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Cyclones, Royals Meet In North Division Finals

April 21, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release




PRINCETON, N.J. - Posting a 5-4 double overtime win against Elmira on Sunday, Reading advanced to the Kelly Cup Playoffs North Division Finals where it will meet regular season champion Cincinnati in a best-of-seven series beginning Thursday.

The Cyclones are the top seed in the Kelly Cup Playoffs after finishing 55-12-5 to capture the Brabham Cup with 115 points. The Royals were 38-26-8 and finished third in the North Division with 84 points, advancing to the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years. Cincinnati's 115 points and 55 wins are the second-most in the 20-year history of the ECHL behind Louisiana's 116 points and 56 wins in 2001-02. The Cyclones have reached the postseason four times in five seasons, including each of the last two years.

The winner will meet the South Division winner in the best-of-seven American Conference Finals to determine who faces the National Conference winner in a best-of-seven series for the Kelly Cup.

Due to scheduling conflicts at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, the first two games will be played at the Sovereign Center in Reading at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday and Saturday. Cincinnati will host Games 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m. on Apr. 28 and 30 and Game 5, if necessary, on May 1. Game 6, if necessary, would be played in Reading at 7:05 p.m. on May 3 while Game 7, if necessary, would be at the U.S. Bank Arena at 7:30 p.m. on May 5.

It is the first postseason meeting between the Royals and the Cyclones, who have played 30 times in the regular season. Cincinnati has won the last five meetings and was 8-1-1 this season, including 4-0-1 at home, to improve to 17-10-3 all-time against the Royals, who are 13-14-3 all-time against the Cyclones.

It is the second straight division finals appearance for the Cyclones, who lost in seven games to American Conference champion Dayton in 2007. It is the third trip to the division finals for the Royals, who lost in four games to Kelly Cup champion Trenton in 2005 and beat Peoria in four games in 2004 before losing in the conference finals to Florida.

Cincinnati is one win shy of becoming only the fourth team in ECHL history to reach 60 wins. Alaska had 69 wins when it won the Kelly Cup in 2006 while runner-up Gwinnett finished with 61 victories. Trenton became the first team to reach the 60-win plateau when it advanced to the Kelly Cup Finals in 2001 with 61 wins. The assistant coach for Trenton that season was current Cincinnati head coach Chuck Weber.

In their first round series with Elmira, the Royals were 4-1 in one-goal games, including 3-0 in overtime, while Cincinnati was 1-0 in one-goal games and outscored Johnstown 16-7.

Reading's Brock Hooton and Cincinnati rookie Thomas Beauregard each have two game-winning goals tying them for the Kelly Cup Playoffs lead with Utah rookie Keith Johnson and Stephen Werner of South Carolina.

Cincinnati's Maxime Daigneault and Reading's Danny Taylor each have four wins tying them for the league lead with Texas rookie Anton Khudobin and Alaska's Marek Schwarz and Columbia's Todd Ford. Daigneault is third in the Kelly Cup Playoffs with a goals-against average of 1.75 and tied for fourth with a save percentage of .940 while Taylor leads the postseason in overtime wins with three and ranks second in minutes with 400.

David Desharnais leads Cincinnati in the Kelly Cup Playoffs with seven points while his six assists tie him for the team lead with Olivier Latendresse, who is second on the team with six points. Kevin Saurette leads Reading in the postseason with six assists and his seven points tie him for the team scoring lead with Patrick Jarrett (2g-5a).

Desharnais led the Cyclones against Reading with eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points in 10 games while Hooton led the Royals against Cincinnati with 10 points (5g-5a) in 10 games. Cincinnati's Cedrick Desjardins was 1-0-1 with a goals-against average of 1.44 in two games against Reading while Daigneault was 2-0-0 with a shootout win and a goals-against average of 3.36 in two starts.

Desharnais won the ECHL awards for Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Leading Scorer while also being named First Team All-ECHL and to the ECHL All-Rookie Team. He was only the fifth rookie in ECHL history to be named MVP and the first since Frederic Cloutier in 2001-02. The 21 year old led the ECHL with 106 points in 68 games, the most scored by a rookie since 1996-97 when Dany Bousquet of Pee Dee had 107 points (54g-53a). Desharnais was only the fourth rookie ever to lead the ECHL in scoring joining Alex Leavitt of Alaska (91 points in 2005-06), Daryl Harpe of Erie (122 points in 1988-89) and Bill McDougall of Erie (148 points in 1989-90).

Cyclones defenseman Chad Starling won the league award for Plus Performer of the Year and was named Second Team All-ECHL. Starling's plus-minus rating of +48 was the highest in the ECHL since 1995-96 and tied the fifth-best plus minus rating in league history.

Cincinnati's Weber was named Coach of the Year after finishing second in voting for the award in 2006-07. He is 92-41-11 in his first two seasons and has led the Cyclones to the postseason both years where he has a 10-4 record. Karl Taylor is in his third season with Royals and is 112-82-22 in the regular season and 5-5 in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The Cyclones set the ECHL record with 17 wins in a row from Jan. 16-29, breaking the record of 14 by Knoxville from Dec. 28, 1993-Jan. 29, 1994 and Louisiana from Nov. 23-Dec. 22, 2001. Cincinnati also had an ECHL season-high and team-record 14-game home winning streak from Jan. 5-Mar. 12.

Cincinnati tied the ECHL record with 26 road wins while their 29 home wins tied the league record for fourth-most held by Pee Dee in 1998-99, Toledo in 2002-03 and Gwinnett in 2005-06 and their 12 regulation losses ties the record for third-fewest losses held by Alaska in 2005-06 and Las Vegas in 2006-07. Cincinnati had four home losses tying the record for third-fewest shared by nine teams including Gwinnett and Alaska in 2005-06.

American Conference North Division Finals (Best-of-Seven)

#1 Cincinnati Cyclones (55-12-5) vs. #3 Reading Royals (38-26-8)
Apr. 24 Cincinnati at Reading 7:05 p.m.
Apr. 26 Cincinnati at Reading 7:05 p.m.
Apr. 28 Reading at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
Apr. 30 Reading at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m.
May 1 Reading at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
May 3 Cincinnati at Reading 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)
May 5 Reading at Cincinnati 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)

North Division Semifinals (Best-of-Seven)

#1 Cincinnati Cyclones (55-12-5) vs. #4 Johnstown Chiefs (36-30-6)
Cincinnati Wins Series 4-0
Game 1 - Johnstown 3 at CINCINNATI 5
Game 2 - Johnstown 1 at CINCINNATI 4
Game 3 - CINCINNATI 4 at Johnstown 2
Game 4 - CINCINNATI 3 at Johnstown 2

#2 Elmira Jackals (41-24-7) vs. #3 Reading Royals (38-26-8)
Reading Wins Series 4-2
Game 1 - Reading 0 at ELMIRA 1
Game 2 - Elmira 4 at READING 5 (OT)
Game 3 - READING 3 at Elmira 2
Game 4 - ELMIRA 5 at Reading 2
Game 5 - READING 2 at Elmira 1 (OT)
Game 6 - Elmira 4 at READING 5 (2 OT)

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