Bombers Weekly News

October 20, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Dayton Bombers News Release


BOMBERS NOTES

18 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG: The Bombers celebrated their 18th Anniversary Opening Night in the Miami Valley on Saturday, earning a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory over the reigning Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones. The Bombers are coming off of their second consecutive, and 13th overall, appearance in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

IT ALL STARTED WITH A WIN: The Bombers put on a show on Saturday night as they defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones in dramatic fashion with a 5-4 overtime win. Returning Bomber Jim Henkemeyer was the hero of the night as he netted the game winner just 1:27 into the extra frame with assists from Joe Van Culin and Ryan Smyth. Despite the fact that Cincinnati jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first, the Bombers answered with a pair of their own goals on the power play from Smyth and Dominic D'Amour. It was all even in the second as Cincinnati's Matt Macdonald scored and Bombers rookie Nino Musitelli (from Miami University of Ohio) scored his first professional goal from Dan Riedel and Van Culin. Riedel would pick up his first goal in a Dayton uniform in the third, all but ensuring a Bombers victory, but the Cyclones' Olivier Latendresse evened the score at 4 a piece with less than 4 minutes remaining in the contest. Headed into overtime the Bombers were outshooting the Cyclones 44 - 21 and it would be more of the same as Dayton held Cincinnati without a shot in overtime, but managed 4 themselves. Bombers netminder Mike Brown was 17 of 21 on the night, while Cyclones goalie Kyle Gajewski went 43-48.

THERE'S NO "I" IN TEAM: Saturday's win was a true team effort as 10 different Bombers players tallied at least one point in the game. Jarret Lukin, Dan Riedel, Ryan Smyth and Joe Van Culin all had two points each.

SPECIAL TEAMS ROCKS: The Bombers went 3 of 7 (42.9%) on the power play against the Cyclones, currently ranking 2nd in the league. Dayton was also 5 of 7 (71.4%) on the penalty kill.

GETTING FAMILIAR: Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Cyclones was the first of 14 total contests between the two Ohio-based clubs. Six of the games will be played in Dayton, while the Cyclones will host eight games at US Bank Arena.

LATE MOVEMENT: The Bombers added forward Justin Bowers to the roster on Friday, acquiring him from the Florida Everblades to complete the off-season trade of Yannick Tifu. Bowers, a rookie, hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attended Saint Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, last season.

THIS AIN'T NO SUMMER CAMP: Seven Bombers players participated in "AAA" American Hockey League training camps last month. Nino Musitelli and Nathan Schwartzbauer attended camp with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins; Christian Gaudet was invited to the Hershey Bears camp, affiliates of the Washington Capitals; Dominic D'Amour and Ryan Smyth were at the Rochester Americans training camp, affiliates of the Florida Panthers, while goalie David Shantz attended both the Panthers and Americans camps; and Justin Bowers was invited to the Quad City Flames camp, affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

LEADERS OF THE PACK: The Bombers have named Greg Labenski the 2008-09 team captain, an honor he has held for the past two seasons. His assistants this year will be forward Ryan Smyth and defenseman Joe Van Culin.

GOALIE SHIFT: The Bombers have been assigned goaltender David Shantz by the NHL's Florida Panthers. Shantz, a 2nd round (#37 overall) pick by the Panthers in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, has split the past two seasons between the "AAA" American Hockey League's Rochester Americans and the ECHL's Florida Everblades. In a separate transaction, goalie Mike Brown has accepted a contract offer in Germany to play for the duration of the 2008-09 season.

MILESTONES: The following Bombers players are on the verge of professional career milestones:

Dominic D'Amour: 4 points shy of 50 career points

Greg Labenski: 3 points shy of 300 regular season points

LOOK OUT BELOW!

ON THE DOCKET: The Bombers face the Johnstown Chiefs in their first road game of the season on Friday night, followed by a rematch against Cincinnati at US Bank Arena on Saturday.

TO OUR SERVICEMEN: On Saturday night the Bombers celebrated "Military Appreciation Night", honoring the men and women of Wright-Patterson AFB and the families of deployed servicemen and women. Joining the Bombers for a special ceremonial puck drop were Lt. Gen. "Jack" Hudson, commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center at WPAFB, Col. Brad Spacy, wing commander from the 88th Air Base Wing Installation at WPAFB, and Col. Mike Roberts, 178th Fighter Wing Commander from Springfield Air National Guard, and other Air Force officials, as well as representatives from Boeing Corp., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and the Dayton Development Coalition.

PUTTING A SMILE ON KIDS FACES: The Bombers also teamed up with Dayton Children's Hospital for a fundraiser benefitting the Children's Miracle Network on Saturday night. Through a pre-sale ticket offer and jersey auction, the Bombers and Dayton Children's helped to kick-off the CMN "Change Bandits" campaign. Dayton Children's CEO David Kinsaul was in attendance for a special pre-game ceremonial puck drop.

MAKING A HOUSE A HOME: The Bombers will be helping to build a Habitat for Humanity house tomorrow, Tuesday, October 21 in Englewood. This marks the second time in three seasons that the Bombers have teamed up with Habitat on a building project.

WORKING THE RUNWAY: The Bombers will be participating in the annual Clothes that Work luncheon and fashion show on Thursday, October 23, both as model escorts and donation volunteers. Clothes that Work helps to provide professional attire to people re-entering the workplace.

Overall Record: 1-0-0 (2 pts.) Week of 10.13.08 Record: 1-0-0

Streak: 1-0-0

Standings: 3rd Place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Saturday vs. Cincinnati (W, 5-4)

THIS WEEK'S EVENTS

Friday at Johnstown (7:05 pm) available on B2 Networks

Saturday at Cincinnati (7:30pm) available on B2 Networks



ECHL Stories from October 20, 2008


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.

OurSports Central