| San Francisco Bulls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Daly City,California |
| League | ECHL |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Pacific |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Folded | 2014 |
| Home arena | Cow Palace |
| Colors | Old Gold, Orange, Black, White |
| Mascot | Rawhide |
| Owner(s) | Pat and Elouise Curcio (Utah Sports Management) Angela Batinovich Shmuel Farhi (Farhi Holdings) Peter Higley (Pickle Barrel) |
| General manager | Pat Curcio |
| Head coach | Pat Curcio |
| Media | San Francisco Chronicle The San Francisco Examiner Comcast Hometown Network KNBR |
| Affiliates | San Jose Sharks (NHL) Worcester Sharks (AHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 2012–2014 | San Francisco Bulls |
TheSan Francisco Bulls were a professional minorice hockey team of theECHL located inDaly City, California, serving theSan Francisco Bay Area market. They were an affiliate to theSan Jose Sharks of theNational Hockey League and theWorcester Sharks of theAmerican Hockey League.
Beginning with the2012–13 season, the Bulls played their home games at theCow Palace (former home of their NHL affiliate, theSan Jose Sharks), which is right on the Daly City/San Francisco border. To accommodate the Bulls, the team spent $2 million installing a new ice system and a custom-made 360-degree wraparound LED video scoreboard with its game presentation system and ten sets of speaker arrays. The center hung video board has a 360 degree view for game presentation and full timekeeping and statistics. The new Colosseo Cube scoreboard had to be custom built by Colosseo USA because of the weight limitations on the 71-year-old building's roof. The Cow Palace made steel support beams and installed them in the rafters to help provide the additional support.[1]
On July 11, 2012, theNational Hockey League'sSan Jose Sharks announced that they had entered into an affiliation agreement with the Bulls.[2] The Bulls were the first ice hockey team to represent San Francisco since theSan Francisco Spiders of theInternational Hockey League played only the1995-96 season before folding.[3][4] The team made its debut on October 12, 2012, with a 4-3 loss to theBakersfield Condors in front of a capacity crowd of 8,277 at the Cow Palace. They finished the regular season eighth in the Western Conference with 25 wins, 38 losses, 2 overtime losses, and 7 shootout losses, falling four games to one to the top-seededAlaska Aces in the first round of theKelly Cup playoffs.
Due to the2012–13 NHL lockout,Minnesota Wild forwardTorrey Mitchell, who was a former San Jose Shark, signed a standard contract with the Bulls on December 31, 2012.[5] He played his first official game as a Bull two days later and scored the only regulation goal for the team in a 2-1 shootout loss at home.[6]
On January 20, 2014, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Bulls might fold or move the next week.[7] The team folded on January 27, 2014.[8] At the time of their folding, the Bulls were eighth in the Western Conference with 15 wins, 20 losses, 4 overtime losses, and 1 shootout loss, and had a next-to-last attendance average of 2,292 fans per game (eclipsing only theWheeling Nailers). San Francisco was the third team inECHL history to fold mid-season after theAugusta Lynx andFresno Falcons, both of which folded during the2008–09 season.
| No. | Nat | Player | Pos | S/G | Age | Acquired | Birthplace | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |  | Travis Teffs | C | R | 34 | 2012 | Hayward, California | Bulls |
 | Tyler Beskorowany | G | R | 35 | 2013 | Sudbury, Ontario | Bulls | |
| Paul Chiasson | F | R | 35 | 2013 | Toronto,Ontario | Bulls | |
| 44 | | Brett Findlay | LW | L | 32 | 2013 | Echo Bay, Ontario | Bulls |
| Luke Judson | RW | R | 34 | 2013 | Emo, Ontario | Bulls | |
| Josh Kidd | D | R | 36 | 2013 | Sundridge, Ontario | Bulls | |
| 47 | | Dylan King | D | L | 34 | 2012 | Thessalon, Ontario | Bulls |
| Daniel Maggio | D | R | 34 | 2013 | Windsor, Ontario | Bulls | |
| Anthony Perdicaro | C | L | 35 | 2013 | East Rockaway, New York | Bulls |
