The westward migration of the AHL "has been every bit the rousing success" the Ducks, Kings, Flames, Oilers and Sharks "hoped it would be" for both the NHL clubs and their minor-league affiliates, according to Elliott Teaford of the Torrance DAILY BREEZE. Above all, the NHL teams and their AHL clubs are "better connected than in the past." Ducks Exec VP & GM Bob Murray, who also serves as AHL San Diego Gulls President of Hockey Operations, said, "It’s been excellent. We’ve had good crowds, the people are excited and it’s a decent hockey team, so that part of it. As far as our organization is concerned, it’s working well." The Ducks are now "entrenched in San Diego" after many seasons in Norfolk, Va., "a six-hour flight from Orange County." Perhaps "shrewdest of all, the Sharks swapped far-flung Worcester, Mass., for San Jose’s SAP Center, where players walk from one dressing room to another depending on whether they’ve been recalled to the NHL club or reassigned to the AHL one." Fan support has "been strong since the puck dropped on the AHL’s new Pacific Division, which also includes two teams in Texas." Gulls coach Dallas Eakins said, "I’m amazed at the support here in San Diego." Gulls President of Business Operations Ari Segal said, "We’ve all of a sudden taken a huge state and tripled the amount of high-level hockey that’s available, and we’ve offered it at lower price points" (Torrance DAILY BREEZE, 12/23).
