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Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Make It Six Straight Wins

January 26, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2008 Kelly Cup champions, play three games this week. The club hosts Elmira on Wednesday (January 28) at U.S. Bank Arena at 7:30pm. It is a 'Wet Wednesday' with selected domestic beers priced at one dollar each. Friday and Saturday (Jan. 30 and 31), the Cyclones travel to Dayton to play a pair of games. Both contests will be carried on MAX-FM (97.7 and 99.5). Air time is 7:15pm and the faceoff is at 7:30pm.

MOVIN' ON UP: With the victories over Dayton this past weekend, the Cyclones moved into second place in the North Division standings. It is the highest in the divisional standings the club has been since capturing the North Division title last season.

SIX IN A ROW!: The win Saturday night (Jan. 24) extended the Cyclones winning streak to six games, the longest by the club since their ECHL record 17 game streak last season. Cincinnati's last loss was on Friday, January 9 in a 4-1 defeat to Trenton.

ALL-STAR GAME GOES TO AMERICANS: The 2009 ECHL All-Star Game was played Wednesday night (Jan. 21) at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA. The American Conference (which the Cyclones play in) won the game, 11-5. Cyclones forward Barret Ehgoetz had a pair of assists in the third period and finished +3 on the night in the triumph. It was Barret's first All-Star appearance. He was in the starting lineup (replacing Olivier Latendresse) and served as an assistant captain.

FIRST HALF OVER: The Cyclones finished the pre-All-Star Game portion of the schedule with a 20-15-5 record, good for fourth place in the North Division standings. Cincinnati was five standings points behind Wheeling (no games remaining between the teams in the regular season), three points behind Johnstown (five games left), one point behind Dayton (five games now left), three points in front of Elmira (three games left), four points in front of Trenton (three games left) and 17 in front of Reading (five left). The Cyclones have eight games left outside of the North Division as well, which is one quarter of their remaining games.

SECOND HALF UNDERWAY: The two wins by the Cyclones to start the post-All-Star Game portion of the year has propelled the club into second place in the North Division standings. In 2007-08, the Cyclones went 29-4-2 (.857 winning percentge) after the All-Star break and captured the North Division regular season title.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: A power play goal with 8.6 seconds remaining in overtime lifted the Cyclones to a 2-1 win over Dayton. Ryan Nie stopped 22 shots in collecting the victory, while Mark Van Guilder collected the other goal in the win.

NIFTY NIE: Goaltender Ryan Nie has won his first six decisions as a member of the Cyclones, setting the club record for most wins from the start of his career with the team. Lance Leslie won his first five decisions with the Louisville River Frogs from Oct. 16-31, 1997. Leslie would go 5-0-1 before dropping his first verdict. Steve Briere also accomplished the five wins from Oct. 19-Nov. 4, 2001. Briere would lose his sixth decision and finished the season 10-12-4. Nie is 6-0 with a 2.54 goals against average and a .881 save percentage since joining Cincinnati.

THAT IS A CROWD: The 8508 in attendance Saturday night marked the second-largest crowd for a regular season game in team history. Only the March 28 Fan Appreciation game last season has had more fans (9615) for a regular season game. Saturday's crowd is the fourth-largest ever between the regular season and playoffs for the squad.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones came racing out of the gate and opened a 4-0 lead over Dayton in less than nine minutes Friday night, on their way to a 7-1 drubbing. T.J. McElroy netted a pair of goals and Jimmy Kilpatrick chipped in with a goal and two assists. Mike Salekin added three assists and Ryan Nie stopped 22 shots and added an assist.

THAT IS OFFENSE!: The seven goals in Friday's 7-1 victory over Dayton was the most the club has ever scored against its intra-state foe. It marked the fourth time this season that the Cyclones have scored seven or more goals in a game. To compare that to last season, Cincinnati accomplished the feat eight times en route to the Kelly Cup.

FLYING OUT OF THE GATE: Cyclones forward Ben Gordon set a club record by scoring just 19 seconds into Friday night's game. The club established team records for earliest three goals (7:18 from the start) and earliest four goals (8:52).

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES...: The Cyclones welcomed goaltender Ryan Nie to the lineup on January 9, making him the 42nd player to play for the club this season. Last year, a total of 46 different players appeared in games for Cincinnati en route to the Kelly Cup championship. The Cyclones have now employed 27 different lineups this season.

FAMILY FOUR PACK ON SALE!: The Cyclones Family Four Pack is now on sale. For $69 (including all handling fees), you get four tickets to any Cyclones regular season game, four hot dogs, four Pepsis, four Cyclones winter caps, four ice skating passes to SportsPlus and a SportsPlus game card. Valued at more than $150--this is a package that has something for everyone! Call the Cyclones Sales Department at 513-421-7825, x. 3 to order yours.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS UP: The Cyclones have drawn 63,719 to the first 22 games at U.S. Bank Arena this season, an average of 2896--which is 19th in the ECHL. Through the first 22 games of last season, the club drew 48,607--an average of 2209. Cincinnati did not reach 63,719 until the 28th home game of 2007-08--reaching 67,474 through those 28 dates, an average of 2,410 as of February 23, 2008. Attendance this season is up 31.1 percent over the first 22 dates of a year ago--when the Cyclones had the highest percentage increase in attendance (36.8 percent) of any pro hockey team in North America.

MILLER LITE CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The Miller Lite Cyclones Coaches Show will be held Mondays from 7-8pm at Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee. Head Coach Chuck Weber and a pair of players are present at the show each week. This week, Ryan Nie and J.T. Wyman are the guests.

TICKETS! GET YOUR TICKETS!: Tickets for all Cincinnati Cyclones games can be purchased through TicketMaster at 513-562-4949 or by using their website at: www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the window day of the game. Season ticket packages can also be obtained by contacting the Cyclones offices at 513-421-PUCK (7825) x. 3.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Cyclones are 10-2 away from U.S. Bank Arena since Thanksgiving. Cincinnati's twelve road wins this season are second-most in the ECHL (Florida has 15) and the .625 away winning percentage (team record 12-7-1) is fourth-best among visiting teams in the ECHL. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Cyclones are 39-14-3 (.723 winning percentage)--which is best among all teams in road games in the league.

McELROY HITS THE LEADERBOARD: Defenseman T.J. McElroy has ten goals on the season, tied for most among blueliners in the ECHL. McElroy leads ECHL rearguards in shooting percentage at 16.5 percent. T.J.'s six power play goals are the second-most among defensemen in the league. He has 26 points (10-16-26), sixth-most in the ECHL among defensemen.

MORE ATTENDANCE: While the top four teams in attendance improvement are more than 20 percent better, attendance in minor league hockey has fallen 3.3 percent over 2007-08. Despite this trend, the Cyclones have increased attendance by 687 fans per home game--fourth-best in minor league hockey. Cincinnati's 687 fans per game is the biggest improvement in the ECHL (Dayton is up 487 per game to rank second).

NEXT HOME GAMES: The Cyclones will host Elmira on Wednesday night (Jan. 28) on a 'Wet Wednesday' with one dollar selected beers all night. On Tuesday, February 3, Reading is in town for a 'Big Beer Tuesday' with 24 ounce Labatts beers on sale for two dollars each. Following the two week southern trip, the Cyclones return to U.S. Bank Arena on Friday, February 20 when Dayton is in on 'John Morrell Dollar Hot Dog Night' and then it is 'Twister Bobblehead Night' on Saturday, February 21 with Dayton in town. That night, the first 3000 fans through the gate receive a special commemorative of the Cincinnati mascot on his head with 'bobblelegs'. Faceoff for all games is at 7:30pm and tickets can be purchased at the U.S. Bank Arena Box Office or through TicketMaster at 5-13-562-4949 or www.ticketmaster.com.

WEBER REACHES CENTURY MARK: Head Coach Chuck Weber picked up his 100th regular season victory on November 29. Now in his third season directing the Cyclones, Weber has a 113-56-16 mark (.654 winning percentage). The win on November 30 allowed Chuck to pass Warren Young for the club lead in regular season wins. Young needed three full seasons to post his 100-86-24 (.533) record. Weber has 102 of those wins against North Division competition.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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