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Cincinnati Cyclones
Founded	1990 (suspended operations in 2004, re-activated in 2006)
Home ice	U.S. Bank Arena since 1997, Cincinnati Gardens before 1997
Based in	Cincinnati, Ohio
Colors	Red, Black, Yellow
League	ECHL
Conference	American
Division	North
Head coach	Chuck Weber
General manager	Ray Harris, President
Owner	Nederlander Cincinnati
Media Affiliates	B2 Networks Internet Audio\Video feeds
Captain	Chad Starling
Alternates	Sam Ftorek and Jason Deitsch
Affiliates	Montreal Canadiens (NHL) Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)
Division Championships	1995-96 (IHL)
Conference Championships	1995-96 (IHL)
League Championships	None

The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio who have played in the ECHL and the International Hockey League. Founded in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at U.S. Bank Arena.

Contents 1 History of the Cincinnati Cyclones 1.1 The Early ECHL Years: 1990-1992 1.2 The IHL Years: 1992-2001 1.3 Back In The ECHL: 2001-Present 2 Season-by-season record 3 Current Roster 4 Team captains 5 Hall of Famers 6 NHLers 7 Notable players 8 Retired Numbers 9 Miscellaneous 9.1 Team Highs 9.2 Infamous moments 10 References 11 External links

There have been three separate entities, or franchises, known as the Cincinnati Cyclones. All three franchises have been hockey teams, two in the ECHL and one in the IHL.

The first franchise to use the name Cincinnati Cyclones was founded in 1990. The team played their games during this time period at the Cincinnati Gardens. They lost in the first round of the playoffs in the 1990-1991 season. In the 1991-1992 season, the Cyclones lost in the Kelly Cup semi-finals. The team's owner at the time, Doug Kirchoffer, was granted an IHL franchise who chose to move the Cyclones name to that franchise and sell the ECHL franchise to the ownership group that moved the franchise to Birmingham, Alabama to form the new Birmingham Bulls.

Since moving to Birmingham, this franchise has seen stints in three cities across the United States. The franchise played in Birmingham from the 1992-1993 season until the 2000-2001 season. Following the completion of the 2000-2001 season, the franchise moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey to become the short-lived Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. The Boardwalk Bullies played for four seasons, the 2001-2002 season through the 2004-2005 season, before being moved to another city. While in New Jersey, the franchise won a Kelly Cup Championship in the 2002-2003 season, defeating the Columbia Inferno in the finals. Despite the success on ice, the Boardwalk Bullies were unable to draw much of a crowd, and as a result, were sold to the current ownership group. This ownership group moved the team to Stockton, California and changed the name to the Stockton Thunder. The franchise has been in Stockton since 2005-2006 and are coached by a former Cincinnati Cyclones player, Chris Cichocki.

The first season in the IHL, Cincinnati failed to qualify for the post-season, which would be the first of only two seasons where they did not qualify. Paul Lawless, who would eventually be Head Coach and Vice President of Player Development and have his number 13 retired, began his first a several stints with the team in the 1992-1993 season. On Friday, April 2, 2004, during his number retirement ceremony, he was singled out as a reason for the team's success, both on the ice and in attendance. During the IHL years, the Cyclones set a team record of 8 consecutive 90+ Point Seasons, ending with the IHL itself folding. During the Cyclones 9 years in the IHL, they won their only Division Championship and Conference Championship, both in the 1995-1996 season, but lost in a seven-game semi-final series to the Orlando Solar Bears.

In 1997, the Cyclones' lease agreement with the Cincinnati Gardens came to an end and the two sides were unable to reach an agreement for a new contract. It was at this time that team owner, Doug Kirchoffer purchased what then was known as Riverfront Coliseum in downtown Cincinnati, re-named it The Crown, renovated the arena, and moved the team there. During the seven seasons the Cyclones were in the arena, the venue was re-named the Firstar Center and now is known as U.S. Bank Arena. The team has since been unsuccessful in reclaiming the higher attendance numbers from the Cincinnati Gardens.

On June 4, 2001, the International Hockey League ceased operations.

The third franchise with the name Cyclones started in the 1995-1996 ECHL season as the Louisville River Frogs, playing in Louisville, Kentucky. After three years in Louisville, the team moved to Miami, Florida. After the lone season, 1998-1999, as the Miami Matadors, the franchise eventually came into the ownership of a group in Birmingham, Alabama. Upon the IHL fold, the Cyclones name was sold to this ownership group who moved the franchise to Cincinnati to become the new Cincinnati Cyclones.

The first year back in the ECHL ended the team's streak of 90+ Point seasons with the Cyclones finishing just 12 points shy despite a 10 game fewer season length. During this first season back in the ECHL is when former Cyclones player Paul Lawless became head coach, as a mid-season replacement for Ray Edwards.

Many Cyclones fans were happy at the start of the 2003-2004 season, as former Cyclones player and assistant coach, Chris Cichocki left the Arkansas RiverBlades in order to return as the Cyclones head coach. Despite his success with Arkansas, though, Cichocki led the team to their worst season in points at 54 (previous low being the 61 points in their first IHL season) and finishing shy of the playoffs for the second time in team history.

Shortly after ending the season without a playoff berth, in April of 2004, the Cyclones suspended operations. This suspension in operations was mainly due to lack of revenue brought on by a lack of safe access to the arena. Safe access was limited by construction in Downtown Cincinnati. This dormancy left Cincinnati hockey to the cross-town, Cincinnati Gardens-based AHL rival, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and stopped the city's record of two minor league hockey teams in the same city for consecutive years.

T With minor league hockey dormant in Cincinnati for a year, and plans for the proposed AHL Cincinnati RailRaiders franchise scrapped for 2006-07, on April 21, 2006 the Cyclones announced that they would participate in the upcoming 2006-2007 ECHL season. They returned in the American Conference, North Division of the ECHL and continue to play their home games at U.S. Bank Arena, joining their two ECHL, Ohio rivals, Dayton Bombers and Toledo Storm.

On July 18, 2006, the Cyclones announced their affiliation with the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL and the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. The Cyclones won their first game back in the ECHL on October 20 against the Pensacola Ice Pilots at U.S. Bank Arena with a score of 3 to 1.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, SOL = Shootout Losses, PTS = Points, PCT = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of October 30, 2006.^[1][2][3]

Season	League	Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	PIM	Coach(es)	Result
1990-91	ECHL	West	64	37	24	0	3	0	77	0.578	285	281	1954	Dennis Desrosiers	Lost in round 1
1991-92	ECHL	West	64	36	20	0	8	0	80	0.562	329	284	2323	Dennis Desrosiers	Lost in round 3
1992-93	IHL	IHLA	82	27	48	0	7	0	61	0.329	305	364	2388	Dennis Desrosiers	Out of Playoffs
1993-94	IHL	IHLC	81	49	23	0	9	0	107	0.605	336	282	2214	Dennis Desrosiers, Richard Kromm, Terry Murray	Lost in round 2
1994-95	IHL	Midwest	81	49	22	0	10	0	113	0.605	305	272	2125	Don Jackson	Lost in round 2
1995-96	IHL	IHLN	82	51	22	0	9	0	111	0.622	318	247	1806	Ron Smith	Lost in round 3
1996-97	IHL	IHLN	82	43	29	0	10	0	96	0.524	254	248	1890	Ron Smith	Lost in round 1
1997-98	IHL	IHLC	82	40	30	0	12	0	92	0.488	275	254	1702	Ron Smith	Lost in round 2
1998-99	IHL	IHLNE	82	44	32	0	6	0	94	0.537	269	270	1835	Ron Smith	Lost in round 1
1999-00	IHL	IHLE	82	44	30	0	8	0	96	0.537	244	246	1688	Ron Smith	Lost in round 3
2000-01	IHL	IHLE	82	44	29	0	9	0	97	0.537	267	258	1273	Ron Smith	Lost in round 1
2001-02	ECHL	Northwest	72	36	30	6	0	0	78	0.542	210	207	1462	Ray Edwards, Paul Lawless	Lost in round 2
2002-03	ECHL	Northwest	72	36	29	7	0	0	79	0.549	257	236	1686	Malcolm Cameron	Lost in round 3
2003-04	ECHL	Northern	72	25	43	4	0	0	54	0.375	175	223	1308	Chris Cichocki	Out of Playoffs
2006-07	ECHL	North	21	10	10	0	1	0	21	0.500	52	52	534	Chuck Weber	TBD
Totals	2	10	1084	564	412	17	91	0	1239	0.520	3844	3681	25782	10	12/14 Playoff Seasons

As of December 31, 2006. Numbers taken from ECHL website.^[4]

Goaltenders
#		Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth
1		Ben Gray	R	June 26, 1982	Farmingdale, Maine, USA
30		Cedrick Desjardins	L	September 30, 1985	Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada

Defencemen
#		Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
2		Chad Starling	L	September 16, 1980	Delisle, Saskatchewan, Canada
4		Matt Macdonald	L	March 16, 1983	Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
5		Jon Gleed	R	January 3, 1984	Milton, Ontario, Canada
10		Brian Mullally	R	December 7, 1981	Maynard, Massachusetts, USA
25		Jarred Mohr	L	January 13, 1985	Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
44		Conrad Martin	R	October 25, 1982	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
88		Rory Rawlyk	L	September 9, 1983	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Forwards
#		Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
8		Sam Ftorek	L	November 30, 1974	Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, USA
11		Barret Ehgoetz	L	April 16, 1981	Kincardine, Ontario, Canada
15		Avery Wilson	L	November 6, 1980	Marquette, Michigan, USA
16		Greg Stewart	L	May 21, 1986	Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
18		Mathieu Aubin	R	September 18, 1986	Sorel, Quebec, Canada
19		Jason Deitsch	L	April 21, 1980	Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
23		Cory Urquhart	R	October 1, 1984	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
24		Jimmy Bonneau	R	March 22, 1985	Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada
27		Scott Reynolds	R	March 17, 1981	Kerrobert, Saskatchewan, Canada
47		Erik Johnson	R	May 21, 1981	Coon Rapids, Minnesota, USA
62		Jean-Michel Daoust	R	November 24, 1983	Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada
64		Torry Gajda	L	May 31, 1983	Westfield, Massachusetts, USA

Staff
Title	Staff Member
Head Coach	Chuck Weber
Assistant Coach	Dean Stork
Trainer	Bob Case
Equipment Manager	Chris Burke
Public Address Announcer	Paul Horton

• 2006-2007
  • C - Chad Starling
    • A - Sam Ftorek
    • A - Jason Deitsch
    • A - Barret Ehgoetz

• 20 - Kevin Kerr: All-time leader in scoring for non-NHL players, played three seasons and 112 games with Cincinnati, tallying 145 points in regular season play and 19 points in 13 playoff games with the Cyclones.

• 7* - Retired in honor of the fans. The fans, being the seventh player, were recognized by the team by the dedication of the number 7 to them.
• 22 - Don Biggs
• 13 - Paul Lawless on April 2, 2004.
• 14* - Retired in honor of Pete Rose, the Cincinnati Reds baseball player. Since he is banned by Major League Baseball, the Reds cannot retire his number. The Cyclones retired the number in his honor for this reason.
• 21 - Gilbert Dionne - Retired on December 2, 2006.

* - Denotes honorary number.

• January 3, 1992 - Highest Goals For in a single Cyclones game; Roanoke Valley Rebels 2, Cyclones 13.

• Cyclones coach Don Jackson punches the Atlanta mascot, thus drawing a suspension from the league.
• A large fight broke out at a home game against the Cleveland Lumberjacks during the 1998 IHL season. It happened with about two minutes left in the game, and even the team's goaltenders got involved in the fight. The whole thing took around twenty minutes to complete. It is often remembered and reminisced as an "infamous" incident among longtime fans, and heated the Ohio rivalry between Cincinnati and Cleveland in the International Hockey League.

1. ^ Hockeydb.com, http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/teamseasons.php?tid=106 Cincinnati Cyclones season statistics and records 1990-1992.]
2. ^ Hockeydb.com, http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/teamseasons.php?tid=69 Cincinnati Cyclones season statistics and records 1992-2001.]
3. ^ Hockeydb.com, http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/teamseasons.php?tid=2694 Cincinnati Cyclones season statistics and records 2001-2007.]
4. ^ http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/roster.php?team_id=5

• Cincinnati Cyclones' Official Web site

ECHL

2006-07 teams: Alaska Aces | Augusta Lynx | Bakersfield Condors | Charlotte Checkers | Cincinnati Cyclones | Columbia Inferno | Dayton Bombers | Florida Everblades | Fresno Falcons | Gwinnett Gladiators | Idaho Steelheads | Johnstown Chiefs | Las Vegas Wranglers | Long Beach Ice Dogs | Pensacola Ice Pilots | Phoenix RoadRunners | Reading Royals | South Carolina Stingrays | Stockton Thunder | Texas Wildcatters | Toledo Storm | Trenton Titans | Utah Grizzlies | Victoria Salmon Kings | Wheeling Nailers

Planned 2007-08 teams: Mississippi Sea Wolves

Trophies and Awards: Patrick J. Kelly Cup

Related Articles: NHL | AHL | CHL | SPHL | UHL | World Cup