Six years ago, the state of ECHL hockey in Cincinnati was in doubt. The Cyclones, established in 1990, were losing money and decided to suspend operations for the 2004-05 season. Two years later, they returned to US Bank Arena, and they haven’t looked back since.
Cincinnati Cyclones Win ECHL’s Kelly Cup
The Cyclones won their second Kelly Cup title in three years on Friday night in front of a record crowd of 13,483 at the old Cincinnati arena, defeating the Idaho Steelheads 2-1. They become just the third ECHL team to win more than one championship in their franchise history.
Cincinnati’s run to the Finals was rather improbable. They knocked off defending champion South Carolina in the first round before knocking off Charlotte in seven games in the second round. In the American Conference Finals against the Reading Royals, the Cyclones rebounded from down 0-3 to win the series in seven games. They used that momentum to run over the Steelheads, who had the ECHL’s best record during the regular season, in the Cup Finals, beating them in five games.
Their 24 playoff games this season is also an ECHL record, surpassing the 23 games played by last year’s champion, South Carolina. Cyclones’ goaltenders Robert Mayer and Jeremy Smith were named co-MVPs.
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