7 p.m. The proceeds from the cost of the skate session will benefit Children's Hospital

Thursday (Jan. 9): Gulls players and staff will attend an assembly at Mar Vista Middle School to congratulate students for their good attendance and stellar academic performance. For their accomplishments students were rewarded with tickets to the Gulls game this Saturday.

FEATURE ARTICLES
Goalies leave their legacy in WCHL
East meets West in final WCHL season
WCHL’s 2002-2003 makeover starts at the top
WCHL Training Camp Notepad
WCHL honors its own with organizational awards

AROUND THE WCHL
November 2002 Edition
October 2002 Edition
May 2002 Edition

GAME RECAPS
02/07/03: Condors 4, Gulls 3 (SO)
02/05/03: Gulls 2, Falcons 1
02/04/03: Falcons 8, Gulls 3
02/01/03: Steelheads 6, Gulls 5 (SO)
01/31/03: Gulls 3, Steelheads 2 (SO)

PROFILES IN HOCKEY
Enga is Gulls’ new ironman
Danielle Dube — pioneer, no; goaltender, yes
Greg Spenrath: Falcons lose a legend
Grandfather, grandson keep Gulls "all in the family"

PRESS RELEASES
Ice Dogs name Kaminski as head coach