ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Enjoying The Carolinas

Published on April 12, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, open up the American Conference Semifinals series this week against the Charlotte Checkers. The Cyclones advance after taking the best of five quarterfinals series from the defending Kelly Cup champion South Carolina Stingrays this past week. The series opens with games in Charlotte on Friday and Saturday night. Both games will start at 7pm and they will be carried on ESPN 1530 as well as on the club's website at www.cycloneshocley.com.

OPEN HOUSE TOMORROW: A special open house for fans is planned for Tuesday, April 13 from 4-8pm. This is a chance for fans to check out seats at U.S. Bank Arena for the Kelly Cup playoffs, seats for next season and to skate on the ice surface of the arena.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Cyclones got a power play goal from Barret Ehgoetz at 16:15 of overtime to claim a 3-2 win over South Carolina. Ehgoetz had a pair of goals to pace the offense, while Jimmy Kilpatrick's tally with 5:32 remaming forced the extra session. Jeremy Smith turned away 32 shots in collecting the win.

AROUND THE ECHL...: The fifth-seeded Cyclones went the distance in their five-game triumph over fourth-seeded South Carolina. Top-seeded Charlotte knocked off eighth-seeded Toledo in four games. Sixth-seeded Florida dropped third-seeded Elmira in five games and second-seeded Kalamazoo and seventh-seeded Reading are tied at two wins each--with their fifth game tonight.

WE'RE ONLY AT HOME ON THE ROAD...: Under Head Coach Chuck Weber, the Cyclones are 19-6-2 (.741 winning percentage) in playoff games away from U.S. Bank Arena. The club is 16-3-2 (.810) away from home since the start of the 2007-08 Kelly Cup playoffs.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: South Carolina took a 3-2 win in overtime on a Gregg Johnson score--his first of the playoffs. Jeremy Smith stopped 22 shots in the defeat. Barret Ehgoetz and Ian McKenzie had the goals for Cincinnati.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: Cyclones forward Josh Heidinger's shot from the left faceoff circle at 16:49 of overtime was the only marker in a 1-0 win at South Carolina. Brock Sheahan and Will Ortiz had the assists on the score. Jeremy Smith knocked away all 25 shots he faced in collecting his first pro playoff shutout.

HEIDINGER'S HEROICS: Josh Heidinger's first professional goal Friday night came in his first pro playoff game and just his second pro game overall. The rookie from Canisius College holds the school's career scoring lead (37-95-132) and signed with the Cyclones on April 3--just in time to play in the season finale at Wheeling and qualify for the team's postseason roster. After being a healthy scratch for the first two Kelly Cup playoff games, Heidinger got his opportunity and ripped a shot over the shoulder of the South Carolina netminder for the game ending score.

ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHT...: South Carolina got a goal in the opening minute and parlayed that into a 3-1 win over the Cincinnati Cyclones. Jimmy Kilpatrick netted the lone goal for Cincinnati, ripping a shot just inside the left post for his third score of the playoffs. Jeremy Smith turned away 28 shots in the defeat.

ABOUT TUESDAY NIGHT...: After spotting South Carolina a 1-0 lead early in the first period, Jeremy Smith put the defending champs in lockdown and the Cyclones grabbed a 6-1 win. Dustin Sproat led the way with a goal and three assists, while Brian O'Hanley had a pair of goals and an assist and Jimmy Kilpatrick potted a pair of goals. Smith's 31 saves highlighted the triumph and gave Cincinnati a 1-0 lead in the best of five series.

WEBER GOOD IN BONUS TIME: Last night was the 52nd playoff game of Chuck Weber's coaching career. The Cyclones are 33-17-2 in the playoffs under the fourth-year mentor and now have a 6-2 record in games that go into overtime. The only blemishes on his slate in overtime has come at the hands of South Carolina, which claimed a 3-2 win. Weber is 4-2 in overtime in the playoffs against South Carolina.

O'HANLEY AND THE 'RAYS: Cyclones defenseman Brian O'Hanley scored seven regular season goals during 2009-10. Three of those scores came against South Carolina and in the postseason he has another pair versus the Stingrays.

SMITH 'ZEROES' IN: Cyclones goaltender Jeremy Smith is the top goaltender in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The rookie from Dearborn, MI has a league-best 1.60 goals against average, the top save percentage on the circuit at .939, has the only shutout of the postseason and is tied for the ECHL lead in wins with three.

EHGOETZ A RECORD HOLDER HERE TOO...: Cyclones center Barret Ehgoetz holds many of the club's career statistical records in the regular season and is making his mark in the playoffs as well. Ehgoetz is the club's games played leader (50) and tied for the top spot with a shorthanded goal. With two goals last night, he moves into second place on the points list (34) and assists list (24). Barret's 88 shots on goal are third-most in team history.

ROUND TWO...: With the win over South Carolina last night, the Cyclones clinched the series with the Stingrays. Under Head Coach Chuck Weber, the team has advanced into the second round in each of the playoff campaigns that he has been a Head Coach.

END OF THE RUN: The Cyclones string of consecutive seasons with North Division regular season titles ended in the loss at Wheeling on April 3. In 2006-07, the Cyclones entered the final night of the season with a chance to win the North Division--but finished third, three points behind Dayton. In 2007-08, the club captured the division title on March 17 and then went on to win the Kelly Cup. Last season, the club won the championship on the final day of the season with a win over Johnstown. On April 3, the club had a chance to claim thetitle before Kalamazoo's victory.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS STRONG: The Cyclones drew 10,512 for the game April 2. It was the second-largest crowd of the season and the fifth time the club put a crowd among the top ten in team history. Nine times this season the club surpassed 6000 in attendance. Cincinnati finished the year with 139,919--an average of 3886. That's an increase of 25.2 percent over 2008-09.

AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW...: The Cyclones went 17-8-2 (.667 winning percentage) after Febnary 1. The club collected an American Conference-high 44 wins. It was the second-fastest in team history the club reached 44 victories.

WINNERS AT HOME...: The Cyclones won 23 games on home ice, third-most by any team in the American Conference and fifth-most in the ECHL. Cincinnati went 11-3-2 (.750) in the last 16 contests at U.S. Bank Arena, dating back to Janaury 25. While the record is impressive--the defensive effort is stellar. The team limited the opposition to 34 goals, which is a 2.02 goals against average. Of the 34 goals--Half (17) have come on the power play or by empty net.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Cyclones won their 21st away game of the season in the triumph at Kalamazoo on March 31. That gives Cincinnati the most road triumphs in the American Conference and second-most in the league (Idaho has 23). The Cyclones are 17-7 (.708 winning percentage) away from U.S. Bank Arena since Nov. 29.

ROAD WARRIORS, PART 2: Since the start of the 2007-08 campaign, the Cyclones have more wins and a better win percentage on the road than any other team in the ECHL. Cincinnati has a 68-34-4 record (.660 winning percentage). The squad now has three consecutive 20 road win seasons.

CLUB RECORD REACHED: The Cyclones have a league-high and team record 16 shorthanded goals. Twice previously, the squad had reached 14 shorthanded goals in a season. Last year, South Carolina led the ECHL with 18 shorthanded goals.

COORS LIGHT COACHES SHOW: The final Coors Light Cyclones Coaches Show of the season is tonight at Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee from 7-8pm. Head Coach Chuck Weber will join Nick Brunker for this event.

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics

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ECHL Stories from April 12, 2010


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