STOCKTON, Calif. – The ECHL Board of Governors announced that the next expansion team will be in San Francisco California beginning in the 2012-13 season. Pat Curcio, the team general manager and coach is going to be quite busy.
Curcio and his wife, Elouise are the majority owners of the SFBulls LLC, with additional members in the group from both the United States and Canada.
“I am excited to be able to bring the ECHL the San Francisco area. We are looking forward to be bringing hockey here.”
After evaluating the area and submitting the application, Curcio was confident the approval would come. After all, California has three successful ECHL teams already, each with a strong fan attendance and he hopes the new location will help to stimulate added rivalries to the west coast.
The Stockton Thunder have been in the area since 2005, and led the ECHL attendance records in their first four straight years and ultimately remaining in the top three consistently. Last season, the Thunder was second with 6,382 fans per game average, only trailing the Ontario Reign from the south. The Reign had their start in 2008-09 season and just last season set a team record of 6,683 fans per game average, leading the league in the last two seasons.
Stockton is less than 100 miles inland from the city, which means that as far as rivalries go, many of the fan base will be able to travel with their team at each venue more frequently.
“Stockton has a large fan base and they are passionate and energetic about their team,” said Curcio.
The Bakersfield Condors are between Stockton and Ontario geographically speaking and can boast a great fan base as well. Moreover, despite the warm climate and terrain, Bakersfield has hosted several levels of hockey for over 65 years. Their fans are definitely passionate and dedicated.
In addition to the Pacific Division teams mentioned above, the Las Vegas Wrangler’s also fill out the list. Teams travel the area by bus, and the Wranglers would be about an 8-10 hour bus ride.
On a side note, the Pacific Division placement reference was made by the writer and has not been made official by the Board of Governors, and most likely will not be determined until next summer.
The San Francisco Bulls will play in the Cow Palace, which seats about 11,000, was home to the San Jose Sharks for their first two NHL seasons from 1991 – 93 and also the home of the IHL San Francisco Spiders in 1995-96.
Curcio has been involved in some aspect of hockey his entire life. Beginning in 1991-92 he was a right wing for teams in the OHL, CHL, WHL, ECHL and in European leagues, for eleven seasons, moving on to coaching. He was the head coach for the OPJHL Pickering Panthers in 2006-07, and assistant coach with the OHL London Knights for two seasons, the ECHL Utah Grizzlies in 2009-10 and most recently with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL.
It is still early, but Curcio said an affiliation with one of the NHL teams is a worthwhile goal; however, it is still too early for now.
“We went through so much to get to this point, it’s a little surreal to have accomplished this much,” Curcio began.
He is excited about the future and knows there is still much to do to get to opening day in the fall of 2012.
Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com
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