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ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

Cyclones Weekly

March 31, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones (53-11-4) close out the regular season on their most successful season ever this week. The club begins the week at Dayton on Tuesday night (April 1) with a 7pm showdown. The club heads to Reading on Friday (April 4) for a 7pm contest and closes out the campaign with a 7pm tilt against Trenton. All three of the games will be carried on 96 Rock.

DIVISION CHAMPS!: For the first time in team history, the Cyclones claimed a division title on March 17 in a 3-2 win over Johnstown. Cincinnati native Jason Deitsch collected his tenth goal of the season with 10:07 to play to give the Cyclones the triumph. Max Daigneault slammed the door shut, stopping 26 shots in collecting his tenth win.

HALF A CENTURY!: The Cyclones became only the tenth team in ECHL history--and the fourth in Cincinnati's pro hockey history -- to register 50 wins with the triumph March 22 at Wheeling. Cincinnati has had three other teams win at least 50 games--two of those won their league championships. The 1972-73 Cincinnati Swords (AHL) won 54 games and claimed the Calder Cup. The 1995-96 Cincinnati Cyclones (IHL) won 51 games and lost in the Eastern Conference finals. The 1955-56 Cincinnati Mohawks (IHL) won 50 games and claimed their fifth consecutive Turner Cup.

BRABHAM CUP CANDIDATE?: The Cyclones have at least the ECHL's second-best record. Cincinnati passed Las Vegas Wednesday night to secure the second spot. The Cyclones start the week with 111 points, three fewer than Texas, with a game in hand. The Wildcatters could register 118 points--while Cincinnati could still reach 117, so Cincinnati will need some help to win the trophy.

DID SOMEONE SAY ‘COMEBACK'?: The Cyclones picked up their 25th come-from-behind victory of the season on Sunday at Reading. Cincinnati has picked up 25 wins and has taken five other games to overtime or shootouts before dropping the decision. The 55 points gained in the standings is nearly half of the club's total for the year.

ABOUT SUNDAY AFTERNOON...: Rookie forward Ryan Russell scored a pair of goals and Sean Perkins had the other in a 3-2 win at Reading. Barret Ehgoetz registered a pair of assists, while Cody Rudkowsky had 30 saves in picking up the triumph.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: Johnstown got a hat trick from Mike Sgroi, in a 6-3 win over the Cyclones. The win was the first in regulation time by the Chiefs over Cincinnati at home since Jan. 9, 2004 (a 4-2 win). It had been nearly a calendar year since the Chiefs beat the Cyclones in regulation time (3-1 at USBA on March 27, 2007).

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT,,,: The Cyclones scored a pair of first period goals and held on for a 4-2 win over Elmira. Jason Deitsch netted a goal and an assist, while David Desharnais and Olivier Latendresse each added a pair of assists. Cody Rudkowsky stopped 33 shots in taking his fifth win as a Cyclone.

ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones used four point nights from rookies David Desharnais and Ryan Russell in collecting a 6-2 win over Reading. Matt Syroczynski picked up his 30th goal of the season and the club set a record for goals scored in a season (now at 282). Cody Rudkowski stopped 21 shots in the win.

PLAYOFFS, HERE WE COME: The win on February 22, 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. With a win over Reading on March 7, the Cyclones secured at least third in the North Division standings, giving Cincinnati a bye into the second round of the playoffs. With Cincinnati's win on March 14 secured second place in the North and home ice advantage in the North Division semifinals. The March 17 triumph produced the first division title in team history.

PLAYOFFS START APRIL 11: By clinching the North Division title, the Cyclones now know they have home ice in the divisional semifinals and finals. Both of those series will be best-of-sevens. The North Division semifinals will begin with game one on Friday, April 11 at 7:30pm as the Cyclones host the winner of the best-of-three play in series. The second game of the series will be Saturday, April 12 at 7:30pm. The rest of the series will be announced later. Either Johnstown or Dayton will be the opposition.

STREAK TO REMEMBER: The loss on March 13 against Trenton ended a 14-game home winning streak for the Cyclones, who outscored the opposition, 64-36, during that run. The winning streak started on Jan. 5. The loss also ended a 20-0-2 run for Cincinnati at U.S. Bank Arena. Starting with a win over Elmira on Mov. 28, the club went more than 15 weeks without a regulation time loss at the facility. The team outscored the opponent, 103-52 during that time.

THEY ARE CATCHING ON: The Cyclones drew a club-record 9615 for Friday night's game against Elmira, the sixth time this season that the club has exceeded 5000 in attendance for a game-five of these have happened since the start of the new calendar year. U.S. Bank Arena has had an average of 2523 check out the Cyclones through 36 home dates, an increase of 36.8 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 20 games at U.S. Bank Arena since January 1, the Cyclones are averaging 3078 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 with 100 points (27-73-100). He represented Cincinnati at the 2008 Rbk ECHL All-Star Game and had an assist in the contest. On March 13, Desharnais had a 27-game point scoring streak snapped, after netting 48 points during that span (11-37-48). David had an ECHL record twenty-game assist streak broken on March 1 (3-28-31). Desharnais' 27-game point streak is the longest in the ECHL this season and the fourth-longest in ECHL history. David has established the Cyclones team record with 73 assists on the season. On March 5, he was selected as the ECHL's Rookie of the Month for the second time.

SYROCZYNSKI SETS CLUB RECORD: Forward Matt Syroczynski netted Cincinnati's fifth goal in the win over Reading on March 7--his ninth game-winning goal of the season. That breaks the club record for game-winners in a season held by Sheldon Gorski who established the record during the 1997-98 season in Louisville.

FORTY-TWO OVER!: With the win Sunday, the Cyclones are 42 games above .500 for the second time in team history. Prior to this season, 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 more than 31 games above the break even mark--prior to this season. The last time any Cincinnati pro team was more than 33 games above .500 was October 3, 1976 after the Cincinnati Reds finished the regular season at 102-60-42 games above the mark. Right now, the Cyclones are 53-11-4. The last time a club was more than 42 games above .500 was at the end of the 1975 major league season--when the Reds were 108-54, a total of 54 games above break even.

WE ARE QUITE OFFENSIVE: The Cyclones have scored an ECHL-high, and club record, 282 goals. Cincinnati averages 4.09 goals per game, the most in the ECHL. The club has posted five games in which it has netted eight goals-which sets a team-record for most games with eight or more in a season. Cincinnati was the first team in the league to reach the 100 goal and 200 goal plateaus this season, reaching the double century mark February 22. The squad is on pace to net 295 goals. The last time an ECHL team hit 300 goals was the 2005-06 Gwinnett club with 304.

GUNNING FOR 54 WINS!: The Cyclones picked up their 53rd win of the season Sunday at Reading. Including the postseason in 2006-07, Cincinnati won 43 games. The 53 wins are the second-most ever by a professional hockey team in Cincinnati. The 1972-73 Cincinnati Swords (AHL) won 54 games, en route to the Calder Cup title.

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. The show will take a break this Monday (March 31), but will return on April 7.

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