ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones

North Division Champion Cyclones Look For More

March 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Cincinnati Cyclones News Release


COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones (50-10-5) play four games this week and close out the home portion of the regular season. Wednesday night (March 26), Reading makes its final trip of the campaign into U.S. Bank Arena at 7:30pm. It is a ‘Wet Wednesday', with selected beer priced at one dollar for twelve ounce servings all night. Friday night (March 28), Elmira rolls into town for a 7:30pm showdown. It is U.S. Bank Fan Appreciation Night and prizes will be awarded throughout the game. One dollar beers, hot dogs and soft drinks highlight the evening's festivities. Saturday (March 29), the Cyclones are at Johnstown for a 7pm tilt and Sunday (March 30), Cincinnati is at Reading for a 5pm start. The two road games are scheduled to be carried live on 96 Rock.

DIVISION CHAMPS!: For the first time in team history, the Cyclones claimed a division title on Monday night (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. Deitsch and Olivier Latendresse each had a goal and an assist in the win. Max Daigneault slammed the door shut, stopping 26 shots in collecting his tenth win of the campaign.

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 Saturday at Wheeling. Cincinnati has had three other teams win at least 50 games--and 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 before leaving town at the conclusion of the year.

BRABHAM CUP CANDIDATE?: The Cyclones begin the week with at least the ECHL's third-best record if they do not win another game this season. Cincinnati needs three more points in the standings gained or lost by Las Vegas to clinch the second spot. The Cyclones start the week with 105 points, four fewer than Texas--but both teams have the possibility of registering 119 points. Should the teams end the campaign tied in points--the squad with the greater number of wins claims the ECHL's Brabham Cup for best record. Cincinnati has 50 wins to Texas' 49 triumphs.

ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first period, to claim a 4-3 win. Rookie Ryan Russell's first goal as a Cyclone with 8:07 to play broke the 3-3 deadlock. Cody Rudkowsky stopped 14 shots in taking his third win in a Cincinnati uniform.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones rallied to tie the game three times last night at Johnstown, but no one could put Cincinnati ahead in a 4-3 shootout win for Johnstown. David Desharnais had a goal and an assist in the triumph. T.J. McElroy registered a pair of assists.

ABOUT WEDNESDAY MORNING...: Down 2-0 in the first period, the Cyclones scored four unanswered power play goals in a 4-3 win. The ‘Education In Hockey Day' game drew 4113 fans, as Cincinnati rallied from a defict to win a game for the 22nd time this season. Mathieu Aubin and Olivier Latendresse each recorded a pair of goals and a pair of assists, while David Desharnais chipped in four assists in the triumph.

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 Friday night (March 14) and Elmira's triumph over Reading, the Cyclones secured second place in the North and home ice advantage in the North Division semifinals. Monday night's 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 earlier in that week. The rest of the semifinal playoff schedule will be announced when the opponent is known.

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 5178 for the February 23 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 2311 check out the Cyclones through 34 home dates, an increase of 34.1 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 18 games at U.S. Bank Arena since January 1, the Cyclones are averaging 2740 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 94 points (24-70-94). 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 70 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 OVER!: With the win Saturday, the Cyclones are 40 games above .500 for the first 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 50-10-4.

WE ARE QUITE OFFENSIVE: The Cyclones have scored an ECHL-high 266 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 294 goals. The last time an ECHL team hit 300 goals was the 2005-06 Gwinnett club with 304. The club record for goals is 266, set by the 1995-96 edition of the Louisville River Frogs.

GUNNING FOR 51 WINS!: The Cyclones picked up their 50th win of the season Saturday versus Wheeling-setting a club record for earliest, and fastest, to the plateau. Including the postseason in 2006-07, Cincinnati won 43 games. The 50 wins are the third-most ever by a professional hockey team in Cincinnati. The 1972-73 Cincinnati Swords (AHL) won 54 games, while the 1995-96 IHL Cyclones posted 51. The 1956-57 Cincinnati Mohawks (IHL) collected 50 wins, as the only teams to reach the half century mark in triumphs.

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 players Josh Coyle and Cody Rudkowski.

Check out the Cincinnati Cyclones Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 24, 2008


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