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ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Look To Win North Division

March 29, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, enter the final week of the regular season in the driver's seat. If the Cyclones win their three games this week in regulation time--the club will capture its third consecutive North Division championship. Should the club capture the North Division title--the club is assured of having home ice advantage in the first and second rounds. If the club is able to win out--it would need Charlotte to lose a game in regulation time and for South Carolina to lose in some fashion to take the American Conference honors. That would assure the club of home ice in the first, second and third rounds.

THE GAMES: The showdown for the North Division lead will take place on Wednesday night (March 31) in a 7pm clash at Kalamazoo. Friday (April 2), the final regular season home game will be played as Johnstown visits for the final time on U.S. Bank Fan Appreciation Night. That game will start at 7:30pm and be carried live on ESPN 1530. Saturday (April 3), the regular season finishes with a 7:35pm tilt at Wheeling. All three games will be carried on the club's website at www.cycloneshockey.com.

CYCLONES CLINCH: With the Cyclones win over Johnstown on March 18, the club secured its fourth consecutive trip to the Kelly Cup playoffs. Cincinnati has advanced to the postseason in each of the four years Chuck Weber has directed the team and been to the last two American Conference Finals series (playing South Carolina each time).

PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Cyclones currently have 87 standings points, which presently puts the club in fifth place in the American Conference. Cincinnati will finish no lower than fifth in the standings and can still claim the conference championship. Cincinnati can only finish first, second, fourth or fifth in the standings now. The club will not play Kalamazoo or Elmira in the opening round, but could play any of the other eight remaining teams still in contention. Florida joins the list of teams that can't be played in the first round with a point gained or a point lost by Reading this week. The only first round matchup that has been determined so far is the four/five matchup, as the second place teams in the North and South Division will meet--that would be either Charlotte of South Carolina.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON DELIGHT...: The Cyclones grabbed a 3-2 win at Johnstown--in the final meeting between the teams at the Cambria County War Memorial. Mark Van Guilder scored midway through the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock. Cincinnati killed off a 1:46 stretch of the third period shorthanded five-on-three to set up the triumph. Jeremy Smith stopped 15 shots to pick up the victory.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones were victims of a one-man act, courtesy of Andrew Fournier--who had three goals and a pair of assists in a 6-3 win for Kalamazoo. Jimmy Kilpatrick and Reid Cashman had two point nights for the Cyclones--who battled back from a two goal deficit early in the third period to knot the scores up at three each.

ABOUT TUESDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones snapped Elmira's eight game road winning streak and stretch of 230 minutes without a power play goal allowed in a 3-2 win. Two Cincinnati power play goals would put in motion an offensive assault that stunned the Jackals with their first loss away from First Arena since January 17. Maxime Lacroix had a pair of goals, Reid Cashman had a pair of assists and Robert Mayer re-directed 22 shots in the triumph.

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS STRONG: The Cyclones are averaging 3697 per game through the 35 contests at U.S. Bank Arena, which ranks 15th 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. The club has attracted in excess of 6000 on eight dates. Attendance at Cyclones games is up 19.1 percent over last year's season average and is up 29.0 percent over the first 35 home games of a year ago--which is the second-biggest increase of any minor pro team in North America, Quad City is tops at an increase of 35.4 percent. The club has drawn 129,407 through the turnstiles this season. Cincinnati ranks 49th of the 78 teams playing minor pro hockey in North American this season.

MORE ATTENDANCE: The 129,407 attending Cyclones games this season are the most to watch hockey at U.S. Bank Arena since the 2002-03 campaign. That season, 131,141 attended regular season games. With one game remaining at home, Cincinnati needs to draw 1734 to hit the plateau. If the club can draw 4076, the squad will surpass the season attendance mark of the 1997-98 Louisville Riverfrogs for third place on the club's single season list (133,483).

AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW...: The Cyclones are 15-7-2 (.667 winning percentage) since February 1. The club has collected an American Conference-high 42 wins. It is the second-fastest in team history that the club has reached 42 victories. The 2008-09 Kelly Cup championship team won the 42nd game on February 29 and notched the 43rd win on March 3. While reaching the Cyclones club record 55 regular season wins is now impossible--the club can take comfort in having the second-most wins in team history.

WINNERS AT HOME...: The Cyclones have won 22 games on home ice this season, tied for second-most by any team in the American Conference and fourth-most in the ECHL. Cincinnati is 10-3-2 (.733) in the last 15 contests at U.S. Bank Arena, dating back to Janaury 25.

THAT IS DEFENSE: The Cyclones suffered a 5-1 loss to Johnstown on January 25. Since that defeat, the club has posted a 10-3-2 record at U.S. Bank Arena. While the record is impressive--the defensive effort is stellar. The team has limited the opposition to 33 goals, which is a 2.05 goals against average. Of the 33 goals--More than half (17) have come on the power play or by empty net.

HOMECOMING FOR EDDY: Cyclones rookie defenseman Cullen Eddy had a week of memories during the past seven days. In that stretch, the Hidden Valley, PA native had his tryout agreement voided and signed a standard player contract and played in his first three professional games. Yesterday (March 28), he played in his first pro road game, a 3-2 win at Johnstown. The game at the Cambria County War Memorial is 40 minutes from his hometown. Head Coach Chuck Weber had Eddy in the starting lineup and had him participate in the ceremonial faceoffs before the contest.

FORMER CYCLONES DOT AHL PLAYOFF ROSTERS: The Cyclones have 14 former players on the American Hockey League 'Clear Day Period' lists. Only players on the Clear Day Period lists are eligible for the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs unless emergency situations exist. Five former Cyclones are on the Hamilton Bulldogs list: David Desharnais, Cedrick Desjardins, Ryan Russell, Frederic St. Denis and J.T. Wyman. The Milwaukee Admirals have four former Cincinnati players: Mark Dekanich, Mark Matheson, Chris Mueller and Mark Santorelli. Other former Cyclones eligible to participate in the Calder Cup playoffs are: Jimmy Bonneau (Rochester), Jean-Michel Daoust (Houston), Jon Gleed (Bridgeport), Kyle Rank (Portland) and Greg Stewart (Chicago).

ROAD WARRIORS: The Cyclones won their 20th away game of the season in the triumph at Johnstown yesterday. That gives Cincinnati the most road triumphs in the American Conference and second-most in the league (Idaho has 22). The Cyclones are 16-7 (.696 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.

CHUCK MOVES UP: While the ECHL league media guide does not keep it as an official statistic, Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber reached another milestone with the win over Johnstown on March 18. Through the first four full seasons of coaching in their career, Weber has moved into third place on the wins list with 175 (passing Glen Gulutzan). Dave Farrish holds the ECHL record for most wins through his first four full seasons as a coach with 186. Chuck has passed current ECHL coaches Matt Thomas (Stockton) and Greg Puhalski (Wheeling) this season. Next on the list in second place is his former boss in Utah, Jason Christie at 179 wins.

TOTAL RECALL: The Cyclones had defenseman Brett Motherwell and forward Maxime Lacroix advance to the American Hockey League during the past three weeks. Motherwell was loaned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders on March 4 and Lacroix returned to Hamilton this week. This season, a total of sixteen Cyclones players have been promoted a total of 27 times. More than 200 games have been played by men who have represented Cincinnati this season at the AHL level. More than 230 man-games have been lost to the Cyclones as a result of these advancements.

COORS LIGHT COACHES SHOW: The Coors Light Cyclones Coaches Show is held each Monday night at Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee from 7-8pm. This week, defenseman Cullen Eddy will join Head Coach Chuck Weber and Nick Brunker at the show.

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