2007–08 Victoria Salmon Kings season
Introduction The '''2007–08 Victoria Salmon Kings season''' is the Salmon Kings' 4th season in the ECHL. The season saw the Salmon Kings establish themselves in the ECHL with a 91-point season, and winning 42 of 72 games. Before the start of the season, the Salmon Kings signed players Ash Goldie, Kevin Estrada, Gary Gladue, and goaltender Billy Thompson to complement their returning star players Wes Goldie, Milan Gajic, Kiel McLeod, and Ryan Wade. With their new additions and returning players the Salmon Kings became an elite team in the 2007-08 season, going 15-5-0-0 through their first 20 games and continued to earn wins going into the ECHL All-Star Game. At the 2008 All-Star Game festivities in Stockton, Ash Goldie showed his impressive skills during the two-day event. At the skills competition, Goldie became the first player in the ECHL to go 5 for 5 in the target shooting event. The following night at the All-Star Game, Goldie scored an All-Star record 6 points, recording 3 goals and 3 assists to earn All-Star M.V.P. honours. After the All-Star game, the Salmon Kings struggled after going through numerous injuries and call ups, but managed to narrowly win the National West division title, and took the number two seed into the Kelly Cup playoffs. In the playoffs, the Salmon Kings won their first-ever playoff round by eliminating the Bakersfield Condors in six games. Unfortunately in the second round, the Salmon Kings were eliminated from the playoffs by the Utah Grizzlies in five games. In their West Division title season, the Salmon Kings were led offensively by the Goldie brothers. Ash Goldie finished fourth in league scoring with 83 points, second in goals with 40, and first in power play goals with 20, while his brother, Wes led the league with 42 goals and 6 shorthanded goals.
Standings ===Division standings=== West Division GP W L OTL SOL Pts GF GA Victoria Salmon Kings (VAN) 72422343'''91'''256239 Idaho Steelheads (DAL) 72402255'''90'''224183 Alaska Aces (STL) 72412641'''87'''245229 Utah Grizzlies (NYI) 72323028'''74'''239259 Phoenix RoadRunners (SJ) 72243954'''57'''208265===Conference standings=== National Conference GP W L OTL SOL PTS GF GA Las Vegas Wranglers (CGY) (y) 72471357'''106'''244179 Victoria Salmon Kings (VAN) (y) 72422343'''91'''256239 Fresno Falcons (Independent) 72422244'''92'''242216 Idaho Steelheads (DAL) 72402255'''90'''224183 Alaska Aces (STL) 72412641'''87'''245229 Utah Grizzlies (NYI) 72323028'''74'''239259 Bakersfield Condors (Independent) 72263727'''61'''230280 Stockton Thunder (EDM) 72274032'''59'''200250         Phoenix RoadRunners (SJ) 72243954'''57'''208265
Schedule and results ===Regular season=== 2007–08 Game log October: 3–2–0–0 (Home: 2–1–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–0–0) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 1  October 19  Victoria  2–1  Idaho   OT   Ellis  5,208  1–0–0–0  2 2  October 20  Victoria  2–4  Idaho     Thompson  4,030  1–1–0–0  2 3  October 26  Las Vegas  4–3  Victoria    Thompson  4,992  1–2–0–0  2 4  October 27  Las Vegas  3–4  Victoria    Thompson  3,675  2–2–0–0  4 5  October 31  Bakersfield  2–3  Victoria    Ellis  3,601  3–2–0–0  6 November: 11–3–0–0 (Home: 8–0–0–0 ; Road: 3–3–0–0) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 6  November 2  Bakersfield  4–7  Victoria    Ellis  3,757  4–2–0–0  8 7  November 3  Bakersfield  4–5  Victoria  SO  Thompson  3,911  5–2–0–0  10 8  November 9  Victoria  1–7  Utah    Ellis  3,908  5–3–0–0  10 9  November 10  Victoria  2–1  Utah    Ellis  3,602  6–3–0–0  12 10  November 12  Victoria  1–0  Utah    Ellis  2,326  7–3–0–0  14 11  November 14  Stockton  4–7  Victoria    Ellis  4,166  8–3–0–0  16 12  November 16  Stockton  3–4  Victoria    Thompson  4,152  9–3–0–0  18 13  November 17  Stockton  1–2  Victoria  OT  Thompson  4,415  10–3–0–0  20 14  November 21  Victoria  4–1  Idaho    Ellis  3,264  11–3–0–0  22 15  November 23  Victoria  1–5  Idaho    Thompson  4,029  11–4–0–0  22 16  November 24  Victoria  0–3  Idaho    Ellis  4,188  11–5–0–0  22 17  November 28  Phoenix  3–4  Victoria  OT  Ellis  4,205  12–5–0–0  24 18  November 29  Phoenix  3–4  Victoria  SO  Thompson  3,231   13–5–0–0  26 19  November 30  Phoenix  4–5  Victoria  OT  Ellis  5,810  14–5–0–0  28 December: 6–3–0–2 (Home: 1–0–0–2 ; Road: 5–3–0–0) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 20  December 6  Victoria  5–4  Phoenix  SO  Ellis  3,062  15–5–0–0  30 21  December 7  Victoria  2–3  Phoenix    Thompson  4,027  15–6–0–0  30 22  December 14  Victoria  2–5  Fresno    Thompson  4,546  15–7–0–0  30 23  December 15  Victoria  3–2  Bakersfield    Thompson  5,528  16–7–0–0  32 24  December 16  Victoria  7–3  Fresno    Thompson  4,416  17–7–0–0  34 25  December 19  Alaska  4–3  Victoria  SO  Ellis  5,560  17–7–0–1  35 26  December 21  Alaska  1–8  Victoria    Ellis  5,264  18–7–0–1  37 27  December 22  Alaska  4–3  Victoria  SO  Ellis  5,513  18–7–0–2  38 28  December 28  Victoria  5–3  Stockton    Ellis  6,886  19–7–0–2  40 29  December 29  Victoria  4–3  Fresno  SO  Ellis  4,719  20–7–0–2  42 30  December 30  Victoria  3–5  Fresno    Thompson  3,575  20–8–0–2  42 January: 7–3–3–0 (Home: 4–1–3–0 ; Road: 3–2–0–0) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 31  January 3  Utah  1–5  Victoria    Ellis  4,338  21–8–0–2  44 32  January 5  Utah  2–1  Victoria   OT  Ellis  5,458  21–8–1–2  45 33  January 6  Utah  3–2  Victoria   OT  Thompson  4,538  21–8–2–2  46 34  January 11  Victoria  0–5  Las Vegas    Ellis  4,510  21–9–2–2  46 35  January 12  Victoria  3–1  Las Vegas    Ellis  4,713  22–9–2–2  48 36  January 15  Bakersfield  5–1  Victoria    Ellis  5,673  22–10–2–2  48 37  January 16  Bakersfield  4–5  Victoria  OT  Thompson  5,802  23–10–2–2  50 38  January 18  Fresno  5–6  Victoria  SO  Ellis  4,913  24–10–2–2  52 39  January 19  Fresno  3–2  Victoria  OT  Thompson  5,417  24–10–3–2  53 40  January 20  Fresno  1–3  Victoria    Ellis  4,727  25–10–2–2  55 41  January 25  Victoria  0–2  Alaska    Ellis  4,518  25–11–3–2  55 42  January 26  Victoria  4–1  Alaska    Thompson  4,495  26–11–3–2  57 43  January 27  Victoria  7–5  Alaska    Ellis  4,458  27–11–3–2  59 February: 8–5–0–0 (Home: 4–3–0–0 ; Road: 4–2–0–0) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 44  February 5  Victoria  7–6  Bakersfield  SO  Thompson  4,144  28–11–3–2  61 45  February 7  Victoria  4–3  Stockton    Ellis  4,378  29–11–3–2  63 46  February 8  Victoria  5–7  Bakersfield    Ellis  6,331  29–12–3–2  63 47  February 11  Fresno  3–2  Victoria    Ellis  4,556  29–13–3–2  63 48  February 12  Fresno  5–6  Victoria  OT  Thompson  4,291  30–13–3–2  65 49  February 15  Victoria  3–2  Las Vegas    Ellis  5,299  31–13–3–2  67 50  February 16  Victoria  3–5  Las Vegas    Thompson  5,671  31–14–3–2  67 51  February 18  Victoria  6–4  Phoenix    Thompson  2,629  32–14–3–2  69 52  February 20  Idaho  3–2  Victoria    Thompson  4,553  32–15–3–2  69 53  February 22  Idaho  0–6  Victoria    Ellis  5,456  33–15–3–2  71 54  February 23  Idaho  4–2  Victoria    Ellis  5,075  33–16–3–2  71 55  February 27  Las Vegas  3–5  Victoria    Thompson  4,197  34–16–3–2  73 56  February 29  Las Vegas  4–5  Victoria  OT  Ellis  4,802  35–16–3–2  75 March: 5–4–1–1 (Home: 3–1–0–0 ; Road: 2–4–1–1) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 57  March 1  Las Vegas  5–4  Victoria    Thompson  5,471  35–17–3–2  75 58  March 7  Victoria  2–3  Alaska    Thompson  4,562  35–18–3–2  75 59  March 8  Victoria  3–4  Alaska    Ellis  5,334  35–19–3–2  75 60  March 9  Victoria  4–3  Alaska    Ellis  4,665  36–19–3–2  77 61  March 14  Victoria  1–5  Phoenix    Ellis  4,402  36–20–3–2  77 62  March 16  Victoria  1–6  Phoenix    Thompson  3,624  36–21–3–2  77 63  March 19  Utah  3–7  Victoria    Ellis  5,560  37–21–3–2  79 64  March 21  Utah  0–4  Victoria    Thompson  4,472  38–21–3–2  81 65  March 22  Utah  2–3  Victoria  SO  Ellis  5,263  39–21–3–2  83 66  March 26  Victoria  7–6  Stockton    Ellis  5,836 40–21–3–2  85 67  March 28  Victoria  3–6  Bakersfield    Thompson  7,513  40–22–3–2  85 68  March 29  Victoria  2–3  Stockton  SO  Ellis  9,737  40–22–3–3  86 69  March 30  Victoria  4–5  Fresno  OT  Ellis  3,971  40–22–4–3  87 April: 2–1–0–0 (Home: 2–1–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0–0) #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Record  Pts 70  April 2  Alaska  6–4  Victoria    Ellis  5,056  40–23–4–3  87 71  April 4  Alaska  0–2  Victoria    Thompson  6,478  41–23–4–3  89 72  April 5  Alaska  1–4  Victoria     Thompson  7,006  42–23–4–3  91'''''Legend''''':===Playoffs=== 2008 Kelly Cup playoffs National Conference quarter-final vs. (7) Bakersfield Condors: Victoria won series 4–2 #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Series 1  April 10  Bakersfield  2–1  Victoria  OT  Thompson  5,008  0–1 2  April 12  Bakersfield  3–4  Victoria    Thompson  6,448  1–1 3  April 15  Victoria  3–2  Bakersfield  OT  Thompson  5,197  2–1 4  April 16  Victoria  4–1  Bakersfield    Thompson  4,815  3–1 5  April 19  Victoria  4–5  Bakersfield    Thompson  5,090  3–2 6  April 22  Bakersfield  5–6  Victoria  OT  Thompson  6,701  4–2 National Conference semi-final vs. (6) Utah Grizzlies: Utah won series 4–1 #  Date  Visitor  Score  Home  OT  Decision  Attendance  Series 1  April 25  Utah  6–0  Victoria    Thompson  5,685   0–1 2  April 27  Utah  1–6  Victoria    Ellis  5,413  1–1 3  May 1  Victoria  5–7  Utah    Ellis  2,321  1–2 4  May 3  Victoria  0–2  Utah    Thompson  4,308  1–3 5  May 4  Victoria  3–8  Utah    Thompson  2,973  1–4'''''Legend''''':
Player stats ===Skaters===''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes'' Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM  70  40  43  83  -2  24  70  13  52  65  -19  20  72  42  19  61  -8  66  59  21  27  48  +4  32  59  18  30  48  +9  45  70  11  33  44  -16  90  71  5  37  42  -11  48  35  15  25  40  -8  14  48  15  20  35  -24  117 †  51  11  23  34  4  34  58  8  22  30  -1  40  55  10  18  28  +4  76  52  10  16  26  -5  128  54  7  16  23  -3  59  52  6  16  22  -5  42  57  8  8  16  +1  57 ‡  13  3  10  13  -6  4  9  2  3  5  -1  0  19  0  5  5  -2  14  42  0  4  4  -8  39  6  0  3  3  +4  2  3  2  0  2  +2  2  38  1  1  2  -10  142  7  1  0  1  -1  16  14  0  1  1  0  19 †‡  15  0  1  1  -2  4  1  0  0  0  0  2  1  0  0  0  +1  0  2  0  0  0  -3  2 †  3  0  0  0  -1  6  4  0  0  0  0  0  15  0  0  0  -1  13 Playoffs Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM  11  5  6  11  +3  4  11  4  6  10  -2  8  11  5  4  9  +5  16  11  4  3  7  -3  18  11  6  0  6  -2  6  11  2  3  5  -3  22  11  0  5  5  -3  4  3  2  2  4  0  10  8  2  2  4  -2  2  10  1  3  4  -6  21  11  1  2  3  0  12  10  2  0  2  +2  8  10  0  2  2  +4  4  2  0  1  1  +1  2  5  0  1  1  +2  0  5  0  1  1  0  2  7  0  1  1  -1  2  8  0  1  1  -1  2===Goaltenders===''Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts'' Regular season Player GP TOI W L OT SOL GA GAA Sv% SO   42  2412  24  11  2  3  128  3.18  .908  2   34  1897  18  12  2  0  106  3.24  .907  2 Playoffs Player GP TOI W L GA GAA Sv% SO   9  534  4  5  31  3.48  .881  0   3  136  1  1  9  3.97  .857  0†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Victoria. Stats reflect time with the Salmon Kings only. ‡Denotes player no longer with the team. Stats reflect time with Salmon Kings only.
Transactions ===Trades=== June 15, 2007 To Victoria Salmon KingsFree Trade To Augusta LynxWarren McCutcheon December 6, 2007 To Victoria Salmon KingsFree Trade To Phoenix RoadRunnersBryan Nathe===Free agents acquired=== '''Player'''  '''Former team''' Ash Goldie  Long Beach Ice Dogs Kevin Estrada  Florida Everblades Gary Gladue  Long Beach Ice Dogs Ty Morris  Peiting EC (GerObL) Alex Lalonde  Calgary Dinos (CWUAA) Chris Shaw  Huntsville Havoc (SPHL) Billy Thompson  Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL)Kalvin Sagert  Prince George Cougars (WHL)Jonathan Labelle  Brock Badgers (CIS)Darren Deschamps  Lethbridge Pronghorns (CWUAA)Dylan Yeo  Calgary Hitmen (WHL)Daniel Rahimi  IF Björklöven (SEL-1)Brad Zanon  UBC Thunderbirds (CWUAA)Trevor Blanchard  Concordia Stingers (CIS)Nathan Barrett  Visp (Swiss-B)Jacob Dietrich  Portland Winterhawks (WHL)===Free agents lost=== '''Player'''  '''New team'''Francois-Pierre Guenette  Alaska AcesMike Stutzel  Edinburgh Capitals (EIHL)Steve Lingren  RetiredSeamus Young  Wheeling NailersGustav Engman  Nybro Vikings (SEL-1)Phil Cole  Stockton ThunderBryan Bridges  Colorado Eagles (CHL)===Released Players Pickup=== '''Player'''  '''From'''Eric Nelson  Utah GrizzliesBryan Nathe  Johnstown ChiefsChris St. Jacques  Stockton Thunder===Players Released=== '''Player'''  '''Date'''Ty Morris*  October 30, 2007Eric Nelson  November 27, 2007Alex Lalonde  December 6, 2007Ryan Lowe  December 18, 2007Nathan Barrett  February 23, 2008Chris Shaw  February 29, 2008Trevor Blanchard  March 24, 2008Robin Gomez  March 28, 2008Jonathan Labelle  April 6, 2008Kalvin Sagert  April 27, 2008 *-Suspended by Team
Professional affiliations ===Vancouver Canucks===The Salmon Kings' NHL affiliate based in Vancouver, British Columbia.===Manitoba Moose===The Salmon Kings' AHL affiliate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
References