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ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cincinnati Takes Care of Business at Home -- Hits Road For A Pair

April 13, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones (55-12-5) battle the Johnstown Chiefs (36-30-6) in their best of seven North Division semifinals series this week. The Cyclones travel to Johnstown for games three (Tuesday) and four (Wednesday) early in the week. Both games will start at 7pm and can be heard on 96 Rock and www.cycloneshockey.com. Cincinnati, which leads the series, 2-0, can close out the round with wins there. Should the Cyclones lose a game--the fifth game would be played at U.S. Bank Arena on Friday (April 18) at 7:30pm. Should a sixth game be needed--it would be played at Johnstown on Saturday (April 19) at 7pm.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones used a pair of goals from Mathieu Aubin to claim a 4-1 win over Johnstown. Matt Syroczynski and Billy Irish-Baker netted goals 15 seconds apart in the third period to secure the triumph. Barret Ehgoetz and Scott Reynolds led a penalty killing unit that shut down five Chiefs power plays. Max Daigneault turned aside 25 shots in taking the triumph.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones rallied from a first minute deficit, to claim a 5-2 win over Johnstown last night. Thomas Beauregard netted a pair of goals and chipped in an assist, while David Desharnais had a goal and two assists to pace the attack. Maxime Daigneault stopped 19 shots in collecting the win.

BIG CROWDS PROVIDE ADVANTAGE!: A total of 8323 witnessed the Cyclones pair of games this weekend. That was the highest two game total by one team in a North Division semifinals series in the ECHL since 1999--when 9342 turned out for the opening games of the Richmond at Hampton Roads round. The crowd of 4847 on Saturday night was the biggest to see a Kelly Cup playoff game in team history. The postseason average of 4161 fans is the fourth-best in the ECHL and is 65 percent larger than the Cyclones regular season average of 2524.

THEY'RE BAAAAACCCKKK: The Cyclones will have both defenseman Conrad Martin and goaltender Cedrick Desjardins available for game three on Tuesday night in Johnstown. Martin was recalled from Cincinnati after the game on Dec. 31 and appeared in 42 games in the 2008 calendar year with Hamilton (AHL), collecting six assists. Desjardins turned in a 4-3-2 record with a 3.04 goals against average and .909 save percentage with Hamilton. The Bulldogs, who did not qualify for the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs, have returned both players to the Cyclones for their playoff run.

COMEBACK: The Cyclones rallied from the 1-0 deficit Friday night with five unanswered goals. During the regular season, Cincinnati rallied from deficits 25 times to win games and 30 times to register points. The first come-from-behind effort of the postseason was recorded in that first Kelly Cup playoff game.

BRABHAM CUP COMES TO CINCINNATI!: The Cyclones claimed their first-ever Brabham Cup on April 5. The Brabham Cup is annually presented to the ECHL club with the league's best record. Cincinnati finished the season with 115 points--tied with Texas for most in the ECHL. However, because the Cyclones collected 55 wins to the 52 accumulated by Texas, Cincinnati takes the trophy on the first tie-breaker. As a result, the Cyclones will have home ice advantage in all playoff series during the duration of their stay in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The Brabham Cup and numerous other trophies earned by the Cyclones are on display at Kelly Cup playoff games at U.S. Bank Arena during games for fans to see and photogrpah.

DESHARNAIS NAMED ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Cincinnati Cyclones forward David Desharnais was named the ECHL's Rookie of the Year on April 6 in a vote of the league's coaches. Desharnais led the ECHL in scoring during his debut season, amassing 29 goals and 77 assists for 106 points. David claimed the league's Rookie of the Month award three times during the campaign to establish an ECHL record. Last week, he was selected to the All-ECHL first team.

NOT TO MENTION MVP...: Cyclones rookie David Desharnais also learned Friday (April 11) that he was named the ECHL's Most Valuable Player. He becomes just the fifth rookie in league history to claim MVP honors.

STARLING COLLECTS HONORS: Cyclones defenseman Chad Starling was named All-ECHL second team, after collecting a pair of goals and 20 assists for 22 points. Starling also will win the league's plus/minus award for turning in a +48 for the season.

STEWART MAKES IT TO NHL!: The Montreal Canadiens recalled Greg Stewart from Hamilton (AHL) last week and he played in the game April 5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stewart becomes the first player under Head Coach Chuck Weber to come through Cincinnati on his way to the NHL. Greg appeared in 62 games for Cincinnati last season (2006-07), collecting eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points and 126 penalty minutes.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Cyclones won 26 games away from U.S. Bank Arena this season, tying the record for most in ECHL history. The league record of 26 was set by Louisiana in 2001-02 and equaled by Cincinnati and Texas this year.

WINS EQUAL POINTS...: The Cyclones amassed 115 standings points in the regular season, tied for second-most in ECHL history with Texas (2007-08). Only Louisiana (116 points in 2001-02) has recorded more.

DIVISION CHAMPS!: For the first time in team history, the Cyclones claimed a division title on March 17 in a 3-2 win over Johnstown. Cincinnati native Jason Deitsch collected his tenth goal of the season with 10:07 to play to give the Cyclones the triumph. Max Daigneault slammed the door shut, stopping 26 shots in collecting his tenth win.

HALF A CENTURY!: The Cyclones became only the tenth team in ECHL history--and the fourth in Cincinnati's pro hockey history -- to register 50 wins with the triumph March 22 at Wheeling. The Cyclones surpassed the 1972-73 Cincinnati Swords (AHL--54 wins) for most in the city's pro hockey history. The Swords won the Calder Cup that season.

STREAK TO REMEMBER: The loss on March 13 against Trenton ended a 14-game home winning streak for the Cyclones, who outscored the opposition, 64-36, during that run. The winning streak started on Jan. 5. The loss also ended a 20-0-2 run for Cincinnati at U.S. Bank Arena. Starting with a win over Elmira on Mov. 28, the club went more than 15 weeks without a regulation time loss at the facility. The team outscored the opponent, 103-52 during that time.

THEY ARE CATCHING ON: The Cyclones drew a club-record 9615 for the March 28 game against Elmira, the sixth time this season that the club has exceeded 5000 in attendance for a game-five of these have happened since the start of the new calendar year. U.S. Bank Arena has had an average of 2523 check out the Cyclones through 36 home dates, an increase of 36.8 percent in attendance through an equal number of dates from a year ago. The last time the Cyclones had six or more crowds of 5000 in a season was back during 2002-03, when the club had it happen eight times. In the 20 games at U.S. Bank Arena since January 1, the Cyclones are averaging 3078 fans per contest.

WE ARE QUITE OFFENSIVE: The Cyclones have scored an ECHL-high, and club record, 292 goals. Cincinnati averaged 4.05 goals per game, the most in the ECHL. The club has posted five games in which it has netted eight goals-which sets a team-record for most games with eight or more in a season. Cincinnati was the first team in the league to reach the 100 goal and 200 goal plateaus this season, reaching the double century mark February 22.

BUT SOLID ON DEFENSE: The Cyclones were also tops at the other end of the spectrum, surrendering just 178 goals on the campaign--fewest in the ECHL. Cincinnati goaltenders allowed 2.47 goals per game and turned in seven shutouts during the year. The Cyclones also led the league in fewest shots on goal allowed--yielding just 28.42 shots per game.

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