Cyclones win Kelly Cup in 5 games

CINCINNATI Ohio – The Cyclones scored first and last to win the ECHL Kelly Cup Championship over the Idaho Steelheads at US Bank Arena, Friday night.   Both teams worked hard for this critical elimination game in the series.
 
The 13,438 in attendance were treated to a well played, generally penalty free, contest. The earlier chippiness evaporated, replaced by solid defensive hockey. The Cyclones came out prepared to defend home ice and clearly wanted to reward the home fans. Idaho looked stunned at times by the volume of the crowd as attendance had more than doubled from the previous evening.
 
Dustin Sproat scored first for the ‘Clones at the 8:44 mark of the first period. Sproat took a pass from Brett Motherwell, that faked out Idaho net minder Rejean Beauchemin and slipped it into an empty portion of the net. Idaho was unable to penetrate Robert Mayer in the period and the Cyclones led after one 1-0.
 
Mike McKnight of the Steelheads answered with a marker at 5:51 of the middle stanza that tied the score at one each. This was only temporary, as the ‘Clones had other ideas down the road. The neutral zone became a hazardous place to travel with the biscuit, as the defenses turned up the pressure and checking.
 
Goaltending at doth ends of the ice was spectacular, as Mayer dueled to the end with Beauchemin.
 
At 10:28 of the period Brett Robinson scored his ninth goal of the playoffs on a feed from Jason Jozsa to achieve a one goal lead. This was all both defenses would allow for the night as the final period produced no scoring.
 
The final score was 2-1, in favor of the Cyclones, who denied Idaho their third Cup while winning their second in three years.
 
Coach Weber said afterwards, ”This was pretty improbable after a couple of weeks ago where we were, these guys persevered. I couldn’t be more proud of them. We stuck to our defensive structure, it was a great series; five one goal games. I couldn’t ask for better hockey.”
 
Captain Barrett Ehgoetz was ecstatic about winning another championship here in Cincinnati, and could not have had a bigger smile as he lifted the hardware again.
 
This team has battled all season long to reach this point in time and this is their reward. There were times during the past season that their brilliant play showed their true potential, but the series with Reading proved their mettle.
 
Being the first ECHL team to overcome a three games to none deficit in a seven game series. This was a well deserved Championship for the Cincinnati Cyclones, who now have a shorter off-season for golf and healing, gladly enjoying the fruits of their labors.
 
Contact the writer/photographer at Rob.Huelsman@prohockeynews.com