CINCINNATI, OH – With one game down and a long season to go, the Cincinnati Cyclones returned to the friendlier crowd at the US Bank Arena for game two of the 2016-2017 ECHL season Saturday night against the Indy Fuel.
The home crowd was ready for some hockey on this pleasant fall night. The energy was palpable as the Cyclones were introduced with the mostly polite audience turning louder and louder with each player name. In the upper bowl, the heat from the fireworks could be felt as fans eagerly awaited the opening puck drop.
A good bit of the first period was spent in the neutral zone with the teams trading the puck and few quality scoring opportunities being created by the Cyclones. The Fuel turned up the intensity and tempers boiled over two-thirds of the way through the frame when a fight broke out that delighted the hockey-hungry crowd. It pitted the Cyclones’ Arvin Atwal, a six-foot / 200 pound defenseman against Fuel forward Brady Ramsay with both being sent off with five minute fighting majors. The energy from the altercation seemed to boost the Fuel as they finished the period by scoring the game’s first goal, a short-handed tally by forward Tyler Currier at the 19:55 mark. Shots in the period were pretty even with the Fuel collecting seven and the Cyclones six.
The middle frame rolled in much the same fashion as the first with the Fuel maintaining an edge and upping the ante at the 11:36 mark with an unassisted tally by the diminutive Alex Wideman. The home team was unable to crack Indy netminder Jake Hildebrand’s stranglehold on the net behind him as the visiting Fuel headed to the final period up by two.
The final frame of regulation began with Indy keeping the Cyclones at bay until Dominic Zombo pulled Cincinnati within one at 14:39 on a masterful shot that left Hildebrand flopping in the crease as the puck crossed the goal line. The score gave the Cyclones faithful hope that a comeback was in the cards but it was not to be as the Fuel hung on for the victory and Cincinnati fell to 0-2 to begin the season.
It is a long season and to begin a campaign by winning a few or losing a few in the long run may not be of any consequence as the year progresses. When the Cyclones have more time and practice together, fans may well see a difference in the overall performance of the squad. Special teams play is always a work in progress early in the season while blueliners also need to work with their netminders to ensure smooth clear aways and transitions from defense to offense.
Optimism springs eternal as a new season on the ice begins.
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