1991-92 San Diego Gulls Denny Lambert Jersey

Born on this date in 1970, Denny Lambert played three seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League from 1988-89 to 1990-91, which was his best season with 28 goals and 67 points.

Undrafted, Lambert signed with the San Diego Gulls of the International Hockey League for the 1991-92 season. He would play four seasons with the Gulls, including the Gulls finest season when they made it to the Turner Cup Finals in 1993. While with the Gulls, he would average 260 penalty minutes a season, with a high of 314 in 1993-94, third in the league by less than 10 minutes.

Lambert spent four seasons in the IHL with the San Diego Gulls

Lambert had a fine 1994-95 season, scoring 25 goals and 60 points, double his average from the previous three seasons, which caught the attention of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who signed him for the remainder of the season, which made for a long year for Lambert, as combined he played in 88 regular season games that season, which must rank as one of the highest totals ever. Lambert scored his first NHL goal that season on his way to 4 points

He split the following season between the Baltimore Bandits of the American Hockey League and the Mighty Ducks, playing 44 games with Baltimore and 33 with Anaheim.

For the 1996-97 season, Lambert was signed by the Ottawa Senators as a free agent, playing 80 games his first season and another 72 games in 1997-98, setting a NHL high of 250 penalty minutes that season, as well as scoring a career best 9 goals.

Lambert played for the Senators for two seasons

Now established as a full-time NHLer, Lambert was chosen by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft, where he would play the entire 1998-99 season.

Lambert battles Kelly Chase while with the Predators

Lambert was then traded to another new expansion club, the first year Atlanta Thrashers for the 1999-00 season, where he would play for two seasons.

From one first year expansion team to another,

Lambert went from Nashville to Atlanta

It was back to Anaheim for the 2001-02 season for his second stint with the Mighty Ducks. There Lambert yet again finished with between 213 and 219 penalty minutes for the fifth time in six seasons, with only his 250 minutes in 1997-98 tampering with his amazing consistency.

Lambert wrapped up his career with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL in 2002-03 before retiring as a player. After some time as an assistant, Lambert would become head coach of the Soo Greyhounds, his junior club, for three seasons from 2008 to 2011.

Today's featured jersey is a 1991-92 San Diego Gulls Denny Lambert jersey. This iteration of the Gulls were members of the IHL for five seasons, a team name that dates back to a previous Western Hockey League franchise which began play in the mid 1960's.

After their five seasons in San Diego, the IHL franchise relocated up the coast to become the Long Beach Ice Dogs, and were immediately replaced by a new franchise in the WHL, also known as the Gulls. Their membership would become part of the ECHL and last through 2006. Two seasons later, the San Diego Gulls name would once again resurface, now used by a Junior A team in the Western States Hockey League, now the fourth franchise to use the Gulls name in San Diego!

The Gulls stellar 1992-93 season saw them finish with a 62-12-8 record for a league record 132 points, but fell short in the finals. Notable players for the Gulls were Ron Dugay, Glen Hanlon, Charlie Simmer, Ray Whitney, Sean Burke, Lindy Ruff and IHL scoring champion Dimitri Kvartalnov.

While the Gulls history was a brief one, they left behind a legacy of attractive jerseys with classic styling and a very sharp logo.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1995-96 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Denny Lambert jersey from the second of Lambert's two original seasons with the Mighty Ducks.

Anaheim entered the league in 1993-94 and immediately shook up the establishment with eggplant and jade colored jerseys that had diagonal striping on not only the arms, but the waist stripe as well at a time when 25 out of 25 other teams had a straight waist stripe and only two other teams, the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins were so bold as to have angled sleeve striping.

While the Mighty Ducks alternate jerseys came and went, thankfully in some cases, their original home and road jerseys remained unchanged for 13 years until new ownership rebranded every aspect of the franchise, including the team name, as they adopted the more conventional Anaheim Ducks moniker as well as adopting an all new color scheme.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1998-99 Nashville Predators Denny Lambert jersey from the Predators first season in the NHL.

Two things set the first season Predators jerseys apart from those that would follow. First, the secondary shoulder patch for their first season would have "98" added to the design, as shown below.

Second, the first season Predators jerseys were supplied by Bauer, making them completely unique in the NHL, as six teams were supplied by Nike, nine by CCM and the remaining 11 by Starter. For their second season, Nashville would change to CCM jerseys, leaving the first season Bauer jerseys as an interesting footnote for collectors.

In today's video section, Lambert does what he does best, as he throws haymakers with Paul Kruse of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles during the 1991-92 IHL season.

Next is an interview with Lambert, who recalls his time with the Senators.

1991-92 Kansas City Blades Arturs Irbe Jersey

The Kansas City Blades were formed when the dormant Toledo Goaldiggers International Hockey League (IHL) franchise was purchased and moved to Kansas City for the 1990-91 season. A "name the team" contest was held, but the most popular entry "Jazz" was passed over because the name was already in use by the Utah Jazz of the NBA. The owners instead went with the fans second choice, the Blades.

For their first season, Ron Handy was the team's leading scorer with 42 goals and 81 points, 13 more than his next closest teammate. Their number one goaltender was Wade Flaherty, who played in 56 games with a 16-31-4 record as the Blades had a rough go of it on the ice, as they missed the playoffs and finished last in the West Division of the IHL.

Wade Flaherty

For the 1991-92 season, the Blades signed an agreement to become the primary affiliate of the San Jose Sharks of the NHL, which meant the struggles of being an independent team and having to find their own players was now behind them. Gary Emmons became the team's scoring leader with 29 goals and 83 points - a whopping 25 more than Peter Lappin. Jeff Madill led the club in goals with 32, one of four players with 28 or more. Also of note was Latvian defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, who came over from Europe midway through the schedule for his first of many North American seasons of play. Goaltending was a strong point for the Blades, as they boasted four goalies who would all spend time in the NHL, Brian Hayward (2 games), Jarmo Myllys (5), Flaherty (43) and another Latvian, Arturs Irbe (32), who would play in all 15 of the Blades playoff games.

Latvian Arturs Irbe backstopped the Blades

to the 1992 Turner Cup championship

After finishing first in the West with a 56-22-2-2 record, during the postseason, the Blades would beat the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in five games, winning their four games by an average of over 3 goals per game. They would then eliminate the Peoria Rivermen in six games to advance to the Finals, where they would defeat the Muskegon Lumberjacks in four straight to claim the Turner Cup in only their second season with the final 5-3 victory on the road coming on this date in 1992.

A KC Blades championship ring

Emmons would again lead the Blades in scoring in 1992-93, this time with a team leading 37 goals and 81 points, followed by Russian Mikhail Kravets' 68. In only his second season of professional play, Ray Whitney was one of four 20 goal scorers for Kansas City and would go on to play 23 NHL seasons while scoring over 1,000 points. With Irbe gone to the Sharks, Flaherty took the reigns in goal with 61 games played. The Blades went 46-26-5-5 that season to finish in the upper half of the league but, after defeating the favored Milwaukee Admirals in six games, they unfortunately drew the #1 seed San Diego Gulls, who finished 30 points better in the standings than Kansas City and were 21 points better than the next closest team.

For the 1993-94 season, Emmons would finish second in scoring with 69 point to Kip Miller's new team record of 92 from 38 goals (also a new team record) and 54 assists. Flaherty was again the main goaltender, once more playing 60 or more games with 60 on his way to a 32-19-9 record. Unfortunately, the remainder of the goaltending staff was 8-13-1 and the Blades missed the playoffs by 3 points as only 8 of the IHL's 13 teams qualified for the postseason.

The IHL expanded by four teams for 1994-95, the league's 50th Anniversary season, and now 16 of the 17 teams made the playoffs! The Blades were led in scoring by Czech Jan Caloun with a modest 34 goals and 73 points with Emmons second with 60. Russian Viktor Kozlov appeared in 4 games for Kansas City after coming over from Dynamo Moscow during the season, while Trevor Robins led the six goalies used that season with 39 appearances followed by Larry Dyck's 21.

Czech Jan Caloun led the team in scoring in 1995

Despite missing the playoffs the previous season with 90 points, the greatly expanded field in 1994-95 allowed the Blades in with just 76 points, just 4 ahead of the Indianapolis Ice, the only team to miss the playoffs that season. The Blades then made the most of their opportunity, as they beat the Detroit Vipers in five game best-of-five despite the Vipers finishing 26 points ahead of Kansas City.

The 113 point Rivermen were the next to fall in five games, followed by the 100 point Kalamazoo Wings in seven games, which advanced Kansas City to the Turner Cup Finals for the second time in four seasons. The Blades magic ran out though, as he first year Denver Grizzlies, who led the league with 120 points, 339 goals for and only 235 against, swept the series in four straight. Emmons led the post season scoring for Kansas City with 28 points while Caloun was tops with 13 goals.

The next season of 1995-96 saw the Blades finish near .500 at 39-38-0-5 and exit the playoffs in the first round. Caloun again led the team in scoring in 1995-96 with 68 points followed by Emmons' 63. Geoff Sargeant (41 games) split time in goal with Dyck (39) and Turner Cup hero Irbe returned for 4 games.

Larry Dyck

Over the summer of 1996, San Jose ended their affiliation with Kansas City and they returned to being an independent team, a trend that was on the rise in the IHL. Without the Sharks feeding Kansas City players, a new face led the team in scoring in 1996-97, as John Purves 72 points topped the team, followed by David Bruce, who led the team with a record 45 goals on his way to 69 points. Returnee Dyck led all goaltenders with 58 games played. The club improved to 38-29-0-15 but were swept in three games of the opening round of the playoffs. This season also marked the last of his career for Emmons, who finished with 45 points, good for fifth on the team.

John Purves

Emmons came to Kansas City during the Blades second season and their first as a Sharks affiliate. Despite leading the Blades in all-time franchise scoring with 401 points in 444 games, 115 more than the second place  Bruce, Emmons was only called up by the San Jose for a mere three games in 1993-94, the only NHL games of his career.

Gary Emmons

The 1997-98 season saw an improvement in the standings, as the Blades posted a 41-29-12 record for 94 points. With just 50 points, Iain Fraser narrowly edged J. F. Quintin (59) and Claudio Scremin (58). In the post season, he Blades advanced past the first round for the first time in three seasons when they defeated the now Utah Grizzlies 4 games to 1, but then lost in overtime of Game 7 to the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the second round.

David Ling led the club in points with 72 in 1998-99 while Jason Cirone was first in goals with 42. Patrick Lalime (66 games) handled the bulk of the goaltending duties along with Jean-Sebastien Aubin (13), both future Pittsburgh Penguins goaltenders. The season ended quickly following a 2-1 series loss in a best-of-three series with Long Beach.

The Blades got a new logo and jerseys in 1998-99

The Blades completed the 1999-00 season with a 36-37-0-9 record, their first losing record in five seasons. Ling again led the team in scoring with 83 points, 13 more than Dave Chyzowski who led the club with 37 goals and 70 points. Former long time Washington Capitals center Michal Pivonka was fourth in points during his final season before retiring, playing in 52 games, scoring 50 points. Bruce Racine (33 games) and Tyler Moss (36) shared the goaltending duties with Moss posting a winning 18-12-5 record. The Blades were the first team to miss the playoffs with 81 points in the now 13 team IHL, down from a high of 19 three seasons earlier.

For the 2000-01 season, the IHL was now down to 11 teams. Kansas City again finished with a losing record at 37-42-3 and missed the playoffs for a second year in a row. Russian Vadim Sharifijanov scored 63 points to lead  the club while Josh Holden's 27 goals just edged Pat Kavanagh's 26. Corey Schwab played in 50 games in goal while Alfie Michaud saw time in goal 32 times. The final game for the franchise came on April 15, 2001, a 5-4 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The IHL had been moving into major markets, including those which already had NHL teams, such as Chicago, Detroit and Long Beach, near Los Angeles. In response, many NHL teams switched their affiliations to teams in the American Hockey League, reducing the number of affiliated IHL teams to just four in 1997-98. The loss of subsidized player salaries, high expansion costs and greatly increased travel costs were too much for the IHL, which ceased operations after the 2000-01 season.

Six teams, the Chicago Wolves, Grand Rapids, Houston Aeros, Grizzlies, Admirals and Manitoba Moose were granted admittance into the AHL, while the Cincinnati Cyclones joined the ECHL. Unfortunately for the fans in Kansas City, owner Rich DeVos owned three clubs, the Orlando Solar Bears, the Blades and the Griffins and the AHL rules would only allow DeVos to own one AHL club, which was Grand Rapids. In addition to the Solar Bears and the Blades, the Cleveland Lumberjacks and Detroit also ceased operations when the IHL folded.

In addition to Emmons leading the franchise in all-time points, Bruce led the club in goals with 170 and Claudio Scremin holds the record for most games played with 550 ahead of Emmons' 444. Dody Wood was the all-time penalty minute leader with 1,695, more than double Quintin's 778. Flaherty's 221 games led all the goaltenders, ahead of Dyck's 118.

Claudio Scremin

Today's featured jersey is a 1991-92 Kansas City Blades Arturs Irbe jersey. The Blades wore this same style for their first eight seasons until a new logo and jerseys were used for the team's final three seasons.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1995-96 Kansas City Blades Jeff Madill jersey. The Blades changed to two color names for the 1992-93 season and continued to use them for the remainder of their original jerseys lifespan through 1997-98.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1999-00 Kansas City Blades Eric Schneider jersey. The Blades identity underwent a change for the 1998-99 season which resulted in these highly attractive jerseys for their final three seasons. For 1999-00 they wore a 10th Anniversary patch on the upper left chest.

 Today's video section is minor league hockey in the 1990's - a compilation of the Blades fights from their Turner Cup championship winning season.

1988-89 Winnipeg Jets Eldon "Pokey" Reddick Jersey

Born on this date in 1964, goaltender Eldon "Pokey" Reddick earned his unusual nickname from his father due to being a "slowpoke" around the house as a kid. As he matured though, his reflexes served him well and he made serval stops as part of his junior hockey career in the Western Hockey League. He played a single game with the Billings Bighorns in 1981-82 before taking the reigns of the  Nanaimo Islanders in 1982-83, playing in 66 games.

He became a member of the New Westminster Bruins for 1983-84 where he played in 50 games, posting a winning 24-22-2 record while lowering his goals against average from the season before by over 2 full goals a game to 4.40 while sharing time in goal with future NHL teammate Bill Ranford, who appeared in 27 games.

For 1984-85, Reddick became a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings where he saw action in 47 games as the team's number one netminder.

Reddick in junior hockey with the Wheat Kings

Undrafted by the NHL, when his junior career came to an end in 1985, Reddick played 10 games for the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL as well as 2 additional games for the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the AHL after signing as a free agent with the Winnipeg Jets organization. He was back with the Komets for a full season in 1985-86, going 15-11 in 32 games and a 3.05 goals against average.

Reddick made his NHL debut with Winnipeg

Reddick made his NHL debut in 1986-87 with the Jets appearing in 48 games to lead the team, posting a 21-21-4 record. He shared time with Daniel Berthiaume (31 games) and the duo was given the hilarious nickname of "Pokey and the Bandit".

Pokey and the Bandit - Reddick and Berthiaume

Reddick lost the number one job to Berthiaume in 1987-88 and was limited to 28 games with the Jets as well as spending 9 games with the Moncton Hawks of the AHL. Reddick rebounded in 1988-89 with 41 games in goal for the Jets, more than any of the other four goalies used by the club.

Just prior to the 1989-90 season, Reddick was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers, where he was reunited with his former junior teammate Ranford. He divided his season with 3 games for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the IHL, 15 games for the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL and 11 games with Edmonton in the NHL. He also appeared in one playoff game for the Oilers as they would go on to win the NHL championship with a 4-1 defeat of the Boston Bruins, earning Reddick his name on the Stanley Cup.

The 1990 Stanley Cup Champion Oilers

with Reddick pictured in the first row, far right

With Ranford playing the bulk of the Oilers games in 1990-91, the competition for time in the Edmonton goal was fierce, with Kari Takko playing 11 games and Grant Fuhr 13, leaving just 2 starts for Reddick, who played the majority of his season back in the AHL with Cape Breton, where he was 19-10 in 31 games.

Reddick with Cape Breton in the AHL

He was out of the NHL in 1991-92, starting the year with Cape Breton of the AHL for 16 games and then 14 games back with the Fort Wayne Komets in the IHL. He would lead the Komets in 1992-93 with a standout 33-16-4 record in 54 games, posting a 3.08 goals against average.

Once in the playoffs, Reddick went on a tear as For Wayne swept Cleveland, ousted Atlanta in four and then captured the Turner Cup by blowing out the San Diego Gulls in four straight to complete a historic playoff sweep of 12 consecutive victories without a single loss for the Komets first championship in 20 years. Reddick was then named the IHL Playoff MVP thanks to his 12-0 record and 1.49 goals against average, which included limiting the league leading San Diego offense to just 5 goals in the four game final.

Reddick hoists the Turner Cup as an IHL champion

That performance earned Reddick a contract with the Florida Panthers in hopes of returning to the NHL full time. While he did manage to return to the NHL, it was only for two games with the Panthers, the final games of his NHL career.

A rare shot of Reddick with the Panthers

The rest of his season was spent as the number one for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL, going 31-12-6 with a 3.05 goals against.

Reddick spent one year in Cincinnati

Reddick would spend the next five seasons in the IHL, beginning with a pair of seasons with the Las Vegas Thunder, going 23-13-1 in 1994-95 followed by a 27-12-4 record the following season.

A fantastic shot of Reddick with fellow goaltenders

Clint Malarchuk and Manon Rheaume!

1996-97 saw Reddick set a professional career high with 61 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins, which also saw him post a stellar 2.48 goals against average and a 30-14-10 record.

He began the 2997-98 season with Grand Rapids (10 games) before a move to the San Antonio Dragons (16 games) and finally the Kansas City Blades for 22 games. In all, Reddick went 20-21-4 despite all the time spent getting acclimated to new teammates and new systems.

Reddick returned to Fort Wayne yet again in 1998-99, seeing time in 33 games, his final ones in the IHL.

For the 1999-00 season, Reddick made the move to Europe as he signed with the Frankfurt Lions of the German DEL. For three seasons Reddick owned the Frankfurt net, playing in 56, 59 and 52 games of the shorter European season, never with a goals against higher than 3.00.

Reddick during his time in Germany with Frankfurt

Reddick had one more trip to Fort Wayne remaining however, as he would play the final 9 games of his career with the Komets, now members of the United Hockey League following the demise of the IHL while he was away in Germany.

Today's featured jersey is a 1988-89 Winnipeg Jets Eldon "Pokey" Reddick jersey as worn during his final season with the Jets. This jersey style was adopted by Winnipeg for their first season in the NHL after the demise of the WHA. This jersey template was first used by the New York Rangers for just two seasons until reverting to their traditional, diagonally lettered jerseys. When former Rangers GM John Ferguson became the Jets new GM he brought the same jersey in the exact same colors, only now with the Jets logo in place of the previous Rangers shield.

Also of note is the large space between the top of the numbers and the player name on the back, thanks to the nearly square back numbers used by the Jets.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1992-93 IHL All-Star Eldon "Pokey" Reddick jersey as worn by Reddick during his dominant season in the IHL, which was capped off by his undefeated 12 game run through the Turner Cup playoffs, which earned him IHL Playoff MVP honors.

Today's video section consists of both Reddick's videos on YouTube, first he squares off with Jeff Reese, but not much in the way of punches happen. This is followed by Reddick getting plastered by none other than Tiger Williams, who sends Reddick into next week.

1994-95 Minnesota Moose Stephane Morin Jersey

Born on this date in 1969, Stéphane Morin played junior hockey for the Shawinigan Cataractes and then the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. After splitting the 1987-88 season between the two clubs, Morin would get himself noticed with 77 goals and 109 assists for 186 points in just 77 games in 1988-89, which led to him being drafted 43rd overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques.

He would spend the majority of the 1989-90 season with the Halifax Citadels of the American Hockey League, but would make his NHL debut with six games with the Nordiques, in which he would register his first NHL points with a pair of assists.

While he would split the next two seasons between Quebec and Halifax, he would see action in 48 NHL games, which included scoring his first NHL goal, in 1990-91, a season in which he would place fourth in scoring for the Nordiques with 13 goals and 40 points despite only competing in a total of just 48 games.

Morin made his NHL debut with Quebec

The 1991-92 season with Quebec as a disappointment, with just two goals and eight assists for ten points in 30 games.

Released by the Nordiques organization, Morin signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 1992. Assigned to the Hamilton Canucks of the AHL, Morin led the team in scoring with 31 goals and 85 points in 70 games. He did play a game in Vancouver, registering an assist, in his only NHL appearance that season.

The following season was very productive offensively for Morin, as he again led Hamilton in scoring with 109 points in 69 games, good for fourth overall in the AHL that season. He would also contribute a goal and an assist in five games with Vancouver.

With his time in Vancouver at an end, Morin signed on with the brand new Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League, who came into being to fill some of the void left by the departure of the Minnesota North Stars. Morin not only led the Moose in scoring, but the entire IHL in 1994-95 with 33 goals and 81 assists for 114 points in 81 games.

Morin won the IHL scoring title with the Moose

His point total would decline the following season to 78, but he would still lead the Moose in scoring.

1996-97 saw Morin and the team move to Manitoba, but he would find himself moving to the Long Beach Ice Dogs, still in the IHL, after only 12 games in Winnipeg. Long Beach was a strong team that season, winning the South Division and making it all the way to the IHL Turner Cup Finals. Morin, making the first real playoff run of his professional career, responded with 19 points in 18 games.

Morin's next season with Long Beach was limited to just 27 games in which he scored 27 points. Another playoff run for Long Beach would see them win a pair of rounds before falling in the semifinals, but not before Morin would contribute 11 points in 13 games.

For the 1998-99 season, Morin relocated to Europe, signing with the Berlin Capitals of the DEL.

Morin made the move to Europe and joined the Berlin Capitals

Off to a good start in Germany, Morin scored a pair of goals plus six assists for eight points in his first handful of games, but then shockingly and tragically, after complaining of not feeling well during the first period of the seventh game of the season, Morin died of a heart attack at the age of 29 on October 6, 1998 after he collapsed at the bench early in the second period leaving behind a wife and newborn son.

Today's featured jersey is a 1994-95 Minnesota Moose Stéphane Morin jersey from the season Morin led the Moose and the IHL in scoring.

The Moose would only play two seasons in Minnesota and Morin would hold the team records for most assists and points in a season, as well as career goals, assists and points, as well as games played.

While the three color combination of the forest green trim and purple outline against the black was a questionable choice at best, as the separation of the green from the purple and black is nearly impossible to make out for even the larger numbers and really becomes a dark mass when reduced in size for the name on the back.

While the back of the jersey has it's flaws, the front of the jersey is a winner, with the IHL 50th Anniversary patch providing a shot of color and the very popular Moose logo, which was ranked #1 in a poll by The Hockey News and led all minor league teams in terms of merchandise sales, making for a very attractive jersey.

Today's videos begin with some game action of the Moose from the 1994-95 season.

But what would minor league hockey be without the fights? Here is some rare footage of the Moose playing at the St. Paul Civic center with solid white dasherboards after having replaced the original clear boards due to their age and the advent of dasherboard advertising rendering them ineffective.

For comparison, here's some footage from the St. Paul Civic Center in 1984 with the original set of clear boards.

1995-96 Cincinnati Cyclones Jeff Greenlaw Jersey

July by the Numbers returns once again to Cincinnati for jersey #29.

When the owner of the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones was awarded a new International Hockey League franchise for the 1992-93 season, he retained the Cyclones identity for his new IHL franchise while moving his ECHL club to Birmingham, Alabama and renaming that club the Bulls.

The new IHL club missed the playoffs in year one, something that would never happen to them again.

Center Len Barrie arrived for the 1993-94 season and led the club with 116 points (second in the IHL) while Patrick Lebeau's 47 goals led the Cyclones in that category. The team made a great stride forward, leaping from 27 wins and 61 points to 49 wins and 107 points while Pokey Reddick went 31-12-6 in goal. Cincinnati then won their first ever playoff series by defeating the Kalamzoo Wings 4-1 before losing in the next round.

Pokey Reddick

They equalled their 49 wins in 1994-95, but raised their point total to 113, led by Dave Tomlinson's 110 points, which was also good for second in the IHL. The again won a playoff round by defeating cross-state Cleveland.

Ron Smith took over as head coach of the Cyclones for the 1995-96season and would be the only coach to ever command the club from that point forward. Tomlinson again led the club in scoring as they recorded their third consecutive 100 point season, this time reaching a franchise record 51 wins. The Cyclones then went on a nice playoff run, sweeping Atlanta in three games, eliminating Kalamazoo (now renamed Michigan) in a hard fought seven game series before falling in the semifinals to Orlando in seven games, concluding with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss at home.

While the Cyclones would not top 100 points again, they would remain consistently competitive, totaling between 92 and 97 points for the remainder of their five seasons in the IHL.

The 1997-98 season saw Todd Simon lead the club with 105 points as, he too, finished second in league scoring. It would not be until the 1999-00 season that they Cyclones would escape the second round of the playoffs when they were one of six teams to receive a bye in round one and then downed Orlando 4-2 in the second round before dropping a series to Grand Rapids.

Their final season of 2000-01 saw the Cyclones raise their point total to 97, their highest since 1996, but their season came to a quick end with a 4-1 defeat by Orlando.

Following the 2000-01 season, the IHL ceased operations and six of the 11 remaining clubs joined the American Hockey League, but the Cyclones were not one of them due to the presence of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, members of the AHL since 1997, just seven miles up the road.

Don Biggs ended up as the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 412 points, leading Gilbert Dionne's 336 and Paul Lawless' 304. The best known Cyclones to go on to NHL careers include Erik Cole, Bob Boughner, David Tanabe and Jan Bulis.

Don Biggs

The decline of the league brought an end to the nine year run of the Cyclones in the IHL, but not the Cyclones identity, which was sold to the owners of the ECHL's Miami Matadors, who moved their then dormant franchise to Cincinnati for the 2001-02 season, where they continue to play today.

Today's featured jersey is a 1995-96 Cincinnati Cyclones Jeff Greenlaw jersey. This shocking yellow jersey was the Cyclones alternate jersey, as their main dark jersey was black in color. For their first season of 1992-93, the Cyclones home jerseys were actually silver dazzle cloth before reverting to the traditional white in 1993-94. Their road jerseys also alternated between black and also red from season to season, with red also being used for alternate jerseys as well during their seemingly ever-changing looks.

In a moment straight out of the movie "Slap Shot", Cyclones coach Don Jackson scales the glass to get into a fight with the Atlanta Knights mascot!