ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones set ECHL record with 15 straight wins

February 25, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones look to continue their ECHL record-setting winning streak of 15 games with four games in California over the next eight days. Thursday and Saturday, the Cyclones are at Stockton and Friday the club is at Fresno. The trip ends with a game one week from tonight (March 3) at Bakersfield. All games will be carried on the team's website: www.cycloneshockey.com and on 96 Rock (96.5 FM) in Cincinnati.

ROLLING ON: The Cyclones have won a club, and ECHL record 15 consecutive decisions. Cincinnati, which has not lost a game since January 13 at Reading, is 15-0 since and has outscored the opposition, 61-26, during that stretch. The winning streak began, coincidently, with the start of the second half of the season and during this run the club has converted 24 of its 88 power play chances (27.3 percent). Nine of the 15 wins have been of the come-from-behind variety.

WHOLE LOTTA WINNING GOIN' ON: The Cyclones won all three games last week, taking a 3-2 overtime decision from Dayton on Thursday. Friday night, it was a 5-2 win over Johnstown and Saturday, it was a 5-4 shootout win over Elmira. All three games were comeback wins, after Cincinnati had started at least in a 1-0 hole.

AUBIN LIKES CINCINNATI: Cyclones forward Mathieu Aubin had a week to remember. After being re-assigned to the Cyclones by Hamilton on Monday, Aubin netted his second goal of the night, the game ending goal with 12.7 seconds remaining in overtime versus Dayton on Thursday. Had a goal and three assists--one of them on the game winning goal on Friday. Then, chipped in with a pair of goals and added another in the shootout win over Elmira on Saturday night. Mathieu's second period goals 13 seconds apart set a club record for fastest goals by a player.

PLAYOFFS, HERE WE COME: The win Friday, gave Cincinnati a berth into the Kelly Cup playoffs. It is the first time in team history that the squad has secured a postseason appearance in the month of February. The next step for Cincinnati is to secure home ice in the first round of the playoffs--which would be at least fourth place in the divisional standings. The Cyclones have a 'magic number' of six over Johnstown to securing that. The earliest that clinch could take place is Friday night (Feb. 29).

CEDRICK THE SENSATIONAL: Cyclones goaltender Cedrick Desjardins stopped 23 shots Friday night in collecting his 15th win of the season--and seventh straight victory. Desjardins has turned in five shutouts this season, the most in the ECHL. Cedrick had his goals against average dip to 1.92, best in the ECHL and his save percentage of .934 also leads the circuit.

THEY ARE CATCHING ON: The Cyclones drew 5178 for Saturday's game against Elmira, the fifth time this season that the club has exceeded 5000 in attendance for a game--four of these have happened since the start of the new calendar year. U.S. Bank Arena has had an average of 2330 check out the Cyclones through 28 home dates, an increase of 42.3 percent in attendance through an equal number of dates from a year ago. The last time the Cyclones had six or more crowds of 5000 in a season was back during 2002-03, when the club had it happen eight times. In the twelve games at U.S. Bank Arena since January 1, the Cyclones are averaging 3188 fans per contest.

DESHARNAIS SHINES: Cyclones rookie forward David Desharnais has enjoyed his first pro season. After signing with the Cyclones prior to the season, Desharnais was invited to Hamilton's training camp. He was later signed by the Bulldogs and re-assigned to Cincinnati. David presently leads the ECHL in scoring among rookies with 65 (14-51-65). He represented Cincinnati at the 2008 Rbk ECHL All-Star Game and had an assist in the contest. Since Dec. 31, Desharnais has a 20-game point scoring streak, netting 32 points during that span (3-29-32). David has an ECHL record eighteen-game assist streak running currently (2-26-28). Desharnais' 20-game point streak is the longest in the ECHL this season. David has tied the Cyclones team record with 51 assists on the season.

COMEBACK KIDS: The win over Elmira Saturday night, marked the 19th come-from-behind victory this club has pulled off this season. Last year, the club rallied 13 times to win games. This season, the Cyclones have rallied to win five times when trailing by three goals. All three overtime/shootout losses suffered by the team have been rallies as well. Altogether, Cincinnati has earned 41 points in the standings after it has trailed in a game.

MORE COMEBACKS: The Cyclones have come-from-behind wins against every team in the North Division and has picked up at least one standings points with a comeback against every one of the nine teams it has played.

SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN, NINETEEN...: The Cyclones are riding a club record 19-game home unbeaten in regulation string (17-0-2). The run surpasses the eleven game stretch, set last year from Nov. 18 through Jan. 6 with a 9-0-2 mark. Cincinnati has not lost a game in regulation time at U.S. Bank Arena since Nov. 24, when Dayton beat the Cyclones, 4-2. The team is 22-3-3 (.839) at home.

GRUMET-MORRIS STANDS TALL: Cyclones goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris has won his last six starts and is 18-1-1 in his last 20 decisions. Since that stretch started on November 4, Grumet-Morris has a 2.34 goals against average and a .918 save percentage in those decisions. For the season, Dov has the second-most wins in the league and holds a 20-3-1 record, a 2.37 goals against average (seventh-best in the league) and a .914 save percentage.

THAT MAKES ZERO SENSE: The Cyclones are 23-8-1 when scoring the first goal of a game. They have an even more impressive 17-0-2 mark when they ALLOW the first goal of a game. Trailing a game, 2-0, Cincinnati is 5-0-0 in those situations as well. The club has not trailed 3-0 in a game this season.

THIRTY-TWO OVER!: With the 15 game winning streak, the Cyclones are 32 games above .500 for the first time in team history. The last time a Cincinnati pro hockey team was 30 games above break even was March 3, 1996 when the IHL Cyclones were 42-12-9 (.738). No professional hockey team called the Cincinnati Cyclones has EVER been 32 games above the break even mark. The last time any Cincinnati pro sports team was more than 32 games above .500 was October 3, 1976 after the Cincinnati Reds finished their regular season at 102-60--42 games above the mark.

ON A ROLL!: The Cyclones are the only ECHL team to have a better than .500 record against every team it has played this season. Cincinnati has played nine different opponents in 2007-08 and has at least one more win than loss against all of them.

WE ARE QUITE OFFENSIVE: The Cyclones have scored an ECHL-high 212 goals. Cincinnati is averaging 4.16 goals per game, the most in the ECHL. The club has also posted five games in which it has netted eight goals--which sets a team-record for most games with eight or more goals in a season. Cincinnati was the first team in the league to reach the 100 goal plateau this season and they were the first to 200 goals--reaching the mark on February 22. The squad is on pace to net 299 goals.

GUNNING FOR 41 WINS!: The Cyclones picked up their 40th win of the season Saturday vs. Elmira--setting a club record for earliest, and fastest, to the plateau. Previously, the 1995-96 Louisville squad had 39 wins on March 23 to establish both records. The club record for wins was 39 set by the 1995-96 Louisville squad.

CYCLONES AND MEIJER: The Cyclones will team up with Meijer stores this season for a series of appearances. Cyclones players will stop by selected Meijer stores to meet fans, sign autographs, cook up John Morrell snacks and unveil a special Cyclones clothing line that will be available ONLY at Meijer locations. The next stop will be Wednesday, March 5 from 4-6pm at the West Chester location.

CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The Cyclones Coaches Show airs every Monday from Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee from 7-8pm. The show, features Head Coach Chuck Weber and two players each week. This week Mathieu Aubin and Olivier Latendresse will be the special guests.

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 25, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central