Post Weekend Update

The Boys came out firing on all cylinders Saturday night and captured a 3-2 win highlighted by a 1 goal, 1 assist night for Dustin Sproat and the beat down Hans Benson gave to Rob LaLonde. In the Sunday afternoon rematch the Cyclones came out flat in the first giving up 2 early goals and they never really recovered on the way to a 4-2 loss, their first loss in 5 games. The weekend split with Reading shows how far the Team has come since the start of the year, but also shows there is still growing to do.

-The Cyclones put forward Mark O’Leary on waivers Saturday. This was probably to make room for Mark Van Guilder, but could also indicate that Mark Voakes is getting close to returning.

-Speaking of Mark Van Guilder…I thought he looked like he was pressing and trying to force his game a bit on Saturday night. He looked much more like the player of last season on Sunday. He didn’t register on the score sheet in either game, but if his play on Sunday is any indication, that will should change soon. In possibly related news, it’s been reported that Nashville forward Jordan Tootoo is out for 4 to 6 weeks. I haven’t seen any roster moves yet, but with Milwaukee playing tonight in Toronto and Tuesday in Hamilton, Nashville playing tonight and Thursday night, I’ll be surprised if something doesn’t happen at some point.

-Dwayne Zinger…OK OK, I’ll leave him alone, at least until Tuesday. Honestly, I think Dwayne played his 2 best games of the season and I hope he keeps it up.

-I liked what I saw out of Jeremy Smith. In past games I’ve noticed him struggle after giving up early goals. I thought he played very well, in spite of giving up the 4 goals. On the 1st goal there were maybe some things he could have done different, but it was an amazing pass from former ‘Clone Ben Gordon to Daniel Steiner, who had eluded his check to receive the pass as he skated to the weak side post unmolested, that made the goal. Then second goal deflected off of Doug Krantz. He probably wants the 3rd goal back, but it was a well placed rocket of a shot by Stefano Giliati that was created by a horrendous turnover off the stick of Ryan Del Monte. On the 4th, a power play goal, the puck managed to find it’s way through 4 players, who were all screening Jeremy, before finally finding the back of the net. Smith battled throughout, in a game that, from the start, just felt like it was going to be one of those games were nothing goes right.

-Reading won the special teams battle going 2 for 12 on the power play whereas the Cyclones were shutout on their 7 chances.

-Whoever picked the 3 stars for Sunday’s game put them in the wrong order. Personally would have gone with Zinger with the 3rd star, Gordon (Reading) with the 2nd and Reading goalie Dalton as the 1st. Sure Gordon had 2 assists, but Dalton stopped 36 of 38 shots and of those 38, 25 of them were high quality chances.

-I had a friend in the visitor’s tunnel waiting to play for the Cincinnait Fire Fighter Hockey Team and he relayed to me how visibly upset the Royals were with their play on Saturday Night. It’s impossible to know how the short turnaround effected the Cyclones, but Reading came out firing on Sunday and the score could have been much worse after the first period. I hope the Cyclones were as upset with their Sunday performance as Reading was with theirs the previous night.

-Next up is Toledo this Tuesday night (12/15).  Toledo will come to town on a 3 game win streak and trailing the Cyclones by just 1 point in the standings; the ‘Clones do have 2 games in hand on the Walleye.

Take a look, it’s in a book, the Reading Rainbow

Here is some quick news and notes as we head into a 2 game set with Reading:

-The Cyclones should have a new face in the line-up this weekend. According to the AHL transaction page Mark Van Guilder has been loaned to Cincinnati. Van Guilder led the 08-09 Cyclones with 22g-44a for 70pts. He’s played in 13 games for the Admirals. His production has struggled a bit in the AHL, and with the play of Chris Mueller, Milwaukee can afford to send Mark here for a few games to hopefully jump start his game. Mark got off to a slow start last season but came on strong late in the season after finding confidence in his game.

-Speaking of Chris Mueller, he’s played in 12 games for the Admirals scoring 2 goals and logging 3 assists. If he continues with that effort, I can’t see him coming back to Cincinnati anytime soon.

-The Reading Royals come to town leading the East Division with 29 points, which is also good for 3rd in the conference. The Cyclones have 27 points but have 2 games in hand on the Royals.

-Reading will give up goals. While the Royals come into town with a winning record they have given up more goals than they’ve scored. Their roster boasts 4 goalies, 3 of which have GAA’s over 3. Rookie Matt Dalton gets the bulk of the action for the Royals and sports a 3.47 GAA and a .906 SV%.

-Return of the Bens and a Joey. Ben Gordon, Ben Mcleod and Joey Ryan will return to Cincinnati. Gordon and McLeod, along with 2 players to be named later, were sent to Reading at the trade deadline last season for Mac Faulkner and Gerard Miller. Joey Ryan became a part of the trade in the post season  and was expected to play this season for the Toronto Marlies but found himself at the bottom of the depth chart for the defensively deep Marlies. The final player in the trade was Kyle Rank who is currently playing for the Portland Pirates. An underachiever last season Gordon leads the Royals with 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points.

-The Cyclones PK Unit has climbed back to 2nd in the league, killing off 85.4% of the short handed situations they face. The Royals on the other hand are 18th in the league with just a 79.5% kill rate. The teams have nearly identical PP Units; the Cyclones converting on 16.5% of their chances and Reading converting at 16.4%. Reading has accumulated over 200 more PIMs than the Cyclones, so I give the Cyclones the advantage in the special teams battle.

-Reading has 2 players in the top 20 of the League when it comes to scoring in Ben Gordon and Daniel Steiner.

This is definitely not last years Reading Royals team. They’ve been upgraded at nearly every position. I think the the keys for the Cyclones are:

*Be tenacious on the forecheck. Get pucks deep and keep them there.

*Get a goal early. With 2 young net minders and most likely playing against a rookie goalie, getting the first goal does wonders for the confidence of whom ever we have in net and establishishes doubt in the head of the opposition.

*Stay balanced. The past few games have seen different lines and different players involved in the scoring making it very difficult to match up defensively.

*Shut them down. The numbers indicate that Reading gets much of their scoring from just a few players. The Cyclones have to shut these guys down and force someone else to step up.

*Win the 5 on 5 game and make Reading pay on the PP. The Cyclones have been iffy on the PP this season but with Readings questionable PK Unit, the Cyclones have to convert and make Royals pay.

-Mike-

Henrich Suspended

I’m sure most have heard the news that Adam Henrich has been suspended by the team. This was brought up at last night’s Coach’s Show and rather than speculating and/or starting rumors, here are the nuts and bolts of what   Chuck had to say on the situation;  after playing a game for Springfield Adam asked to be released from his AHL PTO and has returned home to deal with some personal issues. He was suspended so the Cyclones would retain is AA level rights. When pressed for more information on the topic Chuck said he believed Adam would play again this season but did not make any speculation as to where it would be; Cincinnati could remain as an option. Should Adam choose to return to action this season and Chuck feels he is no longer a good fit for the Cyclones, a player of Adam’s skill will be quite valuable on the trade market.

When Adam was acquired from Ontario for Jon Landry in early November, I thought Adam was a great addition to the lineup but didn’t expect him to stay in the line up for long. A player of his size and ability don’t stick around in the ECHL very long, especially when he plays on a team like the Cyclones, whose coach has an open door policy which encourages players to take call-up opportunities. Unfortunately, Adam’s stay in Cincinnati was hampered by injury and now this.

I hope Adam can get his issues dealt with and put behind him. He is a young, talented player that can still have a bright hockey future ahead of him. If he returns to the Cyclones, I’ll be glad to have have him. If not, I wish Adam the best in whatever the future the holds for him.

-Mike-

Cyclones Dull ‘Blades

When Malcolm Cameron brought his Florida Everblades squad to Cincinnati, i’m sure he had visions of finishing off their 7 game roadtrip through the North Division with a winning record. It wasn’t to be as the Cyclones took Friday’s game 2-1 in a shootout and then locked the Everblades down on Saturday with a 3-0 win to send the ‘Blades home with a 3-3-1 record. I’m sure the warm and sunny weather in Florida will offer some consolation.

-The 2 wins keep the Cyclones just a point behind Kalamazoo for the Division lead (the K-wings currently have 1 game in hand on the ‘Clones) and moves them to 6th in the Conference with 27 points.

-Florida brought in a couple of top notch goalies in Barry Brust, who got saddled with a shootout loss, and Mike Morrison, who earned his loss in regulation. The Cyclones got a boost from the AHL when the Milwaukee Admirals decided to call-up Jeremy Smith and send Mark Dekanich down for the weekend. Dekanich’s stellar play was not doubt a catalyst for the weekends results. It was good to see an AHL caliber goalie in town again, hopefully watching what it takes to perform at that at that level will be a good motivator for Robert Mayer. And speaking of Brust, what was with the “twitch” that was going on with his stick hand.

-The Cyclones were without the services of Matt Pierce for the weekend. He was called up along with Smith, but was promptly “McElroyed” by the Admirals. At least the Ads were kind enough to send him back.

-Reid Cashman was recalled by Milwaukee yesterday. Hopefully he won’t get “McElroyed” and actually get to play this time.

-As Dannielle pointed out the Penalty Kill is still going strong. It even got back to it’s early season form killing off 8 0f 8 short handed situations against a talented Florida team

-Dwayne Zinger? The horse is still dead and I’m still beating it. He HAS to get better ASAP.

-The ‘Clones played two of their more physical games against Florida and I think it took them by surprise. It was good to see the Boys finishing their “bumps” in big ways but not skating out of position to do so.

-Mike-

Send Downs & Stats

Finally, my friends, Hamilton is healthy enough to send a player down to us: Maxime Lacroix has been assigned. Lacroix, 22, has 1 point in 16 games with Hamilton, but in 2008-09 he amassed 64 points in 63 games (also 18 points in 23 playoff games) en route to a Kelly Cup Championship with South Carolina. He also maintains well over a penalty-minute per game, so he appears to have a bit of a chippy side to him.

Also I thought I’d catch up on some stats for the boys:
– Dustin Sproat is tied for twelfth in the league in points with 23.
– Matt Pierce, currently on recall to Milwaukee, is sixth in the league in goals with 12.
– Pierce is also tied for the league lead in PPG with 6. While Barret Ehgoetz and Adam Henrich (all with Ontario) are tied for 13 with 4.
– Reid Cashman’s 8 PPA are good for 7th.
– Scott Reynolds is shooting 100% in the shootout on the year (2 for 2).
– Matt Pierce is 5th in rookie scoring.
– The Cyclones have allowed the least goals in the division at 61. Across the league, only Idaho (58) has surrendered less.
– Their 297 PIM are least in the league; 150 less than any team in their division. With only having allowed 103 shorthanded opportunities, their 85.4% is third (88.1% at home). Let’s not talk about the powerplay (16.5%, by the way).
– Jeremy Smith’s 2.45 GAA is 2nd best in the league.

-Dannielle

Major Moves

Of cours immediately after I write an update there is breaking news out of Nashville/Milwaukee that directly affects the Cyclones.

Cyclones net minder Jeremy Smith and leading scorer Matt Pierce have been called up to Milwaukee. In return the Admirals have sent the Cyclones goal tender Mark Dekanich.

Robert Mayer has been playing well as of late but the addition of Dekanich should help the Cyclones in this weekends series if he gets the starting nod this Friday or Saturday.

The loss of Matt Pierce would have had me worried a few weeks ago, but after seeing the team persevere in the absence of Jimmy Kilpatrick, Mark Voakes and Chris Mueller, I feel confident that Chuck and the Boys will find a way to compete. My main concern is the chemistry of the Sproat/Robinson line. Pierce had been the other winger and the three of them worked together amazingly well.

-Mike-

Looking Back and Moving Forward

The Cyclones (11-8-0-1) closed out the month of November with 2 wins over Kalamazoo and a weekend series split with Wheeling. They kept that momentum rolling into December with 2-1 win over Kalamazoo. The ‘Clones currently trail the K-Wings by 2pts for North Division honours and sit in 7th place in the Conference with 23pts.  The league is proving to be pretty balanced this year and with every game taking place within the Conference a team can’t afford too many bad nights. Elmira and Kalamazoo got off to fast starts and have since come back to the pack. Even defending Kelly Cup Champions, the South Carolina Stingrays, who lead the Conference with 30pts, aren’t running away with it, as they have played 3 more games than the Cyclones.

-Welcome back Reid Cashman. It was great to have Reid back with Cincinnati, but unfortunately he didn’t have the impact on the Power Play that we were hoping. Although I’m sure that as he gets re-adjusted that will change.

-Welcome back Adam Henrich. It was good to see him back on the ice. The guy is just huge. He absolutely manhandled a few of the K-Wing defensemen the other night. I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of after he gets his timing after a few more games, but….

-See you later Adam Henrich. Adam Signed a PTO with the Springfield Falcons. Henrich is a big, strong, physical player that has prior AHL experience. He’s proven that he can contribute at the AHL level. I hope this is a short term loan to Springfield, but even if it is, odds are that Adam’s phone will be ringing for another call-up sooner rather than later.

-Another week another trade. The Cyclones acquired Chris Morehouse from Alaska for future considerations. Those future considerations are most like Bryan Leitch, as he was recalled by Milwaukee and then promptly re-assigned to the Great White North. Morehouse is in his first year of professional hockey. His stats would suggest that that he’s about a .5 pt per night player but he makes his biggest impact in the pim column of the stat sheet. If what the Cyclones’ official Twitter is correct those pims won’t be the cheap variety.

-The weekend has former Cyclones skipper Malcolm Cameron and his usual band of all-stars called the Florida Everblades coming to town. The Everblade roster boasts the Leagues leading scorer and a host of talented goalies. The weeks games against the road weary Everblades will be yet another test to see exactly were the Cyclones stand in regards to the rest of the Conference.

-Mike-

Between the Pipes

There has been a bit of discussion regarding the Cyclones’ goal tending situation and since this guy isn’t available, the Cyclones will be using two unproven youngsters this season. The Cyclones have been in this situation before, it was just last season that Coach Weber was forced into acquiring Martin Houle and then Ryan Nie when both Loic Lacasse and Kyle Gajewski got off to very shaky starts; and while Lacasse did come around, Gajewski was bad to the point where he was shipped out to anyone who would take him. At this point I think it’s safe to say that the tandem of Jeremy Smith and Robert Mayer is not Lacasse and Gadjewski.

The tandem has reminded me of the 06-07  Grumet-Morris/Desjardins tandem technique wise. Smith uses positioning and technique to cut angles and block the net in a similar manner to Grumet-Morris, whereas Mayer plays aggressively and uses his athleticism to react to shots much as Desjardins did in the 06-07 season. That, however, is where that comparison ends.

Both Mayer and Smith are well thought of prospects within their systems but it would seem that Smith would have more upside. Smith, a 2nd round pick of the Nashville Predator’s in 2007, has been the more consistent goalie for the Cyclones thus far. He’s under the watchful eye of goalie guru Mitch Korn, and is here to develop his game for the next level. Nashville has another youngster playing professionally in North Amerca; 1st round selection Chet Pickard is currently in Milwaukee. It will not surprise me if Nashville swaps Pickard and Smith at some point in the season so Pickard can get some regular playing time and they can get an idea of how Smith is progressing in regard to playing at a higher level.

My observations of Smith’s play are pretty positive. He is sound positionally and plays with solid technique, both of which will serve him well in the AHL and perhaps beyond. Weaknesses that I’ve noticed are his mental strength, his occasional break downs in regards to technique, and his reliance on technique versus his athleticism. When teams are able to get to Smith early it seems to rattle him a bit; this is a double edge sword as you want a guy in net that feels he can stop everything but at the same time you want a guy that knows how to shake off a bad goal. When his technique breaks down it leads to some soft goals, just as it would with just about any goalie, as we’ve witnessed on a few wrap around goals this season. Going hand in hand with technique break down is Smith’s reliance on it and his lack of scrambling. There have been times when the technique goes south, he doesn’t control a rebound quite as he should or a guy just makes a good move to get him out of position, it results in a goal that looks incredibly soft since he  doesn’t typically flop or scramble. With each game, I see Smith improve as he gains confidence in his team mates and in his ability to play at this level, early goals haven’t seemed to effect him as much. I have also seen him make some diving, scrambling saves recently as well.

Robert Mayer, an undrafted prospect of the Montreal Canadiens, is also here to develop his game; but for different reasons than Smith perhaps. Most of the blogs, websites and other articles I’ve read regarding Mayer suggest that Montreal have not been thrilled with his progression. With 2 other young goalies behind him on the depth chart, it seems that there is some pressure on Mayer to develop the consistency that is needed to progress professionally.

Mayer definitely has the athleticism to keep the puck out of the net. He also seems to have a good head on his shoulders. In order to find the consistency he needs to progress, he needs to play better in regards to position since his aggressiveness can get him into trouble, as he sometimes over plays and finds himself out of the crease. As we saw with Cedrick Desjardins in 07-08, adding the position and technique to an athletic, reactionary game can lead to some growing pains for a goalie. Cedrick did lead the Cyclones to a Kelly Cup but his play early in the season was inconsistent as he emphasized his position and technique. If Robert can adjust and learn to play position first and reaction second, he be just fine. Until that happens, however, his play is likely to be inconsistent.

The 2009-2010 Cyclones are coming together well, but when it’s all said and done, how well they do and how far they go will ultimately be determined by the play of Smith and Mayer.

-Mike-

The Ying and the Yang

If Wednesday’s 4-1 triumph was the teams most complete game of the season, then Frday’s 6-5 victory was their most bi-polar. Kalamazoo came out with a lot of jump and had the Cyclones playing from behind early. The resiliency of the Squad was again noticeable as the Boys answered right back and lead 3-2 at the end of 1. The 2nd started the same way as the 1st and before the Cyclones knew it they trailed by 2 again 5-3. Once again the Guys battled back and started the 3rd all square at 5, when, for the second time in as many games, Scott Reynolds (who had family in town)  received a pass from Barret Ehgoetz behind the K-Wings defense and scored the game winner.

-The game was a bit more chippy then Wednesday’s tilt. Absent from the Cyclones line up was Hans Benson and that may have opened the door a bit for the K-Wings to think they could take some extra liberties with the smaller Cyclones. It certainly didn’t help that Referee Steve Patafie was only calling capital crimes and it looked like the game was going to get out of hand at any moment.

-I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but, in reference to Lloyd’s goal in the second, can Dwayne Zinger move any slower in transition? Again, I’m holding judgment because I really want to like this guy. Is he healthy?

-The Penalty Kill was just 2 for 5 and no longer leads the league.  They still kill off 86.7% of the short handed situations, and that’s not too shabby.

-Scott Reynolds still has a knack for game winners.  In 2007-2008 Reynolds scored 13 goals all season, 4 of which were game winners.  In 17 games this season Scott has 7 goals, 3 of which have been game winners.

-After getting to see Kalamazoo in person, they are an offensive team, but is only truly potent in transition. 2 of their 5 goals were of the power play variety, one of which was on a beauty of a pass through the goal mouth. The goals that weren’t PP goals were all in transition play or break aways. I wasn’t really impressed with their play in the offensive zone 5 on 5. The Kalamazoo wings sellout and leave the defensive zone very early and the Cyclone forwards were able to take advantage by creating turnovers off the half wall creating some really good odd man scoring chances. The secrets to success against Kalamazoo at this point would appear to be puck control, not letting their forwards get behind the Defense on transition and just locking down their transition play in general.

-Mike-

K-Wings Grounded

In their first trip to Cincinnati the K-Wings certainly weren’t flying, as the Cyclones came up one short of providing the 3156 in attendance with some Thanksgiving BBQ. The 4-1 victory was probably one of the Cyclones most complete game of the season.  The Boys took it to Kalamazoo early and didn’t let up, the lone K-wings goal was a Power Play tally that ‘Clones net minder Jeremy Smith probably wants back. The effort saw 7 different Cyclones tally points as the Boys out shot the K-Wings 45 to 26. The Defense played well, stifling the K-Zoo forwards on the few occasions they were able to mount an attack. From zone to zone, the game showed what this years team is capable of when they keep their feet moving and play for a full 60 minutes.

-Dustin Sproat keeps rolling, as does Scott Reynolds. When the Cyclones get Voakes healthy and if Chris Mueller returns from Milwaukee, the Cyclones will have legitimate scoring threats on each line; something they haven’t had since the Kelly Cup Championship year.

-Not so lame duck. In a previous post, I raised some questions about Dwayne Zinger after watching him play some questionable games. Last night Dwayne played an excellent game. I hope it’s a trend that continues and that previous efforts were a fluke.

-There was a distinct lack of chippiness in last nights game. Could it be the beat down Zinger put on Lloyd a few games back? Or perhaps the return of Hans Benson? I’m thinking it’s a bit of both. Zinger has proven his value at standing up for teammates and now with Benson back in the fold the Boys certainly have a little more edge to their game. Factor in a little Ryan Del Monte and Brett Robinson (Brett says that his game has some edge and he likes to chirp a bit, but hasn’t done too much of it yet) and the Cyclones have plenty of edge to keep the opposition honest.

-McLean keeps getting better. I said previously that Mike was not living up to my expectations, but after a multi-assist night a few games back, Mike kept it going with a second period goal that I can only describe as disturbingly nice. It’s good to seem him get it going.

-Since the weekday series with Trenton that saw the Cyclones only manage 1 Power Play goal despite 19 chances, the ‘Clones have scored Power Play goals in their last 3 games. The Power Play is currently ranked 8th in the League at 18.6% which isn’t bad, but with the opportunities the Team is generating it would be nice to see the Unit convert around 20% to really make the opponents pay.

We would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We thank you all for stopping by our little corner of the interweb.

-Mike-