Victoria Salmon Kings



The Victoria Salmon Kings were a minor professional team based in Victoria, British Columbia that play in the ECHL. They began play in the 2004-05 ECHL season.

The Salmon Kings are affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL and the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

Despite having a renowned Stanley Cup winner from Victoria - the 1925 Victoria Cougars - as well as a successful WHL franchise at one time (also the Cougars), the Victoria region in BC was left without a professional or junior hockey team when the Cougars moved away to Prince George in 1994.

Many in Victoria knew if they were to get professional or junior hockey back in BC's capital, the 50 year-old Victoria Memorial Arena was not going to do, since it only seated 4,000 fans. Victoria business RG Properties was unable to secure a WHL franchise, however, they were able to buy the rights to the defunct ECHL Baton Rogue Kingfish and announced the new team would be the Salmon Kings.

Many Victorian residents were not happy with having to watch third-tier professional hockey and many fans would choose WHL hockey over ECHL hockey because of the talent level.

The Salmon Kings began their first season in 2004-05. However, the new Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre was not going to finished on time for the season, so the ECHL scheduled the Salmon Kings first fourteen games as road games. As the NHL lockout was on-going the Salmon Kings were pleased to have many NHLers play for them such as Dan Blackburn, Dale Puriton, and Mark Smith.

In 2006, the Salmon Kings became an affiliate with the nearby Vancouver Canucks.

Despite a disappointing inaugural season, the Salmon Kings made their first playoff appearance in 2006-07. The Salmon Kings have quickly established themselves as one of the prominent teams in the ECHL with three straight 30 win seasons and two trips to the Conference Semifinals.

Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

List of Seasons

 * 2004–05 Victoria Salmon Kings season
 * 2005–06 Victoria Salmon Kings season
 * 2006–07 Victoria Salmon Kings season
 * 2007–08 Victoria Salmon Kings season
 * 2008–09 Victoria Salmon Kings season
 * 2009–10 Victoria Salmon Kings season
 * 2010–11 Victoria Salmon Kings season

Single Season Records

 * Most goals in a season: Wes Goldie, 42 (2007–08)
 * Most assists in a season: Jordan Krestanovich, 52 (2007–08)
 * Most points in a season: Ash Goldie, 83 (40g, 43a) (2007–08)
 * Most penalty minutes in a season: Blue Bennefield, 195 (2004–05)
 * Most points in a season by a defenseman: Steve Lingren, 47 (22g, 25a) (2005–06)
 * Most wins in a season: Julien Ellis, 24 (2007–08)
 * Most shutouts in a season: Julien Ellis & Billy Thompson, 2 (2007–08)

Playoff Records

 * Most goals in a playoff season: Wes Goldie, 6 (2006-07)
 * Most goals by a defenseman in a playoff season: Steve Lingren, 2 (2006-07)
 * Most assists in a playoff season: Jordan Krestanovich, 6 (2006-07)
 * Most points in a playoff season: Wes Goldie, 8 (6g, 2a) (2006-07)
 * Most points by a defenseman in a playoff season: Steve Lingren (2g, 5a), 7 (2006-07)
 * Most penalty minutes in a playoff season: Phil Cole, 21 (2006-07)

Franchise Scoring Leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed ECHL regular season.

''Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game * = still active with the team

Updated at completion of 2007–08 ECHL season

Current roster
As of April 3, 2009. Data taken from ECHL website.