2004–05 Victoria Salmon Kings season

2004-05 Victoria Salmon Kings
Division	8th West
Conference	16th National
League	28th ECHL
2004-05 record	15–52–5
Home record	8–26–2
Road record	7–26–3
Goals for	178
Goals against	298
Team information
General Manager	Bryan Maxwell
Coach	Bryan Maxwell
Assistant Coach	Greg Batters
Captain	Brad Dexter
Arena	Bear Mountain Arena
Average attendance	2,289
Team leaders
Goals	Ryan Wade (19)
Assists	Ryan Wade (31)
Points	Ryan Wade (50)
Penalties in minutes	Blue Bennefield (195)
Plus/minus	Kevin Hoffman/Scott Borders (+2)
Wins	Jason Stone (5)
Goals against average	Dan Blackburn (3.54)
2005-06 >

Season summary

The 2004–05 Victoria Salmon Kings season is the Salmon Kings' inaugural season in the ECHL. While the Victoria region has had a long and distinguished hockey history - the Victoria Cougars won the Stanley Cup in 1925 - the region was the largest Canadian region without either professional or Major-Junior hockey when the WHL Victoria Cougars (a team with no connection to the aforementioned Cougars) moved to Prince George in 1994. This was a crippling blow to Victoria hockey fans, whose highest-level remaining local team was the Tier II Junior 'A' Victoria Salsa.

By this time, it had become evident that the 50-year-old Victoria Memorial Arena, seating only 4,000 for hockey, would have to be replaced if Victoria expected to be able to attract a new hockey club. After several years of discussion, the construction of a new arena was approved by Victoria voters in a 2002 referendum, with one key condition being that its construction was dependent on Victoria securing a WHL team. When the private-sector partner, RG Properties, was unable to secure a WHL club, the company bought the rights to the defunct ECHL Baton Rouge Kingfish, formerly the Erie Panthers, a charter member of the ECHL, and announced that Victoria's new team would be named the Salmon Kings.

It became clear as the 2004–05 ECHL season approached that Victoria's new arena, now called the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, was not going to be ready in time for the season. In response, the ECHL scheduled the Salmon Kings to begin their inaugural season with an unheard-of 14 game road trip. This was not enough time for the arena to be completed, and in the summer of 2004 the Salmon Kings were forced to secure ice time in the Bear Mountain Arena in the suburban community of Colwood, which had been constructed with the needs of the junior 'A' Victoria Salsa and the Victoria Shamrocks box lacrosse club in mind.

Despite all this, the Salmon Kings took to the ice in their first regular-season game on October 22, 2004, in Bakersfield, California, against the Bakersfield Condors. Former University of Alberta player Ryan Wade scored the first goal in Salmon Kings history. They lost this game 7-2; the Salmon Kings would struggle during their 14-game road trip, only winning 3 games, losing 10 games in regulation and one in a shootout. Their first victory came at the expense of the Fresno Falcons on October 24, which the Salmon Kings won by a convincing 5-0 margin. David Brumby, the Kings' starting goaltender at the time, turned away 37 shots for the shutout.

As the NHL lockout progressed, Dale Purinton and Dan Blackburn of the New York Rangers and Mark Smith of the San Jose Sharks played for the Salmon Kings. Purinton, an enforcer, was suspended twice by the league, the first for a career-ending check into the boards of Condors player Krzysztof Wieckowski, and the second for returning to the ice to fight after being ejected during a bench-clearing brawl involving the Kings and the Falcons. After the latter suspension, Purinton was suspended indefinitely by the Salmon Kings and did not play again that season.

After the grueling 14-game road trip which lasted for over a month, the Salmon Kings finally played their first home game on December 5, 2004, at Bear Mountain Arena. The Salmon Kings lost this game 4-3 in overtime. They would continue to struggle during their first season, going only 15-52-5 over 72 games; notably, they set an ECHL record for a continuous winless streak, going 0-18-2 between December 31, 2004 and February 4, 2005.

The few positives for the team in their inaugural season was Ryan Wade who would be known by fans as "Mr. Salmon King" led the team in scoring (19g-31a) and team captain, Brad Dexter was voted a starter on the National Conference’s All-Star Team.

Standings

Division standings

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Alaska Aces (z)	72	45	19	8	98	233	187
Long Beach Ice Dogs	72	43	20	9	95	220	181
Idaho Steelheads	72	42	23	7	91	223	183
Bakersfield Condors	72	40	22	10	90	232	205
Fresno Falcons	72	39	25	8	86	204	217
San Diego Gulls	72	35	29	8	78	206	222
Las Vegas Wranglers	72	31	33	8	70	201	199
Victoria Salmon Kings	72	15	52	5	35	178	298

Conference standings

National Conference	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA
Alaska Aces (y)	72	45	19	8	98	233	187
Reading Royals (y)	72	43	22	7	93	220	161
Long Beach Ice Dogs	72	43	20	9	95	220	181
Trenton Titans	72	42	21	9	93	220	161
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies	72	42	22	8	92	205	189
Idaho Steelheads	72	42	23	7	91	223	183
Bakersfield Condors	72	40	22	10	90	232	205
Toledo Storm	72	41	26	5	87	203	194
Fresno Falcons	72	39	25	8	86	204	217
Peoria Rivermen	72	38	26	8	84	213	177
Wheeling Nailers	72	38	29	5	81	171	173
San Diego Gulls	72	35	29	8	78	206	222
Las Vegas Wranglers	72	31	33	8	70	201	199
Johnstown Chiefs	72	22	36	14	58	191	258
Dayton Bombers	72	23	40	9	55	175	225
Victoria Salmon Kings	72	15	52	5	35	178	298

Schedule and results

Regular season

2004–05 Game log
October: 1–2–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 1–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 1 October 22 Victoria 2–7 Bakersfield Brumby 4,419 0–1–0 0 2 October 23 Victoria 1–2 Bakersfield Brumby 5,986 0–2–0 0 3 October 24 Victoria 5–0 Fresno Brumby 3,003 1–2–0 2
November: 2–9–1 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 2–9–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 4 November 5 Victoria 4–1 Idaho Brumby 4,026 2–2–0 4 5 November 6 Victoria 2–6 Idaho Brumby 4,437 2–3–0 4 6 November 10 Victoria 1–2 Long Beach Stone 1,599 2–4–0 4 7 November 12 Victoria 2–5 Las Vegas Brumby 4,367 2–5–0 4 8 November 13 Victoria 4–6 Fresno Stone 4,870 2–6–0 4 9 November 17 Victoria 3–7 Alaska Brumby 4,065 2–7–0 4 10 November 20 Victoria 2–5 Alaska Brumby 6,345 2–8–0 4 11 November 21 Victoria 4–1 Alaska Stone 3,502 3–8–0 6 12 November 25 Victoria 2–4 Fresno Stone 3,629 3–9–0 6 13 November 26 Victoria 2–5 Fresno Stone 4,178 3–10–0 6 14 November 27 Victoria 2–3 Bakersfield SO Stone 8,204 3–10–1 7
December: 4–4–2 (Home: 4–4–2 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 15 December 5 Bakersfield 4–3 Victoria OT Stone 2,750 3–10–2 8 16 December 7 Bakersfield 2–5 Victoria Stone 1,653 4–10–2 10 17 December 8 Bakersfield 6–8 Victoria Stone 2,123 5–10–2 12 18 December 10 Mississippi 1–5 Victoria Stone 2,056 6–10–2 14 19 December 11 Mississippi 4–3 Victoria OT Stone 2,144 6–10–3 15 20 December 13 Mississippi 4–2 Victoria Stone 2,124 6–11–3 15 21 December 17 San Diego 2–1 Victoria Stone 2,227 6–12–3 15 22 December 18 San Diego 5–4 Victoria Stone 2,283 6–13–3 15 23 December 20 San Diego 2–3 Victoria Stone 2,750 7–13–3 17 24 December 31 Long Beach 4–3 Victoria Stone 2,750 7–14–3 17
January: 0–15–2 (Home: 0–9–0 ; Road: 0–6–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 25 January 1 Long Beach 3–2 Victoria Stone 2,444 7–15–3 17 26 January 2 Long Beach 5–1 Victoria Stone 2,409 7–16–3 17 27 January 4 Alaska 6–3 Victoria Stone 2,218 7–17–3 17 28 January 5 Alaska 10–3 Victoria Stone 2,552 7–18–3 17 29 January 7 Victoria 1–2 Alaska Stone 3,935 7–19–3 17 30 January 8 Victoria 2–8 Alaska Stone 4,303 7–20–3 17 31 January 12 Victoria 2–6 Long Beach Stone 1,395 7–21–3 17 32 January 14 Victoria 2–3 Las Vegas SO Shields 4,961 7–21–4 18 33 January 15 Victoria 1–4 Long Beach Shields 4,497 7–22–4 18 34 January 16 Victoria 2–4 Long Beach Stone 2,011 7–23–4 18 35 January 18 Long Beach 5–2 Victoria Shields 1,862 7–24–4 18 36 January 19 Long Beach 3–1 Victoria Stone 2,038 7–25–4 18 37 January 21 Alaska 5–1 Victoria Stone 2,597 7–26–4 18 38 January 22 Alaska 3–0 Victoria Shields 2,931 7–27–4 18 39 January 23 Alaska 5–2 Victoria Stone 2,484 7–28–4 18 40 January 29 Victoria 1–2 Las Vegas SO Stone 7,773 7–28–5 19 41 January 31 Victoria 1–4 Las Vegas Stone 5,920 7–29–5 19
February: 3–11–0 (Home: 3–9–0 ; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 42 February 2 Fresno 7–3 Victoria Shields 2,209 7–30–5 19 43 February 4 Fresno 3–2 Victoria Blackburn 2,360 7–31–5 19 44 February 5 Fresno 4–5 Victoria SO Blackburn 2,611 8–31–5 21 45 February 7 Idaho 3–1 Victoria Blackburn 2,014 8–32–5 21 46 February 9 Idaho 2–1 Victoria Blackburn 2,147 8–33–5 21 47 February 15 Fresno 1–2 Victoria SO Blackburn 1,956 9–33–5 23 48 February 16 Fresno 4–0 Victoria Stone 2,157 9–34–5 23 49 February 18 Victoria 3–12 Idaho Blackburn 4,564 9–35–5 23 50 February 19 Victoria 2–4 Idaho Blackburn 5,403 9–36–5 23 51 February 22 San Diego 2–5 Victoria Blackburn 1,910 10–36–5 25 52 February 23 San Diego 4–1 Victoria Blackburn 2,140 10–37–5 25 53 February 25 Las Vegas 4–3 Victoria Blackburn 2,412 10–38–5 25 54 February 26 Las Vegas 4–3 Victoria Blackburn 2,627 10–39–5 25 55 February 28 Las Vegas 5–2 Victoria Blackburn 1,960 10–40–5 25
March: 4–9–0 (Home: 1–4–0 ; Road: 3–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 56 March 4 Bakersfield 7–3 Victoria Muntain 2,422 10–41–5 25 57 March 5 Bakersfield 4–1 Victoria McCaig 2,490 10–42–5 25 58 March 9 Idaho 5–4 Victoria McCaig 2,122 10–43–5 25 59 March 10 Idaho 2–3 Victoria OT Muntain 1,894 11–43–5 27 60 March 12 Idaho 8–2 Victoria Stone 2,605 11–44–5 27 61 March 15 Victoria 1–7 Florida McCaig 7,082 11–45–5 27 62 March 17 Victoria 5–3 Texas McCaig 1,825 12–45–5 29 63 March 19 Victoria 7–5 Louisiana McCaig 2,190 13–45–5 31 64 March 20 Victoria 1–2 Louisiana McCaig 2,514 13–46–5 31 65 March 22 Victoria 1–3 Pensacola McCaig 3,880 13–47–5 31 66 March 23 Victoria 1–2 Mississippi Muntain 2,743 13–48–5 31 67 March 25 Victoria 4–3 Florida Muntain 7,293 14–48–5 33 68 March 26 Victoria 2–5 Florida Muntain 7,016 14–49–5 33
April: 1–3–0 (Home: 1–3–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 69 April 1 Victoria 1–4 Las Vegas McCaig 4,938 14–50–5 33 70 April 2 Victoria 1–5 Long Beach Muntain 5,009 14–51–5 33 71 April 8 Victoria 2–3 San Diego McCaig 5,094 14–52–5 33 72 April 9 Victoria 6–5 San Diego OT Muntain 10,773 15–52–5 35 Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Regular season

Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Wade, RyanRyan Wade 69 19 31 50 -29 98 Dexter, BradBrad Dexter 49 7 28 35 -27 36 Leonard, SethSeth Leonard 63 13 14 27 -21 14 Finnerty, RyanRyan Finnerty 52 13 13 26 -19 165 Barrie, MikeMike Barrie 30 5 18 23 -28 42 Voltera, RobRob Voltera 41 15 7 22 -10 81 Hegberg, JasonJason Hegberg 56 10 12 22 -22 89 Bennefield, BlueBlue Bennefield 39 8 13 21 0 195 Corrinet, ChrisChris Corrinet 37 9 11 20 -31 66 Watson, RyanRyan Watson 33 12 7 19 -19 34 Turner, ScottScott Turner ^† 18 10 7 17 -2 16 Glukhov, AlexeiAlexei Glukhov 32 5 12 17 -13 12 Forster, NathanNathan Forster 53 5 11 16 -32 73 Smith, MarkMark Smith 20 6 9 15 -13 41 Campbell, AdamAdam Campbell 40 3 12 15 -30 78 Josephson, MikeMike Josephson 45 4 9 13 -19 79 Purinton, DaleDale Purinton 25 3 9 12 -4 192 Williams, JeffJeff Williams 25 6 5 11 -11 4 Neale, DavidDavid Neale 32 3 7 10 -7 19 Dulle, KurtisKurtis Dulle 17 2 6 8 -3 8 Gattolliat, JimJim Gattolliat 43 2 4 6 -21 100 Plumb, AaronAaron Plumb 26 0 5 5 -8 60 Trumbley, PeterPeter Trumbley 33 0 5 5 -3 15 Sochor, JanJan Sochor ^† 4 3 1 4 -1 0 Cheyne, JeremyJeremy Cheyne 12 1 3 4 -7 6 Esselmont, RyanRyan Esselmont 8 0 4 4 -8 4 Borders, ScottScott Borders ^† 3 1 1 2 +2 4 Mullen, DennisDennis Mullen 9 1 1 2 -3 46 Brandvold, TrentTrent Brandvold 7 0 2 2 -5 6 Elliott, BrandonBrandon Elliott 13 0 2 2 -2 41 Zubersky, CraigCraig Zubersky 17 0 2 2 -11 11 Ikeda, MikeMike Ikeda 2 1 0 1 +1 0 Busch, RobertRobert Busch 3 1 0 1 +1 2 MacGregor, RobRob MacGregor 9 1 0 1 -1 4 Micka, TomasTomas Micka ^† 6 0 1 1 -3 10 Strain, CraigCraig Strain 7 0 1 1 -4 6 Jefkins, KristjanKristjan Jefkins 1 0 0 0 0 0 Hoffman, KevinKevin Hoffman 2 0 0 0 +2 0 Bartzen, CaseyCasey Bartzen 2 0 0 0 -2 0 Simnor, RobRob Simnor 3 0 0 0 0 4 Keith, GregGreg Keith ^† 4 0 0 0 -3 2 Rollins, GeoffGeoff Rollins 5 0 0 0 -6 2 Byers, ColeCole Byers 11 0 0 0 -8 37

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

Regular season

Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA Sv% SO Whitney, DeanDean Whitney 1 18 0 0 0 1 3.21 .938 0 Blackburn, DanDan Blackburn 12 695 3 9 0 41 3.54 .892 0 Stone, JasonJason Stone 38 1967 5 22 4 125 3.81 .878 0 McCaig, JamieJamie McCaig 11 547 2 7 0 36 3.94 .875 0 Shields, KellyKelly Shields ^†^‡ 6 302 0 4 1 21 4.17 .878 0 Muntain, RobertRobert Muntain 8 447 3 4 0 33 4.42 .879 0 Brumby, DavidDavid Brumby 8 332 2 6 0 28 5.05 .856 1 Sjerven, GrantGrant Sjerven 1 14 0 0 0 5 20.16 .667 0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Victoria. Stats reflect time with the Salmon Kings only.
^‡Denotes player no longer with the team. Stats reflect time with Salmon Kings only.