The Cyclones!

[PM Thor]

The Cincy Cyclones took a 2 game to none lead in the American Conference Championships. This is awesome hockey people. The Cyclones scored 4 goals in the Third period to force OT, and then they won.

I really like hockey, but I don't get to see enough of it (go Wings). When the Cyclones come back to Cincy, I say we get a group together to go to a game.

Meet up down there, and the tickets aren't more than 15-20 each. It's a good time.

[wkrq59]

PM,
I'd rather watch the Red Wings and Stars and the Flightless Birds and Flyers on TV. I've covered every hockey team in this city from 1971 through and including 1999 when I retired.
The best minor league hockey team this city ever saw was the 1972-73 Cincinnati Swords of the American Hockey League. They set all kinds of records--team and individual--won the Calder Cup, the only team post 1960s to bring a hockey championship to Cincinnati, and they had to win the fifth and final game of their series with the Nova Scotia Voyagers in Buffalo because the damn circus had the Gardens tied up.
When the team returned with the championship trophy there was no parade, no celebratory rally on Fountain Square, reception or anything else.
The original Cincinnati Cyclones, 1990-1991 & 91-92 were the most fun team to watch in the modern hockey era (post 1990) That East Coast Hockey League team drew more fans (the 91-92 team sold out 26 of 32 games in regular season, they drew an average of 8,000 in four other games and on two Monday nights, they drew 6,000 plus. I was there for every damned home game and I know the attendance was legit.
Their PR guy and radio play-by-play man was Terry Ficorelli, who was responsible for "Cyclones hockey, It'll blow you away."
The Cyclones jumped to the International Hockey League in their third season and from then until 1997 when they moved from the Gardens to the Coliseum, the team shifted the emphasis on working men and families to corporate business and, after hiring two new management people, got rid of Ficorelli and started a new policy--falsehoods.
In order to attract corporate business and advertising (which they never got) they started doctoring the attendance. Every game crowd was inflated by 1,700. When they went to the Coliseum, it was even worse.
They thought Jerry Robinson who owned the Gardens would just turn tail and run. Instead he brought the best brand of hockey to Cincinnati this city had seen since the Swords, The American Hockey League Mighty Ducks. During the next few years, the players who skated here in Ducks livery would eventually Lead Anaheim to a Stanley Cup and before that, Detroit to one. Mike Babcock, current Detroit coach, coached the Ducks here.
Meanwhile at the Coliseum, crowds of 200 and 500 were claimed to be crowds of 3500 and 5500. By the time the IHL and the Cyclones folded, they had left a trail of debts that could never be collected. To this day, the current team in what is now the ECHL with teams across the country, is just a hockey version of "A" baseball if that high. It's more like Gulf Coast League baseball. They have no radio contract--if they do it must be two tin cans tied to a string. They can't get a TV contract because they left their TV outlet with a six-figure debt that'll never be collected. They can't get a media guide printed because they still owe most of the printers in town. Their last press guide was off a ditto machine.
Thor, I love hockey. Good hockey, major or minor league. But having seen and covered some of the best--including the old Stingers of the WHA and some of the better IHL teams before the two idiots ruined the Cyclones, I just prefer the NHL where I get my money's worth.
The only reason the Clones got the spread they did in the Enquirer was somebody complained that the team was the best kept secret or something else. Even if they win a Kelly Cup, named after my friend Pat Kelly, they will still play to crowds of fewer than 2,000 in a 16,000-seat arena that is another story in its own right.
The current team has had to reduce prices to $8 at one time and now $10 tickets are common. I went to a game down there earlier in the regular season. Left after the second period because the hockey was so slow it was painful to watch. I counted 750 people in the stands and the attendance was listed as 2,800 and change. Not much has changed. :cool::o:p

[XU 87]

I'm not really a hockey fan. But I went to a Friday night Cyclones game with my son in February and there were at least 6000 people there. And we had a good time.

[AviatorX]

Big hockey fan. Went down last night. Tickets are only 10 dollars. good fun, good hockey.

[BlueGuy]

I agree with Q. The level of play in the ECHL is just not that great. Even watching the former Cincy Ducks was somewhat painful, and that was AHL. There is such a big gab between NHL and AHL hockey. The same can be said for the gap between AHL and ECHL.

With that being said, I heard they had dollar dogs and drafts on Friday night. Now that is something I can get behind. If they play again next weekend, and offer that deal, I could be talked into going.

[AdamtheFlyer]

ECHL hockey is awesome, who cares if the level of play is down? Those guys bust their asses harder than just about any other athletes you'll ever see. That's what it's really all about.

I remember the Dayton Bombers and Cyclones playing a great playoff series last year. The Cyclones took a 3-1 lead before the Bombers came back and won in 7. I was at game 7, and it was the loudest 4,000 people you'll ever hear.

[MADXSTER]

Thor, give us a date and we'll discuss.

My kids love to go but we don't go very often.

[PM Thor]

Q, I'm not arguing the level of play at all. I am fully aware that this league isn't so great, and it is nothing compared to the NHL.

But for the amount of money it costs to catch a game, it's a very cheap night out and if you are with friends, it's a good time.

I am all for going on the 21st, next Wednesday night.

[xavierdude]

Might be able to count me in..I'll let you know friday

EDIT: They will only play on Monday the 19th if they lose 2 or more games in SC. Right now they lead 2-0 in a 7 game series. They are in SC for the next three games. So even if they lose all three, they will still come home to AT LEAST one more game. If they only lose one in SC, well that means they won the whole series and they won't be coming home. So Wednesday game is a bit of a stretch. They'd have to go 1-3 for the next 4 games. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

[Kahns Krazy]

If they win the series, there's still one more to be played though, right? I think they are guaranteed to play at least one more game here.

I happened to be downtown of 4th street friday to witness the Cyclones Parade to generate some buzz for the playoffs. It consisted of a motorcycle cop leading the way with the lights on, the Cyclones Zamboni with the mascot riding on top, and a motorcycle cop bringing up the rear. That's right, a 1 vehicle parade. There were two guys, one on each sidewalk, walking with signs. That was it.

And the Zamboni was on. Drenched the street from Sycamore to Elm.

[ATL Muskie]

If they win the series, there's still one more to be played though, right? I think they are guaranteed to play at least one more game here.

I happened to be downtown of 4th street friday to witness the Cyclones Parade to generate some buzz for the playoffs. It consisted of a motorcycle cop leading the way with the lights on, the Cyclones Zamboni with the mascot riding on top, and a motorcycle cop bringing up the rear. That's right, a 1 vehicle parade. There were two guys, one on each sidewalk, walking with signs. That was it.

And the Zamboni was on. Drenched the street from Sycamore to Elm.

That's not a scene from the movie "Slap Shot," but it should be. Hilarious.

[xu2006]

That parade sounds like the St. Patty's Day Parade in Cincinnati.

[wkrq59]

Q, I'm not arguing the level of play at all. I am fully aware that this league isn't so great, and it is nothing compared to the NHL.

But for the amount of money it costs to catch a game, it's a very cheap night out and if you are with friends, it's a good time.

I am all for going on the 21st, next Wednesday night.

Thor,
Didn't mean to rain on your entertainment. Just imparting a bit of history with some reality. It is the off season and hockey games, even pee wees and mites, can be fun to watch. It's just that my experiences at Riverfront Mausoleum have been anything but entertaining. Go and enjoy friend.:D

[Kahns Krazy]

Thor,
It's just that my experiences at Riverfront Mausoleum have been anything but entertaining. Go and enjoy friend.:D

http://www.thirdwayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/stewie.jpg

Oh Brilliant! Do you see what he did there? He changed "Riverfront Coliseum" to "Riverfront Mausoleum". How absolutely delightful. Now, if we could only travel 13 years back in time, it would be relevant as well.