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Cleveland Monsters

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Lake Erie Monsters
File:Lake Erie Monsters.png
CityCleveland, Ohio
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceWestern Conference
DivisionCentral Division
Founded1994 (In the IHL)
Operated2007–present
Home arenaQuicken Loans Arena
ColorsBlack, wine, white, blue, gold
         
Owner(s)Dan Gilbert
General managerBill Zito[1]
Head coachJared Bednar
MediaRadio: WHK, WKNR, WMMS-HD2
TV: WUAB, Fox Sports Ohio, SportsTime Ohio
AffiliateColumbus Blue Jackets (NHL)
Franchise history
1994–1995Denver Grizzlies
1995–2005Utah Grizzlies
2007–presentLake Erie Monsters
Championships
Conference titles1 (2015–16)
Calder Cups1 (2015–16)

The Lake Erie Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in 2007. The Monsters play their home games at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. They are the AHL affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL), and are the reigning Calder Cup champions, having swept the Hershey Bears in the 2016 Calder Cup Finals.

Franchise history

The Lake Erie Monsters began in 2006 when the dormant Utah Grizzlies AHL franchise was purchased on May 16, 2006 by a Cleveland ownership group led by Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans. A new AHL team was awarded to Cleveland following the departure of the Cleveland Barons to Worcester, Massachusetts, after the 2005–06 season. With Quicken Loans Arena established as the team's home venue, the Colorado Avalanche was announced on December 17, 2006 as the franchise's first NHL parent club with a five-year agreement.[2]

The franchise was officially announced on January 25, 2007, as the Lake Erie Monsters, referring to Bessie, a creature of local folklore. The name was chosen from researching focus groups around the Cleveland area and the logo incorporated the geographical connection in the region with Lake Erie.[3] The Monsters do not recognize any past links to the Grizzlies and promote themselves as having begun in 2007.

Former NHL player Joe Sacco was named as the Lake Erie Monsters first head coach. The Monsters opened their inaugural 2007–08 campaign at home against the Grand Rapids Griffins on October 6, 2007, with Craig Billington acting as the Monsters General Manager.[4]

At the end of the 2010–11 season the Monsters qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time in team history. After gaining a 3-1 series lead over the Manitoba Moose in the opening round, the Monsters proceeded to lose the next three consecuitive games, losing the series 4-3[5]

It was announced on April 17, 2015 that the Monsters had signed a multi-year agreement to become the AHL affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets, which took effect in the 2015–16 season. The affiliation was among several that offseason that brought AHL and NHL franchise affiliations geographically closer together.[6]

Winning the Calder Cup

The Monsters finished the 2015–16 season by setting a franchise record in points (97) and qualified for the playoffs for the second time in team history. On April 23, 2016, the Monsters defeated their first round opponent, the Rockford IceHogs 5–3, capping a three game sweep of their opponent in a best-of-five series. The Monsters advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals to play the Grand Rapids Griffins in a best-of-seven series, defeating them 4–2 in six games. They then swept the defending Calder Cup Champion Ontario Reign in the Western Conference Finals to reach their first Calder Cup Final in franchise history.[7] On June 11, 2016, the Monsters won the franchise's first Calder Cup in a four-game sweep of the Hershey Bears.

This marked Cleveland's first AHL title since the Barons in 1964, and 10th overall between the Barons and Monsters. Game 4 sold out Quicken Loans Arena and featured 19,665 spectators, the largest ice hockey attendance ever in Ohio, and the second largest in Calder Cup playoff history behind Philadelphia Phantoms vs. Chicago Wolves in 2005.[8]

Cleveland hockey history

The following teams have previously played in Cleveland. The Monsters recognize and honor past Cleveland teams with commemorative banners at Quicken Loans Arena:[9]

Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Monsters. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Lake Erie Monsters seasons

Regular Season Playoffs
Season Games Won Lost OTL SOL Points PCT Goals
for 		Goals
against 		Standing Year 1st
round 		2nd
round 		3rd
round 		Finals
2011–12 76 37 29 3 7 84 .553 189 210 3rd, North 2012 Out of playoffs
2012–13 76 35 31 3 7 80 .526 211 220 3rd, North 2013 Out of playoffs
2013–14 76 32 33 1 10 75 .492 200 235 4th, North 2014 Out of playoffs
2014–15 76 35 29 8 4 82 .539 211 240 4th, Midwest 2015 Out of playoffs
2015–16 76 43 22 6 5 97 .638 211 188 2nd, Central 2016 W, 3–0, RFD W, 4–2, GR W, 4–0, ONT W, 4–0, HER

Players

Current roster

Template:Lake Erie Monsters roster

Captains

Name Years
Mark Rycroft 2007–2008
Wyatt Smith 2008
Brian Willsie 2008–2010
David Liffiton 2010–2012
Bryan Lerg 2012–2014
Brian Sutherby 2013
Bruno Gervais 2014–2015
Ryan Craig 2015–

Retired numbers

No Monsters player has had his number retired. However the team has retired the numbers of players who have played on past Cleveland franchises to honor the city's hockey history.[9]

Name Number
Johnny Bower 1 (Barons)
Fred Glover 9 (Barons)
Jock Callander 15 (Lumberjacks)

Team records

Single season

Goals: 30, Andrew Agozzino (2014–15)
Assists: 50, T.J. Hensick (2009–10)
Points: 70 T.J. Hensick (2009–10), Ben Walter (2010–11)
Penalty Minutes: 215, Daniel Maggio (2014–15)
Wins: 23 Jason Bacashihua (2010–11), Calvin Pickard (2014–15), Anton Forsberg (2015–16)
GAA: 2.11, Cedrick Desjardins (2011–12)
SV%: .932, Cedrick Desjardins (2011–12)
Shutouts: 8, Tyler Weiman (2008–09)
  • Goaltending records need a minimum 25 games played by the goaltender

Playoffs

[11][12]

Goals: 10, Oliver Bjorkstrand (2016)
Assists: 10, Ryan Craig (2016)
Points: 16 (tie), Oliver Bjorkstrand and Lukas Sedlak (2016)
Penalty Minutes: 26, Kerby Rychel (2016)
Wins:9, Anton Forsberg (2016)
GAA: 1.34, Anton Forsberg (2016)
SV%: .949, Anton Forsberg (2016)
Shutouts: 2, Anton Forsberg (2016)

Career

Career Goals: Andrew Agozzino, 67
Career Assists: Andrew Agozzino, 98
Career Points: Andrew Agozzino, 165
Career Penalty Minutes: Daniel Maggio, 522
Career Goaltending Wins: Calvin Pickard, 60
Career Shutouts: Tyler Weiman, 13
Career Games: Andrew Agozzino, 225

Firsts and franchise records

  • Franchise First Game: October 6, 2007. Grand Rapids Griffins 3, Lake Erie Monsters 2
  • Franchise First Win: October 20, 2007. Lake Erie Monsters 3, Syracuse Crunch 2.
  • Franchise First Goal: October 6, 2007. Grand Rapids Griffins 3, Lake Erie Monsters 2. Goal scored by Matt Hussey
  • Franchise First Shutout: November 15, 2007. Jason Bacashihua. Lake Erie Monsters 2, Quad City Flames 0.
  • Franchise First Hat Trick: November 17, 2007. Chris Stewart. Lake Erie Monsters 5, Toronto Marlies 3.
  • Franchise Most Goals in a Game: December 3, 2010. 4-Patrick Rissmiller. Lake Erie Monsters 6, Chicago Wolves 3.
  • Franchise Most Wins in a Season: 44 (2010–11)
  • Franchise Most Home Wins in a Season: 25 (2015–16)
  • Franchise Most Points in a Season: 97 (2015–16)
  • Franchise Most Games Won in a Row: 8 (2010–11)
  • Franchise First Playoff Game: April 16, 2011. (vs Manitoba Moose)
  • Franchise First Playoff Goal: April 16, 2011 (by Matthew Ford)
  • Franchise First Playoff Win: April 16, 2011 (Monsters 6, Manitoba Moose 4)
  • Franchise First Playoff Series Win: April 23, 2016 (Monsters win series 3-0, Rockford IceHogs)
  • Franchise First Western Conference Championship: May 26, 2016 (Monsters win series 4-0, Ontario Reign)
  • Franchise First Calder Cup Championship: June 11, 2016 (Monsters win series 4-0, Hershey Bears)

Media

During the 2015–16 AHL season, radio play-by-play coverage will be split by Cleveland AM stations WHK (1420 AM) and WKNR (850 AM), as well as 99X – the WMMS-HD2 digital subchannel (100.7-HD2 FM) which also simulcasts over low-power FM translator W256BT (99.1 FM). WHK will air 18 regular season games; WKNR will air 32 games; and 22 will air on 99X (WKNR sister station WWGK is scheduled to air the remaining 4 games). Tony Brown serves as play-by-play announcer.[13]

Select Monsters games will be televised, with WUAB channel 43, Fox Sports Ohio, and SportsTime Ohio serving as the outlets. The broadcast team consists of play-by-play announcer Tony Brown, former Cleveland Lumberjacks player Jock Callander as analyst, and WHBC afternoon host Kenny Roda as rink side/locker room reporter. All televised games are also simulcast on the radio.[13][14]

Mascot and entertainment

The Monsters' official mascot is a seagull character named "Sullivan C. Goal" (aka "Sully").[15] Other aspects of the in-game entertainment include the "Mullet Brothers" (characters based on the Hanson Brothers from the movie Slap Shot),[16] and the "Monsters Hockey Girls" cheerleaders.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Blue Jackets assistant G.M. Bill Zito named Monsters GM". Columbus Blue Jackets. 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2015-06-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Lake Erie Monsters history". Case Western Reserve University. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  3. ^ "Famous sea monsters". Sea Monster.org. 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2013-04-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Monsters front office". Lake Erie Monsters. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2014-10-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Monsters' stats". JustSportsStats.com. 2011-04-28. Retrieved 2012-03-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Monsters affiliate with the Columbus Blue Jackets". Lake Erie Monsters. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-04-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Monsters Move On With 4-3 OT Win". BlueJackets Xtra. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  8. ^ Record full house at the Q for Lake Erie Monsters' Calder Cup bid - Cleveland.com (Plain Dealer)
  9. ^ a b c "Quicken Loans Arena hockey banners". Stadium Journey.com. 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2014-06-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Cleveland hockey history". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-02-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ http://theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=top_scorers&season_id=53&tournament_id=0&division_id=-1
  12. ^ http://theahl.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=top_goalies&season_id=53&tournament_id=0&division_id=-1
  13. ^ a b "Monsters Welcome Broadcaster Tony Brown as 2015-16 Play-by-Play Announcer". LakeErieMonsters.com (Press release). Cavaliers Hockey Holdings, LLC. September 29, 2015. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015. ... 99X will carry 22 games (all Saturday nights)... {{cite press release}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; October 1, 2015 suggested (help)
  14. ^ Monsters broadcast schedule - Lake Erie Monsters.com
  15. ^ "Sully, the Monsters official Mascot". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Mullet Bros game entertainment". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Monsters Hockey Girls". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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