The San Diego Sabers are a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team and are a member of

United States Premier Hockey League The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is an American ice hockey league. Founded in 2012, the USPHL has grown to over 60 organizations from across the United States fielding teams in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), ...

. The team is based in Carlsbad, California, and plays at the Carlsbad Icetown. The team was the fourth team to be known as the San Diego Gulls from 2008 to 2015 until it gave up the nickname to the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

before the 2015–16 season.

History

The franchise was founded in 2001 as the San Diego Surf. At the time, the

Western States Hockey League The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) was a junior ice hockey league established in 1993. It was sanctioned by the United Hockey Union, the junior hockey branch of the Amateur Athletic Union. Previously, it was sanctioned by USA Hockey from 19 ...

(WSHL) was a Tier III Junior B league before later transitioning to a Junior A in 2007. It played as the Surf from 2001 until 2008 when the team took the name San Diego Gulls, the name of three former hockey franchises in San Diego. Prior to the 2011–12 season, the WSHL and all its team members, including the Gulls, became

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

sanctioned instead of

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

, the first Junior A hockey league to make that transition. In February 2015, it was announced that the team has changed its name to San Diego Sabers for the 2015–16 season as the San Diego Gulls name would be used by the new San Diego AHL team. In 2017, the Sabers were sold to former Czech national team and Olympian Tomas Kapusta. In 2020, the Sabers left the WSHL and joined another independent junior hockey league, the

(USPHL), in the Premier Division. The team also relocated from Iceplex Escondido in

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

, to Carlsbad Icetown in Carlsbad, California.

Season-by-season records

Alumni

The Gulls have had a number of alumni move on to

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

, higher levels of junior ice hockey, and

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

ice hockey. * David Brito —

(

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

), US National Inline Hockey Team * Ted Lauer (2014–15) �
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, Illinois,

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

* Cameron Todd (2014–15) �
NACKA HK Team A
Sweden

References

External links

Official San Diego Sabers Website

Official WSHL Website
{{California sports Ice hockey teams in San Diego Ice hockey clubs established in 2001 2001 establishments in California