Salmon Kings edge out SteelHeads

October 11, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Victoria, BC - The Victoria Salmon Kings and Idaho Steelheads met for the second time in as many nights for a preseason match-up in McCall, Idaho. The Salmon Kings started goaltender Todd Ford while Idaho went with Matt Climie. The healthy scratches for Victoria were goaltender Jonathan Boutin, forward Wes Goldie and defenseman Tim Wedderburn. Tonight's game was delayed by 30 minutes due to a power failure that affected the entire town of McCall.

Penalties plagued the first period of play as both teams were assessed several minor penalties. Jeremy Schenderling and Craig Cescon dropped the gloves five minutes into the frame. Both players landed several good blows. Idaho hit the score sheet first when Dan Eves one-timed a Jimmy Kerr pass over the glove hand of Ford. Victoria's best scoring chance came at the 7:25 mark when Jacob Dietrich took off on a shorthanded breakaway. The rookie was able to beat Climie, but rung the shot off the post. The game remained 1-0 after the first period of play.

Early in the second Victoria got on the board courtesy of a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play. Chris St. Jacques found Rob Jarvis on the left face-off dot, Jarvis passed up the shot to find Olivier Labelle standing on the right side of the net. Labelle waited for the Steelheads' goalie Clime to go down before lifting it up and in to tie the game 1-1. The Salmon Kings took a 2-1 lead when Matt Kelly slipped a shot five-hole after receiving a drop pass from a rushing Jordan Foote. The Steelheads did respond when Ford stopped a Blaine Jarvis shot and thought he had squeezed it into his body, but the puck slipped in behind him and Steelhead Marty Flichel pushed it into the net to tie the game 2-2. Less than a minute later Idaho would retake the lead when Ford again stopped a Jarvis shot, but Derek Paget was standing on the doorstep and put the puck in past the down-and-out Kings' netminder. Idaho led 3-2 after 40 minutes.

Idaho applied pressure through the first half of the third period, and goaltender Ford came up with a huge blocker save six and a half minutes in on Kerr to keep it a one goal advantage. The Kings tied the game up at the 14:40 mark when Matt Kelly's point shot went high off the glass, but bounced out in front to Labelle. The Idaho goaltender made the first stop on Labelle, but was unable to stop him from getting his second of the night to tie the game at 3-3. That's the way the third period would end. The teams went straight to a shootout and again it was Olivier Labelle providing the deciding goal as Victoria won the shootout 2-1. Salmon Kings 4 Idaho 3.

The Salmon Kings kick off the regular season with a three game set in Phoenix beginning on October 17th at the US Airways Center. Victoria's home schedule begins on October 24th when the team welcomes the Stockton Thunder to the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for a 7:05 p.m. game

Single game tickets are now on sale at the Select You Tickets box office at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, by calling 250-220-7777 or by visiting www.selectyourtickets.com. Get hooked on Salmon Kings hockey!



ECHL Stories from October 11, 2008


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