San Diego Gulls

Great family fun or date night out. Action is great and the atmosphere is fun. The stadium is what it is. Old and a concrete jungle, Won’t stop me from going though. Tix range from $ 15 and up.

Thank you Gulls for bringing back those childhood memories from my yester-​years. I remember frequenting all the home games we could fit in and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to now be in my 30s with a youngster of my own to now experience the same adrenaline and joy of a live game.
Even at his age of two, he loved every minute. We sat on the ice, so he got to experience his first game inches from all the action. Wall shoves, the chill of the ice, and the slight rush of air as a player raced by. My son laughed at every wall shove and shake, possible hockey player in the making, or at least fan. This mom can only hope!
Huge thanks to the Gulls Goalie Anton, my son was in hog Heaven as he was one of the lucky ones to receive a signed hockey stick after the game. «Oh Woooow!» was his exact response.
If you are in San Diego I recommend you fit a game in if you can. It’s a great fast paced family event that is enjoyed by all ages! GO GULLS!

We committed to 3 years of season tickets. Everything was fine initially (designated parking and entrance) but recently things have began to slide… No designated entrance and removal of other perks. Don’t dilute the experience for your best customers or we will disappear

Great having local hockey! Way too long to enter the building. Music during the game sucks really badly. Whoever is choosing it hasn’t attended many hockey games. Sissy music on most breaks makes you think you’re in a nightclub at a cheesy hotel and leaves you a bit nauseous, unless of course you’re a Bieber fan.

After having to deal with the new metal detector lines, this was ridiculous. We came before the game even started and stood in line for over an hour before we gave up. Spent over $ 80 on tickets for my Fiancée’s birthday party and didn’t even get to watch the game. Definitely won’t be coming back for a game. Congratulations San Diego you just ruined your hockey franchise AGAIN!

The American Hockey League (AHL) is back in San Diego at the Valley View Sports Arena. My father-​in-​law is a big sports fan, and he was excited to check out a game when he came down to visit for Thanksgiving. What is great about the San Diego Gulls is they offer a high thrill game that keeps you engaged the entire time. Even when sitting in the upper section at Valley View, we were close enough to clearly see the whole game and get into the action with the fans seated around us. It doesn’t hurt that they have San Diego Craft beer, so you can enjoy a Ballast Point Sculpin during the game! It is also a great family event with lots of kids there to cheer on the team. With reasonably priced tickets, I will definitely be back in the near future to check out another game. Most of the games are between Thursdays-​Sundays until early April.

It pains me to write this review, however, I must be honest. As a native of Minnesota growing up playing hockey I was really excited when I learned the Gulls would begin playing here in San Diego. My family was in town from Minnesota for Thanksgiving and I took my young nephews (13 years old and 8 years old) to see the Gulls play Texas on Wednesday 11÷25÷15. BIG MISTAKE. I literally have attend well over 100 hockey games in my life and this experience was by far the worst hockey atmosphere I have ever experienced. I literally began to worry about my nephews and my safety.
We had great seats at center ice and were enjoying the game. By the second period, the number of men who had too much to drink was remarkable. The language being shouted and behavior was completely obscene and offensive. Another parent in our section was trying to get the ushers assist and politely ask the men to watch their language and behave in a sportsmen like manner; such efforts were to no avail.
By the end of the second period I took my nephews to the corner of the stadium in a largely vacant section (in worse seats than we originally purchased) to avoid the drunk fans behaving inappropriately. At that time I explained to the usher our situation and was told you must sit in the seats that were purchased (regardless of the fact we were trying to get into a more than 50% empty section with the top 5 rows which were completely empty and less costly than the seats we purchased originally). Such information and lack of any sort of customer service or discretion was remarkable to me… the usher certainly did not live up to her name — Grace
My nephews and I left after the 2^nd period.
Hockey is a great sport and very fun to watch. My suggestion to parents is take your kids to the Anaheim Ducks games up north. Honda Center is much better equipped and staffed to deal with customer service issues and create a warm inviting atmosphere for all fans from the fanatical to the families. It’s only an hour and a half drive and you can dove tail your visit with a stop at Disneyland. (you will still be supporting the Gulls as they are the minor league team for the Ducks)
Leave the Gulls games to be San Diego’s version of Raiders games whereby the minimum age to enter should be 21.

Minor League Hockey in a Minor League arena. But wow! We had a great time. Get a group and go for sure. Beer choices are great. Good food. Fun times. Great to have Gulls back in town

We had a great time at the game. The other team was way ahead, then the Gulls made an exciting comeback.
Parking was $ 15. We just parked really far away in a neighborhood area and walked.
The most ridiculous thing was that a cup of Ballast Point beer was like $ 13.50. So, no drinking at the game for us. We’d have to spend $ 100 just to get buzzed between the 2 of us. Come on, man – 13.50?

Saw the Gulls play against San Jose Barracudas on 11/​14/​2015. Went with a group of 15. It wasn’t a sold out game, and it wasn’t an empty game. I think there was just the right amount of fans to make the game worthwhile. At first we were cheering for the wrong team (San Jose). SJ was wearing white, and the SD player profiles on the TV showed SD players in their white uniforms. So yeah… Overall pretty cool experience watching my first live hockey game. There were a few fights on the ice, so I was able to cross that of my list of things I expect to see at a Hockey game. They gave away some prizes like jerseys and t-​shirts. Tickets are pretty cheap, plus it looks like they have some some $ 2 beer nights and tailgating nights coming up.

Old, crappy building, but hockey in a city that loves it. AHL is the highest quality hockey you’re going to see in North America outside of the NHL.

Minor League AHL Hockey is in the house! Glad to have a hockey team in San Diego. It’s a fun ticket. Fast, exciting, different, some rough-​housing, but more athletes trying to prove themselves to get themselves to the NHL (next level up).
Appreciate that the Ducks affiliate is here in my own backyard of San Diego.

«protect the nest» Really happy to have the Gulls back at the Sports Arena. Tickets are reasonable. AHL is a decent league next step for some players is the NHL. A couple players have already been moved up to the Ducks. There really isn’t a bad see. I actually prefer to sit higher up to see the whole rink. Tall cans are the same price of a cup of beer and since it’s Bud light I couldn’t care less if it’s on tap. Would love to see a few more food options. Before going to the main concession stand check out the little kiosk first. GO GULLS

I WAS excited for hockey to come to this lovely city till game 1. Copy and paste the negative things Brian B. Said and insert them into this review. Also, they can easily put an announcement to tell fans to not go to and from their seats while the puck is in play.
They lost more stars because I was trying to contact the organization about getting a «happy 34^th weddings anniversary» slide during one of the many stops in play for my parents. One guy, James, was nice enough to attempt to try to help me. He said he gave my number to a woman in marketing department twice and she never contacted me like I was told. I’ve tried to call other numbers and it either goes straight to voicemail or they do not pick up. I’ve done this before in the past with the Indianapolis Colts with my grandparents 60^th anniversary and it was simple. Donate $ 100 for a charity and we will put it on the board during halftime.
The only reason they get two stars is because it’s hockey and hockey rules. 0 stars for the organization and arena on how they currently run things. As of now I won’t be renewing my season tickets for next season.

Hockey is back in San Diego– I’m thrilled about that. Right there, we start off with five stars. If the Gulls have a losing record, embarrass themselves on the ice, and bring dishonor to America’s Finest City, I’m still starting with five stars because they offer professional hockey in San Diego (by the way, the team looks pretty good).
How did the San Diego Gulls Hockey Club lose one star from me then? The opening night experience was dreadful. The parking lot is a mess, the parking lot attendants cause traffic jams, making many people late for the game, the concessions are crowded and understaffed, and the concession prices are ungodly expensive. The Gulls lose two stars for that.
The ushers however are amazing: courteous, helpful, knowledgable, and unfailingly polite and eager to please. They earned the Gulls organization the 4^th star back.
I hope it gets better because I want to love this team

They’re great! I’m sure they’ll be better with their response time with things and everything will go much smoother once everyone is hired and it gets going. One can tell the transition hasn’t been too smooth.

The family and I are way stoked to have hockey back in San Diego, a Ducks affiliate nonetheless! I already ordered our ducks gear and am ready for the season to start in less than a month! GO GULLS!

Season ticket holders baby!!! The gulls have great customer service and set up the seat selection very well. A great bargain for San Diego sports fans. We are very excited for the upcoming season!

Check it out you hosers, professional hockey returns to San Diego!
I was amazed to see a great turnout at HockeyFest. Approximately 8,500 people attended the festivities, which seems gearing up to be an anticipated upcoming season. During the eight year span that the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) San Diego Gulls won five championships, fan attendance average was just over 6,000 people and closer to 7K during the banner years. Quite a bit of potential to expand the fan base, especially to capture local fair weather fans looking for any winning team to cheer for and spend bazillions of monies on new sports gear, among other goods. Today, many wore hockey jerseys and provided lots of energy and excitement to the arena, especially when the Gulls were announced as as the team name. There were corny sledgehammer swings at ice panels to reveal the new team logo before it was displayed on the vintage overhead screens and merchandisers opened up shop with their new digs.
Initially, it was a bit confusing for me because there is a current San Diego Gulls hockey team playing out of Escondido as part of the Western States Hockey League (WSHL). At the end of the 2014 – 15 season, that team is changing their name to the Sabres, as in Sabretooth tigers, not to be confused with the National Hockey League (NHL) Buffalo Sabres. My apologies for the alphabet soup of acronyms.
The 2015 – 2016 season San Diego Gulls will play in the newly formed American Hockey League (AHL) as an affiliate of the NHL Anaheim Ducks. A project of years to move a minor league team from the east coast and secure naming rights. This next chapter will continue a tradition of ice hockey that dates back to the 1940’s when the Gulls were originally the San Diego Skyhawks and had nickname changes, like Mariners and Hawks, as minor professional leagues formed and disbanded.
HockeyFest was a fun family event. For the kids on the main floor, there was an Anaheim Ducks bounce house, a slapshot net, and a couple other play areas to grab a hockey stick to have at it. A booth was set up to provide youth hockey info in San Diego. In the north section of the arena parking lot, there was a slushy snow slide, with toboggans, sleds, and hockey helmets for safety. I don’t think event organizers were nearly as prepared to receive the amount of crowds that attended. Lines were long and they quickly ran out of informational packets that were handed out. Even the I-​5 and I-​8 freeways were backed up due to the event.
Changing skates, sticks, or using whatever relevant hockey analogy applies, until this old multi-​use venue gets a noticeable facelift and upgrades, it’ll always be the San Diego Sports Arena in my mind, no matter what other business buys the naming rights and changes signage (much like Jack Murphy Stadium). I hope they pony up enough funds to ever build a state-​of-​the-​art facility. The new hockey team and the fans, both old and new, all deserve a place they can be proud to call home ice, eh?
Go Gulls!