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jevers
Administrator
USA
1367 Posts |
 Posted - 11/02/2009 : 4:09:16 PM
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CYCLONES HOST PAIR THIS WEEK
'Throwback Night' Coming on Friday Night!
COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, play their first three-in-three stretch of the season starting Thursday night. Johnstown rolls in on a 'Thirsty Thursday' with selected one dollar domestic beers. Friday night (Nov. 6) is the annual 'Throwback Night'. This season it is the silver sheen jerseys of the original 1990 Cyclones. Tickets are seven dollars each and selected menu items will be priced at one dollar, along with selected domestic beers.
NO GOAL PATROL STILL PERFECT: The Cyclones penalty kill unit is a perfect 25-of-25 in killing shorthanded situations this season. The group has also netted three man-disadvantage goals thus far as well. Cincinnati is the only professional hockey in North America not to have allowed a power play goal in the month of October. Last season, Cincinnati ranked 19th in the ECHL on the penalty kill--stopping just 79.9 percent of the man-disadvantage situations.
POWER PLAY TURNING AROUND: Cincinnati's power play unit ranks twelfth in the ECHL in man advantage percentage at 16.1 percent (five-of-31). The Cyclones punched their ticket three times in Wheeling on Saturday, the first three PP game of the campaign.
ROOKIES MAKING THEIR MARK: Cyclones rookies Jeremy Smith and Matt Pierce are among the ECHL leaders. Smith is top among all rookies and is third in the league with a 1.51 goals against average and is tops among first-year players and second among all goaltenders with three wins. Pierce is tied for the league lead among rookies with five goals and is fifth in rookie scoring with eight points (5-3-8).
ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones clubbed Wheeling, 6-3, on Saturday night. Matt Pierce and Bryan Marshall eached chipped in a pair of goals and an assist in the triumph. Dustin Sproat had a goal and an assist, while Bryan Leitch and Reid Cashman each tallied a pair of assists. Robert Mayer stopped 20 shots to take the triumph.
INCREDIBLE SHRINKING ROSTER: The Cyclones were without the services of half of their opening night roster in Saturday's win over Wheeling. Six players were missing via injury and three others from the opening night group of 18 for Cincinnati were on recall to the American Hockey League. The Cyclones, who used a club record 59 players in 2008-09, have already used 24 players in the first six games of the year. The club currently is on pace to use an ECHL record 90 players in 2009-10.
ABOUT LAST FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones needed just 3:20 to build a 2-0 edge at Elmira, but that would be the end of the offensive onslaught in a 4-2 loss to the Jackals. The defeat ended a three game winning streak for the Cyclones and kept Elmira perfect at 6-0 on the campaign. Dustin Sproat notched a goal and an assist in the loss, while Matt Pierce collected a goal. Jeremy Smith stopped 22 shots in absorbing his first loss as a professional.
FRIDAY THROWBACK NIGHT: Friday night is the annual Throwback Night, as the Cyclones host the Toledo Walleye. The club will wear the silver sheen uniforms with the original goaltender C logo for the 7:30pm clash. Tickets are priced at seven dollars with selected one dollar items on the menu throughout the evening.
PACKING THEM IN...: The Cyclones attracted 5086 to the home opener and the North Division banner raising ceremony. It was almost identical in size to last season (5183) when the club raised multiple banners celebrating the Kelly Cup championship. Cincinnati averaged 3104 for the season, an increase of 23.1 percent over 2008-09--second-best in minor pro hockey. Friday's Throwback Game and the 'Ohio Lottery presents Education In Hockey Day' game (Tuesday, November 17) are expected to help increase the average attendance in the early going.
DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!: Friday nights postgame are becoming an ominous event for Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber. For the third straight week, a Cincinnati player has been dispatched to the American Hockey League on a Friday. October 16, Kevin Roeder was loaned to Syracuse, Jason Jozsa was recalled by Milwaukee on October 23 and Hans Benson was loaned to Portland on October 30. The streak was wrecked on Saturday, October 31 when forward Chris Mueller was recalled by Milwaukee prior to the morning skate.
WEBER LEADS THEM AGAIN: The Cyclones are once again be led by Head Coach Chuck Weber. Now in his fourth season, Weber has compiled a 137-69-16 record (.653 winning percentage). Chuck led the Cyclones to the 2008 Kelly Cup championship--netting a club record 55 wins during the run. The 71 victories between the regular season and playoffs is also a club high water mark. The 133 wins in his first three seasons is the fourth-highest win total by an ECHL coach in his first three seasons--just five fewer than Dave Farrish had in his first three campaigns (138). Farrish also holds the mark for most wins in his first four seasons with 186.
COORS LIGHT CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The weekly Coors Light Cyclones Coaches Show happens tonight (Nov., 2) 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. Hosting the show this season is 1530-AM The Sports Animal's Nick Brunker. Tonight's guests are forward Matt Pierce and defenseman Jon Landry.
STEWART PLAYING NHL!: The Montreal Canadiens have former Cyclone Greg Stewart on the opening night roster this season. Stewart became the first player under Head Coach Chuck Weber to come through Cincinnati on his way to the NHL. Greg appeared in 62 games for Cincinnati in 2006-07, collecting eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points and 126 penalty minutes.
THE AHL LIKES US: During last season, a total of 17 different Cyclones players received call ups to the American Hockey League. Those players saw action in more than 300 games. At one point in early March, 13 players were simultaneously in pro hockey's AAA league. Already in 2009-10, four players have earned call-ups to the AHL and they have seen action in seven games between them.
CHECKING OUT THE GAME: The next Cyclones broadcast on 1530-AM Homer - The Sports Animal will be at Toledo on November 20. A special Coors Light Cyclones Coaches Show will be edited into a pregame format and the drop of the puck is at 7pm. The three games this week--like all 72 regular season games--will be carried on the club's website at www.cycloneshockey.com.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Cyclones already have three road wins this season. Cincinnati is one of seven teams already with at least three away triumphs in the early going. The club led the ECHL in road victories in 2008-09 with 22 in the regular season and then turned in a 5-2 slate during the playoffs. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, including the Kelly Cup playoffs, the Cyclones are 64-27-3 (.697 winning percentage) away from U.S. Bank Arena. The most wins and highest winning percentage of any ECHL squad over the same time frame.
DIVISIONAL ALIGNMENT: There are 20 teams in the ECHL this season, twelve in the American Conference and eight in the National Conference. The Cyclones are one of the teams in the American Conference, which is broken into three divisions each consisting of four teams. Cincinnati is in the North Division--which it has won in consecutive years--with Kalamazoo, Toledo and Wheeling. The East Division has Elmira, Johnstown, Reading and Trenton. The South Division is comprised of Charlotte, Florida, Gwinnett and South Carolina.
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