ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Kick Off Six Game Homestand

February 16, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2008 Kelly Cup champions, return home fresh off their six game road trip over the past two weeks in the south. Cincinnati has won nine of its twelve road games since the start of the calendar year. The Cyclones finished up the sojourn with a 3-3 mark.

PROMOTIONS: Friday night's game against Dayton will be John Morrell One Dollar Hot Dog Night for all fans at U.S. Bank Arena to take advantage of. Saturday night, it is Twister Bobblehead Night with the first 3000 fans receiving statues of the mascot on his head. Tickets for these games can be purchased at the U.S. Bank Arena Box Office or by calling Ticketmaster at 513-562-4949.

FIRST PLACE CYCLONES!: The win on February 3 vaulted the third place Cyclones into first place in the North Division for the first time since the end of the 2007-08 regular season. Cincinnati sat in the division lead for 93 days in 2006-07, for 132 days in 2007-08 and now 14 days in 2008-09. The 239 days are the most by any team in the North Division over the past three years.

TWELVE OUT OF SIXTEEN AIN'T BAD: The Cyclones have now won twelve of the last sixteen games they have played. During this stretch, the club has moved from fifth to first in the North Division standings.

SHRINKING UP: The Cyclones defensive half of the special teams--the penalty kill, has been strong in recent days. The shorthanded crew has killed 63 of the last 75 power plays presented to the opposition (84.0 percent) over the last fourteen games. Cincinnati has improved to 22nd in the league on the penalty kill at 78.8 percent (212 of 269).

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: Florida outshot the Cyclones, 42-12, and took a 3-1 victory at the Germain Arena. Mark Van Guilder picked up his 16th goal of the season on the power play in the second period. Ryan Nie stopped 39 shots in the defeat.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones claimed a 3-2 win at Florida. Ryan Nie stopped 34 shots in running his record to 10-1 as a Cyclone. Mark Van Guilder had a pair of assists and Justin Johnson netted the game winning goal.

SPEAKING OF SHRINKING..: The Cyclones were limited to twelve shots on goal in the 3-1 loss at Florida on Saturday, the second-lowest shot total in team history. In the club's first-ever game (October 17, 1995), Louisville was held to eleven shots at Louisiana. Since the club moved to Cincinnati--this total is the lowest shot total for a game. The Cyclones fired a season-low two shots on goal in the first period of the game. The club record for fewest shots in a period is zero--set by the Cyclones on Jan. 31, 2007 in a 5-2 win against Reading.

CHUCK HAS BEATEN THEM ALL: With the win on Friday night, Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber has now defeated all 16 teams Cincinnati has been scheduled to play in regular season play in the three years that he has been in charge. With South Carolina and Las Vegas added to the totals in the postseason, Weber has victories over 18 all ECHL teams his clubs have been scheduled to play. The only teams he has not defeated--are the only squads he has not played--Alaska, Gwinnett, Idaho, Ontario, Phoenix, Utah and Victoria.

FRIDAY THE 13TH: The Cyclones game at Florida on Friday, February 13 was only the second that Chuck Weber has coached in. The first was the inaugural playoff game of his coaching career, a 4-2 win at Toledo on April 13, 2007. Cincinnati has one more Friday the 13th left in the regular season, March 13 at Johnstown.

ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones were blanked 5-0 at Florida. Anton Khudobin stopped all 22 shots in shutting out Cincinnati for the first time since March 13 of last season--a 6-0 loss at home to Trenton.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Cyclones are 17-10-1 (.625 winning percentage) on the road. The 17 wins are the second-most in the ECHL, as only Florida (18) has more. Cincinnati was a perfect 7-0 away from U.S. Bank Arena during January. Cincinnati has won eleven of its last 15 road games. The Cyclones are 15-5 in away games since Thanksgiving.

SECOND HALF UNDERWAY: Cincinnati has an 8-4 record to start the post-All-Star Game portion of the year. In 2007-08, the Cyclones went 29-4-2 (.857 winning percentge) after the All-Star break. The club is 57-23-7 (.701) since the 2008 All-Star Game.

NIFTY NIE: Goaltender Ryan Nie won his first nine decisions as a member of the Cyclones, setting the club record for most wins from the start of his career with the team--the streak ended with the loss at Florida on February 11. Lance Leslie won his first five decisions with the Louisville River Frogs from Oct. 16-31, 1997. Leslie would go 5-0-1 before dropping his first verdict. Steve Briere also accomplished the five wins from Oct. 19-Nov. 4, 2001. Briere would lose his sixth decision and finished the season 10-12-4. Nie is 10-2 with a 2.85 goals against average and an .880 save percentage since joining Cincinnati.

THAT WAS A CROWD: The 8508 in attendance on January 24 marked the second-largest crowd for a regular season game in team history. Only the Fan Appreciation game last season had more fans (9615) for a regular season game. That night's crowd was the fourth-largest between the regular season and playoffs.

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES...: The Cyclones welcomed defenseman Ryan Van Buskirk and forward Bill Kinkel to the lineup Friday night, making them the 45th and 46th players to play for the club this season. Last year, a total of 46 different players appeared in games for Cincinnati en route to the Kelly Cup championship. The Cyclones have now employed 33 different lineups this season.

MORE ATTENDANCE: While the top four teams in minor hockey attendance improvement are more than 20 percent better, attendance in minor league hockey has fallen 3.3 percent over 2007-08. Despite this trend, the Cyclones have increased attendance by 687 fans per home game--fourth-best in minor league hockey. Cincinnati's 687 fans per game is the biggest improvement in the ECHL (Dayton is up 487 per game to rank second).

FAMILY FOUR PACK ON SALE!: The Cyclones Family Four Pack is now on sale. For $69 (including all handling fees), you get four tickets to any Cyclones regular season game, four hot dogs, four Pepsis, four Cyclones winter caps, four ice skating passes to SportsPlus and a SportsPlus game card. Valued at more than $150--this is a package that has something for everyone! Call the Cyclones Sales Department at 513-421-7825, x. 3 to order yours.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS UP: The Cyclones have drawn 64,728 to the first 24 games at U.S. Bank Arena this season, an average of 2697--which is 21st in the ECHL. Through the first 24 games of last season, the club drew 57,590--an average of 2400. Cincinnati did not reach 64,728 until the 29th home game of 2007-08--reaching 68,181 through those 29 dates, an average of 2,351 as of March 7, 2008. Attendance this season is up 12.4 percent over the first 24 dates of a year ago--when the Cyclones had the highest percentage increase in attendance (36.8 percent) of any pro hockey team in North America.

TICKETS! GET YOUR TICKETS!: Tickets for all Cincinnati Cyclones games can be purchased through Ticketmaster at 513-562-4949 or by using their website at: www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the window day of the game. Season ticket packages can also be obtained by contacting the Cyclones offices at 513-421-PUCK (7825) x. 3.

WEBER REACHES CENTURY MARK: Head Coach Chuck Weber picked up his 100th regular season victory on November 29. Now in his third season directing the Cyclones, Weber has a 117-57-16 mark (.658 winning percentage). The win on November 30 allowed Chuck to pass Warren Young for the club lead in regular season wins. Young needed three full seasons to post his 100-86-24 (.533) record. Weber has 102 of those wins against North Division competition.

MILLER LITE CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The Miller Lite Cyclones Coaches Show will be held Mondays from 7-8pm at Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee. Head Coach Chuck Weber and a pair of players are present at the show each week. Because of other commitments, Weber will fly solo on the show this week.

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 16, 2009


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