Cyclones vs. Jackyls Pre-View

The Cincinnati Cyclones will open their 2010-11 ECHL season this Friday, October 15^th in Elmira, NY against the host Jackyls. The Clones will also face Elmira on Saturday. Cincinnati won their second Kelly Cup title on May 21, 2010 with a 2-1 win over the Idaho Steelheads - taking the series four games to one. 

Under A New Helm: The Cyclones will begin a new era of hockey this week, as Head Coach Jarrod Skalde and Assistant Coach Scott Fankhouser will both stand behind the Cincinnati bench for the first time.  Skalde takes over for Chuck Weber, who earned an AHL coaching job in Rochester this year.  Both Skalde and Fankhouser have seen time in the NHL.  Skalde played 115 games at hockey’s highest level, spending time with eight different teams during that stretch.  Fankhouser, meanwhile, appeared between the pipes in 23 games for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Welcome Back Eggo: For the fifth-straight season, Barret Ehgoetz will once again don the Cyclones colors.  The Captain was the only player to have been a part of all four years of the Chuck Weber Era in Cincinnati.  He owns 21 team records including the career scoring lead (233 points), games played (271), assists (152), shorthanded goals (eight) and shots on goal (696).  In the 2009-10 regular season, the Cyclones Captain logged 69 games – scoring 23 goals and 40 assists.

D-FENSE!: The Cyclones added some offensive potency to their blue-line this offseason when they added defending ECHL Defenseman of the Year, J.C. Sawyer to the 2010-11 Roster.  He had a career year with Toledo in 2009-10 by pacing all ECHL defenseman in goals (21), points (59), and game-winnings goals (7).  His 38 assists ranked him second among league blue-liners, while he finished tied for fourth with 18 power-play assists and fifth with 24 power-play points.

Between The Pipes: Due to the call-up of Jeremy Smith, Rookie goaltender, Marc Cheverie will start in net for the Cyclones on opening night against the Jackyls. The rookie comes to Cincinnati after three seasons at the University of Denver.  He was a Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist last season and the INCH Goaltender of the year.

Scouting Elmira: The Cyclones and Jackals spilt the 2009-10 season series, 2-2.  However, Cincinnati leads the All-Time series with Elmira, posting a 16-7-0-2 record over three seasons..  Former Cyclones Head Coach Malcolm Cameron takes over the Jackals this year after spending the last two seasons behind the bench of the Florida Everblades. Forward, Justin Donati finished second in MVP voting last season scoring 103 points.