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jevers
Administrator
USA
1367 Posts |
 Posted - 05/10/2010 : 10:54:47 AM
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CYCLONES BATTLE BACK IN SERIES
Cincinnati Wins Pair In Reading, Looks To Finish Comeback
COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, are back at home this week--hosting the Reading Royals on Tuesday night. The best of seven series for the American Conference championship has Reading leading, three games to two. The sixth game will be played at U.S. Bank Arena on Tuesday at 7:30pm. It is another Big Beer Tuesday with twenty-four ounce Molson, Molson Ice and Labatts priced at two dollars each. Should the Cyclones win that game, it would set up a 'winner-take-all' seventh game Wednesday night. That game would also be played at U.S. Bank Arena with a 7:30pm start time and would be a Wet Wednesday promotion with one dollar Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller High Life available. Both games will be carried on the internet at www.cycloneshockey.com and for fans bringing their FM radios to the game--on 106.1 FM inside the arena seating area. By winning the series, the Cyclones would continue their march through the USA Collision Centers postseason. The next round is the Kelly Cup Finals against either Idaho or Stockton from the National Conference.
WEBER MOVES TO THE TOP: With the win on Saturday night, Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber won his 39th career Kelly Cup playoff game. He passed former Alaska Aces coach (and current St. Louis Blues coach), Davis Payne with that total for most by a coach in any four year period in ECHL history. Payne accomplished his run from 2004-07.
BACKS TO THE WALL: The 2009-10 Cincinnati Cyclones have been pretty good in the postseason in facing elimination games, posting a 4-0 mark thus far. The club hurdled the first challenge in game five at South Carolina, taking a 3-2 overtime decision on a goal by Barret Ehgoetz in the 17th minute of extra time to eliminate the defending Kelly Cup champions. The second barrier was the seventh game against Charlotte, a 2-1 gut-check win with a pair of goals coming from Mark Van Guilder. The third task occurred on Saturday in Reading, a 6-4 triumph. The fourth, and most recent, came in the -0 win at Reading last night.
ELIMINATION GAMES: Under Head Coach Chuck Weber, the Cyclones are 7-2 in games that require a win to keep a playoff season alive. On the other side of the coin--in the past four years Cincinnati is 8-5 in games when it can eliminate its opponent from the postseason. Since the start of the 2008 Kelly Cup playoffs that record is 7-2 with the ability to eliminate the opponent.
BACK TO THE CONFERENCE FINALS: For the third straight season, the Cyclones are involved in the American Conference Finals. Cincinnati becomes only the third team in ECHL history to go to the league semifinals in three straight campaigns. Greensboro (1989-90-91) and Alaska (2004-05-06) are the others to accomplish the feat.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Cyclones got two goals from Mathieu Aubin and two point games from Dustin Sproat and Mark Van Guilder in a 5-0 victory over Reading last night. Robert Mayer turned away all 29 shots he faced in his first pro playoff shutout. Cincinnati used a three goal second period for the second straight night to blow the game open.
ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones used a three goal second period to blow open a 6-4 win at Reading on May 8. Dustin Sproat had a pair of goals and an assist, while Josh Heidinger had a goal and an assist and Mathieu Aubin and Barret Ehgoetz each had a pair of assists to pace the offense. Jeremy Smith stopped 28 shots to secure the defensive effort.
ABOUT TUESDAY NIGHT...: The Reading Royals scored three times in the first eleven minutes and cruised to a 4-2 win over the Cyclones. Barret Ehgoetz and Jimmy Kilpatrick had the goals for Cincinnati in the loss.
SMITH MOVES UP: Cyclones goaltender Jeremy Smith is closing in on a pair of team playoff season records. Smith's 948 minutes passes Cedrick Desjardins for the top spot, set during the 2008 championship season. His 16 games played in the postseason tie Desjardins for most in a single season. Jeremy's 416 saves are just 28 shy of equalling the club's single season record.
MAYER PRETTY GOOD ALSO: Cyclones goaltender Robert Mayer spent the first two rounds of the Kelly Cup playoffs backing up Hamilton (AHL) in the Calder Cup playoffs. Mayer returned during the American Conference Finals and made his pro playoff debut in relief on Tuesday night, stopping 15 of 16 shots faced in a little more than two periods of action. Yesterday, he turned away all 29 shots in his first pro playoff start and took the shutout. Robert is one of six goaltenders in the Kelly Cup playoffs with a shutout.
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE: The Cyclones have had three goal periods in each of the last two games and have netted at least a trio of goals in five different stanzas during the playoffs. In game three of the Charlotte series (April 21), the club lit the lamp four times in the second and three more times in the third for a 9-5 victory--their highest offensive output in a postseason game in team history.
NINE IS NOT ENOUGH: The Cyclones collected the game winning goal from Mathieu Aubin on Sunday night. Cincinnati has won nine games in the Kelly Cup playoffs with a different player collecting the game winning goal in each contest.
COMEBACK KIDS: The Cyclones have five come-from-behind victories in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The two games that were not comeback wins were game three of the South Carolina game, when Josh Heidinger scored in the 17th minute of overtime to break a scoreless tie and game seven on Wednesday.
DIRECTOR OF COMEBACKS: Cyclones Head Coach Chuck Weber has guided the club to five come-from-behind wins in these Kelly Cup playoffs and 15 in his four playoff seasons at the helm. In the four regular seasons under Weber's direction, Cincinnati has recorded 64 regular season comeback wins.
THAT IS ODD: The Cyclones have enjoyed success in the Kelly Cup playoffs in odd numbered games of a series (games one, three, five and seven), posting a 8-2 record. Cincinnati has struggled a bit in the even numbered games side (games two, four and six), turning in a 1-6 record.
GETTING OFF TO A GOOD START: The Cyclones led the ECHL during the regular season with 46 first goals, posting a 35-10-1 record. In the playoffs, the club has been perfect when it scores first--turning in a 6-0 record. Only Reading (eleven) and Charlotte (seven) have had more first goals than Cincinnati in the postseason.
LIFE IN THE AHL: The Cincinnati Cyclones playoff roster features 23 players with a combined total of 542 games of American Hockey League experience. That is just 16 games more than Reading forward Gavin Morgan has collected in his eleven season playing career. The Royals, who feature two eleven year pros and an eight year veteran, have 1548 games of AHL experience on their roster.
GET SHORTY: With three shorthanded goals in the Charlotte series, the Cyclones lead the Kelly Cup playoffs with four man-disadvantage goals. Maxime Lacroix and Brett Robinson each have two apiece. Cincinnati led the ECHL during the regular season with 16 shorthanded goals.
CYCLONES AMONG THE POSTSEASON LEADERS: Forward Dustin Sproat is tied for seventh in scoring in the postseason with 14 points...Jimmy Kilpatrick is 14th in scoring with twelve points...Hans Benson is second in penalty minutes with 51...Maxime Lacroix and Brett Robinson are tied for the ECHL lead in shorthanded goals with two...Ian McKenzie is second in the league in shooting percentage at 42.9 percent...Josh Heidinger is tied for 16th in rookie scoring with six points...Brett Motherwell is second among defensemen in scoring with nine points...Brian O'Hanley ranks fourth among rearguard scoring with eight points.
SEVENTH HEAVEN: The Cyclones were a part of the ECHL's 20th game seven in league history on April 28. Cincinnati has been a part of five seventh games--which also is a league record. While the Cyclones have a 3-2 record in these decisive games--it was the first time the club had ever taken a victory on the road.
STORK A SEVENTH GAME VETERAN: Cyclones Assistant Coach Dean Stork has been involved with eight of the 20 seventh games in ECHL history. Playing in four as a player and coaching four others with the Cyclones, Stork has a 6-2 record in these contests.
WE'RE ONLY AT HOME ON THE ROAD...: Under Head Coach Chuck Weber, the Cyclones are 23-9-2 (.676 winning percentage) in playoff games away from U.S. Bank Arena. The club is 19-7-2 away from home since the start of the 2007-08 Kelly Cup playoffs. Cincinnati leads the 2010 Kelly Cup playoffs with six road triumphs. The Cyclones are 6-3-1 in road postseason playoff action this season.
THE THIRD PERIOD IS GREAT!: Cincinnati turned in a 2-19 record when trailing after two periods in the regular season. The Cyclones are 2-7 in the postseason when trailing after a pair of frames. Cincinnati is the only team in these playoffs to come from behind at the start of the third period to win a game on two different occasions.
LISTEN IN!: For fans attending games at U.S. Bank Arena, bringing an FM radio will allow you to listen to the games. Tune in to 106.1 FM to listening to the internet call of the game.
http://tinyurl.com/2566p6u
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