Salmon travel many miles to return home, and that’s certainly the case with Courtenay’s Adam Taylor and the Victoria Salmon Kings.
On Monday the Salmon Kings, the ECHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks and Manitoba Moose, signed the hard-skating forward for the remainder of the 2010-11 season.
The 26-year-old rejoins the Salmon Kings after beginning the season as an alternate captain with the Elite Ice Hockey League’s (EIHL) Edinburgh Capitals in the United Kingdom. Taylor finished his time there with 48 points (19g-29a) in 33 games played. His goal total led all Capitals’ skaters, while he ranked second in assists and points.
Taylor’s travels have also taken him to play for the China Sharks in Shanghai and he’s had offers to play in Germany next season.
The Comox Valley minor hockey product returns to Victoria for his fifth season of action with the Salmon Kings. Last season he registered 31 points (13g-18a) and 68 penalty minutes in 69 appearances. In 183 career games in Victoria he has scored 109 points (42g-67a) while tallying 138 minutes in penalties, the Salmon Kings noted in a press release.
Taylor currently ranks fourth all-time in Salmon Kings’ history in games played (183) and points (109), sixth in goals (42), and seventh in assists (67). He has also appeared in 14 Kelly Cup Playoff games in a Salmon Kings’ jersey, recording four points (2g-2a) and 12 minutes in penalties.
The 6-1, 205-pound Taylor has 252 career games of ECHL experience with the Salmon Kings, Pensacola Ice Pilots and Florida Everblades where he has totaled 68 goals and 101 assists for 169 points with 196 penalty minutes. During his time in the ECHL, Taylor was named to the league’s All-Star Game in 2006, as well as being awarded the Player of the Month (February 2007) and Plus Performer of the Month (January 2007).
Taylor also has 56 games of American Hockey League (AHL) experience with the Rochester Americans between the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons where he netted two points (1g-1a) while notching 27 minutes in penalties.
The seventh-round pick (224th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes has spread 245 points (97g-148a) and 267 penalty minutes across 375 games in his six-year professional career. Taylor has also scored five goals and 11 assists for 16 points with 32 minutes in penalties in 33 career professional playoff contests.
Prior to turning professional, Taylor completed a five-year junior career (2000-01 through 2004-05) with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Kootenay Ice. In 324 career games with the Ice he notched 183 points (65g-118a) with 354 minutes in penalties, and was a part of the club’s 2002 Memorial Cup championship.
Taylor finished his junior career with seven games in the 2005-06 season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds where he scored eight points (4g-4a) with two penalty minutes.