2004 – 05 Victoria Salmon Kings season Season summary . The 2004 – 05 Victoria Salmon Kings season is the Salmon Kings ' inaugural season in the ECHL . While the Victoria region has had a long and distinguished hockey history - the Victoria Cougars won the Stanley Cup in 1925 - the region was the largest Canadian region without either professional or Major - Junior hockey when the WHL Victoria Cougars ( a team with no connection to the aforementioned Cougars ) moved to Prince George in 1994 . This was a crippling blow to Victoria hockey fans , whose highest - level remaining local team was the Tier II Junior ' A ' Victoria Salsa . By this time , it had become evident that the 50 - year - old Victoria Memorial Arena , seating only 4 , 000 for hockey , would have to be replaced if Victoria expected to be able to attract a new hockey club . After several years of discussion , the construction of a new arena was approved by Victoria voters in a 2002 referendum , with one key condition being that its construction was dependent on Victoria securing a WHL team . When the private - sector partner , RG Properties , was unable to secure a WHL club , the company bought the rights to the defunct ECHL Baton Rouge Kingfish , formerly the Erie Panthers , a charter member of the ECHL , and announced that Victoria ' s new team would be named the Salmon Kings . It became clear as the 2004 – 05 ECHL season approached that Victoria ' s new arena , now called the Save - on - Foods Memorial Centre , was not going to be ready in time for the season . In response , the ECHL scheduled the Salmon Kings to begin their inaugural season with an unheard - of 14 game road trip . Unfortunately , even this was not enough time for the arena to be completed , and in the summer of 2004 the Salmon Kings were forced to secure ice time in the Bear Mountain Arena in the suburban community of Colwood , which had been constructed with the needs of the junior ' A ' Victoria Salsa and the Victoria Shamrocks box lacrosse club in mind . Despite all this , the Salmon Kings took to the ice in their first regular - season game on October 22 , 2004 , in Bakersfield , California , against the Bakersfield Condors . Former University of Alberta player Ryan Wade scored the first goal in Salmon Kings history . Unfortunately , they lost this game 7 - 2 ; the Salmon Kings would struggle during their 14 - game road trip , only winning 3 games , losing 10 games in regulation and one in a shootout . Their first victory came at the expense of the Fresno Falcons on October 24 , which the Salmon Kings won by a convincing 5 - 0 margin . David Brumby , the Kings ' starting goaltender at the time , turned away 37 shots for the shutout . As the NHL lockout progressed , Dale Purinton and Dan Blackburn of the New York Rangers and Mark Smith of the San Jose Sharks played for the Salmon Kings . Purinton , an enforcer , was suspended twice by the league , the first for a career - ending check into the boards of Condors player Krzysztof Wieckowski , and the second for returning to the ice to fight after being ejected during a bench - clearing brawl involving the Kings and the Falcons . After the latter suspension , Purinton was suspended indefinitely by the Salmon Kings and did not play again that season . After the grueling 14 - game road trip which lasted for over a month , the Salmon Kings finally played their first home game on December 5 , 2004 , at Bear Mountain Arena . Unfortunately , the Salmon Kings lost this game 4 - 3 in overtime . They would continue to struggle during their first season , going only 15 - 52 - 5 over 72 games ; notably , they set an ECHL record for a continuous winless streak , going 0 - 18 - 2 between December 31 , 2004 and February 4 , 2005 . The few positives for the team in their inaugural season was Ryan Wade who would be known by fans as " Mr . Salmon King " led the team in scoring ( 19g - 31a ) and team captain , Brad Dexter was voted a starter on the National Conference ’ s All - Star Team . Player stats . Skaters . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points ; + / - = Plus / Minus ; PIM = Penalty Minutes " Goaltenders . " Note : GP = Games Played ; TOI = Time On Ice ( minutes ) ; W = Wins ; L = Losses ; T = Ties ; GA = Goals Against ; GAA = Goals Against Average ; Sv % = Save Percentage ; SO = Shutouts " 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 .