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ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Prepare To Defend Title

October 13, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2008 Kelly Cup champions, open the season this weekend with a pair of road games. The first test is Friday night (Oct. 17) at Wheeling in a 7:35pm tilt against the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Saturday night (Oct. 18), the Cyclones are on the road again, this time for a 7:30pm clash with Dayton. The home opener is scheduled for Saturday, October 25 when Dayton comes in for the festivities at 7:30pm.

LAST WEEKEND: The Cyclones finished off their training camp with a pair of games against Dayton. Friday night (Oct. 10), Nicolas Robillard and Travis Hanson scored the goals in a 4-2 loss. Saturday afternoon (Oct. 11), the Bombers claimed a 7-1 win, as Barret Ehgoetz netted the lone Cincinnati score.

RETURNING FACES: The Cyclones welcome assistant captains Barret Ehgoetz and Matt Macdonald back. Forward Billy Irish-Baker and defenseman Sean Perkins are also back under contract with the Cyclones. Thomas Beauregard and Olivier Latendresse have been assigned by the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) to Cincinnati. Travis Hanson, who was with the club for a couple of weeks last season after his collegiate career ended--is also back.

THE NEW GUYS: The Cyclones will infuse some new blood into the lineup also, as Kyle Rank, who played last season in Wheeling joins the club. Defenseman Joe Grimaldi was acquired in a trade with Gwinnett during the off-season. Right wing Mitch Woods led the IHL with 297 penalty minutes and 25 fights in 2007-08. Center Ben McLeod (25-38-63) is with the Cyclones from Europe. Stephen Werner, who Cyclones fans saw during the playoff series with South Carolina--has been assigned by the Milwaukee Admirals to Cincinnati.

AFFILIATES ARE BACK: The Cyclones will have NHL affiliations with the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators once again. This will be the third straight season that Montreal has been tied in with the Cyclones and the second straight campaign for Nashville. Hamilton and Milwaukee will be American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates for the team also. Hamilton is the top affiliate of Montreal, while Milwaukee holds that title for Nashville.

NO REASON IT CAN'T BE US...: The Cincinnati Cyclones look to become the first team in the 21-year history of the ECHL to win back-to-back championships this season. However, the Cyclones do have ties to someone who has been part of consecutive titles. Athletic trainer Bob Case was on the staff of three consecutive championship teams, the Shreveport Mud Bugs of the Western Professional Hockey League (1998-99 through 2000-2001).

DESHARNAIS MAKES MARK: David Desharnais, who was the ECHL's Most Valuable Player and leading scorer in 2007-08, attended training camp with the Montreal Canadiens. He made his NHL preseason debut in a game at Robervale, QC on September 22, picking up an assist in a 3-2 win for Montreal against Buffalo. David scored the first goal of the season for the Hamilton Bulldogs this weekend in a win.

THAT'S SOME TALENT: Speaking of training camps, of the 23 players that were on the Cyclones playoff roster last season--eleven attended NHL camps this fall. Eighteen of those players attended AHL camps. During 2007-08, Cincinnati sent 18 players to the AHL for more than 350 games. Forward Greg Stewart became the first player under Head Coach Chuck Weber to play in an NHL game--when he accomplished the feat during April of last season.

CYCLONES AND MAX FM: The Cyclones will have 30 of their regular season games carried on MAX-FM (97.7 and 99.5) this season. These broadcasts will most likely be road games, but the schedule will work around MAX's commitments to other sports programming. All road playoff games are scheduled to be carried by the station as well. The season opener from Wheeling will be carried by the station on Friday, October 17. Air time will be at 7:15pm.

POISED FOR OPENING NIGHT: The Cyclones will open the regular season on Friday, October 17 at Wheeling at 7:35pm. It is the first of three road games to begin the campaign. The home opener will be on Saturday, October 25 at 7:30pm, when the Dayton Bombers roll into town. That night, the Kelly Cup, Brabham Cup, North Division Playoff and North Division regular season championship banners will be unveiled. There will also be schedule magnets given to the first 10,000 fans courtesy of Hometown Sports Collectibles.

BUSY STRETCH AFTER THAT...: Following the regular season home opener against Dayton on October 25, the Cyclones hit the road the following weekend for games at Reading (Oct. 31) and Dayton (Nov. 1). The club returns to U.S. Bank Arena for a busy stretch of four games in five nights at the arena. Reading comes to town on November 4 and 5 and Elmira is in for the weekend (November 7-8). Tickets for these games and all other Cyclones games can be purchased through TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.com) at 513-562-4949. They can be purchased at U.S. Bank Arena weekdays between 10am and 5pm.

MILLER LITE CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The weekly Miller Lite Cyclones Coaches Show gets started next Monday (Oct., 20) at 7pm from Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee. Head Coach Chuck Weber is on hand to discuss what is happening with the Cyclones and to answer questions about the game of hockey at all levels. It is the first of 25 shows scheduled with the coach this season.

PUTTING 2007-08 IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: The Cincinnati Cyclones (55-12-5) clinched their first-ever Kelly Cup championship on June 5, defeating Las Vegas, 3-1, in the sixth game of the finals. The Cyclones became only the third team in league history to claim both the Brabham Cup (ECHL's best regular season record) and Kelly Cup in the same season. Cincinnati won 71 games between the regular season and playoffs--setting an ECHL record.

PLAYOFF GAME ATTENDANCE RECORD: The Cyclones attracted 12,722 for the sixth game of the Kelly Cup, the largest crowd in the 20 year history of the ECHL for a postseason game. The previous record of 11,800 was set three times by Louisiana during the 1996-97 season.

LONG TIME COMING...: The Kelly Cup Finals marked the first time in 35 years that Cincinnati had played host to a professional hockey championship series. In 1973, the Cincinnati Swords captured the AHL's Calder Cup title over Nova Scotia.

MONTREAL CONNECTION: The Cyclones Kelly Cup championship marked the sixth time that a Montreal Canadiens affiliate in Cincinnati has won a championship (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957 IHL Turner Cups with the Mohawks. The only other title was as an affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres (1973 AHL Calder Cup with the Swords).

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN...: The Cyclones Kelly Cup victory marked the first time that an American Conference team has ever won the trophy. Since dividing into the current American/National Conference alignment prior to the start of the 2004-05 season, the Nationals have won the previous three Kelly Cups and three of the four All-Star games. Ironically, the only American Conference All-Star Game win happened in 2007--when Cyclones netminder Cedrick Desjardins was the victorious goaltender.

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