Salmon Kings Week in Review

December 6, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Victoria, BC - The Victoria Salmon Kings started week seven with their final of a five game road trip against the Phoenix Roadrunners on Tuesday night, before returning home to host the Utah Grizzlies for the first time at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend was marked with several exciting events including the Stanley Cup's first visit to Victoria's new arena, the Salmon Kings first annual Teddy Bear Toss and the KidsSport Post-Game Skate after Sunday's matinee.

Victoria completed their ten day road trip though the American south west on Tuesday night, losing to the Roadrunners 3-1. The Salmon Kings were down by a 4-2 margin by the midway mark of Friday's match-up against the Grizzlies, but came back to win the game 5-4 in overtime. Victoria held a 3-1 lead going into the third period on Saturday but after a couple of costly turnover's the Grizzlies scored four unanswered goals in the final frame to take the game 5-3. The Salmon Kings and Grizzlies were evenly matched on Sunday afternoon heading into the third tied at one. The Salmon Kings found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-1 score though at the final buzzer and while the Salmon Kings finished 1-3 for the week, fans in Victoria saw some fantastic end-to-end play, out¬standing goals and huge saves in a thoroughly entertaining weekend.

Week in Review

Tuesday November 29, 2005 @ Phoenix Roadrunners - 3-1L

Friday December 2, 2005 vs. Utah Grizzlies - 5-4W

Saturday December 3, 2005 vs. Utah Grizzlies - 5-3L

Sunday December 4, 2005 vs. Utah Grizzlies - 3-1L

Breakdown

The Salmon Kings returned to Phoenix, Arizona to finish where they started on Tuesday and with only 13 skaters and two goaltenders they played the Roadrunners for the second time in 10 days at the America West Arena. The Roadrunners were waiting for the Salmon Kings though and opened a two goal lead on Victoria in the first period. Salmon Kings Defenseman Nate Forster scored Victoria's only marker in the second period, the goal was assist¬ed by Forward Dustan Heintz who kept his scoring streak alive at five. The Roadrunners goal scorers were Miguel Lafleche, Dean Tiltgen and Peter Trovado, and they out-shot the Salmon Kings 33-23. Salmon Kings Goaltender BJ Boxma recorded the loss while Roadrunners Goaltender Mike Mole earned the win. Victoria finished 0-4 on the powerplay while Phoenix converted 1 of 2 chances with the man advantage, in front of 3014 in attendance.

The Salmon Kings returned home on Wednesday and hosted the Utah Grizzlies for the first time at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre on Friday night. The arena was buzzing as the Stanley Cup made its first public appear¬ance in the city for some time, and most of the 4746 fans in the building were eager to get their photo taken with the most revered trophy in professional sports. The Salmon Kings opened quickly scoring two goals, from Forwards Lanny Gare and KC Timmons, in the first three minutes of the game. The Grizzlies took a 4-2 lead though, scoring four unanswered goals from Brian Escobedo, followed by two goals in 39 seconds from Brad Herauf and a marker from Travis Rycroft. Victoria tied the game at four before the end of the second period. Gare notched his second of the night before Forward Jade Galbraith scored a beautiful goal to tie the game. After a silent score sheet through the third period, Salmon Kings Forward Adam Taylor recorded his fifth goal of the sea¬son as he deflected a Simon Mangos shot from the point past Goaltender Alfie Michaud, to give the Salmon Kings the 5-4 win in overtime. Goaltender David Currie got the win on Friday while Alfie Michaud took the loss. Victoria was 1-2 on the powerplay while the Grizzlies were 2-5, and the teams finished the game with 30 shots apiece.

The Grizzlies opened the scoring early in the first period on Saturday when Forward Garett Cameron beat Salmon Kings Goaltender BJ Boxma on a clear-cut breakaway. The Salmon Kings responded and took a 3-1 lead into the third period on goals from Simon Mangos, Mike Wirll and Adam Taylor. The Grizzlies returned in the third period on a mission and scored four unanswered goals, first from Anthony Battaglia then a natural hat-trick from Jeff Miles to defeat the Salmon King 5-3. Boxma took the loss while Michaud earned the win in his second straight game against the Salmon Kings. Victoria finished 1-3 on the powerplay while the Grizzlies converted 1-5 opportunities with the man advantage. Utah out-shot Victoria 31-22 in front of 4111, at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

The Salmon Kings and Grizzlies completed their three game set on Sunday afternoon before Victoria took to the ice for the KidSport Post-Game Skate with the fans. KC Timmons scored the first goal of the game at 5:50 of the opening period, and the fans in the arena littered the ice with Teddy Bears in the first such toss in team history. Grizzlies Forward Matt Craig tied the game just before the end of the opening period but Utah's Ryan Kinasewich's goal and Craig's second of the game in the third period, closed the score sheet at 3-1 in favour of the Grizzlies. Michaud added the win to his record in his third straight start, while Goaltender David Currie took the loss and fin¬ished 1-1 in the series. Utah out-shot Victoria 29-25 and the teams combined 0-7 on the powerplay.

Stats Tracker

Forwards Lanny Gare (6g - 14a) and Mike Wirll (5g - 15a) lead the Salmon Kings with 20 points each while Defenseman Kurt Drummond (2g - 15a) leads all Victoria back-liners with 17 points. Forward Dustan Heintz con¬tinued his point scoring streak through all three games of the Utah series and it now stands at eight games in which time he has recorded three goals and five assists for eight points. Defenseman Steve Lingren still sits atop ECHL goal scoring by D-men with nine and powerplay goals with seven. The four Victoria goaltenders that have played this season (BJ Boxma, David Currie, Lance Mayes and Rob Muntain) have a combined record of 7-14-1, 3.77 goals against average and a .885 save percentage.

Up Coming

The Salmon Kings travel to Boise, Idaho on Tuesday where they will play the Steelheads on Wednesday December 7, 2005, Friday December 9th and Saturday December 10th. Victoria's next three game series at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre is against the West Division leading Alaska Aces starting Friday December 16th. Wednesday December 7, 2005 @ Idaho Steelheads Friday December 9, 2005 @ Idaho Steelheads Saturday December 10, 2005 @ Idaho Steelheads

Injured Reserve

30-Day Forward Ryan Wade Forward Steve Roberts Goaltender Rob Muntain 7-Day Forward Mike Henderson Defenseman Chad Dameworth

Transactions

Signed Defenseman Brad Cook - Saturday December 3, 2005



ECHL Stories from December 6, 2005


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