The original San Diego Gulls team was founded in 1966 as part of the Western Hockey League

Western Hockey League (minor pro)

The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...

. The Gulls played at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Willie O'Ree

Willie O'Ree

Willie Eldon O'Ree, OC, ONB is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins...

, the first black

Black people

The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

 athlete to play in the NHL

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

, was an All-Star for the Gulls. His jersey is retired and presently hangs in the rafters at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Gulls were coached by Max McNab

Max McNab

Maxwell Douglas McNab was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and NHL general manager. He was born in Watson, Saskatchewan...

 for six seasons from 1966 to 1972, and by Jack Evans for two seasons from 1972 to 1974. The Gulls ceased operations in 1974, when the World Hockey Association

World Hockey Association

The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...

's New Jersey Knights relocated to San Diego, becoming the San Diego Mariners

San Diego Mariners

The San Diego Mariners were an ice hockey team based in San Diego that played in the World Hockey Association. They played from 1974 to 1977. Their home ice was San Diego Sports Arena...

.

Season-by-season results

Source: Legend: Pct=Winning percentage

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	Points	Pct %	Goals for	Goals against
1966-67	72	22	47	3	47	0.326	222	266
1967-68	72	31	36	5	67	0.465	241	236
1968-69	74	33	29	12	78	0.527	273	260
1969-70	72	33	29	10	76	0.528	263	242
1970-71	72	33	27	12	78	0.542	248	223
1971-72	72	32	31	9	73	0.507	241	243
1972-73	72	32	29	11	75	0.521	239	223
1973-74	78	40	33	5	85	0.545	278	281

External links

• WHL San Diego Gulls Historical Site