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.

MILLER TIME

BYE BRYAN SCHMIDT!

Hellooooo Gerard Miller!

Game PPD due to zam issues has been rescheduled for 11/18.

Cyclones 5, Trenton 3

David Desharnais is a beast. Just, clearly, a beast.

I can't figure out how Bryan Schmidt is putting so many points on the board. He.is.awful. But to his credit, I said his name in vain much fewer times last night than preseason or the opener last week. (Please note the -1 though. kthxbye.)

Starls was a plus!!! I mean, duh. It's Starls, and he is the pluth mathta.

Also, those game notes on the Cyclones' home page? Basically the coolest thing ever. You know, if you're obsessed with statistics like I am.

That is all. See you all tonight (in costume).

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. :)

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.