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Cincinnati Has All-Female Off-Ice Crew For "Pink In The Rink" Night

Published on December 10, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


It will be a professional hockey first when the Cincinnati Cyclones use an all-female off-ice officiating crew for their inaugural "Pink In The Rink" game on Friday.

The women, who have been training throughout the season at Cyclones games, will operate the game clock and record game statistics while also working as goal judges and penalty box attendants.

The all-female off-ice crew is the idea of Cyclones off-ice official supervisor Tim O'Shea, who has survived two bouts with cancer. Cancer has affected the lives of eight of the 25 women scheduled to work the game, including six who have lost a loved one to the disease and another whose husband has had eight surgeries to remove tumors and growths.

The ice at U.S. Bank Arena will be pink and the Cyclones will wear special pink jerseys that will be auctioned following the game with proceeds benefiting the Patty Brisben Foundation for women's health issues.

The Alaska Aces had over 12,000 fans and raised more than $103,000 with their "Pink in the Rink" promotion on Oct. 10-11 and last season ECHL teams raised almost $200,000 for breast cancer organizations with "Pink in the Rink" events.



Reading Moving Up In North Division



Posting two wins against Wheeling and a win against Trenton, Reading extended its winning streak to five games and moved into third place in the North Division with 29 points (14-8-1), three points behind Cincinnati (15-5-2) and four points behind leader Elmira (16-6-2).

Reading, which has won its last two road games, will travel to Trenton on Wednesday and Sunday and visits Elmira on Friday. The Royals are 0-2-0 at Trenton and 1-2-1 overall against the Devils and 0-1-0 at Elmira and 1-1-0 overall against the Jackals. Since losing their home opener against Cincinnati, the Royals are 7-0-1 at home and have won their last four games at the Sovereign Center.

Bracken Kearns (4g-4a), rookie defenseman Patrik Hersley (1g-7a) and rookie Brett Hemingway (3g-5a) lead the Royals offense over the last five games. Kearns has scored in each of his last three games (2g-3a) and has 13 points (5g-8a) in the last nine games. Hersley has six points in the last two games with his first-ever multiple-assist (2a) and multiple-point (2a) game against Trenton on Dec. 7 and his first goal and career highs with three assists and four points on Dec. 8 against Wheeling. Hemingway has a five-game point streak (3g-5a) including his first multiple-goal (2g) and multiple point (2g-1a) game on Dec. 2 at Wheeling and his first multiple-assist game (2a) on Dec. 7 against Trenton.

During Reading's current streak, Terry Denike is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.51 and Danny Taylor is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.64.

Cincinnati had a five-game winning streak end with a 5-4 shootout loss to Elmira on Dec. 8, and is 11-2-2 in their last 15 games. The Cyclones will host Johnstown on Friday and Sunday and travel to Wheeling on Saturday. Cincinnati won the only meeting of the season with the Chiefs, 2-0 at Johnstown on Nov. 30, and is 2-0-0 against Wheeling with a pair of home wins against the Nailers.

Rookie forward Thomas Beauregard (3g-4a), Barret Ehgoetz (2g-5a) and rookie defenseman Tyler Howells (3g-2a) are leading the Cyclones offense the last five games. Beauregard has a three-game assist streak and a six-game point streak (3g-6a) during which he scored his first career hat trick with three goals on Dec. 1 at Trenton. Howells had his first multiple-goal game and his second multiple-point game when he scored two goals against Elmira on Dec. 8 after registering his first multiple-point game (1g-1a) against Dayton on Dec. 5.

Cincinnati's Dov Grumet-Morris is 7-0-1 with a goals-against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of .906 in his last nine starts improving to 9-2-1 with a goals-against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of .901 in 13 games.

Elmira is 5-1-1 with five shootout wins in its last seven games and 10-1-1 with six shootout wins in its last 12 games. The Jackals, who are 5-2 in shootouts, will host Reading on Friday and Trenton on Saturday. Elmira is 1-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 overall against the Royals and 2-0-0 at home and 3-0-0 overall against the Devils.

Defenseman Bryan Rodney (4g-3a) and rookies Pierre-Luc Faubert (1g-5a) and Benoit Doucet (2g-4a) lead the Jackals offense the last four games. Faubert (8g-10a) and Rodney (6g-12a) are tied for the Jackals lead with 18 points while Doucet is tied for fourth with 14 points (4g-10a). After registering his first career multiple-goal game (2g) at Cincinnati on Dec. 8, Rodney had a career-best four points (2g-2a) on Dec. 9 at Wheeling and leads ECHL defensemen with 18 points (6g-12a), including 11 points (2g-9a) in 17 games with Columbia. Faubert tied his career bests with two assists and two points on Dec. 5 against Trenton and on Dec. 9 at Wheeling while Doucet tied his career highs with two points (1g-1a) on Dec. 5 against Trenton and on Dec. 9 at Wheeling with two assists and two points.



Fresno. Las Vegas, Utah Heating Up National Conference



Sweeping a three-game series at Idaho, Fresno extended its winning streak to five games to improve to 11-6-3 and move into second place in the Pacific Division and fourth place in the National Conference with 25 points. Every one of the five games has been decided by one goal including a pair of shootout wins and an overtime victory.

The Falcons will visit Bakersfield on Wednesday before returning home to host Victoria on Friday and Sunday. Fresno is 2-1-0 at home and 3-1-1 overall this season against the Condors while it will be the first meeting of the season with Victoria. The Falcons are 14-5-3 all-time against the Salmon Kings, who are 10-3-0 in the last 13 games and lead the West Division with 30 points (15-6-0).

During the current winning streak, Jake Moreland is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.65 and a save percentage of .906 while Kris Mayotte is 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 4.15 and a save percentage of .888.

Rookie Igor Gongalsky (4g-2a) and Matt Stefanishion (3g-3a) each have six points in the last five games while rookie Oren Eizenman has a game-winning goal and five points (3g-2a) during the winning streak. Eizenman lead the Falcons with 10 goals and five power-play goals and his 18 points tie him for the team lead with Gongalsky (9g-9a). Stefanishion has a two-game goal streak (2g) and a three-game point streak (2g-2a) while Gongalsky had career highs with three goals and three points on Dec. 1 at Bakersfield.

Going 1-0-1 at Stockton, Las Vegas improved to 16-2-2 and continues to lead the ECHL in winning percentage with .850. The Wranglers are 12-0-2 in their last 14 games and have lost only two times in regulation in their last 33 regular season games, Oct. 27 at Victoria and Nov. 2 against Utah. Las Vegas, which set an ECHL record with 17 consecutive regular season wins from Mar. 10-Oct. 26, won the Brabham Cup for the regular season point championship with 106 points (53-13-6) in 2006-07 after finishing second in 2005-06 with 112 points (53-13-6) which is the third-highest point total in ECHL history.

Utah rookie John Ceci became the fifth goaltender to step between the pipes for Las Vegas, replacing rookie Kevin Lalande who was reassigned to the American Hockey League by the Calgary Flames on Dec. 8, going 1-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.44 and a save percentage of .951 in two starts at Stockton. The Wranglers lead the league with a goals-against average of 2.00, allowing a league-low 40 goals in 20 games.

The Wranglers will travel to Utah on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Las Vegas is 1-1-0 against the Grizzlies this season and 7-5-4 all-time against Utah. The Grizzlies are 4-0-2 in their last six games to improve to 11-9-2 and move into third place in the West Division and fifth place in the National Conference.

Rookie Nathan Lawson is 2-0-0 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 0.50 and a save percentage of .980 during the current streak and 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.00 and a save percentage of .966 in three starts since being claimed off waivers from Phoenix on Nov. 19. Rookie Trevor Smith has four points (3g-1a) in the last three games, including his second two-goal game of the season on Dec. 4 against Phoenix.



Tifu, Nesbitt Extend Streaks

Yannick Tifu of Dayton had two points (1g-1a) on Dec. 8 at Trenton to extend his point streak to 12 games, tying the season high set by Florida rookie Mathieu Melanson, who had his scoring streak (10g-11a) end on Dec. 6 at Gwinnett.

Derek Nesbitt of Gwinnett registered two assists against Florida on Dec. 7 to extend his assist streak to eight games, tying the longest assist streak in the league this season.

Tifu has scored two points in eight of the 12 games during his streak, including five games with two assists and one game with two goals, and leads the ECHL with 27 assists and 34 points in 22 games. After not registering a point in the first two games of the season, he has 12 multiple-point games, eight multiple-assist games and two multiple-goal games. He had a career-high five assists and tied his career best with five points on Nov. 3 against Trenton.

Tifu finished fourth in voting for ECHL Most Valuable Player last season after finishing third in the ECHL with 88 points and fourth with 60 assists in 78 games. He led the Bombers with 26 goals, 50 assists and 76 points in 65 games after being acquired from Phoenix in exchange for forward Dan Baum on Nov. 17, 2006.

Nesbitt has had two assists in four of the eight games and he has 12 assists during the streak. He leads the Gladiators with nine goals, 18 assists and 27 points in 20 games, and is tied for fourth in the ECHL in assists and tied for seventh in scoring.

Nesbitt helped Idaho capture the Kelly Cup Championship last season leading the team with 51 assists while finishing second with 30 goals and 81 points in 66 games. He helped Gwinnett reach the Kelly Cup Finals as a rookie in 2005-06 finishing first among Gladiator rookies and third overall with 69 points (26g-43a) in 71 games.



South Carolina Picking Up Ground In South Division



South Carolina is on a season-high six-game winning streak and have vaulted themselves back into the thick of the South Division standings moving into fifth place with 27 points (13-9-1), one point behind (14-8-0) and Augusta (13-8-2) and two points behind second-place Gwinnett (14-5-1).

The Stingrays, however, won't have a chance to extend their streak until Dec. 19 when they host Pensacola.

A major factor during the streak has been goaltenders Davis Parley and rookie Josh Johnson. Parley has won his last four starts, stopping 93 of 101 shots for a .921 save percentage, to improve to 7-3-1 with a save percentage of .917 and a goals-against average of 2.45 which is 10th in the league. Johnson has won his last two starts, allowing only two goals in each contest, to improve his record to 6-6-0 while lowering his goals-against average to 3.25.

Rookie Steve Pinizzotto leads South Carolina during the streak with nine points (7g-2a) while defenseman T.J. McElroy has eight points (2g-6a). Pinizzotto has a six-game goal streak (7g) and a six-game point streak (7g-2a) while McElroy has scored five points (0g-5a) in the last two games, including tying his career bests with three assists and three points on Dec. 8 against Johnstown.

After sweeping a three-game series at home against Pensacola, Texas improved to 17-2-4 and leads the ECHL with 38 points and 17 wins. The Wildcatters are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games and their only two losses in regulation were Oct. 19 at Augusta and Nov. 17 against Elmira.

Texas is led by John McNabb, who is second in the league with 31 points (12g-19a) in 23 games, and goaltenders Anton Khubodin, who is 8-0-3 and second in the league with a goals-against average of 1.84 and a save percentage of .939, and Peter Aubry, who is with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.

The Wildcatters will travel to Florida for games on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Texas is 9-4-3 all-time against the Everblades having won 5-3 at home on Oct. 28 after Florida won 2-1 in a shootout on Oct. 27. Florida has is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and is tied for third in the South Division with Augusta which is 9-3-1 in its last 13 games. The Lynx will travel to Gwinnett on Tuesday before hosting Charlotte on Friday and Gwinnett on Saturday. The Gladiators, who have won their last three games, beat Augusta 2-1 at Gwinnett on Oct. 27 to improve to 19-13-4 all time against the Lynx.

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ECHL Stories from December 10, 2007


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