This is going to be an exciting year in the ECHL and particularly the National Conference. Many veterans have moved on by either retiring or switching leagues, names like Ryan Wade, Luke Curtin, Lance Galbraith, Peter Metcalf, Chris Beckford-Steu, Jake Moreland, Kiel McLeod, Jordan Krestanovich, Greg Rallo and Travis Rycroft are just a couple of them. In this (and possibly last) report, I plan to give you my prospective on what is going to happen this season here in the west. I hope you enjoy this, and it’s not the last thing ever written on here. Just remember this is a league that each year gets new players from all sides of the globe, I’m just basing this off of what I know.
From the bottom up, here are my predictions for how the Conference will be won …
9th Ontario Reign
Even while coming off an amazing season in Texas, many players choose not to make the move with the club to Ontario California. Even with the huge pick-up of Kellen Briggs (who will start the season on the 30-day IR), and very slick new look, it’s hard to pick the Reign to be anything this season.
8th Fresno Falcons
When you look at the Fresno Falcons each year, even with all the changes each year there was one consistent in their line-up, Luke Curtin. But this year Curtin is not there and the question is, will the rest of the team be? Fresno will be going with two inexperienced goaltenders to start the year. Look for the Falcons strong point to be on defence where veterans O’Dette and MacAulay along with newcomer and former NHL player Brad Brown with are top-tier blue-liners.
7th Bakersfield Condors
As much as the Condors have improved their team after last years exit in the first round by the Victoria Salmon Kings, it still might not have been enough. The first thing the Condors went out and did in the off-season was sign an affiliation deal with the Anaheim Ducks and much publicized Iowa Chops. As much as I am ranking them seventh for the up coming season, anything could happen with Mark Derlago being returned to the Manitoba Moose for his sophomore season in pro hockey. Bakersfield will also have 2 solid netminders in Fukufuji and Dave McKee.
6th Utah Grizzlies
Michael Mole and Nathan Lawson may still be tending the pipes this year in Salt Lake City, but it takes more then goaltending to win in this league. Last year the Grizzlies got a lot of help from there affiliates and that helped them advance to the conference final, don’t expect to see that this year, as a weak defence my stop any opportunity.
5th Alaska Aces
The Aces always find a way to get it done, but this year I am banking on them not. With Alaska’s big pick-ups this year being older guys like Colin Hemingway and Scott Burt, I can see the Aces getting a little older while most of the league is starting to shed no skin. Last season the Aces had a late winning streak thanks to some help from AHL quality goaltenders like Marek Swartz and Chris Beckford-Steu (both expected to be starting goaltenders in Peoria and Rochester this season) will be around Anchorage this year. One thing that Alaska is good at is bringing in local guys, so pride will not be a problem at all.
4th Stockton Thunder
Last season in Stockton, from the outside looking in, I didn’t know what to think about this team. They seemed to be inconsistent for most of the year as sent on to fall in the first round to the Las Vegas Wranglers. This year expectations will be high as the Thunder start the season with the most NHL/AHL affiliated players on their roster. This team will probably be the toughest coming out of California this year and will not be a push over if expectations are met.
3rd Phoenix Roadrunners
This may be a shock to many people that I am ranking the ‘runners so high, but I see big things coming from this team. Kimbi Daniels, Daniel Sisca will make a great one two punch at center this season. There defence also looks good but the main attraction will be between the pipes as all-star Craig Kowalski former Gwinnett Gladiators, will be the starting goalie this year. His back-up isn’t bad either in 6’4 Gerald Coleman.
2nd Las Vegas Wranglers
The Wranglers were a toss up for the first and second spot, but the question in goal hurt them. The past three season the Wranglers have been treated with superb goalies like Daniel Manzato, Mike McKenna, Kevin Lalande just to name a few. So far this year they haven’t found any all-stars in goal but they are not missing anything up front with both Ferraro Bros back along with most of their supporting staff. Glen Gulutzan also will have four returning defensemen this year.
1st Victoria Salmon Kings
I really didn’t want to do this because then I would be called biased and a homer and all those other bad words, but when I went over every roster and rated them, the home town boys look like they could have another great season. After losing 7 players to Europe this past off-season, it was looking like it wasn’t going to be a very productive year. But quickly salmon Kings picked up Sean O’Connor and former Grizzly Labelle was sent down to Victoria as the Kings started to look a little more powerful. Wes Goldie is the new captain as well and it looks like his club may also have the best defence in the ECHL. Look for nothing but an exciting year in the Garden City.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Writer Wanted!
Last season when I began this blog I thought of it as a way to let the fans that didn’t get the opportunity to watch the games the ability to know what is happening with Canada’s lone ECHL club. I really enjoyed writing it as well, even with all the spelling and grammar errors; I thought I did an excellent job reporting on the club. But for this up and coming season I will not have the same spare time I did last year to write reports for each game and nor do I intend on it.
But I’m caught in the dilemma that I don’t feel like leaving this thing to die after only one successful season. I’m hoping that I can find another hard-core fan that would be interested in doing some kind of writing along the same line of how I did it last year. It doesn’t have to be the four paragraph reports I did; but something that would keep the fans knowledgeable and interested. There is an audience for this blog of around 30-40 that read this after games so the person writing this would not be typing to a empty space. I would be willing to help out with some of the thing needing down with the site including a new banner If someone stepped up.
If I can’t find anyone by early November then expect the site to be shut down. I hope if I can find some time to do one last report; it will be a season preview for the ECHL national conference and my predictions for where each team will finish.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Hello Salmon Kings Nation
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, but be sure to remember hockey season is just around the corner!
This off-season has been one of many good byes as the Salmon Kings may have been the hardest hit team in North America with players expected to swim across to Europe to continue their hockey careers. Players expected to be in Europe this season include Ash Goldie, Kevin Estrada, Kiel McLeod, Jordan Krestanovich, Billy Thompson, Paul Ballantyne, and Milan Gajic. Also Marc-Andre Bernier has signed on with Springfield of the American Hockey League (also are the affiliate of the Stockton Thunder) and Brady Leavold signed with Norfolk also of the AHL.
But we do have some players on their way back to the capital of BC. Fan favorites Wes Goldie, Darryl Lloyd, and Chris St. Jacques resigned with the club along with young gun Jacob Dietrich. The Kings also recruited Kelly Cup champion Jeremy Swanson to join the blue-line. Matt Kelly who has been a member of the club for the past two years has signed up with the Kings and for the first time under an ECHL contract.
I will let everyone know in early September if I will be posting for the up and coming season. enjoy the rest of the dog days of summer.
This off-season has been one of many good byes as the Salmon Kings may have been the hardest hit team in North America with players expected to swim across to Europe to continue their hockey careers. Players expected to be in Europe this season include Ash Goldie, Kevin Estrada, Kiel McLeod, Jordan Krestanovich, Billy Thompson, Paul Ballantyne, and Milan Gajic. Also Marc-Andre Bernier has signed on with Springfield of the American Hockey League (also are the affiliate of the Stockton Thunder) and Brady Leavold signed with Norfolk also of the AHL.
But we do have some players on their way back to the capital of BC. Fan favorites Wes Goldie, Darryl Lloyd, and Chris St. Jacques resigned with the club along with young gun Jacob Dietrich. The Kings also recruited Kelly Cup champion Jeremy Swanson to join the blue-line. Matt Kelly who has been a member of the club for the past two years has signed up with the Kings and for the first time under an ECHL contract.
I will let everyone know in early September if I will be posting for the up and coming season. enjoy the rest of the dog days of summer.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
21-year old Bourdon Killed
The entire Vancouver Canucks organization today was forced to deal with the death of 21 year old rookie and top prospect Luc Bourdon. Bourdon past away in a motor vehicle accident Thursday morning. As the Salmon Kings are apart of the Canucks organization and the hockey world we also felt it hard with players like Julien Ellis, Patrick Coulombe, Dylan Yeo, Marc-Andre Bernier, Matt Kelly and Ash Goldie had the chance to play along side Bourdon during his time in the QMJHL, the Manitoba Moose, and Canuck training camps.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Season Over
The Kings will be playing in their biggest game of the season and in their history. For a team who has made the largest steps in its four year in this season, the Kings want nothing but to force this game to a game 6 at home. But first they would need to get the job done in front of a less then enthusiastic Utah crowd. Victoria needs to have their best players be their best players tonight and get it done in a clutch situation. The Kings were in a game five condition like this last year when they came up with a huge 9-4 win over the Aces to force a game six in that series (Wes Goldie had a hat-trick in that game).
The Utah Grizzlies got a third straight opening period goal from Ryan Kinasewich to get the ball rolling in the first period as they picked up a power-play goal. Olivier Labelle collected a second Grizzly goal just four minutes later. Salmon Kings were pretty lucky to hold in with only giving up two goals as Utah had many chances to make is a blow-out early. Paul Ballantyne broke the streak of ten Grizzlies goals in a row as a pass right off the face off by McLeod set up Ballantyne for the laser past Mole.
The Bears jumped all over the Salmon Kings after finishing off killing off a 5 on 3. Labelle scored a power-play goal on a rebound to restore the two-goal lead. The lively Micheal Haley made it a 4-1 game just seconds later as he wrists a shot on the glove side of Thompson. Yet another rebound went past Thompson as this time the man they call “KJ” scored his sixth of the postseason.
Very similar how Montreal was feeling after they lost is how the Kings were probably feeling. If they had a little more grit and their power-play worked like it did during the regular season, maybe this would have been a different series. The Salmon Kings gave up three more goals and picked up two of their own as Utah embarrassed the Salmon Kings.
Final: 8-3 Grizzlies
Notes:
Utah is 6-0 when scoring a power-play goal
Utah is perfect in this series when Micheal Haley plays
Utah wins the series 4-1
Utah is 6-1 in their last 7 playoff games
The Utah Grizzlies got a third straight opening period goal from Ryan Kinasewich to get the ball rolling in the first period as they picked up a power-play goal. Olivier Labelle collected a second Grizzly goal just four minutes later. Salmon Kings were pretty lucky to hold in with only giving up two goals as Utah had many chances to make is a blow-out early. Paul Ballantyne broke the streak of ten Grizzlies goals in a row as a pass right off the face off by McLeod set up Ballantyne for the laser past Mole.
The Bears jumped all over the Salmon Kings after finishing off killing off a 5 on 3. Labelle scored a power-play goal on a rebound to restore the two-goal lead. The lively Micheal Haley made it a 4-1 game just seconds later as he wrists a shot on the glove side of Thompson. Yet another rebound went past Thompson as this time the man they call “KJ” scored his sixth of the postseason.
Very similar how Montreal was feeling after they lost is how the Kings were probably feeling. If they had a little more grit and their power-play worked like it did during the regular season, maybe this would have been a different series. The Salmon Kings gave up three more goals and picked up two of their own as Utah embarrassed the Salmon Kings.
Final: 8-3 Grizzlies
Notes:
Utah is 6-0 when scoring a power-play goal
Utah is perfect in this series when Micheal Haley plays
Utah wins the series 4-1
Utah is 6-1 in their last 7 playoff games
3rd star Ryan Kinasewich 2nd star Keith Johnson 1st star Olivier Labelle
PS
Thank you to everyone who followed the Salmon Kings season along with my writing, please leave comments as it will help me on my way to deciding if I continue this next season
- S-Kings35
Kings on Brink of Elimination
The Victoria Salmon Kings as of the first intermission knew they were now one of only two remaining Canadian pro hockey clubs still alive as the Montreal Canadians were eliminated. But Victoria was put onto life support as they fell to the Utah Grizzlies 2-0 at the E center.
Victoria did a goaltending switch coming into this game as they decided to go with Billy Thompson over Julien Ellis. Even though he was able to stop twenty-seven of the twenty-eight shots he faced, he was not able to match the superb job by Mike Mole. An early first period goal by the dominating Ryan Kinasewich would stand until Olivier Labelle tapped in the puck to the empty cage in the final minute of the game.
The Salmon Kings went down swinging in game four but had every opportunity denied by Michael Mole stopping all twenty-four difficult shots he faced. Even with the arrival of Kiel McLeod wasn’t able to relieve the Kings of falling down three games to one in this National Conference semi-final.
It will be up to the Victoria offense to find a hole on Michael Mole and keep this magical season alive which has seen the Salmon Kings rise above teams like Idaho and Alaska to become the West Division Champs. With many of the top players on this team expected to move on to either the AHL or possibly European hockey. Unless this club can come up with a big win, Sunday could be the last time we see a team similar to who was on the Salmon Kings for the 07/08 season.
Final: 2-0 Salmon Kings
Notes:
Utah leads the series 3-1
Salmon Kings has been shutout twice this series
Salmon Kings has not scored on their last 37 shots
Salmon Kings have been out shot in their last 2 games
Victoria did a goaltending switch coming into this game as they decided to go with Billy Thompson over Julien Ellis. Even though he was able to stop twenty-seven of the twenty-eight shots he faced, he was not able to match the superb job by Mike Mole. An early first period goal by the dominating Ryan Kinasewich would stand until Olivier Labelle tapped in the puck to the empty cage in the final minute of the game.
The Salmon Kings went down swinging in game four but had every opportunity denied by Michael Mole stopping all twenty-four difficult shots he faced. Even with the arrival of Kiel McLeod wasn’t able to relieve the Kings of falling down three games to one in this National Conference semi-final.
It will be up to the Victoria offense to find a hole on Michael Mole and keep this magical season alive which has seen the Salmon Kings rise above teams like Idaho and Alaska to become the West Division Champs. With many of the top players on this team expected to move on to either the AHL or possibly European hockey. Unless this club can come up with a big win, Sunday could be the last time we see a team similar to who was on the Salmon Kings for the 07/08 season.
Final: 2-0 Salmon Kings
Notes:
Utah leads the series 3-1
Salmon Kings has been shutout twice this series
Salmon Kings has not scored on their last 37 shots
Salmon Kings have been out shot in their last 2 games
3rd star Billy Thompson 2nd star Ryan Kinasewich 1st star Mike Mole
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Under Dogs Steal Game 3
The Salmon Kings were hoping to ride the momentum after a huge six goal third period late in game two to tie the series at one a piece. Victoria was also welcoming back 6’6 team captain Kiel McLeod back into the fold after finishing off his team’s playoff run in the AHL falling in seven games to the Philadelphia Phantoms. The Kings need to continue to fire shots from everywhere at Nathan Lawson. In the playoffs, Victoria has outshot their opponents in every game and need to carry on doing so.
Victoria’s power-play has struggled in the playoffs after thriving during the regular season, but the pp found a way to get the Salmon Kings on the board as Milan Gajic nailed in his second goal of the post-season. Wes Goldie found look only a couple of minutes later as he scored a goal as Lawson tripped over his own feet thanks to poor ice conditions at the E center on Thursday night. Ryan Kinasewich got the Grizzlies on the scoreboard in the first period though as he sent a puck top-shelf on former QMJHL goalie of the year Julien Ellis.
The Salmon Kings would strike early and often in the second period as two quick goals by Kiel McLeod and Marc-Andre Bernier sent Nathan Lawson to the showers early. Michael Mole was brought in to replace Lawson, the former member of the T.V. show Making the Cut and did not make much of a difference as McLeod wrapped around the net and tucked in his second goal of the game. The Kings success ended at that though. Utah’s drive and momentum started when Keith Johnson scored as Dylan Yeo fell on the yet again weak ice. With fifteen seconds left in the period Utah would score once more. Johnson made a flawless pass to Kinasewich who connects for his fourth of the playoffs and second of the game.
Julien Ellis was bombed with shots in the final period as Utah surpasses Victoria for the lead. The Grizzlies scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the game to take the lead in the hockey game. With their biggest comeback of the season about to be completed Mike Mole helped them shut the door and Ryan Kinasewich sealed off his hat trick as the Kings blow off game three.
Final: 7-5 Salmon Kings
Notes:
Utah Takes the series lead 2-1
This is the first time in the playoffs the Salmon Kings have been outshot
Michael Mole stopped 13 straight shots
McLeod got 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in this return
Jacob Dietrich was a healthy scratch
Utah has had two players with hat-trick this series
3rd star Keith Johnson 2nd star Kiel McLeod 1st star Ryan Kinasewich
Victoria’s power-play has struggled in the playoffs after thriving during the regular season, but the pp found a way to get the Salmon Kings on the board as Milan Gajic nailed in his second goal of the post-season. Wes Goldie found look only a couple of minutes later as he scored a goal as Lawson tripped over his own feet thanks to poor ice conditions at the E center on Thursday night. Ryan Kinasewich got the Grizzlies on the scoreboard in the first period though as he sent a puck top-shelf on former QMJHL goalie of the year Julien Ellis.
The Salmon Kings would strike early and often in the second period as two quick goals by Kiel McLeod and Marc-Andre Bernier sent Nathan Lawson to the showers early. Michael Mole was brought in to replace Lawson, the former member of the T.V. show Making the Cut and did not make much of a difference as McLeod wrapped around the net and tucked in his second goal of the game. The Kings success ended at that though. Utah’s drive and momentum started when Keith Johnson scored as Dylan Yeo fell on the yet again weak ice. With fifteen seconds left in the period Utah would score once more. Johnson made a flawless pass to Kinasewich who connects for his fourth of the playoffs and second of the game.
Julien Ellis was bombed with shots in the final period as Utah surpasses Victoria for the lead. The Grizzlies scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the game to take the lead in the hockey game. With their biggest comeback of the season about to be completed Mike Mole helped them shut the door and Ryan Kinasewich sealed off his hat trick as the Kings blow off game three.
Final: 7-5 Salmon Kings
Notes:
Utah Takes the series lead 2-1
This is the first time in the playoffs the Salmon Kings have been outshot
Michael Mole stopped 13 straight shots
McLeod got 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in this return
Jacob Dietrich was a healthy scratch
Utah has had two players with hat-trick this series
3rd star Keith Johnson 2nd star Kiel McLeod 1st star Ryan Kinasewich
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