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dbc
(Been Here Awhile)
865 Posts |
 Posted - 05/30/2014 : 09:40:07 AM
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From today's paper
Cyclones faced with No. 1 seed, flight to Anchorage
By Rory Glynn
rglynn@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Cyclones advanced to the Kelly Cup finals as a No. 5 seed – and that might have been the easy part. Getting to the Kelly Cup finals, when the opponent is Alaska, is another real challenge.
The Cyclones open the best-ofseven ECHL championship series with the first of three games in Anchorage against the Western Conference champion Aces Friday night.
The Cyclones left Thursday via flights through Salt Lake City and Seattle, scheduled for 13 hours in all.
“It’s definitely a little more nervewracking than in ’08,” said Kristin Ropp, Cyclones vice president and general manager. In 2008, the Cyclones beat Las Vegas for the cup.
Ropp said the ECHL “offers guidance” but lets finals participants work out the schedule depending on factors like arena availability and travel. As the top seed, Alaska earned home ice over the Cyclones. Cincinnati and Alaska agreed to a 3-3-1 format, rather than a conventional 2-3-2, to reduce the chance of a team having to travel twice.
“I told coach (Ben Simon) this morning, ‘Figure it out in six,’ ” Ropp said.
The trip will cost the Cyclones around $50,000, Ropp said, plus baggage fees, which were around $4,000 when the team played an exhibition series in Anchorage in October. A less expensive itinerary would have meant additional connections and traveling in more than two groups.
“I thought that could be a recipe for disaster: losing sticks, skates, luggage, half my team,” Ropp said.
A portion of playoff tickets sold goes to a pool to help with travel costs, Ropp said. If the series goes six games or fewer, they’ll split it 50-50; if it goes seven and the Cyclones have to travel twice, they’ll get two-thirds.
“It’s a little more challenging, but I’m not complaining,” Ropp said. m
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