Of the two Victoria Salmon Kings representatives to the ECHL all-star game today in Bakersfield, Calif., defenceman Ryan Turek got there the traditional way as a 2006 St. Louis Blues draft pick out of the Michigan State Spartans.

Jeff Harris, meanwhile, is in Bakersfield after starting out as ball boy for the old Calgary 88s pro basketball team and clubhouse attendant at Nat Bailey Stadium for the Vancouver Canadians baseball team. Clearly, you don't want him on your blue-line with the likes of Turek. But Harris, 38, has proven an asset for the Salmon Kings off the ice as the Internet play-by-play announcer, director of media relations and assistant GM.

Harris' efforts were rewarded with the ECHL selecting him as one of three radio announcers for the showcase game, which tonight, in a format twist, pits the host Condors against the all-star team.

Harris will work the game with Bob Mills of Bakersfield and Dustin Bixby of the Gwinnett Gladiators of Atlanta. Each will rotate and call one period of play-by-play, one period of colour and one period as a sidelines reporter.

The honour is not bad for a guy who trained in media relations but was thrown behind the microphone by happenstance.

"I was never one of those guys who grew up talking into a pen or pencil pretending to be a big-time play-by-play broadcaster," said Harris.

Harris had an internship with the Calgary Hitmen and was recommended to the Salmon Kings by Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison.

The day the Calgary native arrived in Victoria in the summer of 2007, he thought it was for an audition. And what a tryout it was. The Vancouver Canucks brass were at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre that day to announce their training camp would be held in Victoria. Harris was thrown into the fire and asked to take charge of the press conference.

He immediately impressed. But afterward, Salmon Kings president Dave Dakers asked if he had ever done play-by-play.

"I thought there had been some miscommunication about my skill sets and I swallowed hard, expecting I wouldn't get the job," recalled Harris.

"But Dave said: 'You can learn.' "

Which Harris has done.

But not without cringing when thinking back to those early games when people asked if "throws" was the only verb he knew.

"Everything was 'he throws it on net' or 'he throws over a pass' or 'he throws it into the opposing zone,' " chuckled Harris.

"But you learn. Every game is a story, with its own main plot and various subplots, and you are the eyes for the listener bringing them that story."

Every player in the ECHL wants to move up the pro hockey ladder and there will be plenty of NHL GMs and scouts in Bakersfield tonight. It's no different off the ice. In his four seasons, Harris has seen conference compatriots Jack Michaels of the Alaska Aces move up to become the new radio voice of the Edmonton Oilers, and Josh Fisher of the Las Vegas Wranglers and Joe O'Donnell of the Idaho Steelheads advance to call American Hockey League games for the Texas Stars and Houston Aeros, respectively.

"Like everybody in the ECHL, I want to make it to the NHL," said Harris.

"But I have no illusions of grandeur that it will be on the broadcasting side. The media relations side of this job is as important."

Harris lists his favourite ECHL road cities as Phoenix, when the Roadrunners were in the league, and Boise in Idaho and Ontario in Southern California.

"I've always been an L.A. lover so I love going to Ontario, while Boise is a college town and so it's such an eclectic city with a funky downtown," said Harris.

Harris lists his play-by-play highlights as the 15-game Salmon Kings winning streak from last season and Ryan Wade's stunning back-to-back shorthanded goals against Bakersfield that turned the tide to give Victoria its first-ever playoff series win in 2008.

The biggest letdown? The "crushing" loss to Utah in the second round of those 2008 playoffs.