FORMER FOE GLAD TO BE WITH GULLS
Defenseman Strand will recognize plenty of Ontario players
Austin Strand spent four seasons with the L.A. Kings/ Ontario Reign organization, so he knows all about one of the AHL’s best rivalries.
Tonight, the 25-year old defensemen will be in the lineup in white, black and orange when the San Diego Gulls (1-1) open their home schedule at Pechanga Arena against Ontario (2-1).
It will be the first of eight meetings between the Pacific Division foes, who also played a preseason tilt on Oct. 8, and will complete a back-to-back set Saturday night in Ontario.
“I’m excited to be on this side,” said Strand, who paired with Niklas Brouillard on the blueline in the season’s first two games. “I always remember coming into San Diego and not looking forward to playing in that barn. I think I got into a couple shouting matches with the fans (chuckle) so, yeah, I had that in the back of my head. It was always a hot barn to play in after a long (bus ride), a tough place to play …yeah, I’m happy to be here now.”
The Gulls opened the season by splitting a twogame set at Grand Rapids last weekend, taking the opener 6-2 and dropping the second game 8-5.
The 11 goals in two games by eight different players was exactly what new head coach Roy Sommer was seeking.
The 10 goals allowed? Not so much.
Which explains why a major focus in practice this week was on defensive responsibilities and avoiding the kinds of penalties that put Grand Rapids on the power play 12 times (four goals scored) in those first
two games.
Sommer preached the importance of being disciplined with sticks, using positioning to cut off scoring angles and controlling the puck whenever possible and moving it out of the defensive zone.
The team will have ample opportunity to apply practice teachings to game situations with this weekend’s two games against Ontario, Wednesday night’s home tilt against Colorado and then a
two-game road trip to Abbotsford next weekend.
“We’re gonna score goals, but we’ve got to start eliminating chances and we can’t give so much away, otherwise we’re gonna be 7-6, 6-5 games and those games you don’t know how you’re gonna come out of ’em,” Sommer said. “If we can cut scoring chances down even by five or six a night, we’re gonna be that much better and put ourselves in position to win.”
Sommer knows what he’s talking about because the 65-year-old arrives in San Diego as the AHL’s all-time leader in wins (808) and games coached (1,736).
He spent 26 seasons with the San Jose Sharks organization, the last 24 as head coach of the AHL Barracuda, and is now the fourth
Gulls coach since the team arrived in San Diego.
Strand, Sommer and the other Gulls understand that success against Ontario starts with handling twotime reigning AHL MVP T.J. Tynan, who has already notched a goal and six assists in three games to start the new season.
“He’s gonna get his chances, that’s just the kind of player he is plus, they’re gonna double shift him,” Sommer said. “He lives off the rush, he lives off the power play. The bottom line is: if he touches the puck, you gotta hit him. You gotta pay special attention to him, you can’t let him off the hook on easy plays. … You gotta know when he’s out there and you gotta play hard against him.”