ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cincinnati Wins Three Straight On Road To Move Into Top Spot

Published on December 21, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, play the other two teams in the race for the North Division after the Christmas holiday.

THAT IS A TIGHT RACE!: The Cyclones begin the week tied with Kalamazoo for the North Division lead. Both teams have 35 points in the standings (Kalamazoo has played 26 games, while Cincinnati has 28). Toledo is in third place, just one point behind the division co-leaders with 34. The Walleye have played 29 games. Wheeling is in fourth place with 28.

WEEK IN REWIND: The Cyclones went 3-1 on the week, knocking off Trenton in three straight games on the road.

IT HAS TO BE THE TURKEY: In the four seasons since Chuck Weber has been the Cyclones coach, the club has enjoyed the holiday seasons. From the week of Thanksgiving through the New Year, the club has a 44-16-5 (.715 winning percentage). So far this season, the club is 10-3 (.769).

ABOUT SUNDAY AFTERNOON...: The Cyclones got a career-high 34 saves from Robert Mayer to knock off Trenton, 2-0. Mark Van Guilder had a goal and an assist in the triumph. Maxime Lacroix had the other Cincinnati goal.

IT'S ALWAYS BETTER ON TOP!: With the win on Sunday, the Cyclones have moved into a tie for the North Division for the first time this season. The two-time defending division champions have now led 263 days in three-plus seasons under Head Coach Chuck Weber.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: Center Barret Ehgoetz had a goal and two assists and Jeremy Smith stopped a career-high 40 shots in a 5-4 shootout win over Trenton. The Devils scored twice in the final two and a half minutes--including the equalizing goal with three seconds to play--to force the extra stanzas. Dustin Sproat scored in the second round of the shootout for the lone score of the frame. Scott Reynolds had a goal and an assist in the triumph.

ABOUT THURSDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and held off a Trenton rally, in a 3-2 shootout win. Cincinnati got goals from Barret Ehgoetz and Jason Jozsa to pace the offense, while rookie Jeremy Smith was solid in goal. Smith stopped a career-high 35 shots in regulation time and then surrendered just one shootout score in six tries.

ABOUT TUESDAY...: Hans Benson registered a 'Gordie Howe Hat Trick' (goal, assist and fight) in a 5-2 loss to Toledo. Barret Ehgoetz chipped in a goal and an assist and Scott Reynolds collected a pair of assists in the defeat. Robert Mayer took the loss in goal.

IT HAD BEEN A WHILE: The loss on December 15 marked the first time since January 6 & 9 of last season that the Cyclones have lost consecutive games in regulation time. Ironically, a win over Trenton on January 10 started a six game winning streak and a stretch of ten victories in eleven games. From January 10 through the December 12 win over Reading, Cincinnati went 39-19-1 (.665 winning percentage) in regular season games. The winning streak is currently at three games--all against Trenton.

GET SHORTY: The Cyclones have eight shorthanded goals, second-most in the ECHL. In each of the three seasons that Chuck Weber has been the coach in Cincinnati--the club has hit double digits in shorthanded goals. In 2006-07, the squad netted ten and in each of the last two campaigns the club has tallied eleven. The team record for SHGs is 14 set in 1998-99.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS STRONG: The Cyclones are averaging 3788 per game through the first 13 contests at U.S. Bank Arena, which ranks fourteenth in the ECHL. The club has already drawn the second-largest (10,920 for Throwback Night on November 6) and fourth-largest (8944 for Education In Hockey Day on November 17) regular season crowds in team history. Attendance at Cyclones games is up 22 percent over last year's season average and is up 68.7 percent over the first 13 games of a year ago. The club has drawn 49,241 through the turnstiles in a bit more than the first third of the home schedule. Last season, the club did not draw that many people through the first 19 games.

CLIMBING HIGH...: When the Cyclones returned to hockey in 2006-07, they finished 25th of 25 teams in attendance at 1844 per game. During the 2007-08 Kelly Cup march, the squad attracted 2523 per game--an increase of 36.8 percent. That percentage was the greatest of any team playing minor pro hockey. Last year, the team attracted 3104 per game--an increase of 23 percent, second-best in all of minor pro hockey.

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES...: The Cyclones have employed 20 different lineups this season in the first 28 games. Cincinnati has lost players for 64 games through call ups and 95 games due to injury. The club is averaging having six players out per game due to injury and call ups. Last season, the Cyclones used 45 different lineups and in the four seasons Chuck Weber has been coach, the squad has utilized 162 different lineups (in 244 games).

RETURN OF THE NO GOAL PATROL!: The Cyclones penalty killing unit which has killed 38 of the last 44 shorthanded situations faced in the last nine games (86.4 kill efficiency)--has also scored a pair of shorthanded goal in the process. The Cyclones rank third in the ECHL in penalty kill at 84.3 percent.

WE LOVE HOME COOKING!: The Cyclones have won nine games at U.S. Bank Arena this season, tied with three other teams for fifth-most in the ECHL. Bakersfield (eleven wins) is the only other club in the league with more home wins than Cincinnati. Since April 1 of last season, the Cyclones are 12-3 at home (.800 winning percentage) and since January 10, the squad is 22-8 at U.S. Bank Arena (.733).

BUT WE'RE ONLY AT HOME WHEN WE ARE ON THE ROAD: The Cyclones have played 15 road games (seventh-most) in 2009-2010. Cincinnati has won 68 road games between the regular season and playoffs since the start of the 2007-08 season--most of any team in the league.

SUPERLATIVES: Forward Scott Reynolds leads all ECHL players with five shorthanded points...Reynolds is tied for the league lead with three shorthanded goals...Dustin Sproat is tied for the ECHL lead with three shootout goals...Two of Sproat's bonus frame markers have been game winning scores...Jeremy Smith's 2.55 goals against average is fourth-best on the circuit and second-best among rookies...Matt Pierce has 22 points, tenth-best among rookies...Pierce's 13 goals are second-most among first-year players...Chris Morehouse has 57 penalty minutes, fourth-highest total among rookies.

STREAKING: Since the night before Thanksgiving (November 25), the Cyclones have limited their opponents to 31 goals in those 13 games (an average of 2.38 per game). The offense has contributed 40 goals (an average of 3.08 per contest). Cincinnati has a 10-3 record during this stretch.

EHGOETZ MOVES UP: Cyclones center Barret Ehgoetz has spent the last five seasons playing on teams coached by Chuck Weber. In 2005-06, Ehgoetz played with Utah and then-assistant coach Weber. When the coach elevated his title and took the top job in Cincinnati--one of the first players contacted was Ehgoetz. The fifth-year player from Kincardine, ON has flourished and on December passed Sheldon Gorski for the club's career games played lead (227 games). Ehgoetz already holds the career assist record (126) and shorthanded goals mark (five). Barret ranks second on the list in points (194), goals (68), shots (571) and plus/minus (+48).

COACHES SHOW: The Coors Light Cyclones Coaches Show originates each Monday night from Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee. Head Coach Chuck Weber joins Nick Brunker each week from 7-8pm. The show takes a hiatus this week for the holidays, but will resume next Monday night (December 28).

PLAYER APPEARANCE ON DECEMBER 28: The Cyclones will have a pair of players at the Meijer location on Harrison Avenue in Dent on Monday, December 28 from 6pm-7:30. This autograph session is free and open to the public.

DEKANICH HONORED: Goaltender Mark Dekanich, who was on assignment to Cincinnati for the games on December 4-5, earned ECHL Reebok Goaltender of the Week honors. Dekanich permitted one goal between the two games and picking up the victories. He becomes the seventh player in the Chuck Weber era to earn ECHL Player/Goaltender of the Week kudos.

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics

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