Knock, knock... anybody home?

I know, I know. It's been three and a half months since I updated. I'm a bit of a slacker, sometimes, and it doesn't help that I kind of picked up and moved to Louisville... but never the less, I have good things to share:

2007-08 Weekly/Monthly/Yearly Awards Recap

ECHL All-Rookie Team: David Desharnais
All-ECHL First Team: David Desharnais
All-ECHL Second Team: Chad Starling

InGlasCo Player of the Week
- Mathieu Aubin: February 18-24

CCM Player of the Month
- JM Daoust: November 2007; December 2007

RBK Hockey Goaltender of the Week
- Dov Grumet-Morris: February 11-17

RBC Financial Group Saver of the Month
- Cedrick Desjardins: February 2008

PaysourceUSA Plus/Minus Performer of the Month
- Chad Starling: February 2008
- Scott Reynolds & Matt MacDonald: December 2007
- David Desharnais: November 2007

Vector/CCM Rookie of the Month:
- David Desharnais: March 2008, February 2008, November 2007

...more awesomeness forthcoming, I promise!

Stats Extravaganza and more

With the 5-4 Win over Dayton -- the boys are at 19 points, a .731 win percentage, and have a two-point lead over Elmira & Reading for first in the North division, and still share a piece of the American lead. Plus Gerard Miller lost a couple teeth so he's pretty hardcore now.

Congratulations to JM Daoust -- his 6-game goal streak is currently the second longest in professional hockey this season!

With almost exactly one month in the books...
- The Cyclones are still tied for the goal lead & have allowed the 3rd-fewest (behind two teams with less GP).
- JM Daoust & David Desharnais are 8th & 9th respectively in overall scoring.
- Desharnais' 17 pts are second in rookie scoring. Beauregard's 12 are good for 10th.
- Desjardins' 2.16 is 5th best overall, and Grumet-Morris' 2.29 is 7th. Grumet-Morris ranks 8th in wins with 5.
- 5 players are averaging at least a point per game (Desharnais, Aubin, Daoust, Beauregard, and yes - my least favorite player ever - Bryan Schmidt, somehow...).
- Desharnais is a +12. I REALLY like this guy. 10 others are at least a +5

- My first month of the season MVP pick: very easily David Desharnais.

The make-up game for Friday's atrocity is Tuesday -- tickets are good for that game -- hope to see all of you (and David Desharnais) there.

Catching up

Not that I'm sure anybody noticed my slacking, but I've been sick so the poor little blog took a little hiatus... but I'm back, now (and still sick).

Let's see. Game one in Elmira was ugly and deserves no further mention. The second one was much better, obviously, being 5-1... Dov stopped 30 shots in the win. The next night they spoiled Reading's home opener with a 3-0 win including two goals by Scotty Reynolds. Cedrick stopped all 30 shots in the win. In Dayton on Sunday after a long bus ride home, they dropped 3-2 to the Bombers after giving up a goal to Beaudoin with 0:52 to go.

Finally back home after the 4 (+1 to be played later) game road trip, they stopped Wheeling on Wet Wednesday with a couple of goals by Billy Irish-Baker and the second consecutive shutout by Desjardins. Is anyone else as impressed by this kid? 3 points in 5 games, +4... plays like he's 6'3" and can actually skate...

Last night's game was fun and a little out of control. Avery Wilson got things started 3:04 into the first frame. Yes, that Avery Wilson... and then did it again at the 18:00 mark. He ended up a +3 on the night and managed to not get a single penalty the whole game. Ladies and gentlemen, Avery Wilson is a born-again power forward. Haha. Anyway, three players (Wilson, Aubin, and Beauregard) had two goals apiece... Daoust and Reynolds added the other two, and Dov made 18 stops in the 8-1 win. The 'Clones had 42 shots of their own.

Also, Bryan Schmidt is back from his brief stint with Milwaukee and Fuller has been loaned to Milwaukee.

The team sits at 6-3-0, good for first in the North Division.

Boring stats stuff that excites very few people other than me:
Thomas Beauregard's 10 points are good for 5th in rookie scoring. Desharnais' 9 are good for 12th.
Gerard Miller has 5 points in 6 games since joining the team, 8th among league defensemen.
Desjardins leads the ECHL goalies in shutouts with 2 (and in just 4 chances). Has the Cedrick Desjardins of 2006-07 come back?
Gallagher, Perkins, and Syroczynski are the only skaters to have not yet amassed at least one point.

The Cyclones...
...have the fourth best record in the league.
...have given up the fewest goals in the division (19), and scored the most (35).
...have the 6th best power play in the league at 21.7%, 2nd best road power play at 25.0%
...have the 5th best home PK with 92.0%, 5th best road PK at 88.2%, putting them fourth overall at 89.9%

Don't forget Throwback Night on Saturday! $6 tickets, $1 pop/beer/hot dogs, $0.25 popcorn... and another chance to show Augusta how Northern Division hockey is played. :)

Also don't forget to check out my pictures here... updated constantly. :)

Opening Night Observations

• First of all - why don't we have a captain?
• Dov, way to scare the hell out of us all night. Also way to keep your head on straight even when things were getting shaky. You kept us in it.
• Bryan Schmidt, not a big fan. 4 points, but a -1 and 4 PIM and pulled a Dean Stork defense move approximately twelve times. Hey guess what, that means you fail. Please, have a seat.
• Chad Starling is sort of out of control, but I kind of like it.
• EVERYONE WAS A F*#$ING MINUS BASICALLY. Power play goals kind of hurt us that way, but 4/9 on the PP is pretty much cool with me. 0 goals on the PK, so the PK did things right and that's okay.
• "What's the score now, bitch?"
• Who did Yannick Tifu blow to get an A? Or does that stand for ... nevermind.
• Hey Goulet, you're a Bomber now, but thanks for the PP opportunities.
• Howells and A. Martin combined for 11 SOG. Way to be. Very impressed with both so far. Also with Sixsmith, who put up 2 A's on the score sheet.
• 7801, hahahahahahaha.
• Yay 1-0 and starting the season in 2nd place!
• Also poll results: 11 for Cedrick (61%), 4 for Dov (22%), 2 for Smith (11%) and 1 for "someone else".

Musings from the Road

Hello from windy and cold Youngstown, OH. Our boys opened up preseason play tonight with a 4-1 win over the Steelhounds. The game opened slowly and after the end of 1 was tied at zero. Dov Grumet-Morris was in net and faced only 3 shots in the first period, but ended up with 14 on the night and only 1 (glove side high, of course) went in. He did look impressive, though. The team also did a simulated shootout after the game and Dover looked great. The Clones had something like 30 shots on former Wheeling netminder Andy Franck, and three of their four goals came in a 3 minute span. Two were by Matt MacDonald, two by newcomer Travis Fuller. Three of their goals were powerplay goals. In the second period, their power play looked incredible. Things clicked, passes were made. Very impressive. Hopefully that translates over into the regular season.

A few new players that made impressions: obviously Fuller with two goals; rookie Sean Perkins with two assists; former Storm forward Andrew Martin stepped up with some intense, high-speed play; Billy Irish-Baker was throwing his weight around well. One player I was not impressed with was defenseman Bryan Schmidt, he didn't skate well and looked like he was on a completely different page than the rest of the team. Sloppy.

Overall, they looked good. When I make it back to Cincinnati I'll be sure to link some pictures over if anyone's interested. Not sure if I'm making it to the Kettering game, if not - let me know how they look. :)

Last minute updates

Both training camp goalies (Lansdowne & Smith) were released (according to cycloneshockey.com we have 23 players in camp). Means we should be seeing both Grumet-Morris and Desjardins dressed tonight in Youngstown. If you can't make it be sure to listen to Hammer on cycloneshockey.com -- and check back here for a post-game update from Y-Town. Game time is 7:05.

The team also released their promo schedule... highlighted by Twister Bobbleheads (!!!!!), Nashville Predators Night, Montreal Canadiens Night, and the return of Faith Night (note: Grumet-Morris will be in net, whether you like it or not). Also, Wet Wednesday & Thirsty Thursdays are also back.

Only slightly-related note: The Bulldogs raise their Calder Cup Banner tonight in Hamilton vs the Amerks. :)

Miscellany

• P.O. Mouton was released by the team on Friday.
• Meltdown in Dayton? Columbus severed ties with Dayton, and move affiliation to Elmira. Camp for the neighboring Bombers opens October 11th, just 3 days before their matchup with the Cyclones. Detroit, having no ECHL affiliate, could make the move, but we'll have to see how it pans out for the Bomb Squad.
• As for the Cyclones, in day 2 of camp - they're looking fast, solid, working well together already. Except for Dov "Top Corner" Grumet-Morris. But we won't go there...

Hamilton demotes 4, MacDonald returned, Milwaukee sends 3 (UPDATED)

Matt MacDonald was returned by Rockford to the team on Monday. More here.

The team received four from Hamilton today - forwards Mathieu Aubin, David Desharnais, Thomas Beauregard, and goaltender Cedrick Desjardins.

• Aubin, 21, went 16-30-46 in 48 games with the Cyclones in 2006-07, including 9 points in 10 playoff games. He also had 5 points in 17 games with Hamilton.
• Desharnais, 21, finished a successful QMJHL career in 2007, finishing last season with an impressive 108 points in 61 games (374 points in 262 career games with Chicoutimi). He also suited up in 7 games with Bridgeport and went 1-1-2.
• Beauregard, 21, is also a product of the QMJHL and scored 124 points in 69 games with Acadie-Bathurst.
• Desjardins, 22, returns to Cincinnati for his second professional season after going 24-19-1 with a 2.54 GAA and .917 SPCT. He also went 0-2 in two games for Hamilton.

Milwaukee also assigned three to the team, goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris, forward James Sixsmith, and defenseman Bryan Schmidt.

• Grumet-Morris, 25, split the season between Cincinnati and three AHL clubs (Hamilton, Portland, and Manitoba). With the Cyclones he went 11-8-3 with a .909/2.77.
• Schmidt, 26, notched 18 points in 58 games with Manchester of the AHL. He also spent six games with Reading (ECHL).
• Sixsmith, 23, joins the team from the college ranks out of Holy Cross where he averaged 38 points per season. He also played three games with Bridgeport (AHL), and had was 2-1-3.

Current roster stands at 22:

• Goaltenders (4): Cedrick Desjardins, Dov Grumet-Morris, John Smith (PTO), Lee Lansdowne (PTO)
• Forwards (14*): Barret Ehgoetz, Scott Reynolds, Mathieu Aubin, David Desharnais, Thomas Beauregard, Jean-Michel Daoust, Avery Wilson, Travis Fuller, Billy Irish-Baker, Andrew Martin, Matt Rogers, Steven Doherty (PTO), P.O. Mouton (PTO), James Sixsmith
• Defensemen (7): Matt MacDonald, Chad Starling, Conrad Martin, Tyler Howells, Greg Gallagher, Sean Perkins (PTO), Bryan Schmidt

*Forward Gerard Miller is still with Hamilton.

Training camp updates

In Hagersville, ON the Hamilton Bulldogs took a 7-6 win in OT in their final preseason matchup on a goal by Cyclones' Gerard Miller... Mathieu Aubin and Greg Stewart each recorded two assists... Desjardins with 17 saves after replacing Yann Danis after one period of play. Bulldogs' season begins October 6th.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee, Dov Grumet-Morris and Maxime Daigeneault combined for 21 saves in the Admirals' final preseason game. Their season opens October 6th in Peoria.

Camp opens for the Cyclones on Friday October 5th at Sports Plus. Don't forget:

Tuesday 10/9 @ 4pm - intrasquad scrimmage
Friday 10/12 @ 705pm - Cyclones @ Youngstown (preseason)
Sunday 10/14 @ 7pm - Cyclones @ Dayton (Kettering)
Wednesday 10/17 @ 6pm - Open House (meet the team, buy equipment, tour the locker rooms)