A Brief History of the San Fransisco Bulls

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The San Francisco Bulls were granted membership into the ECHL as an expansion team on September 20, 2011. They folded on January 27, 2014. That is a life span of about 860 days or two years, four months, and seven days. They had a record 40-58-6-8 (Wins-Losses-OT Losses-Shootout Losses) and lost their only playoff series four games to one. The Bulls were affiliated with the San Jose Sharks.

The Bulls played their first game on October 12, 2012 vs. Bakersfield at home and lost, 4-3, in front of 8,277 fans. Their first win was the next day, a 6-5 victory over Bakersfield Condors. Their last game was on January 19th against the Stockton Thunder. The Bulls won 3-2 in a shootout, with Sebastian Stalberg scoring the game-winning shootout goal. he final home game was four days earlier, where the Bulls defeated the Colorado Eagles in OT, in front of 1246 fans. The first ever goal was scored by Dean Ouellet during the first game. The first ever penalty was earned by Kris Belan, who got five minutes for fighting Erik Burgdoerfer. The last ever goal was scored by Stalberg in the third period to equalize the game. 

The Bulls played their home games at the Cow Palace, which is located about ten miles outside of San Francisco. The Cow Palace was finished in 1941 and was meant to hold cattle in doors. It was most recently updated before the Bulls began play. As the years have gone on, the Palace has held more diverse events, including the San Jose Sharks from 1991-93. During the 2012-13 season, 149,920 fans showed up to a Bulls game for an average of 4,164 per game. That placed 15th of the 23 teams in the ECHL. During the three playoffs games, 8,578 fans attended for an average of 2,853. San Francisco played 18 games at the Cow Palace this year, with 41,263 fans and an average of 2,292 attending. 

The inside of the Cow Palace
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The 2012-13 season was an interesting year for the Bulls. They finished the year 25-38-2-7 which equaled 59 points. They were the third worst team in he ECHL, yet, they made the playoffs. Eight teams from both conferences make the playoffs. The Western Conference has nine teams, and the Bulls were the eight best team in the conference, giving them the final playoff spot.

San Francisco made the playoffs in 2013 and faced the Alaska Aces in the first round. The Aces won the series four games to one. Their first playoff game was a let-down. They gave up five unanswered goals to start the game and lost 5-1. The won the next game, 1-0, on a Kory Falite goal. The first ever home game was a 4-1 loss. Then, in game four, the Bulls lost a nail bitter, 6-5. Game five was a 5-3 loss for the Bulls, which eliminated them from on the playoffs. 

Through 40 games this season, San Francisco were 15-20-4-1 and had 32 games left to play. Even though, they had a losing record, they were still a playoff team. The ECHL plans on re-scheduling games so all teams can play their 36 home games. The road games are not guaranteed so some teams may not play the normal 72 games.

Dean Ouellet
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Dean Ouellet is the best player in the Bulls history. A lefty forward, he was number 45 and was an alternate captain last season. He had 24 goals, 28 assists, 52 points in the 2012-13 season, with six more points in the playoffs. He was awarded the Bulls' MVP last year and was the only member of the team to make the All-Star Game. This season, Ouellet had 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points. Peter Sivak led the team in goals with 33 and points with 56 in the inaugural season. Scott Langdon is the team's best defenseman. He was named the team's top defenseman and was the captain to end the 2012-13 season and for the 2013-14 year. He had only 19 points in 107 games, but accumulated 250 penalty minutes in those games. The Bulls have never had a very good goalie. Tyler Beskorowany is the only net minder with a winning record as a Bull. His record was 14-13-2. 

The Bulls were owned by multiple investors. The leader of the investors was Pat and Elouise Curico. Pat Curico was also the team's head coach, general manager, and president. Curico, who played pro hockey in Europe and the ECHL for ten years, was 39 years old when the Bulls played their first game. About a week ago, it was reported that a deal for a new owner could not be found in time, so the Bulls ceased operations on Monday. According to Curico, the Bulls were in the red two million dollars after the 2012-13 season and were on pace for similar losses this year.

The Bulls are not the only team to fail in "The City by the Bay". The California Golden Seals played in the NHL in the San Francisco-Oakland area from 1967-1976. The Seals moved to Cleveland in 1976 and merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The San Francisco Shamrocks and San Francisco Spiders failed as well in the Cow Palace. The legacy of the Bulls, at the moment, is that it is tough for hockey teams to succeed in the Bay Area when they are not playing in the city. And even then, success is anything but guaranteed.