2004–05 Victoria Salmon Kings season

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.

2004-05 Victoria Salmon Kings
League28th ECHL
Division8th West
Conference16th National
2004-05 record15–52–5
Home record8–26–2
Road record7–26–3
Goals for178
Goals against298
Team information
General managerBryan Maxwell
CoachBryan Maxwell
Assistant coachGreg Batters
CaptainBrad Dexter
ArenaBear Mountain Arena
Average attendance2,289
Team leaders
GoalsRyan Wade (19)
AssistsRyan Wade (31)
PointsRyan Wade (50)
Penalty minutesBlue Bennefield (195)
Plus/minusKevin Hoffman/Scott Borders (+2)
WinsJason Stone (5)
Goals against averageDan Blackburn (3.54)

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)724519898233187
Long Beach Ice Dogs724320995220181
Idaho Steelheads724223791223183
Bakersfield Condors7240221090232205
Fresno Falcons723925886204217
San Diego Gulls723529878206222
Las Vegas Wranglers723133870201199
Victoria Salmon Kings721552535178298

Conference standings

National Conference GP W L T PTS GF GA
Alaska Aces (y)724519898233187
Reading Royals (y)724322793220161
Long Beach Ice Dogs724320995220181
Trenton Titans724221993220161
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies724222892205189
Idaho Steelheads724223791223183
Bakersfield Condors7240221090232205
Toledo Storm724126587203194
Fresno Falcons723925886204217
Peoria Rivermen723826884213177
Wheeling Nailers723829581171173
San Diego Gulls723529878206222
Las Vegas Wranglers723133870201199
Johnstown Chiefs7222361458191258
Dayton Bombers722340955175225
Victoria Salmon Kings721552535178298

Schedule and results

Regular season

2004–05 Game log

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
Ryan Wade69193150-2998
Brad Dexter4972835-2736
Seth Leonard63131427-2114
Ryan Finnerty52131326-19165
Mike Barrie3051823-2842
Rob Voltera4115722-1081
Jason Hegberg56101222-2289
Blue Bennefield39813210195
Chris Corrinet3791120-3166
Ryan Watson3312719-1934
Scott Turner 1810717-216
Alexei Glukhov3251217-1312
Nathan Forster5351116-3273
Mark Smith206915-1341
Adam Campbell4031215-3078
Mike Josephson454913-1979
Dale Purinton253912-4192
Jeff Williams256511-114
David Neale323710-719
Kurtis Dulle17268-38
Jim Gattolliat43246-21100
Aaron Plumb26055-860
Peter Trumbley33055-315
Jan Sochor 4314-10
Jeremy Cheyne12134-76
Ryan Esselmont8044-84
Scott Borders 3112+24
Dennis Mullen9112-346
Trent Brandvold7022-56
Brandon Elliott13022-241
Craig Zubersky17022-1111
Mike Ikeda2101+10
Robert Busch3101+12
Rob MacGregor9101-14
Tomas Micka 6011-310
Craig Strain7011-46
Kristjan Jefkins100000
Kevin Hoffman2000+20
Casey Bartzen2000-20
Rob Simnor300004
Greg Keith 4000-32
Geoff Rollins5000-62
Cole Byers11000-837

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
Dean Whitney11800013.21.9380
Dan Blackburn12695390413.54.8920
Jason Stone38196752241253.81.8780
Jamie McCaig11547270363.94.8750
Kelly Shields †‡6302041214.17.8780
Robert Muntain8447340334.42.8790
David Brumby8332260285.05.8561
Grant Sjerven114000520.16.6670

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.

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