| Victoria Salmon Kings
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|
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| Founded | 1988 (as the Erie Panthers)
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| Home ice | Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
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| Based in | Victoria, British Columbia
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| League | ECHL
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| Head coach | Bryan Maxwell
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| General manager | Bryan Maxwell
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The Victoria Salmon Kings are a professional ice hockey team in the ECHL which began play in the 2004-2005 season. They are based in Victoria, British Columbia.
History
While the Victoria region has had a long and distinguished hockey history - the Victoria Cougars won the Stanley Cup in 1925 - the region was left 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 only remaining local team was the junior 'A' Victoria Salsa.
By this time, it had become evident that the 50-year-old 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. Reaction in the community was somewhat mixed; while securing a club was good enough for construction of the new arena to begin, many were troubled by the perception that they would be receiving a lesser quality of hockey than that seen in the major-junior WHL. In addition, the ECHL was virtually unknown in Canada; Victoria was to be the first Canadian team in league history. In response to all this, the Salmon Kings began marketing efforts to convince Victoria residents that the Salmon Kings and the ECHL would offer a high quality product.
It became clear as the 2004-2005 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. Some observers say that this could cost Mayor Alan Lowe his re-election in the fall of 2005. In response, the ECHL scheduled the Salmon Kings to begin their inaugural season with an unheard-of 14 game road trip. Unfortunately, even 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 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. Unfortunately, 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 24th, 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.
After the grueling 14-game road trip which lasted for over a month, the Salmon Kings finally played their first home game on December 5th, 2004. Victoria hockey fans packed the tiny Bear Mountain Arena for the first professional hockey game to be played in Victoria since the Victoria Maple Leafs left in 1967. Unfortunately, the 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.
Season Results
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| Regular Season
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| Playoffs
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| Season
| Team
| GP
| Pts
| W
| L
| OTL/SOL
| GP
| W
| L
| Result
|
| 1988-1989
| Erie Panthers
| 60
| 77
| 37
| 20
| 3
| 4
| 0
| 4
| Lost in round 1
|
| 1989-1990
| Erie Panthers
| 60
| 82
| 38
| 16
| 6
| 7
| 3
| 4
| Lost in semifinals
|
| 1990-1991
| Erie Panthers
| 64
| 65
| 31
| 30
| 3
| 5
| 2
| 3
| Lost in division semifinals
|
| 1991-1992
| Erie Panthers
| 64
| 70
| 33
| 27
| 4
| 4
| 1
| 3
| Lost in divisional first round
|
| 1992-1993
| Erie Panthers
| 64
| 74
| 35
| 25
| 4
| 5
| 2
| 3
| Lost in division semifinals
|
| 1993-1994
| Erie Panthers
| 68
| 59
| 27
| 36
| 5
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
| 1994-1995
| Erie Panthers
| 68
| 40
| 18
| 46
| 4
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
| 1995-1996
| Erie Panthers
| 70
| 55
| 25
| 40
| 5
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
| 1996-1997
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 70
| 68
| 31
| 33
| 6
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
| 1997-1998
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 70
| 76
| 33
| 27
| 10
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
| 1998-1999
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 70
| 70
| 30
| 30
| 10
| 6
| 3
| 3
| Lost in conference quarterfinals
|
| 1999-2000
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 70
| 71
| 33
| 32
| 5
| 2
| 0
| 2
| Lost in wildcard series
|
| 2000-2001
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 72
| 81
| 35
| 26
| 11
| 2
| 0
| 2
| Lost in wildcard series
|
| 2001-2002
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 72
| 66
| 29
| 35
| 8
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
| 2002-2003
| Baton Rouge Kingfish
| 72
| 49
| 20
| 43
| 9
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
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| 2003-2004
| Franchise dormant
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| 2004-2005
| Victoria Salmon Kings
| 72
| 35
| 15
| 52
| 5
| -
| -
| -
| Out of playoffs
|
External Links
