Grizzlies Sweep Series

December 23, 2005 The Victoria Salmon Kings sit behind the Utah Grizzlies in the standings, hoping to chase them down to grab the final playoff spot. In a two game set in Salt Lake City the Kings lost a lot of ground. Utah beat the Kings 4-1 in the first game and 5-2 in the second as Victoria slides into a 4-game losing slump after its massive 5-4 victory over Alaska last Friday night. The Kings have now scored just 4 goals in their last 4 games. The Salmon Kings take a break over Christmas and then head to Anchorage for a three game set against the Alaska Aces starting December 28. They return home January 5, 2006 to face the Pacific division leading Fresno Falcons.

Aces Strike Again

December 19, 2005 The Victoria Salmon Kings and Alaska Aces faced-off in the rubber match of their three game set, tonight at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. The Aces defeated the Salmon Kings, 4-1. Victoria jumped out to the lead at 9:57 of first period, when the top line struck gold. Forward Adam Taylor found Mike Wirll wide open in front of Aces Goaltender Matt Underhill. Wirll, who makes few mistakes in close, beat the goaltender upstairs to give the Salmon Kings a 1-0 lead. The Aces powerplay continued to sizzle when they notched a picture perfect tap-in at 16:19. Defenseman Peter Metcalf found leading scorer Barrett Heisten with a tight cross ice pass and Heisten chipped it into Goaltender Rob McVicar’s wide open net, to tie the game heading into the first intermission. Alaska drew first blood in the second period. The Aces broke out on a three on two which McVicar stopped Heisten in close. The goalie could not trap the puck in his crease through, as he was moving from right to left, and Cam Keith found the rebound which he put past McVicar for the 2-1 lead. The Aces opened the scoring in the third period. Forward Alex Leavitt forced a turnover at the Salmon Kings blueline which gave him a partial breakaway on McVicar. The goaltender made the first save and the puck went into the corner where it was picked up by Mike Scott. Scott fired the pass across the crease to a wide open Chris Minard, who beat McVicar high to give the Aces the 3-1 lead. Minard added his second of the night into the empty net to make the final 4-1. The final shot count was 27-27 in Underhill’s second win in as many nights. Alaska finished 1-4 on the powerplay while the Salmon Kings were 0-5 with the man advantage in front of 4424 at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. The Salmon Kings travel tonight to Salt Lake City, Utah where they will play the Grizzlies in their final two games before Christmas on Wednesday and Thursday. Victoria’s next home series is against the Fresno Falcons on January 5-7, 2006.

Down-and-Out to Alaska

December 17, 2005 Last night the Salmon Kings won one of their biggest games of their franchse history. Tonight, they had their biggest lost. Following Friday's 5-4 overtime victory over league-best Alaska, Victoria struggled to find their feet and the Aces trumped them 8-0. This Kings played fairly well and were in the game until the third period, when the Aces took their 3-0 lead and began crushing the team that ended their 11-game winning streak. The game finished with a lot of penalties as Adam Huxley and Dallas Anderson felt they had a few bones to pick and punches to throw. Look for Anderson to pick up a suspension for some ridiculous moves he pulled in the final minutes. A bright spot was the play of KC Timmons who worked hard and played his game the entire night. The same can not be said for the rest of the team as most looked still hung-over from last night's ccelebrations.

Ryan Wade Returns!

December 16, 2005 Ryan Wade has returned from the 30-day injured reserve and helped lead the Salmon Kings to victory Friday night. This year's captain missed 16 games with a knee injury. In his first game back he helped secure the victory with his steal of the puck and great pass to Mike Wirll who lifted a beautiful shot past the Alaska goalie just 33 seconds into overtime. Wade also was amazing on face-offs, and tremendous advantage for the Kings in the game. Also back on the team is 33 year-old Chad Dameworth. Coming off the injurred reserve but not joining the team is Mike Henderson, who has decided to join a team in Europe. The Salmon Kings play the Alaska Aces again Saturday night at 7:00 PM.

Kings Snap Aces

December 16, 2005 Salmon Kings Win! Alaska loses first in 12 games! Can you say: "Spoiler?" The Victoria Salmon Kings have snapped the Aces' 11 game winning streak and won their third game out of four. Friday night in the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Victoria fans got their first live peak at Rob McVicar as he improved his record to 2-1 in the Kings 5-4 overtime win. McVicar made 29 saves for the victory. Alaska came in having won 11 in a row and weren't expecting the 5th place (in the division) Salmon Kings to disturb them from their dream. But with two goals and an assist by Steve Lingren the Kings pulled off the upset. Also scoring for Victoria was KC Timmons, Lanny Gare, and Mike Wirll who captured the overtime goal. Ryan Wade, in his first game back from the 30-day injured reserve, picked up a point on a great pass/play in the overtime score. KC Timmons had reported earlier in the week that the team was confident coming off a great road-trip to Idaho where they picked up 4 out of 6 points. The confidence showed as the Salmon Kings skated hard and even shut down a 5-on-3 opportunity for the Aces late in the third period. In the loss, the league's top team still picks up a point for taking the game into overtime. The Salmon Kings excelled again in special teams as they scored on two out of their seven power play opportunties and shut down all five of Alaska's man-advantages. Special teams has been a bright spot all year for Victoria and we are beginning to see that turn in regular wins. The words "Here they come!" comes to mind as the Salmon Kings have a winning record their last 7 games and i think Gary Woodburn's picture brings that thought to life (See left; Used with permission). Tomorrow night we will see Alaska come out even harder and the boys from Vic will have to skate hard to play spoiler again. Good luck Saturday and great work boys! For the complete scoring summary, please check here.

Looking for Great Salmon King Photos?

Gary Woodburn's collection of Salmon Kings is by far the most comprehensive I have seen. I am so excited to announce he has agreed to let me use some of his shots (see KC Timmons here) on this website. Usually sitting up in the Press Box, Gary is able to capture these wonderful shots with very little obstruction. Check out the thousands of shots he has posted on his site here. A link on the right of this page will remain permanently for you to check after home games here in Victoria. Thanks so much Gary. Make sure to check his pictures!

Victoria Can't Sweep Away the Steelheads

December 10, 2005 The Victoria Salmon Kings played two great games in Idaho this weekend. They couldn't do it for a third time though as the Steelheads fought back for a 5-2 victory Saturday night. Coach Maxwell explained that it "was a total reversal from last night," in which the Kings beat up Idaho goalie Matt Yeats with 5 goals on only 16 shots. "When we won those games here, it took a team effort," said Maxwell. "Tonight, we lost with a team effort. They played a great game and we just weren't sharp." After backing up Alex Auld in Vancouver on Friday night, Rob McVicar traveled back to Boise to block 34 shots in route to the loss. David Currie, who was very impressive Friday night, had to watch from the bench as his new teammate was bombarded. It is the second game in a row in which the Salmon Kings were heavily outshot. In the third period of Friday's game the Kings only managed 1 shot (a goal by KC Timmons). Dallas Anderson and Adam Taylor scored the Victoria goals with assists going to Simon Mangos, Kurt Drummond, and Adam Huxley (2 points in 2 games since joining the Kings Friday after a trade with the LV Wranglers). For the Steelheads, D'Arcy McConvey picked up two goals while Scott Burt, Greg Hornby, and league leading-scorer Garrett Bembridge all picked up one. The Salmon Kings return home to Victoria Sunday for a week of practice before beginning a three-game set against the ECHL's best Alaska Aces beginning Friday night. Note: Steve Lingren was clipped by a Scott Burt high stick late in the first period and lost a few teeth. He returned to the game but will permanently wear a new smile.

Lanny Gare Top Ten

Salmon Kings forward Lanny Gare (#18) is in ninth in the league in total scoring, only 5 points away from first place. He sits third in assists. With other Salmon Kings players close behind, we can truly get excited as we have players in the scoring race. What does this mean to the team? It means we are going somewhere. Victoria has vastly improved over last year's inaugural season and can skate with any team in the league. Though we still have a losing record (9-14-1), we have been in almost every game till the end. Fans have enjoyed a quicker pace and much better passing this year over last. Look for Gare's top line (Mike Wirll and Adam Taylor) to continue to make waves as they head back to Victoria for a tough series against league best Alaska.

Victoria Salmon Kings Site

This is my site dedicated to the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL. We are a porfessional hockey team situated in Victoria, British Columbia. Here you will find regular posts on the Kings and updates on the progress in the ECHL. I look forward to sharing with you all and eagerly await your comments. Until next time, God bless. Andy <><