Thomas enjoying success in Cincinnati

Matt Thomas is no stranger to success in the ECHL. The Cincinnati Cyclones head coach won a Kelly Cup title as an assistant coach with Atlantic City in 2003, is the League’s all-time leader with 97 career postseason games coached, is tied for third with 49 postseason wins and ranks seventh with 369 regular-season wins.

After spending the last five seasons in the collegiate ranks as head coach at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, Thomas hasn’t missed a beat in his return to the ECHL. He has the Cyclones sitting on top of the Central Division, and second overall in the league, with a record of 27-8-6 for 60 points.

“I think when you’re familiar with something and you’ve had some success, you know what it takes to get there, and it’s been nice that I’ve had the resources to be able to go and do that with the Cyclones,” Thomas said. “It’s just such a great organization from top to bottom so it’s been a lot of fun to kind of get back into a winning environment.”

Thomas has built perennial winners throughout his ECHL tenure in Atlantic City, Fresno and Stockton, prior to coming to Cincinnati. His teams have reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs in each of his nine previous ECHL seasons. That track record has taught him what it takes to assemble a winning team.

“There’s a few things that go into building a successful ECHL team,” he said. “A good NHL affiliation, to me is key. A good core and a veteran group, and I think that was already in place (here in Cincinnati). I added a few pieces along the way, but those two elements are important.

“To me, it’s about building your team all the way throughout the year,” Thomas continued. “I don’t think you can ever be satisfied with your team and I think we made a couple of key moves early in the season that allowed us to acquire guys that just fit. We traded good players but to get something good in return you have to give up something good. And it was more about just question of fit in terms of as detailed as left shot versus right shot or you know center versus wing, so you take the solid affiliation, you take the good veteran group, and core group of guys, and you mix in some good young players like we’ve been able to acquire and it sets you up to have a chance at success.”

Thomas has certainly noticed changes to the ECHL landscape upon returning after his five-year run in college hockey.

“The five years I was away from the ECHL, it’s remarkable how much the game has changed itself,” he said. “I think what you’re seeing is just more teams committed to developing being a key part of them building a successful organization. The draft only gives you one avenue. A minor league system creates opportunities to find what people call diamonds in the rough or guys that need a longer path to be able to accomplish the goal of being an NHL player. It’s refreshing and something I know has been the dream of the ECHL for a long time as a league and I think it’s beneficial for everybody, but more importantly the young players in the game that they’re getting an opportunity to realize their dream of being an NHL player and NHL teams are realizing that value.”

Last week, Thomas stood behind the bench of the Western Conference for the 2019 CCM/ECHL All-Star Classic in Toledo. It was the third time in his ECHL tenure that he has received the honor, after previously coaching in the 2005 and 2009 events. The three appearances tie him for the most in league history with Chris Cichocki, Glen Gulutzan, Davis Payne and Jeff Pyle.

Even though he has experienced the All-Star pageantry in the past, it is always a special honor to be recognized.

“What I really like about coaching in the All-Star Game is that your team gets you here as a coach,” he said. “I think everybody could say that and I’m not trying to be cliché on it. The idea of when you get an opportunity to coach in an All-Star Game is your team has to be really good. As a coach, it gives you a sense of pride that your team believes in what you’re trying to do as a group and you’re being successful at that. The All-Star Game is always a great showcase event for the league and always an opportunity for the rest of the hockey world to see what the ECHL is all about and I think it’s fun to get to be a part of.”

Thomas and the Cyclones will look to build on their impressive first-half of the season as the season begins to wind down and the Kelly Cup Playoffs are on the horizon. Cincinnati has been one of the most successful ECHL teams over the last decade, winning a pair of Kelly Cup title in 2008 and 2010, and reaching the Finals in 2014, and the club will look to make another long run this year.

“We’ve got all the elements you need if you want to be successful at this level,” Thomas said. “We’ve got defensemen that can really get up in the play and create offense. We’ve got goaltenders that can win you a game when you need them to win you a game. And then we’ve got a mix of grit and grind type of players up front that are coupled with a few high-end skilled guys that can make plays and score in different areas. So we’ve got all the elements and the guys have really been coming together as a group and they’re hungry to win every night. When your team gets that feeling, as a coach, it’s what you’re looking for and I think right now we are seeing that. Obviously we are only halfway through the season but it’s been a nice start to be able to see those things come together and have the team go in the right direction.”