April 15, 20196 yr By the way, here are the final regular-season standings for the AHL's Eastern Conference. Apparently it was the rankings within the two division that matters - not the conference rankings. So, although the Monsters finished 9th overall in the East, they finished 4th in the North Division and were thus awarded a playoff spot.
April 19, 20196 yr The Monsters will play their first two playoff games in a best-of-five series on Friday and Saturday at Syracuse. https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/cleveland-monsters-begin-2019-playoffs/c-306883708 The Monsters got a late season offensive boost when 19-year-old prospect Alexandre Texier joined the team and scored 5G-2A-7pts in 7 games. Unfortunately for the Monsters, Texier's play got the attention of the CBJ - who called him up to the NHL for the Jackets final two regular-season games, in which he scored one goal. Texier stayed on the Jackets roster for the first-round playoff match against Tampa Bay and started all four games - scoring two goals and an assist. So Texier isn't returning to the Monsters for their playoff run. But the CBJ has another 19-year-old prospect to lend to Monsters. Liam Foudy (2018 1st-round, 18th-overall pick) has finished his Canadian Junior League season with the London Knights and has been assigned to Cleveland. Foudy is a center/forward very similar to Texier in skill, size and playing style - and just six months younger than Texier (who was slightly underage for the 2017 draft). https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/columbus-blue-jackets-assign-liam-foudy-to-cleveland-monsters/c-306864842 Foudy is coming off his best season in the Canadian Juniors and should add some offensive punch in the upcoming playoffs. The return of Sonny Milano (who missed 28 games due to injury but came back for the final week of the regular-season) should also help the Monsters against Syracuse. Hopefully, the Monsters can match their parent club's first-round playoff magic against the Crunch (who BTW is the farm team of the Tampa Bay Lightning)!
April 21, 20196 yr Our Columbus affiliate is beating the Tampa affiliate in the AHL playoffs right now ? (check NHL playoffs if context is needed). Monsters take 2-0 lead in opening round of 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs with 5-1 win over Crunch The Cleveland Monsters took a 2-0 lead in the opening round of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 5-1 win over the North Division Champion Syracuse Crunch on the road on Saturday night. https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/nhl/monsters-take-2-0-lead-in-opening-round-of-2019-calder-cup-playoffs-with-5-1-win-over-crunch/95-74c66a59-e420-459d-9860-8dd0610e7ddd Edited April 21, 20196 yr by MuRrAy HiLL
April 24, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/24/18513730/cleveland-monsters-syracuse-crunch-2-1-rocket-mortgage-fieldhouse-justin-scott-andreoff-john-madden The Monsters dropped a tough 2-1 loss last night in Cleveland. So it won't be a sweep over Syracuse. The Monsters face the Crunch again at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Thursday for Game 4.
April 26, 20196 yr PUSH! Series 2 here we come! Awesome 3-0 win to beat Tampa completely out. Ehem I mean Syracuse. But ranting about the attendance: I can't help but feel a lack of dedication from the audience though. The arena was only half full. Maybe because its Thursday night, or maybe because people don't like risking buying tickets for TBD games. Not really sure how that works ticket return wise, but I kind of wish the Monsters were branded a little better in Cleveland. We're a hockey town and nobody even references the monsters as a pro team in Cleveland. People always mention how good and bad the Indians, Cavs, and Browns are doing. Nobody mentions the Monsters. Brand it appropriately! The only reception it gets is from young players, Youth and High School alike, but there's a real lackluster of adult attendance which I believe is a more desirable environment than feeling like you're at the circus. The amount of screeching children there outweigh the adults and it's not very pleasing to hear, nor is it even that loud, it's just outright annoying. Please make the Monsters like the Jackets. Perfectly balanced audience, with a loud audience that can rival NFL stadiums. I went to a Blue Jackets game in Columbus, and it was like nobody even recognized that I was wearing a Monsters Jersey. Somebody who was rooting for the Jackets that night came up to me and said nice Canucks jersey. I was astonished, because I got so many glares that night. Apparently I didn't represent the Jackets, rather some team foreign to even CBJ fans. The monsters aren't even branded down there either, and there's no reason they shouldn't be. With an affiliate in a 71 drive north, you would think that there would be some sort of a correlation, but nobody knows who the Monsters are. And there's the problem. Nobody knows we exist. Give us more media attention! End Rant TL;DR (The Monsters having a very lackluster audience for the playoffs is cause of horrible branding & marketing. A franchised affiliate so close they don't know we exist. People need to pay more attention. Support our playoff teams.) Go Jackets, Go Monsters! Square up Round 2!
May 1, 20196 yr ^ 19-year-old prospect Liam Foudy got his first two goals as a Monster in that Game 4 series win. Thiessen was also a monster (pun intended) with 38 saves: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/25/18517356/cleveland-monsters-shutout-syracuse-crunch-to-move-onto-the-second-round-calder-cup-liam-foudy It has also been announced that soon-to-be 20-year-old prospect Trey Fix-Wolansky is joining the Monsters. He's a 5'-7" Cam Atkinson-type forward who captained his Edmonton Oil Kings junior team to a conference final.
May 1, 20196 yr Here's the schedule for the Calder Cup Second Round: Game 1 -- Wednesday May 1 at Toronto Marlies - 7pm Game 2 -- Friday, May 3 at Toronto Marlies - 7pm Game 3 -- Sunday, May 5 at Cleveland Monsters - 3pm Game 4 -- Tuesday, May 7 at Cleveland Monsters - 7pm Game 5 -- (if necessary) Saturday, May 11 at Toronto Marlies - 4pm Game 6 -- (if necessary) Monday, May 13 at Cleveland Monsters - 7pm Game 7 -- (if necessary) Wednesday, May 15 at Toronto Marlies - 7pm Fox Sports Ohio announced that they will broadcast Games 1 & 2.
May 1, 20196 yr On 4/25/2019 at 10:44 PM, tastybunns said: PUSH! Series 2 here we come! Awesome 3-0 win to beat Tampa completely out. Ehem I mean Syracuse. But ranting about the attendance: I can't help but feel a lack of dedication from the audience though. The arena was only half full. Maybe because its Thursday night, or maybe because people don't like risking buying tickets for TBD games. Not really sure how that works ticket return wise, but I kind of wish the Monsters were branded a little better in Cleveland. We're a hockey town and nobody even references the monsters as a pro team in Cleveland. People always mention how good and bad the Indians, Cavs, and Browns are doing. Nobody mentions the Monsters. Brand it appropriately! The only reception it gets is from young players, Youth and High School alike, but there's a real lackluster of adult attendance which I believe is a more desirable environment than feeling like you're at the circus. The amount of screeching children there outweigh the adults and it's not very pleasing to hear, nor is it even that loud, it's just outright annoying. Please make the Monsters like the Jackets. Perfectly balanced audience, with a loud audience that can rival NFL stadiums. I went to a Blue Jackets game in Columbus, and it was like nobody even recognized that I was wearing a Monsters Jersey. Somebody who was rooting for the Jackets that night came up to me and said nice Canucks jersey. I was astonished, because I got so many glares that night. Apparently I didn't represent the Jackets, rather some team foreign to even CBJ fans. The monsters aren't even branded down there either, and there's no reason they shouldn't be. With an affiliate in a 71 drive north, you would think that there would be some sort of a correlation, but nobody knows who the Monsters are. And there's the problem. Nobody knows we exist. Give us more media attention! End Rant TL;DR (The Monsters having a very lackluster audience for the playoffs is cause of horrible branding & marketing. A franchised affiliate so close they don't know we exist. People need to pay more attention. Support our playoff teams.) Go Jackets, Go Monsters! Square up Round 2! As a transplant to Cleveland, is it bad that I didn't even realize the Monsters were an AHL team (letalone that they were affiliated with Columbus)? I grew up in WNY and it was quite apparent that the Amerks were AHL (and outside of a brief period) have been obviously aligned with the Sabres. Rochester plays a game or two in Buffalo, and likewise, the Sabres will play preseason (and I think they played at least one regular season game) in Rochester. It probably has something to do with ownership, but I think it'd be a great outreach opportunity. Also, why are they charging cavs prices for concessions? One thing I appreciated about living in Erie and going to OHL games was OHL prices, likewise, it should be reflected with AHL games too. BUT- that aside, I'm hoping to make it to a game this series, any opportunity to root against a Toronto team warms my Sabres fan heart lol Edited May 1, 20196 yr by GISguy
May 1, 20196 yr 5 hours ago, GISguy said: As a transplant to Cleveland, is it bad that I didn't even realize the Monsters were an AHL team (letalone that they were affiliated with Columbus)? I grew up in WNY and it was quite apparent that the Amerks were AHL (and outside of a brief period) have been obviously aligned with the Sabres. Rochester plays a game or two in Buffalo, and likewise, the Sabres will play preseason (and I think they played at least one regular season game) in Rochester. It probably has something to do with ownership, but I think it'd be a great outreach opportunity. Also, why are they charging cavs prices for concessions? One thing I appreciated about living in Erie and going to OHL games was OHL prices, likewise, it should be reflected with AHL games too. BUT- that aside, I'm hoping to make it to a game this series, any opportunity to root against a Toronto team warms my Sabres fan heart lol The reason for Cav's prices for concessions is because they're under the same owner. Dan Gilbert owns both, but it seems like he hasn't been able to hold on to all-star players based on his distractions, but the Monsters are a different story. Its up to CBJ to farm the Monsters, so it's basically a cash cow. I'm actually surprised prices are higher for Cavs games based on 'their recent success', if anything prices should be higher for the Monsters based on attendance and success.
May 2, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/5/1/18526380/cleveland-monsters-special-teams-fall-short-in-5-2-loss-to-toronto-marlies The Monsters scored the game's first goal and held a 2-1 lead 5:37 into the second period. But the game quickly went downhill after that when the Monsters took four penalties that led to three straight power-play goals for the Marlies in the rest of the second. An empty net goal with 16 seconds left in the game sealed the final score at 5-2 in favor of Toronto.
May 4, 20196 yr https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2019/05/cleveland-monsters-fall-to-toronto-marlies-in-ot-now-trail-2-0-in-ahl-playoffs-series.html Toronto got off to an early 2-0 lead before the Monsters scored on a Sonny Milano goal late in the first period. Cleveland tied it up with a Dan DeSalvo goal early in the second before Toronto retook the lead late in the middle period. But then the Monsters tied it up at 3-3 only 40 seconds into the third period on a Ryan Collins goal assisted by Milano and DeSalvo (who both had one goal and two assists in this game). The Monsters gave the Marlies a power-play with exactly 2 minutes remaining in the third, but were able to kill it off to force overtime. Unfortunately, the Marlies got the game-winning goal 1:13 into the OT to win game 2 and take a 2-0 series. Game 3 will be Sunday at 3PM at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
May 6, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/5/5/18530493/toronto-marlies-kaskisuo-shutout-the-cleveland-monsters-calder-cup-playoffs The Monsters dropped another close game to the Marlies to go down 3-0 in the series. Toronto scored in the first period and then relied on their goaltender to do the rest. Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped all 35 shots the Monsters sent his way until Toronto scored an empty-netter with 31 seconds left to clinch the win. Game 4 is Tuesday at 7PM with the Monsters season on the brink of elimination.
May 8, 20196 yr https://www.cleveland.com/monsters/2019/05/cleveland-monsters-swept-out-of-ahl-playoffs-by-toronto-marlies-6-2-in-game-4.html The 2018 Calder Cup Champion Marlies swept the Monsters out of the 2019 AHL playoffs. The Monsters started strong, scoring the first two goals from Trey Fix-Wolansky and Zac Dalpe in the first period. But the Monsters gave up four straight goals during a nine minute stretch in the second period to doom their hopes. Another goal in the third and a late empty-netter finished the scoring for the Marlies.
June 1, 20196 yr https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/john-madden-will-not-return-as-cleveland-monsters-head-coach/c-307589984 The Blue Jackets announced that John Madden has mutually agreed to part ways with the organization after three years as the Cleveland Monsters head coach. Madden will not return as the Monsters head coach next season, but assistant coaches Steve McCarthy and Trent Vogelhuber, who remain under contract, will return to the club for the 2019-20 season. It is being reported that Madden is likely in line for an NHL assistant coach position - which he was from 2013-16 prior to being named as the Monsters head coach in 2016.
June 19, 20195 yr https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/chris-clark-mike-eaves-cleveland-monsters/c-307889796 CBJ announced that newly promoted Director of Player Personnel Chris Clark has been named the general manager of the Cleveland Monsters and that Mike Eaves has signed a multi-year contract to be the next head coach of the Monsters. Clark, 43, succeeds Bill Zito, who was recently promoted to senior vice president of hockey operations. Eaves, 63, spent 14 seasons as the head coach at the University of Wisconsin from 2002-16, compiling a 267-225-66 record and leading the Badgers to seven appearances in the NCAA tournament, two championship game appearances (2005-06, 2009-10) and winning the NCAA title in 2005-06.
August 21, 20195 yr https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/blue-jackets-monsters-announce-multi-year-extension-of-affiliation/c-308575138 The Columbus Blue Jackets and Cleveland Monsters announced a multi-year affiliation agreement extension of their current National Hockey League and American Hockey League affiliation partnership. The Dispatch is reporting this is a two-year extension. The Monsters have been the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate since the 2015-16 season. The Monsters will open their 13th AHL season, and fifth as the Blue Jackets affiliate, under new head coach Mike Eaves on Friday, October 4 when they visit the Laval Rocket. The club makes it home debut at the newly-transformed Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Friday, October 11 vs. the Syracuse Crunch.
September 13, 20195 yr Home games for the Cleveland Monsters 2019-20 season don't begin until October 11. But the earnest Monsters correspondent for the Jackets Cannon just posted a ranking of the eight promo giveaways announced for the upcoming season. And they have some nice giveaways - especially the WWE Championship Belt Fanny Pack for WWE Night on February 28th and the Oliver Bjorkstrand “Calder Cup Winning” Bobblehead for March 6th: ? https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/9/13/20836092/ranking-cleveland-monsters-giveaways-cargill-university-hospitals-wwe-bjorkstrand-aviators-top-gun
October 6, 20195 yr The Monsters got off to a strong start in their 2019-20 AHL season with back-to-back road wins at the Laval Rocket. Jackets Cannon has the game recaps below: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/10/5/20899760/cleveland-monsters-beat-laval-rocket-columbus-blue-jackets-montreal-canadiens-prospects-fix-wolansky https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/10/5/20900442/monsters-sweep-laval-rocket-columbus-blue-jackets-montreal-canadiens-prospects-dalpe-vehvilainen Game 1 was decided on a Trey Fix-Wolansky game-wining goal with only 1:40 left on the clock. Kivlenieks was in net and looked solid (an encouraging sign given his past two seasons with the Monsters). New goaltender Veini Vehlvilainen made his Monsters debut in Game 2 and stopped 30 of 31 shots for that win. This year's roster is filled with both promising young prospects and veteran tweeners on offense and defense. So if this young goaltending duo of Kivlenieks and Vehlvilainen can hold up (plus they still have reliable 33-year-old veteran Brad Thiessen to use in a pinch), the Monsters could be in for an outstanding season. The Monsters head back home to take on the Syracuse Crunch at the newly renovated Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday, October 11th and Saturday the 12th.
October 10, 20195 yr On 10/6/2019 at 1:47 PM, Columbo said: The Monsters got off to a strong start in their 2019-20 AHL season with back-to-back road wins at the Laval Rocket. Jackets Cannon has the game recaps below: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/10/5/20899760/cleveland-monsters-beat-laval-rocket-columbus-blue-jackets-montreal-canadiens-prospects-fix-wolansky https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/10/5/20900442/monsters-sweep-laval-rocket-columbus-blue-jackets-montreal-canadiens-prospects-dalpe-vehvilainen Game 1 was decided on a Trey Fix-Wolansky game-wining goal with only 1:40 left on the clock. Kivlenieks was in net and looked solid (an encouraging sign given his past two seasons with the Monsters). New goaltender Veini Vehlvilainen made his Monsters debut in Game 2 and stopped 30 of 31 shots for that win. This year's roster is filled with both promising young prospects and veteran tweeners on offense and defense. So if this young goaltending duo of Kivlenieks and Vehlvilainen can hold up (plus they still have reliable 33-year-old veteran Brad Thiessen to use in a pinch), the Monsters could be in for an outstanding season. The Monsters head back home to take on the Syracuse Crunch at the newly renovated Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday, October 11th and Saturday the 12th. I'll be there with a few buddies of mine on Saturday, looking forward to checking out the new digs!!
October 14, 20195 yr The Monsters followed their back-to-back road wins at Laval with back-to-back home losses against Syracuse in the newly renovated Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse last weekend. At least the Monsters got to help inaugurate the new(er) digs with a crowd of 11,676 on the Friday home opener. Here are the game recaps from the Jackets Cannon: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/10/11/20909996/home-opener-cleveland-monsters-syracuse-crunch-rocket-mortgage-fieldhouse-2019-blue-jackets-prospect https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/10/12/20911670/cleveland-monsters-lose-battle-goals-syracuse-crunch-columbus-blue-jackets-prospects-kole-sherwood The Monsters are off until the weekend - when they play back-to-back-to-back road games at Rochester on Friday and Toronto on Saturday and Sunday. These back-to-back-to-back weekend games are also known as "the AHL special"!
November 12, 20195 yr The Monsters are off to a good start for 2019-20. They were riding a five-game winning streak into last weekend's two home games against the Laval Rocket - but they dropped both games against the dastardly French-Canadians(!) Despite the weekend losses, the Monsters still have a 8-5-0-1 record. Unfortunately that's only good enough for 6th-place in the 8-team AHL North (on a pct ranking). That's largely because the North Division teams are off to even stronger starts then the Monsters. If Cleveland was in the AHL Atlantic Division, they'd be 3rd-place. But these things usually work themselves out over the 76-game season. Although the Monster's offense and defense are a part of their good start (led by vets Gerbe, Dalpe, Scott & Matteau on offense and young prospect Peeke on defense) the Monsters goaltending has been the bigger story so far. The young goaltending tandem of 22-year-old Veini Vehvilainen and 23-year-old Matiss Kivlenieks have started 13 of 14 games (with CBJ backup Elvis Merzlikins getting a start last weekend for some conditioning action). In Vehvilainen's six starts, he has a 2.02 GAA and .931 save pct. In Kivlenieks' seven starts, he has a 2.37 GAA and .909 save pct. If the Vehvilainen/Kivlenieks duo keep producing at this rate, there might not be a need for veteran netminder Brad Thiessen to bail out the team like he had to last season.
January 3, 20205 yr An AHL team exists to develop players for the NHL and to serve the needs of their NHL affiliate. Unfortunately for the Monsters, the needs of the Columbus Blue Jackets have been for replacement players - and lots of them! The CBJ have had 11 players go on the team's injury list, with 9 on the current IR. The Jackets have called up 9 players to Columbus so far this season - five players on an emergency basis in just the past month(!) Five of the Monsters top seven scorers have been called up by the Jackets. With that big of a hole in their lineup, the Monsters have struggled to score and have sagged to 7th in the 8-team AHL North Division with a 15-15-1-2 record going into this weekend's games. This is despite some good defensive play and good goaltending from Veini Vehvilainen who posted a 2.01 GAA and .923 save pct in 16 games.
January 3, 20205 yr The Monsters twitter feed made it seem like they were changing their name again: But it was only for this weekend's series hosting Milwaukee. The Monsters will be wearing throwback Lumberjacks uniforms to honor the former International Hockey League team that played in the Richfield Coliseum from 1992–1994 and then Gund Arena from 1994–2001.
January 3, 20205 yr 2 minutes ago, skiwest said: I liked that name. And the logo was cute. Nothing beats the Barons. Name, logo and sitting squashed in the Cleveland Arena.
January 3, 20205 yr And I'm sure you remember their fight song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOqCh7hYTYs
May 11, 20205 yr AHL cancels remainder of season, playoffs due to coronavirus concerns -- League will not award Calder Cup for first time since 1936 formation The American Hockey League, the top development league for the NHL, canceled the remainder of its 2019-2020 regular season and the 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs. The AHL had suspended its season on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the same day the NHL paused its season for the same reason. MORE: https://www.nhl.com/news/ahl-season-canceled-due-to-covid-19/c-316890856
January 25, 20214 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/1/24/22247391/cleveland-monsters-release-2020-21-schedule The Monsters and the AHL are getting back on the ice for the first time since suspending their 2019-20 season on March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. An abbreviated 28-game 2021 season will start for the Monsters on Friday, February 5 with a back-to-back road series at Rockford. The Monsters first home games will be on Friday, February 12 with back-to-back games. The State of Ohio approved an attendance variance request of 10% for the Monsters - so their 14 home games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse can host a little under 2,000 fans. The full schedule is available at https://www.clevelandmonsters.com/assets/doc/CLEM_Printable_schd_2021-97c5c78783.pdf
March 27, 20214 yr https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-analysis/2021/03/5898/monster-report-cleveland-treading-water-as-ahl-season-rolls-on Not much to report about the Monsters this season. They've only played a mere 10 games in this abbreviated 28-game 2021 season so far. The Monsters are 5-4-1-0 going into back-to-back games this weekend - middle of the pack in their division and the AHL. But there might be some excitement going forward because the CBJ's top goaltending prospect Daniil Tarasov will be joining the Monsters. The 6'-5" Russian - who turns 22 today - is coming off a stellar season in the KHL. His size and athleticism has drawn comparisons to other giant NHL goaltenders like Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne. Goalie prospects can be notoriously hit-or-miss, so who knows if Tarasov will live up such lofty expectations. But if he does, we might be getting a sneak peak at the goaltender of the future for the Blue Jackets: https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/03/5897/columbus-blue-jackets-goalie-prospect-daniil-tarasov-will-join-cleveland-monsters
March 28, 20214 yr Welp. While the Monsters will be getting one of the CBJ's top prospects for the rest of the 2021 season in Tarasov, they're losing another top prospect - and their leading scorer - for the rest of the season. 21-year-old winger Trey Fix-Wolansky had season-ending surgery for a torn ACL in his right knee. TFW led the Monsters in scoring with 9 points on 4 goals and 5 assists in nine games this season. https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2021/03/5910/trey-fix-wolansky-undergoes-successful-surgery-for-torn-acl-will-be-out-for-six-months
April 19, 20214 yr I don't know how the Monsters are doing it, but they've won their last six games and are now second in their division with a 11-5-1 record going into a busy week of games. They've got a Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back at 3rd-place Grand Rapids and then a Friday-Saturday homestand against 1st-place Chicago. Between all the injury call-ups to the Blue Jackets and this covid season's NHL taxi squad - the Monsters have very few top prospects in their lineup. The Monsters are getting it done with mostly career AHLers and PTO players.
May 4, 20214 yr I was hoping that the Monsters might get to play some playoff games this season - but the AHL announced they won't be having any playoffs for the Calder Cup this year. So, despite being in 2nd-place in their division, the Monsters have only five games remaining in this 2021 covid-shortened season: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31359763/ahl-not-crown-calder-cup-champion-second-straight-season
October 15, 20213 yr https://www.clevelandmonsters.com/news/detail/monsters-drop-puck-for-15th-season-with-weekend-homestand-versus-crunch The Cleveland Monsters open their 2021-22 season when they host the Syracuse Crunch in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. This year’s campaign marks the Monsters’ 15th season in Cleveland and seventh year as the top affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. I'm expecting an improved Monsters team this season. The Jackets' prospect pool kinda dried up over the past two years and it affected the talent level in Cleveland. But this season, the prospect pool has been refilled and the talent level looks real good. On the offensive side, young prospects like Carson Meyer, Tyler Angle, Josh Dunne and Liam Foudy are joined by solid vets like Justin Scott, Brendan Gaunce, Cole Cassels and Kevin Stenlund. Plus 28-year-old euro-signing Justin Danforth and 20-year-old top prospect Yegor Chinakhov are starting the season on the Monsters roster. On the defensive side, young prospects Tim Berni and Jake Christiansen are joined by older vets Gavin Bayreuther, Dillon Simpson and Gabriel Carlsson. In the net, 22-year-old Russian phenom Daniil Tarasov is joined by 29-year-old veteran Jean-Francois Berube and a 20-year-old signee with the awesome name of Jet Greaves(!)
October 23, 20213 yr The first in a series of monthly check-ins with the Monsters from the Jackets Cannon: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/10/22/22739788/going-north-a-cleveland-monsters-roundup
November 19, 20213 yr Checking in on the Monsters after 13 games - roughly 1/6 into the AHL regular season: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/11/17/22786509/going-north-monsters-keeping-pace-in-tough-division A pretty good start at 6-3-1-3 and 3rd-place in the AHL's North Division. This is despite scoring the fewest goals in the division. However, they are getting some offensive help with Trey Fix-Wolansky being activated off the IR and available for tonight's game. TFW was having a strong start last season with 9 points in 9 games until a knee injury ended his season. Young super-prospect goalie Daniil Tarasov has been up-and-down in his starts with a 2-2-2 record, .884 save percentage and a 3.28 GAA. However, that's been compensated by veteran Jean-Francois Berube starting well with a 3-1-2 record, .933 save percentage and 2.09 GAA.
December 8, 20213 yr The CBJ and the Cleveland Monsters announced a multi-year extension to their current AHL affiliate agreement:
December 16, 20213 yr Monsters game postponed. https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/hockey/cleveland-monsters-game-postponed-due-to-covid-19-protocols/95-52405416-8eac-4cae-848b-d1021676d5dd
December 26, 20213 yr Due to league covid protocols affecting the Chicago Wolves, the Monsters home games with them scheduled for Wednesday 12/22 and Thursday 12/23 were postponed. This was the third of the last fourth scheduled Monsters games postponed because of covid protocols affecting their opponent. So not a lot of news to report going into the AHL's Christmas Break. The Monsters are 10-8-3-3 and fourth-place in the AHL's North Division. Their next scheduled game is a home match on Monday 12/27, then three straight road games from 12/29 to 1/1.
January 19, 20223 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2022/1/14/22881320/going-north-monsters-resume-play-after-covid-cancellations The Monsters are finally back on the ice after postponing four of their post-Christmas games and then restarting their season with an infamous AHL weekend triple-header from Friday, January 7 to Sunday, January 9. With all three games on the road at three different locations (Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Chicago) they won one in OT, lost one in OT and lost one in regulation, with all three games decided by one goal. Then last weekend, the Monsters split a two-game weekend series at Rockford. All these covid cancellations are tough on team chemistry. Added to that is the impact that NHL & CBJ covid protocols have had on the Monsters roster. Columbus has called on many key Monster players to fill out their roster while players were in the NHL's covid protocol. Plus, the NHL reinstated the taxi squad, so additional Monster players were added to that, making them unavailable for Cleveland. The biggest impact has been on the Monsters goaltending. The Monsters have been without their usual goaltending tandem of J.F. Berube (CBJ Taxi Squad) and Daniil Tarasov (call-up to CBJ roster, then injury). So for this last stretch of games, the Monsters have used two ECHL call-ups - Cam Johnson and Jet Greaves. Johnson has been sharp in his appearances, but Greaves struggled in this call-up stint with the Monsters. Berube is now back with the Monsters, while Tarasov is still out with a lower body injury. As a result of all this roster uncertainty, the Monsters are slumping. After dropping a Tuesday home game, the Monsters currently sit at 6th-place in the seven-team North Division. Cleveland has two home games this weekend against the Rochester Americans, followed by two mid-week road games, and then back-to-back-to-back home games from January 28-30 to finish out this month.
January 20, 20223 yr The Monsters might not have won Tuesday's game, but they did get a hi-light reel goal from Tyler Angle in the game that was noticed by the NHL and ESPN: 21-year-old center Tyler Angle picked up the puck with his stick and scored a lacrosse-style goal (or a "Michigan goal"). Angle was not the most highly-touted prospect - he was drafted by the CBJ in the 7th-round (212th overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He made the jump from the juniors to Cleveland last year on an amateur tryout contract and led the Monsters in scoring with 24 points in 23 games - earning himself a three-year entry-level contract from the CBJ that started this season. https://www.jacketscannon.com/2021/8/19/22619242/2021-cbj-top-25-under-25-tyler-angleentry-level-contract-blue-jackets-columbus-cleveland-monsters
July 12, 20231 yr https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2023/07/cleveland-monsters-reveal-new-team-logos-colors.html
July 13, 20231 yr New Colors & Uniforms. https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/local-sports/cleveland-monsters-unveil-new-logos-color-schemes-ahead-of-2023-24-season
July 13, 20231 yr I like the uniforms. Not keen on that face-forward logo though. The side-on one (practically same as the old logo) is much better. My hovercraft is full of eels
February 2, 20241 yr Monsters lead league in attendance. https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/local-sports/cleveland-monsters-have-highest-attendance-average-in-ahl-for-good-reason
April 23, 20241 yr First division win, and 4th playoff appearance. We won't know our playoff series game dates until there is a winner of the Bellville/Toronto series (Apr. 28 or 28th).
April 24, 20241 yr The Cleveland Monsters have the BEST ATTENDANCE in all of minor league hockey at 10300 per game, Yet they are NEVER mentioned or considered for NHL relocation or expansion. Salt Lake City Utah gets the relocated Arizona Coyotes yet their ECHL Utah Grizzles draw 6000 per game. Other Cities mentioned for future expansion are Atlanta ( twice failed NHL ). The ECHL Atlanta Gladiators draw 4100 per game. Other cities considered are Houston, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Quebec, & Toronto. Currently Houston does not have minor league Hockey. The ECHL Kansas City Mavericks draw 3700 per game, ECHL Cincinnati Cyclones draw 6600 per game, Quebec ( Failed NHL) has a team in the QMJHL - I do not have attendance figures) and Finally Toronto/ Hamilton. The AHL Toronto Marlies draw 5800 per game and Hamilton does not have a minor league team or the Junior OHL. As you can see Cleveland has a far superior built-in fan base than any of the other cities mentioned YET Receives no mention or NO consideration. WHY the Hate on Cleveland? OR maybe ownership here ( Dan Gilbert ) is not interested in bringing in the NHL here to compete with the Cavaliers.
April 24, 20241 yr With the NHL in Columbus, it is unlikely Cleveland will ever be considered. A shame the NHL Barons of the mid-70s did not get a chance to build a fan base. It was bad timing as they arrived in 1976 when Cleveland sports fans were all gaga over the Cavs after the "Miracle at Richfield" season. The Barons got stuck with a lot of crappy playing dates at the Coliseum. They were gone two years later, folded into the Minnesota North Stars. Edited April 24, 20241 yr by LibertyBlvd
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