After all the disappointment the hockey season, along with a few other sports this year, have brought, it’s about time someone I wanted to win a championship came through for me.

The Cincinnati Cyclones beat the Las Vegas Wranglers 3-1 last night to win the ECHL Kelly Cup four games to two. The Cyclones are a great story, shutting down for a few years, then coming back after the AHL abandoned the city for good. The Cyclones were barely drawing over a thousand fans a game, but this year, they had the best record in the ECHL, and stormed through the league (55-12-1-4 for 115 points). Last night, they won in front of 12,722 fans, the largest crowd in ECHL playoff history.

Cincinnati has it’s own bit of minor league hockey history:

It is the first time in 35 years that a Cincinnati pro hockey team has competed in its league finals. The last team to compete for a championship was the 1973 Cincinnati Swords, which captured the AHL’s Calder Cup in five games over Nova Scotia. It was the first time since April 3, 1955—that a champion from the Queen City was crowned in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Mohawks won a seventh game against the Troy Bruins for the IHL’s Turner Cup championship.

And of course, Cincinnati was home to the WHA Cincinnati Stingers. You still see some of the old jerseys floating around
The Cyclones are the first minor league team I ever saw, and they helped get me hooked. I even own a jersey:

This would be Dean Stork’s jersey, who is the assistant coach of the team.

Congratulations, Cyclones.