June 12, 20169 yr Something I didn't know until today: Cleveland's last Calder Cup championship was in 1964. Just sayin....
June 12, 20169 yr ^ Ironic, isn't it! Cleveland now holds 10 Calder Cup victories in its history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_Cleveland#Championships Lake Erie Monsters win Calder Cup title in 1-0 OT victory over Hershey By Branson Wright, The Plain Dealer Follow on Twitter on June 11, 2016 at 10:31 PM, updated June 11, 2016 at 10:50 PM CLEVELAND, Ohio - The wait is over. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the winning goal with 1.9 minutes left in overtime to give the Lake Erie Monsters the Calder Cup title with a 1-0 victory over the Hershey Bears before a sellout crowd on Saturday at The Q. Bjorkstrand, who had six winning goals in the postseason, was named MVP of the Calder Cup Finals. This is the first professional sports title for Cleveland since the 1998-99 Cleveland Crunch of the National Professional Soccer League. This is the first title for a professional hockey team in this city since the 1964 Barons. http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2016/06/lake_erie_monsters_and_hershey.html
June 12, 20169 yr Fellow UOers, feel free to contribute in the comments section asking why this story or any mention of the 2016 Calder Cup winners (home game victory mind you) does not make the Cleveland.com landing page: http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2016/06/lake_erie_monsters_and_hershey.html Here's some other media attention: 1) Apparently most attended hockey game in Ohio history http://www.todaysslapshot.com/from-the-ice/lake-erie-monsters-set-record-ohio-hockey-attendance/ 2) Story from the NY Times Cleveland Realizes a Championship After All, Thanks to the Monsters By DAVE CALDWELL JUNE 11, 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/sports/hockey/cleveland-may-get-champion-after-all-thanks-to-the-monsters.html?_r=0
June 12, 20169 yr Congrats on the victory! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 12, 20169 yr So glad I got to personally witness last nights championship. I also got to see the Cleveland Crunch win their title run back in 1994. I'm lucky!
June 12, 20169 yr Maybe the Monsters could get promoted to NHL, and the Blue Jackets could be relegated to being their AHL affiliate!
June 12, 20169 yr Maybe the Monsters could get promoted to NHL, and the Blue Jackets could be relegated to being their AHL affiliate! Don't sour the good feelings. The Blue Jackets organization did provide all the players for the Monsters championship season!
June 12, 20169 yr June 14, Tuesday, city celebration of winning the cup to be held in Gateway: https://m.facebook.com/events/1721822678107240/ http://www.lakeeriemonsters.com/team/news/monsters-host-championship-plaza-party-tuesday
June 13, 20169 yr Maybe the Monsters could get promoted to NHL, and the Blue Jackets could be relegated to being their AHL affiliate! Ah, the irony if not realizing the CBJ drafted 90+% of the players who contributed to the Calder Cup run. Very Stable Genius
June 14, 20169 yr Fair enough, and of course, a good number of the "Monsters" will indeed get promoted to the NHL next year.
June 14, 20169 yr This does appear to be a promising partnership. State of Ohio hockey attendance record. First year away from the Avalanche...boom Calder Cup. Jarmo and JD are sure to keep drafting well. I'd expect Bjorkstrand, Werenski, and probably Anderson to make the Columbus team out of camp. Outside shot for Kukan, Rychel (if he isn't traded), Milano, and Sedlak. Forsberg or Korpisalo as well if the CBJ bury/buy out McBackup. I'd expect the Monsters to see some new faces via CBJ draftees - Paul Bittner, Keegan Kolesar, Gabriel Carlsson, Markus Nutivaara, to name a few. Very Stable Genius
June 17, 20168 yr Monsters website has a photo gallery from the Calder Cup championship celebration: http://www.lakeeriemonsters.com/fans/galleries/calder-cup-championship-plaza-celebration Small sampling from the website:
June 17, 20168 yr Re-enjoy the Calder Cup winning OT goal in this video shot by a fan in the sold-out Q. Video starts at just before the final face-off with 11 seconds remaining to Bjorkstrand's game-winning shot with at the 1.9 seconds remaining mark. Then the on-ice celebration followed by replays of "the shot" on the massive video board starting at the video's 1:40 mark:
August 9, 20168 yr Lake Erie Monsters change name to Cleveland Monsters: http://www.cleveland.com/monsters/index.ssf/2016/08/lake_erie_monsters_now_named_c.html
August 9, 20168 yr I always wondered why it was Lake Erie in the first place. I wish they would have gone into how they became Lake Erie Monsters instead of Cleveland Monsters.
August 9, 20168 yr I liked Lake Erie Monsters better. Made me thing of a Loch Ness-esque creature from Cleveland.
August 9, 20168 yr I always wondered why it was Lake Erie in the first place. I wish they would have gone into how they became Lake Erie Monsters instead of Cleveland Monsters. This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_(lake_monster)
August 9, 20168 yr Oh that's embarrassing lol. I was thinking literally instead of the bigger picture.
August 10, 20168 yr I always wondered why it was Lake Erie in the first place. I wish they would have gone into how they became Lake Erie Monsters instead of Cleveland Monsters. This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_(lake_monster) I actually had my mom buy that one for me- I remember I was around 9 at the time! I'm a fan of any name change that puts "Cleveland" in it- has a better ring than the "Lake Erie Monsters"; at least to me.
August 25, 20168 yr New season and new branding for the Monsters. And a new correspondent for the Jackets Cannon to cover the Monsters. He introduces himself and looks at the new branding direction for the (now) Cleveland Monsters: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/8/24/12633542/new-season-new-branding-for-cleveland-monsters
August 25, 20168 yr Looks like the Monsters are going to need a new head coach too. The Colorado Avalanche just poached head coach Jared Bednar from the Monsters to be their next head coach. The Avs spot opened up when Patrick Roy abruptly resigned as their head coach a couple weeks ago: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/08/25/avalanche-hire-jared-bednar-as-new-head-coach/ http://www.jacketscannon.com/2016/8/25/12647934/monsters-head-coach-jared-bednar-to-leave-for-same-position-with-the-colorado-avalanche
August 29, 20168 yr John Madden hired as head coach of the Monsters. No, not THAT John Madden. This one: http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/2016/08/madden-hired-to-coach-cleveland.html
March 7, 20178 yr Update on the Monsters: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2017/3/6/14830558/monsters-mash-trade-deadline-and-a-griffins-dinner The Monsters have had an up-and-down 2016-17 season following their 2016 Calder Cup Championship. Which is actually not that surprising. Since an AHL team serves to develop players for their NHL affiliate club, its no surprise that the Monsters lost a number of quality players to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Phenom d-man Zach Werenski, forward Josh Anderson and center Lukas Sedlak all made the CBJ roster out of training camp and have stayed with Columbus all season. Super-prospect forward Oliver Bjorkstrand also initially made the CBJ roster, but was sent back to Cleveland early in the season. However, Bjorkstrand was recently called back up to Columbus and looks like he'll remain there for the rest of the 2016-17 season. Rugged forward Markus Hannikainen has also been at Columbus for most of the season. (And don't forget that last season's head coach, Jared Bednar, was made head coach of the Colorado Avs.) Despite losing those five quality players and their head coach, the Monsters are still in the 2017 AHL playoff race. If the season ended today, the Monsters would be 25-24-3-4 and 10th in the Western Conference - two spots out of the playoffs. But 20 games still remain and the Monsters are only 5 points behind the 8th-place team with two-games-in-hand over them: http://theahl.com/stats/standings
March 28, 20178 yr The 2016 Calder Cup Champs are making a run for the 2017 playoffs. Going into tonight's match, the Monsters are tied in point percentage for the eighth, and final, playoff spot. And the team they're tied with is the Charlotte Checkers - a team the Monsters have a two-game homestand with tonight and Thursday at the Q: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2017/3/28/15087970/preview-monsters-checkers-battle-for-playoff-contention The Monsters are at the edge of a playoff berth due to a five-game winning streak that started two Saturdays ago. Four of those five wins were with Anton Forsberg in the net. Forsberg was named AHL Player of Week on the strength of his last three starts in which he allowed only two goals on 110 shots. These last three wins included a massive 51-save game (most by any AHL goaltender this season) and his third shutout of the season: http://www.clevelandmonsters.com/team/news/anton-forsberg-named-ccmahl-player-week
April 6, 20178 yr Only five regular season games remaining for the Monsters and they're still in a tight race for the last two conference playoff spots. The Monsters are currently 9th in point percentage and one of four teams within a win/loss margin of either making the playoffs in the 7/8 spot or missing it in the 9/10 spot. This weekend could make or break their playoff chances. The Monsters have three games from Friday to Sunday in a back-to-back-to-back format! Friday at Milwaukee, Saturday at Grand Rapids, then Sunday vs. Grand Rapids back at the Q.
April 6, 20178 yr Lots of player news for the Monsters today too: - Defenseman Ryan Collins signed a three-year Entry Level Contract and is joining the Monsters. The 6'5"-220 Collins was a 2014 2nd-round pick and has played the last three seasons for the University of Minnesota: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2017/4/5/15197018/ryan-collins-signs-entry-level-contract-with-jackets - Goaltender Oscar Dansk was assigned to the Monsters. Dansk was a 2012 2nd-round pick who has played his past two seasons in the Swedish Hockey League: http://www.clevelandmonsters.com/team/news/blue-jackets-assign-goaltender-oscar-dansk-cleveland - Sonny Milano is returning from Columbus to the Monsters for this weekend's crucial games: - 18-year-old forward prospect Vitaly Abramov will also be joining the Monsters. His junior league season is over and he's now eligible to play with the Monsters for the rest of their season. Abramov was named his league's MVP this season scoring 46G-58A-104pts in 66 games:
April 10, 20178 yr This weekend could make or break their playoff chances. The Monsters have three games from Friday to Sunday in a back-to-back-to-back format! Friday at Milwaukee, Saturday at Grand Rapids, then Sunday vs. Grand Rapids back at the Q. The Monsters won all three weekend games! They're still behind Charlotte in the division because CHA won its two games this weekend. But the Monsters edged ahead of Stockton for 8th-place in the conference for the last playoff spot. - Monsters have two remaining games, Thursday and Friday in the Q. - Charlotte has three remaining games, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, all on the road. - Stockton has three remaining games, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, all at home.
April 17, 20178 yr They'll be no repeat of the Calder Cup Championship. The Monsters got edged out of the playoffs: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2017/4/16/15317214/cleveland-monsters-season-officially-ends Despite winning 12 of their final 15 games, it was a 1-0 loss in their final game on Friday that determined their fate. The loss meant that Charlotte needed one point in their final game on Saturday to claim the last playoff spot in the division. And they got it with a regulation tie to force the game into OT.
April 17, 20178 yr Hi Columbo[/member], I don't often get a chance to post on UO as much as I'd like anymore, but just wanted to say I appreciate the CLE Monsters updates. I really wish Cincy was affiliated with them and Columbus to create the "State of Hockey." As a longtime Blue Jackets fan, this forum is where I keep up on most Monsters news and updates. Thanks for doing it.
June 12, 20178 yr https://www.1stohiobattery.com/cleveland-monsters/2017/06/527/former-blue-jacket-and-cleveland-monster-ryan-craig-retires-and-joins-the-vegas-golden-knights-coaching-staff Ryan Craig, the 35-year-old captain of the Cleveland Monsters, has retired and joined the NHL expansion Vegas Golden Knights as an assistant coach. Craig served as captain of the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate for the past five seasons.
September 18, 20177 yr The Mullet Brothers were retired a few weeks ago. The Monsters are looking for 10-12 skaters to participate within an all new 'ICE CREW'. Ice Crew would take on responsibilities of the Mullet Bros. The reason why they were retired is because the AHL was making a push to clean the ice surface between 60 second official timeouts. Between 3 manly, dashing figures, they just couldn't do it all themselves. The move was made to meet the AHL's demands.
January 2, 20187 yr What a difference two years makes. The core players from the Monsters 2016 Calder Cup championship team are either playing for the Blue Jackets or are elsewhere in the NHL. And the roster turnover shows. After narrowly missing the 2017 playoffs, this season's Monsters currently sit dead last in their division and in the AHL's Western Conference, after a rough December: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/1/1/16839244/december-2017-review-cleveland-monsters-carter-camper-sam-vigneault But the Monsters did play in front of a season-high 15,117 fans at The Q on Marvel Super Hero Night last Saturday. And they got to wear these Captain America themed uniforms too: https://www.clevelandmonsters.com/recap/monsters-fall-griffins-front-15117-fan-q-5-3
January 3, 20187 yr ^I was at that game on Saturday and they really do stink. Some of the defenders have skates filled with concrete and there's just too little movement in the offensive zone. I saw absolutely no creative play making at all in that game, but we got in a couple big hits so we have that going for us which is nice.
January 3, 20187 yr The Monsters also lost their coach to the Avalanche - Jared Bednar. But yeah, a lot of guys have graduated to the NHL. Trent Vogelhuber went to Colorado, I think. Captain Ryan Craig is now coaching with the Vegas Golden Knights. It's hard to replicate chemistry with that much turnover. The Jackets also have had a lot of European picks who otherwise might be playing in the AHL right now - from 2015, Kevin Stenlund, Vladislav Gavirkov, and Veeti Vainio all remain in Europe. Gabriel Carlsson and Markus Nutivaara have almost exclusively played in the NHL since coming over (Carlsson has been back and forth a bit). Keegan Kolesar (a big PF) from '15 would be in Cleveland this year but he was traded at the '17 draft for a pick. Really, only Paul Bittner (and Carlsson, somewhat) from the '15 draft class is with Cleveland right now. That's potentially 4-5 draft picks who should be there this season who aren't. The big goalie prize from '14 (Elvis Merzlikins) is still in Europe. I don't think the last 3 picks from '14 ever panned out but I haven't followed up on those guys. I heard Ryan Collins was drifting towards "bust" but again, don't follow him on a week to week basis. The problem with the '16 draft is first-round pick PLD went straight to the big club. Dman Andrew Peeke has stayed in college - he's on the U.S. Jr. National Team right now. Vitaly Abramov was too young for the AHL since he got drafted out of the CHL - he could join next year if he doesn't make the Jackets. Another goalie from that class not in the AHL - Thome stayed in college. I believe most of the '17 picks are on a similar path - college or Europe. So the Jackets haven't exactly had the draft picks coming through that would supplement the Monsters' roster. Almost all of the '13 draft class (outside of Moutrey) is either in the NHL or has been traded away. It's been pretty thin in recent NHL draft classes of prospects spending a year or two in the AHL like we saw with Bjorkstrand, Sedlak, Milano, etc. Very Stable Genius
May 15, 20187 yr For the upcoming 2018-19 season the Cleveland Monsters are being moved to the North Division of the Eastern Conference. This is because there is a New 31st team ( Colorado ) joinnig and it will be in the Pacific Division. 2 teams ( San Antonio & Texas ) are moving from the Pacific to the Central Division.
October 8, 20186 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/10/5/17944658/monsters-start-2018-19-season-out-with-a-win https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/10/6/17946198/dalpe-robinson-lead-monsters-to-second-win-in-a-row The Monsters started out their 2018-19 season on a high note with two straight home wins. After a very down season last year, I think the Monsters are due for a rebound. As Dark&Stormy pointed out previously, the Monsters last season were lacking in top prospect talent. Most of the 2016 Calder Cup team had either moved up to the CBJ or on to other NHL teams. But many of the top picks drafted by the CBJ were either playing for euro teams or still on junior teams and age-ineligible to play in the AHL. This season, many of that euro and junior talent will be on the Monsters roster: -- 23-year-old Eric Robinson - a four-year NCAA player the CBJ signed late last year to an entry-level contract -- 22-year-old Kevin Stenlund - a high draft that had been playing in Sweden until this year - he looked very impressive in CBJ preseason games -- 20-year-old Vitaly Abromov - a slick skating scorer who is now age-eligible to play in the AHL -- 21-year-old Kole Sherwood - Central Ohio prospect who tore it up in the juniors and now eligible for the AHL -- 22-year-old Michael Prapavessis - defenseman signed as a free-agent this year and got a long look by the CBJ in preseason -- 21-year-old Gabriel Carlsson - currently with the CBJ because of d-corps injuries - might return to the Monsters - was injured for most of last year -- 25-year-old Adam Clendening - also currently with the CBJ and might return to the Monsters - would be a veteran presence on the defense Also some returning prospects are hoping to see improved seasons: -- 22-year-old Ryan Collins - second full season for this big defenseman with the Monsters -- 21-year-old Calvin Thurkauf - second season for this big center with the Monsters The Monsters also acquired 33-year-old Mark Letestu, who could serve in the Ryan Craig role as the old vet. 29-year-old Jean-Francis Berube was also acquired as a veteran backup goalie for the team. He joins 32-year-old Brad Thiessen to provide two veteran backups for 22-year-old Matiss Kivlenicks. Last season, the Monsters had to ride two young prospect goaltenders after Thiessen went down with a season-ending injury. Kivlenicks did fine, but the other goalie prospect was a disaster. And since the AHL frequently has back-to-back-to-back weekend games, the Monsters were forced to put out a sub-par goalie more than they wanted to last season. This season, with two veteran backups available, that shouldn't be a problem.
November 30, 20186 yr The Monsters are 10-7-3-0 going into this weekend's games - which is good enough for 3rd in their division and 6th in their conference. That's good enough for a playoff spot. Their dynamic offense of 3.60 goals per game is the reason they are in a playoff position. However, their poor defensive numbers of 3.53 goals per game is the reason that playoff position isn't higher. Both of the Monsters weekend games are available for viewing. Friday's 7PM game is streaming on Facebook. Then Saturday's 1PM game is being broadcast on STO. More about these games and the link to the Facebook stream at https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/11/30/18119380/preview-and-game-thread-streaking-syracuse-skates-into-cleveland
November 30, 20186 yr Speaking of the Monsters offense - the Monsters leading scorer, Zac Dalpe with 13 goals and 23 points in 19 games this season, got some praise from ESPN: http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/25197640/nhl-zac-dalpe-cleveland-monsters-player-world-week In the article, they note that 29-year-old Zac Dalpe is a classic hockey tweener -- maybe a little too good for the AHL, with 60 points in his past 67 games with Cleveland -- but also not quite NHL material with only 24 points in 140 career games over 8 seasons with the Carolina, Vancouver, Buffalo, Minnesota and Columbus.
March 26, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/3/24/18280087/recap-cleveland-monsters-sweep-weekend-hop-into-fourth-place-hershey-bears-alexandre-texier https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus-blue-jackets-news/2019/03/3395/blue-jackets-prospect-alexandre-texier-caps-off-huge-weekend-with-cleveland-monsters-with-three-game-goal The Cleveland Monsters are making a late run for the 2019 AHL Playoffs. After a good start, the Monsters got hamstrung by some ineffective goaltending from their youngest prospect Kivlenicks, an injury to 32-year-old veteran Brad Thiessen, and some inconsistent play from 29-year-old veteran Jean-Francis Berube while Thiessen was out. It also didn't help that high-scoring prospect Sonny Milano has been limited to only 24 games this season because of injuries. Thiessen is now back in the net and putting up some good numbers (0.913 sv%, 2.52 GAA in 17 games). Milano is still injured - but the Monsters are getting a scoring boost with the recent addition of one of the Jackets top prospects - Alexandre Texier. The 19-year-old Frenchman has been playing in the top Finnish League this year and led his team in scoring with 14G-27A for 41 pts in 55 games. The Finnish season recently ended, which allowed Texier to join the Monsters two weekends ago. Texier was held off the scoreboard in his AHL debut two Saturday's ago. But this past weekend, Texier scored a goal in each of Cleveland's three games - giving him 3 goals and 2 assists in his four games with the Monsters. The Monsters won all three games last weekend in impressive fashion with a 5-2 win at Rochester and a 5-2, & 4-1 win over Hershey to vault into 8th-place in the AHL's Eastern Conference. They currently hold this final playoff spot via a tiebreak (see below from https://theahl.com/stats/standings). The Monsters have 9 games remaining in the season and are off until Friday - when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday and Saturday in the Q:
April 2, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/1/18290120/recap-cleveland-monsters-split-weekend-series-with-lehigh-valley-phantoms-zac-dalpe Another good series for the Monsters at the Q last weekend in their push for the AHL playoffs. Dominating 6-3 victory against Lehigh Valley on Friday - leading scorer Zac Dalpe had a hat-trick and a four-point game in the win. The Monsters were just as dominant (outshooting the Phantoms 44 to 23) in Saturday's game - but the Lehigh Valley goalie in this game was a little more dominant with 42 saves to give the Phantoms a 3-2 shootout win. Still, with the Friday win and Saturday SO-loss, the Monsters gained 3 of 4 possible points last weekend. That's good enough to keep the Monsters in 8th-place - 0.001 pct points ahead of the Belleville Senators. It's all road games for the Monsters this week. Two games at the now-14th-place Laval Rocket on Wednesday and Friday. Then a big match-up Saturday at Belleville. After these three games, only four more games left for the Monsters.
April 2, 20196 yr https://www.clevelandmonsters.com/team/news/monsters-forward-zac-dalpe-named-ccmahl-player-month Zac Dalpe was named AHL Player of the Month for March. He had 12 goals and 16 points in 12 March games. Dalpe has 30 goals and 20 assists for 50 points in 48 games this season. The 30 goals is a career-high for the 29-year-old forward.
April 4, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/3/18294784/recap-cleveland-monsters-playoff-hopes-live-on-with-shut-out-over-laval-rocket-texier-thiessen The Monsters helped out their playoff hopes with a dominating 5-0 win at the Laval Rocket last night. 19-year-old Alexandre Texier got the first two goals of the night and 22-year-old d-man Gabriel Carlsson (remember him Jackets fans) got the third late in the second period to put the rout on the Rocket. Brad Thiessen stopped 20 shots for the shutout - although not without a fancy reach-behind-to-stop-the-puck-from-sliding-into-net save that is shown in the JacketsCannon game recap. I hope that Thiessen stays healthy enough to make all the remaining starts for the Monsters. 29-year-old veteran Jean-Francis Berube is currently injured and 23-year-old prospect Matiss Kivlenicks has been ineffective this season. Although the Monsters have a good team playing very well right now, I can't see them making the playoffs without Thiessen in the net. The Monsters play at Laval again on Friday and then at Belleville on Saturday. Belleville will be desperate for a win, as they lost 1-0 last night and dropped from 9th to 10th-place behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
April 8, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/6/18298738/recap-cleveland-monsters-fall-to-the-bellevile-senators-3-1 The Monsters split their two weekend games - winning 3-2 at Laval on Friday - losing 3-1 at Belleville on Saturday. The Monsters outshot Belleville 34 to 21, but couldn't beat a hot goaltender that night. It didn't help that 19-year-old phenom prospect Alexandre Texier got called up to the Columbus after a strong start in Cleveland (5G-2A-7pts in 7 games). Texier played in the final two CBJ regular-season games and got his first NHL goal Saturday against Ottawa (Belleville's parent team). It also looks like Texier will be staying with Blue Jackets through their playoff run - so he won't be returning to the Monsters for this week's final AHL regular-season games. Cleveland is still holding the last playoff spot at 8th-place. But a win at Belleville could have given Cleveland some separation from 9th-place Belleville and 10th-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, who are currently tied at 1 point behind the Monsters. However, the Monsters do have a game-in-hand over the 9th/10th place duo. And that game is being played tonight at the Q. They'll face Rochester, who is currently 3rd. The Monsters will play their final two home games in a homestand against Charlotte on Thursday, April 11 and Friday, April 12. Charlotte is first in the East - but has clinched the division title - so hopefully they'll start some reserves in those games vs. Cleveland. The Monsters close their regular season in Toronto against the Marlies on Sunday, April 14th at 4pm.
April 9, 20196 yr https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/8/18301558/cleveland-monsters-fall-to-the-rochester-americans-2-1-but-still-control-their-own-playoff-destiny The Monsters lost a close one in regulation last night and thus couldn't gain any points with their game-in-hand - so below are the standings going into the final three games of the AHL regular season. Cleveland holds the final playoff spot at 8th-place by a slim single point. The Monsters final two home games are against Charlotte on Thursday and Friday. Although Charlotte is first in the East, they have clinched the division title - so hopefully they'll be resting some players in these games vs. Cleveland. The Monsters close out their regular season in Toronto against the Marlies on Sunday.
April 15, 20196 yr The Cleveland Monsters are in the 2019 Calder Playoffs: http://www.clevelandmonsters.com/team/news/cleveland-monsters-clinch-playoff-berth However, it didn't look like they would make the playoffs after dropping a couple of close games on Thursday and Friday at the Q Rocket(?) against the Best-in-the-East Charlotte Checkers. Thursday was a 4-3 OT loss and Friday was a 2-1 loss to drop the Monsters below the playoff line. Going into the last regular-season game at Toronto on Sunday, the Monsters needed to win and needed Belleville to lose their game against Rochester. As was written in the excellent Monsters game recap below, the Belleville game started two hours before the Monsters match. The Belleville game was tied 2-2 in the second period until Rochester got a third goal late in the second and then another goal in the third to win 4-2. That meant if the Monsters won their game at Toronto, they would be playoff bound. The Cleveland/Toronto game was midway through a scoreless first period when the Belleville game ended. Then Cleveland's leading scorer Zac Dalpe scored 20 seconds in the second period to get the scoring started with his 33th goal of the season. Toronto tied it 1-1 on a goal nine minutes later. But less than a minute later, old vet Letestu scored his 21st goal of the season assisted by Sonny Milano (now returned to the lineup from a lengthy 28-game injury stint) to give the Monsters a 2-1 lead. Another Cleveland goal with 8 minutes left in the second and two goals early in the third, clinched away a 5-1 win at Toronto - which also clinched their 2019 Calder Playoff spot: https://www.jacketscannon.com/2019/4/15/18311395/cleveland-monsters-are-headed-to-the-2019-calder-cup-playoffs-toronto-marlies-ahl-dalpe-john-madden So the Monsters eked their way into the playoffs - much like their parent club in Columbus. But its been working out well for the CBJ so far(!) - so let's hope Cleveland can get off to a good start in the Calder Playoffs. The Monsters will face the Syracuse Crunch - the top team in the North Division - in a Best-of-Five Series starting with Game 1 & 2 on Friday and Saturday at Syracuse. Game 3 will be in Cleveland on Tuesday, April 23.
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