February 4, 201114 yr there was approx. 12k people at the game I went to a few weeks ago. Thats more than some NHL teams get.
February 7, 201114 yr Looks like I am going tonight...Dollar dog night. Watch out! I didn't even get one hotdog. Boo. We took the kids and it was a pretty goodtime. I actually learned quite a bit because I know exactly squat about Hockey and the one of the guys we went with who sat next to me explained a lot of the strategy. I'm going back on Feb 12th for Joe Tait bobblehead night. eeeewwwwww! Bobbleheads are for the first 5000 fans only, make sure you get there early and get a voucher. We missed out on the George Washington and Abe Lincoln bobbleheads.
February 7, 201114 yr there was approx. 12k people at the game I went to a few weeks ago. Thats more than some NHL teams get. I expect the Monsters to get a significant boost in attendance next year. Especially if they have a good playoff run this year. With Lebron leaving town and the Cavs being absolutely unwatchable the Monsters should be able to pick up some of those disgruntled Cavs fans.
February 15, 201114 yr The Monsters are in second place and hot, hot, hot! Lake Erie Monsters soar into second in AHL's North Division with 3-2 victory over Texas Stars Published: Monday, February 14, 2011, 9:15 PM By Dennis Manoloff, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For the Lake Erie Monsters, being in second place never has felt so good. "I'm not surprised where we are," Monsters coach David Quinn said. "I love our team. The guys work hard. They have a great attitude and great locker room. I thought we had depth to withstand injuries and call-ups; so far, so good." http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2011/02/lake_erie_monsters_defeat_texa_1.html
April 11, 201114 yr PLAYOFFS!! CLEVELAND - The Lake Erie Monsters have made the AHL playoffs as the number 2 seed in the Western north division. The Monsters will take on the Manitoba Moose. The best of 7 series begins at the Q Saturday, April 16th. The puck will drop at 12:00 noon. Game 1 – Sat, Apr. 16 – Manitoba at Lake Erie 12:00pm Game 2 – Sun, Apr. 17 – Manitoba at Lake Erie 3:00pm Game 3 – Tue., Apr. 19 – Lake Erie at Manitoba, 8:30pm Game 4 – Thu., Apr. 21 – Lake Erie at Manitoba, 8:30pm *Game 5 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Lake Erie at Manitoba, 8:30pm *Game 6 – Sun., Apr. 24 – Manitoba at Lake Erie, 4:00pm *Game 7 – Tue., Apr. 26 – Manitoba at Lake Erie, 7:00pm http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/sports/sports_blogs_local/lake-erie-monsters-start-playoffs-saturday.-apri,l-16th
April 11, 201114 yr All right!!!! BTW the Moose have perhaps the best fans in AHL. Should be a fun series...I'll bee at the Q.
April 12, 201114 yr ^Correct Game 1 to Saturday, not Sunday... Thanks, I fixed my typo. BTW, they're going to have to change the floor quickly...the Cleveland Gladiators play there at 7 pm on Saturday!
April 16, 201114 yr Let's go Monsters! http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2011/04/lake_erie_monsters_confident_a.html Game 1 TODAY @ noon.
April 16, 201114 yr Should have some good crowds downtown today with the Monsters and Indians. Hopefully the weather will clear, we wouldn't want it to rain on the ice.... :-P "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 16, 201114 yr ^And the NCAA Women's Gymanstics National Championships is drawing over 10,000 at the Wolstein Center starting today at 2 pm.
April 18, 201114 yr Monsters took the first game in the series 6-4 and lost a tough one yesterday 3-2 in overtime. The series heads to Winnipeg for 3 games tied 1-1. The next game in Cleveland will be April 24th (if necessary). Game 7 would be on April 26th in Cleveland. Go Monsters!
February 5, 201213 yr Very interesting -- check out the AHL average attendance: http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance
February 6, 201213 yr ^Well, they have a very successful team in Hershey and they play in a relatively new arena. It's good to see the Monsters stay near the top too though.
February 5, 201312 yr This group seems to want CLE to have the NHL and has started a Twitter account....I might start following them. @NHLinCLE
February 5, 201312 yr The Monsters games really are a great entertainment value. Their promotions and fan experience are professional caliber and the hockey is pretty good too. In regards to an NHL team in Cleveland, I would love to see it someday, but there's no way this region could support it right now IMO. If we ever lost the Cavs then I could see it working, but that seems unlikely.
February 5, 201312 yr ^ I was just thinking, what does Hershey, PA do to get so many people? They're the New York Yankees of the AHL. Many many years of success.
February 5, 201312 yr The Monsters games really are a great entertainment value. Their promotions and fan experience are professional caliber and the hockey is pretty good too. In regards to an NHL team in Cleveland, I would love to see it someday, but there's no way this region could support it right now IMO. If we ever lost the Cavs then I could see it working, but that seems unlikely. I think CLE/NEO is a great untapped market for pro hockey. Plenty of built in rivalries like Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit and of course - Pittsburgh! The team would have to be owned in some form by Dan Gilbert, though.
February 5, 201312 yr The Monsters games really are a great entertainment value. Their promotions and fan experience are professional caliber and the hockey is pretty good too. In regards to an NHL team in Cleveland, I would love to see it someday, but there's no way this region could support it right now IMO. If we ever lost the Cavs then I could see it working, but that seems unlikely. I think CLE/NEO is a great untapped market for pro hockey. Plenty of built in rivalries like Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit and of course - Pittsburgh! As far as I know a Columbus-Cleveland sports rivalry is unprecedented. Maybe old NFL? But I agree. I'd love to see NHL in Cleveland. For now I'll be enjoying the Monsters games and the excellent, fan-friendly value.
February 5, 201312 yr The Monsters games really are a great entertainment value. Their promotions and fan experience are professional caliber and the hockey is pretty good too. In regards to an NHL team in Cleveland, I would love to see it someday, but there's no way this region could support it right now IMO. If we ever lost the Cavs then I could see it working, but that seems unlikely. I think CLE/NEO is a great untapped market for pro hockey. Plenty of built in rivalries like Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit and of course - Pittsburgh! As far as I know a Columbus-Cleveland sports rivalry is unprecedented. Maybe old NFL? But I agree. I'd love to see NHL in Cleveland. For now I'll be enjoying the Monsters games and the excellent, fan-friendly value. I don't think they would put a team in cleveland as long as there is one in columbus.
February 6, 201312 yr The Monsters games really are a great entertainment value. Their promotions and fan experience are professional caliber and the hockey is pretty good too. In regards to an NHL team in Cleveland, I would love to see it someday, but there's no way this region could support it right now IMO. If we ever lost the Cavs then I could see it working, but that seems unlikely. I think CLE/NEO is a great untapped market for pro hockey. Plenty of built in rivalries like Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit and of course - Pittsburgh! As far as I know a Columbus-Cleveland sports rivalry is unprecedented. Maybe old NFL? But I agree. I'd love to see NHL in Cleveland. For now I'll be enjoying the Monsters games and the excellent, fan-friendly value. I don't think they would put a team in cleveland as long as there is one in columbus. You're probably right. That being said, I don't think fan support for Jackets/Crew reaches into Northeast Ohio all that much. In fact if I were those franchises I'd schedule more exhibitions in Cleveland.
February 6, 201312 yr I don't think they would put a team in cleveland as long as there is one in columbus. I think this is true, especially because the NHL has really overextended itself with expansions (IMO). I seem to recall that both the Blue Jackets and Crew located in Columbus to try to draw statewide support. I think there's been a little of that, but not much, because of surfohio's point. Cleveland-Akron-Canton is on par with (or larger) than many NHL metros, but it would just barely nudge ahead of Denver for second-to-last among "Grand Slam" (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL) metros. I feel like we're not quite large enough and too close to other similarly-sized metros to be able to pull an NHL team, unless they really push for expansion again or either the Penguins or Blue Jackets move. Regardless, I enjoy the Monsters and am glad we have pro-hockey in some capacity in Cleveland. We're consistently among the best-attended teams, and we should be proud of that and try to build off of it as much as we can.
February 6, 201312 yr The Monsters are currently 3rd most in average attendance for the AHL: http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance On a side, note, I just realized Columbus is 3rd worse in NHL attendance... http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance
February 7, 201312 yr Yeah, Columbus has struggled at the gate for the past few years. To be fair, the product has obviously been poor. I'm not sure what to think...I don't know if the NHL will ever make its way back to the shores of Lake Erie. I just know that CLE is a very solid market for hockey, certainly better than most southern cities.
February 7, 201312 yr The Monsters are currently 3rd most in average attendance for the AHL: http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance On a side, note, I just realized Columbus is 3rd worse in NHL attendance... http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance Columbus is doing bad compared to other pro hockey teams in Ohio, relatively speaking of course: Team: Average Att. (League Avg); amount +/- league avg. (Percentage of league avg.); Rank Columbus: 14,641 (NHL Avg: 17,756); 3,115 below league avg. (82% of league avg.); 28th/30 http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance Lake Erie: 7,456 (AHL Avg: 5,593); 1,863 above league avg. (133% of league avg.); 3rd/30 http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance Toledo: 6,003 (ECHL Avg: 4,591); 1,412 above league avg. (131% of league avg.); 4th/23 http://echl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance Cincinnati: 4,174 (ECHL Avg: 4,591); 417 below league avg. (91% of league avg.); 15th/23 http://echl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance Dayton: 1,159 (FHL Avg: 1,063); 93 above league avg. (109% of league avg.); 2nd/6 http://fhl_league.stats.pointstreak.com/attendance.html?leagueid=1018&seasonid=9465 The Jackets have only had 6 home games, so that isn't saying much. All the minor league Ohio teams would make playoffs as of now, that's pretty awesome (Columbus is 4 points from a spot). Although Dayton is in only it's first season in a 6 team league and they all make the playoffs..
November 10, 201311 yr Monsters second in attendance at 7502 avg after 8 games. http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance
February 23, 201411 yr 15,000+ to see Monsters game. I wonder what type attendance we would have if the Monsters were actually good. I don't think the Monsters ever made the playoffs in their time here. http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2014/02/lake_erie_monsters_iowa_wild_a_2.html
February 24, 201411 yr ^They made the playoffs in 2011. And then they remembered they're a Cleveland team. Went up 3-1 in the series against Manitoba and ended up losing at home in game 7.
April 21, 201510 yr Really excited about the new alignment with the Blue Jackets. The NHL and AHL are beginning to realign with closer clubs. Also had a great crowd for season closer. 15,000 people. 4,000 more than Florida Panther's average.
April 22, 201510 yr It was mentioned over at the CBJ thread that the CBJ/LEM affiliation should boost viewership/fanbase of the Blue Jackets in NEO. I think the corollary might also happen. STO broadcasts some LEM games - and I know I'll be watching them, now that I'll know the players skating for LEM.
May 30, 201510 yr Now that the Lake Erie Monsters are the AHL team for the Columbus Blue Jackets, an excellent CBJ fansite - http://www.jacketscannon.com/ - should be a good LEM resource as well: - Intro of the new LEM writer for the Jackets Cannon: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/5/6/8559651/meet-the-cannons-new-lake-erie-monsters-writer-scott-tennant - Preview of the 2015-16 LEM roster: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/5/29/8688101/lake-erie-monsters-will-be-loaded-at-forward-next-season BTW, love the LEM name and logo:
October 9, 20159 yr Lake Erie Monsters 2015-16 season begin tonight: http://www.jacketscannon.com/lake-erie-monsters-kalamazoo-wings/2015/9/30/9405419/lake-erie-monsters-2015-16-preview
October 26, 20159 yr The CBJ may have started their season badly, but the prospects playing for LEM are off to a good start: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/10/26/9612032/on-the-monsters-beat-the-farmhands-keep-on-rolling
November 4, 20159 yr Unlike their NHL affiliate, LEM is off to a strong start: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/2/9653664/lake-erie-turns-in-another-three-point-weekend LEM is currently 4-1-0-2 and 2nd in their division: http://theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=standings
November 4, 20159 yr One bit of CBJ/LEM prospect news not included in the link in the previous post. From http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/11/04/1104-jackets-notes.html: Madaisky leaves organization: "In less than one season, defenseman Austin Madaisky went from a minor-league all-star to a regular healthy scratch with the Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League affiliate. Now, he’s leaving the organization. The Blue Jackets placed Madaisky, 23, on irrevocable waivers Monday. He is expected to sign with a club in Europe in the coming days." "The Jackets’ AHL club, Lake Erie, has nine defensemen on the roster, and Madaisky played in only one of the first seven games. Madaisky, a fifth-round pick (124th overall) in 2010, had 12 goals and 23 assists in 53 games last season before suffering a broken ankle. He was a starter in the AHL All-Star Game and the league’s leading scorer among defensemen when he was injured. The Blue Jackets signed him to a one-year, two-way contract just five months ago." It looked like Madaisky might make the jump to the NHL after a breakout season last year that got cut short with a broken ankle. Whether its the recovery from his injury or just the number of d-men in the Jackets system, its clear that the organization just wanted to move on to other prospects.
November 10, 20159 yr LEM Update: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/9/9691142/on-the-monsters-beat-headline The Monsters won two and lost one over the weekend to improve to 6-2-0-2 and stay in second place in the AHL's Central Division. However, there was some disappointing news to report. Bjorkstrand injured: "Prospect forward Oliver Bjorkstrand is expected to miss four to six weeks because of an upper-body injury. According to Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, it is not a concussion. Bjorkstrand has no goals, two assists and a minus-2 in six games for Lake Erie of the American Hockey League.": http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/11/07/1107-jackets-notebook_.html Bjorkstrand is a 20-year-old, 3rd-round pick from 2013 who tore it up the past two seasons (227 points in 128 games) at Portland in the WHL Junior League. At 6'-0", 174 lbs, Bjorkstrand needs to bulk up and round out his game for the NHL level. So he was going to be one of the CBJ's most closely watched prospects to see if he could take the next step in his development. After a slow start (noted above) he has now been sidelined with an injury. This injury report was also noted by the LEM update author with the comment: "He didn’t look right to me from the start. I have a feeling this is something he’s been dealing with for a while."
November 24, 20159 yr LEM Update: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/11/23/9777760/stop-us-if-youve-heard-this-before The Lake Erie Monsters roster was raided by the CBJ for injury replacements -- Anderson and Chaput (Lake Erie's leading goal scorer) got called up last week, as did d-man Bodnarchuk, while Rychel got called up a week earlier. But despite this, the Monsters won 2 of their 3 weekend games and advanced their record to 10-4-0-2.
December 8, 20159 yr ^ You're welcome. I've taken a greater interest in the Lake Erie team since they became a CBJ affiliate. And my go-to CBJ site - The Jackets Cannon - has been doing weekly updates for LEM this season. So this makes it convenient to update them here. Here are the LEM updates for the past two weeks: Lake Erie vaults into first-place tie -- LEM had a 2-0-1-0 week to move up into a first-place tie in their central division. Lake Erie Express finally slowed -- LEM lost two of three games last week to drop down into third-place. Lake Erie is off until the weekend, when they host the Chicago Wolves for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. Both of these games will be broadcast on STO. I know I'll be watching that Friday game and I'll try to watch as much of the Saturday game as I can (the CBJ game is on at the same time - so I'll likely be switching back and forth between these games).
December 8, 20159 yr Last week, the Monsters signed former CBJ veterans Manny Malhotra and Jan Hejda to AHL deals (25-game professional tryout contracts) and they both began playing for LEM over the weekend: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/4/9851592/lake-erie-signs-malhotra-and-hejda-to-tryouts Both of these players are well known to CBJ fans. Both Malhotra and Hejda were key players on the 2008-09 playoff team. Malhotra is a 35-year-old center who had some of his best years with the Jackets before moving on after 2009 to the Sharks, Canucks, Hurricanes and with Montreal last season. Manny is a real character-type guy who has always been a faceoff specialist (he had a 58% faceoff win percentage with Montreal last year). The Jackets Cannon article thinks he might have been signed to add a veteran presence to a young LEM team and almost be a player/coach to the young prospects. I saw an excellent NHL Network phone-in interview with Manny Malhotra yesterday. Among others things, they asked Malhotra what he's been doing this year before LEM signed him. And he said he helped put together a "Hockey in the Mountains" experience in British Columbia. I couldn't find the interview video on the NHL site, but he referenced this New York Times article about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/sports/hockey/hockey-in-the-mountains-a-high-point-in-their-lives.html Jan Hejda is one of best all-around defensemen to play for the CBJ. They parted ways after 2010-11 because the CBJ management at the time didn't want to sign a 32-year-old Hejda to a 3-year deal. He then went on to play productive four years for Colorado (missing only 8 of the 294 regular-season games with them over those four years). At 37-years-old, Hejda likely also brings a veteran presence and player/coach to the defensive side of Lake Erie. But with the way the CBJ defense has been this season, Hejda might also get a call-up.
December 14, 20159 yr Lake Erie took both weekend games against Chicago: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/14/10049186/for-what-its-worth-lake-erie-is-still-winning While the CBJ's season fades away, LEM moved into second-place in their central division. On Friday, super-prospect Oliver Bjorkstrand returned to the lineup after missing 16 games to injury. On Saturday, Bjorkstrand got his first AHL goal.
December 21, 20159 yr Lake Erie fell back to earth last week: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/21/10629462/lake-erie-cant-complete-the-puzzle A mid-week loss to the suddenly unbeatable Grand Rapids Griffins (they've got a 14-game winning streak going). Then a pair of losses (one in OT) at Charlotte over the weekend.
January 12, 20169 yr Catching up on the last three weeks of LEM play. They've cooled off from their strong start and dropped to 5th in their eight team division. But they still have a very respectable 19-12-2-3 record (after an impressive 7-3 win last night at Manitoba) and they're only 4 points behind the division leader: -- http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/12/28/10672320/monsters-split-a-pair-with-hockeys-hottest-team -- http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/1/4/10705092/monsters-road-woes-becoming-an-issue -- http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/1/11/10746378/monsters-battling-through-roster-turbulence
January 19, 20169 yr Week in review for the Monsters - which included a bizarre OT loss decided by video replay: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/1/18/10780762/road-weary-lake-erie-monsters-heading-back-home Lake Erie ends their long road trip with a trio a home games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at the Q. Friday's games will be broadcast on FSO.
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