ELLINGTON OFF TO MOOSE, KELLY CUP TIX GO ON SALE

Victoria Salmon Kings defenseman Taylor Ellington has been re-assigned by the Vancuver Canucks to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

The Victoria native will join the Moose for his third stint in Manitoba this season, after previously being re-assigned by the Canucks in November and January.

In 13 total games with the Moose this year Ellington has recorded two assists and seven penalty minutes.

The 21-year-old defender has participated in 47 games with the Salmon Kings this season tallying 14 points (3g-11a) while serving 49 minutes in penalties.

Ellington was also selected as one of two Victoria representatives at this year’s 2010 ECHL All-Star Game in Ontario, CA.

Meanwhile, the Victoria Salmon Kings announced today that 2010 Kelly Cup Playoff tickets will go on sale Wednesday.

Discounts on released playoff tickets will be available for fans that order group packages of 10 or more tickets or fans that want to purchase a complete playoff ticket package, which guarantees a seat to every 2010 Kelly Cup playoff home game at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

The Salmon Kings host the Utah Grizzlies  Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

ATTENDANCE WOES HIT SALMON KINGS

By Paul Seal

Vibrant Victoria

Most Victoria Salmon Kings fans will admit this season has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride on the ice.  The team started out with one win against nine losses in the first ten games before catching fire and winning eleven of their first thirteen games following the Christmas break.

February and March, however, put a damper on the team’s spirit.  The Salmon Kings spent most of the last two months on the road while the Olympics took the spotlight here at home, picking up a 6-8 record, and arrived back in Victoria only to drop all three homes games against league-leading Idaho on the weekend ending March 13th.

But what hasn’t been a wild ride this season are home attendance figures.

They are simply down.

The team has drawn an average of just 4,211 fans at the Save On Foods Memorial Centre, representing a drop of 712 fans each night compared to the previous season.

In 2008-09 the team averaged 4,923 fans.  In 2007-08 the average was slightly lower at 4,871 per night.

Given the median walk-up ticket price of approximately $22 and median season-ticket price at just above $15 per game, the drop likely means a revenue loss of over $300,000 spread over the 36-game home schedule.

Exact dollar figures are hard to come by as most teams do not release full ticket-sale financial figures and the number of complimentary or contra tickets is an unknown but typically added into the attendance figures mix.

It is difficult to attribute the drop on any one factor.

Yes, the last two years were record-breaking, even garnering Salmon Kings ticket manager Devin Mazur a league award for excellence in the ticketing department in 2008, so some might have expected a bit of a drop from those heady numbers.

The drop  could be blamed on the economy, although most Victorians would probably admit we sidestepped economic difficulties more-so than the US teams in the league.  And the ECHL overall is up 5.7% from the same period a year ago (figures from January, 2010).

Full non-smoking rules went into effect at Save On Foods Memorial in September 2008, a rule that does not even allow fans to go outside between periods to smoke.

That could be a factor, as this is the first year season-ticket holders had prior notice before buying.  Or it could just be that the shine has worn off a team now playing in its 5th season at the now not-so-new arena.

Victoria isn’t the only BC pro hockey team with attendance woes.

Abbotsford, a new AHL city entering the league this year, has drawn only 3,300 fans on average, and that’s 34% less than expected.  Notable was the fact that two 7000+ attendant sellouts came when the visiting team was the Canucks’ affiliate Manitoba Moose, and both were held mid-week.

The Salmon Kings affiliation with the Canucks hasn’t seemed to have brought about any uptick in sales since their partnership began in 2006.

The Salmon Kings hope to improve on the numbers with their last set of games March 31, April 2 and 3 vs. Utah.

The team has announced a fairly impressive $5-admission game night for April 3.  With the team fighting several others in the National Conference for a playoff spot, the games might have meaning, and the ticketing department hopes they will improve on their attendance average just a bit as they close out the regular season.

SALMON KINGS GET ELLINGTON BACK FROM MOOSE

Defenseman Taylor Ellington has returned to the Victoria Salmon Kings.

The Victoria native is under NHL contract to the Canucks and rejoins the Salmon Kings after participating in 11 games with the Manitoba Moose scoring one assist and seven penalty minutes.

Ellington’s time with Manitoba was his second stint of the season after first being re-assigned to the Moose on November 25th. The defenseman played two games in the AHL at that time registering no points or penalty minutes.

ISLANDERS TAKE PART IN OFFICIALS NIGHT AT GM PLACE

Andrew Funk  of Sidney and Hayley Dawes of Nanaimo were among the officials taking part in BC Hockey’s Officials Night at GM Place on Monday.

They saw the Vancouver Canucks beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2.

Eight officials were selected as winners from a contest held earlier in January through the Canucks Centre for BC Hockey.

Before the game the officials met the NHL officiating crew working the game that night.  Following the introduction of the NHL officials there was a brief Officiating Hot Stove.

The NHL officials taking part in the hot stove included Lonnie Cameron of Victoria, Kerry Fraser, Mike Leggo  and Scott Cherry, all from Ontario.

“Kerry Fraser was clearly the star of the show, but all the officials were genuinely excited about the opportunity to take part in the event,” said BC Hockey Referee-in-Chief Rob Fryer.

ELLINGTON RETURNS TO VICTORIA SALMON KINGS

The Vancouver Canucks have reassigned defenseman Taylor Ellington to the Victoria Salmon Kings from the Manitoba Moose.

The Victoria native rejoins the Salmon Kings after playing two games for Manitoba after being re-assigned on Nov. 25. Ellington finished his two game stint with the Moose with a plus/minus rating of +1.

The 6-0, 200lb defenseman has participated in 13 games with the Salmon Kings this season, where he has registered five points (1g-4a) and four minutes in penalties.

Ellington is under NHL contract to the Canucks, and was selected in the second round (#33 overall) by the Canucks during the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.