The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Diego Gulls, a team in the now-defunct International Hockey League (IHL), that began play in 1990.

In 2005, it was forced to play first-round ECHL playoff games in the HealthSouth Training Center, owned by the Los Angeles Kings, when the Long Beach facilities were being used as garage space for the Champ Car Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach during the ECHL playoffs.

The future of the team there had been uncertain because the Ice Dogs typically had the lowest average attendance in the ECHL.

[2] On April 20, 2007, the ECHL announced the suspension of the team's operations, citing that Foxman had informed the board that the Ice Dogs would not play in Long Beach Arena in 2007–08.

Bash added that the Ice Dogs were negotiating a buyout of the remaining five years of their lease with Spectacor Management Group, which operates the Long Beach Arena.