ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Await Conference Finals

Published on May 4, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2008 Kelly Cup champions, will return to action this weekend in the American Conference Finals. The Cyclones will travel to either Florida or South Carolina and open a best of seven series for the American Conference championship. The winner of this upcoming series will advance to the Kelly Cup Finals which will get underway the weekend of May 22.

HOW THEY GOT THERE...: The Cyclones advanced to the American Conference Finals by sweeping Elmira in four games for the North Division championship. Cincinnati claimed a 4-2 triumph on Wednesday night (April 29) and then smacked the Jackals, 2-0, on Friday night (May 1) to end the series. With the wins, Cincinnati becomes the first team to reach the Kelly Cup's'Final Four'. Alaska became the second team with a victory on Saturday night. Florida or South Carolina could be decided by Tuesday night. Las Vegas or Stockton will decide the final spot as early as Tuesday as well.

LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!: The Cyclones have enjoyed success on the road this season. The club led the ECHL with 22 road victories this season and is already a playoff perfect 5-0 away from the friendly confines of U.S. Bank Arena. Cincinnati has outscored the opposition, 19-9 on enemy ground and killed off 27 of 29 man disadvantage situations in those contests (93.1%). The Cyclones have won seven straight away contests dating back to March 25 of the regular season and nine of their last ten (back to March 15). Since the start of the 2007-08 regular season and including the Kelly Cup playoffs, the Cyclones are 61-24-3 (.710 winning percentage).

SIMILARITIES TO LAST YEAR: Comparing the Cyclones results through the first two playoff rounds of a year ago through the first two rounds of this year--the results are similar. Both teams posted identical 8-3 records through the rounds. The 2007-08 club outscored this year's club, 39-36, in the opening two rounds. The current version of the club is averaging 36.5 shots per game, up from 32.7 through these eleven games. The club's 85.7 penalty kill percentage is slightly behind last year's 91.2 percent at this juncture.

AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: The Cyclones have numerous players among the Kelly Cup playoffs statistical leaders. Ryan Nie leads all goaltenders with a 1.85 goals against average. Nie also ranks fifth in save percentage at .925. Dustin Sproat ranks seventh in scoring (twelve points) and is fourth in goal scoring (seven). Matt Syroczynski leads the league in power play goals (six) and is fourth in goal scoring (seven). Jimmy Kilpatrick is also seventh in scoring (twelve points) and ranks third in power play assists (five). Brian O'Hanley is tied for the league lead in shorthanded points (two). Mac Faulkner leads the circuit in shots on goals (46), while Mark Van Guilder is second (42). Kyle Rank is third in shooting percentage (33 percent). Jason Woll leads in penalty minutes (52). Loic Lacasse is third in wins (five). Ian McKenzie is 14th among rookies with six points. Frederic St. Denis is twelfth in scoring among defensemen with five. Mike Salekin is third among defensemen with 26 penalty minutes.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones eliminated Elmira in a 2-0 win at First Arena. Dustin Sproat's goal in the final minute of the opening period proved to be the game winner. Kyle Rank netted an insurance goal in the third period to seal the triumph. Ryan Nie stopped 24 shots in collecting his third win of the postseason.

ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones scored a pair of shorthanded goals and tossed in a power play score for added measure in a 4-2 win over Elmira. Dustin Sproat had a pair of assists, while Bryan O'Hanley and Barret Ehgoetz each registered shorthanded breakaway goals in the triumph. Ryan Nie, a former Jackal, stopped 24 shots in the victory.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones used a dramatic overtime goal from rookie Jimmy Kilpatrick 1:46 in, to claim a 5-4 win and give Cincinnati a two games to one lead. The score capped a three goal comeback that was led by veteran forward Mac Faulkner's hat trick (three goals). Dustin Sproat's power play goal with 2:08 left in regulation time gave Cincinnati the opportunity to win it in bonus time. Ian McKenzie chipped in with a pair of assists and Ryan Nie came on in relief and stopped 14 shots to collect the victory.

COMEBACK KIDS: The win on April 29 was the club's fourth of the playoff season. In the three seasons Chuck Weber has directed the Cyclones, they have ten Kelly Cup playoff come-from-behind victories. During the regular season, the club rallied for 15 victories.

RALLY MONKEY!: The Cyclones comeback win on April 25 matched the club record for biggest deficit overcome in a playoff game. Cincinnati trailed 4-1 with 12:55 to go in the second period. Cincinnati rallied to tie the game with just over two minutes to play and then claimed the victory in the extra session. Last season, the Cyclones set the record after erasing a 3-0 third period deficit in game two of the American Conference Finals against South Carolina (May 9). A four goal explosion in the final frame forced the overtime and Thomas Beauregard ended the game in the sixth minute of overtime. These are the only two times in club history--regular season or playoffs, that the club has climbed out of a three goal hole and won the contest.

MEET THE FAULKNER: Cyclones forward Mac Faulkner became the first player in the three seasons that Chuck Weber has been the coach of the Cyclones to register a hat trick in a playoff game. It is the first time in Faulkner's pro career that he has had a three goal night in the playoffs.

THAT'S OFFENSIVE: The eight goals on April 24 set a club playoff record for scoring in a game. Previously, the record was six goals in a 6-2 win over South Carolina in the American Conference Finals on May 9 of last season.

McKENZIE DELIVERS: Cyclones forward Ian McKenzie was reassigned to the club by Milwaukee on April 11. His pro debut playoff game lived up to billing, as he delivered two goals and two assists and was plus four in the contest. In the game on April 25, he chipped in with a pair of assists in a 5-4 overtime win.

LONG NIGHT...: The goal scored by Matt Syroczynski on April 20, ended the second-longest game in club history at 83:48. Back on April 6, 2003 Nick Bootland netted the game ender--ironically in the second overtime--in a 4-3 win over Peoria. That ended the best of five series in four games and came at 91:02. The OT game on Monday was the fifth-longest played by a professional team called the Cincinnati Cyclones, as twice those IHL teams played in triple OT. The longest game was on May 1, 1998 when Scott Morrow's goal ended a 3-2 verdict at Detroit in the opening game of the Turner Cup Eastern Conference semifinals. That goal hit the back of the net at 110:05 of overtime and at 12:18am, nearly five hours after the game began.

THREE-PEAT: The Cyclones advanced to the North Division Finals for the third straight year under Head Coach Chuck Weber. Cincinnati is one of three teams to advance to the second round of the postseason in each of the last three years (Alaska and Las Vegas sre the others).

A DIFFERENT THREE-PEAT...: In the three seasons Chuck Weber has been the coach of the Cyclones, the club has won at least a playoff series in each campaign. The only other coach in ECHL history to win at least a series in each of his first three years was Davis Payne (Pee Dee 2000-03). Weber has been a part of eight playoff bound teams in his coaching career--seven of those eight have won their opening round series of the postseason.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Forward Matt Syroczynski's goal in the second overtime on April 20 brought to an end the North Division semifinals was his second game winning goal in a Kelly Cup playoff game. Matt's only other game winning goal in postseason play came in game six of the Kelly Cup Finals last June.

NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE: The Cyclones and Nailers established a Kelly Cup playoffs record by having the road team win each of the first six games of the series. The only other time that the first five games were won by the guests was the 2000 Kelly Cup Finals between Louisiana and Peoria.

MILLER LITE CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The Miller Lite Cyclones Coaches Show is held Monday nights from 7-8pm at Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee. Head Coach Chuck Weber attends the event each week and provides insight on the games and team. The final show of the season will be the Monday after the playoffs end.

BIG WINNERS: Since the start of the 2007-08 season and through the playoffs of this season--the Cyclones have compiled a record of 120-46-12 (.708 winning percentage). It is the best winning percentage of any team in the ECHL.

DIVISION CHAMPS AGAIN!: The Cyclones completed their four game sweep of Johnstown in the final eight days of the season to claim the North Division championship. The April 4 whitewashing of Johnstown (6-0) slipped Wheeling into the final playoff spot in the division.

PLAYOFF ATTENDANCE: The Cyclones are averaging 3350 fans per game during the Kelly Cup playoffs, eighth-best in the league. Cincinnati has welcomed 20,101 fans to U.S. Bank Arena in the playoffs--fourth-most in the league. The Cyclones are averaging 3.8 percent more in attendance in the playoffs than the regular season (up from 3104) to rank second in the ECHL in increased percentage. Alaska is up 7.9 percent in attendance to lead the way.

CHUCK IS GOOD IN OPENERS: Head Coach Chuck Weber has been in the coaching business for ten seasons and his teams have been to the postseason nine times. In eight of the nine campaigns that his clubs have gone to playoffs, they have won the opening round.

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics

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ECHL Stories from May 4, 2009


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