Lake Erie Monsters
| Lake Erie Monsters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Cleveland, Ohio |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Western Conference |
| Division | Central Division |
| Founded | 1994 (In the IHL) |
| Operated | 2007–present |
| Home arena | Quicken Loans Arena |
| Colors |
Black, wine, white, blue, gold |
| Owner(s) | Dan Gilbert |
| General manager | Bill Zito[1] |
| Head coach | Jared Bednar |
| Media |
Radio: WHK, WKNR, WMMS-HD2 TV: WUAB, Fox Sports Ohio, SportsTime Ohio |
| Affiliates |
Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1994–1995 | Denver Grizzlies |
| 1995–2005 | Utah Grizzlies |
| 2007–present | Lake Erie Monsters |
The Lake Erie Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in 2007. The Monsters play all of their home games at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, which they share with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League. They are the AHL affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL).
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]
The Monsters finished the 2015–16 by setting a franchise record in points (97) and qualified for the playoffs for the first time an five seasons. On April 23, 2016, the Monsters defeated their first round opponent, the Rockford Ice Hogs 5-3, capping a three game sweep of their opponent in a best-of-five series. The Monsters advanced to the Conference Semifinal to play the Grand Rapids Griffins in a best-of-seven series.
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:[7]
- Cleveland Indians/Falcons/Barons (1929-1936 IHL; 1936-1937 I-AHL; 1937–1973 AHL) - nine-time Calder Cup Champions[7]
- Cleveland Crusaders (1972–1976) WHA
- Cleveland Barons (1976–1978) NHL
- Cleveland Lumberjacks (1992–2001) IHL
- Cleveland Barons (2001–2006) AHL[8]
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 | TBD | — | — |
Players
Current roster
Updated March 7, 2016.[9]
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.[7]
| 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
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)
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.[10]
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.[10][11]
Mascot and entertainment
The Monsters' official mascot is a seagull character named "Sullivan C. Goal" (aka "Sully").[12] Other aspects of the in-game entertainment include the "Mullet Brothers" (characters based on the Hanson Brothers from the movie Slap Shot),[13] and the "Monsters Hockey Girls" cheerleaders.[14]
References
- ↑ "Blue Jackets assistant G.M. Bill Zito named Monsters GM". Columbus Blue Jackets. 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
- ↑ "Lake Erie Monsters history". Case Western Reserve University. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
- ↑ "Famous sea monsters". Sea Monster.org. 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2013-04-05.
- ↑ "Monsters front office". Lake Erie Monsters. 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
- ↑ "Monsters' stats". JustSportsStats.com. 2011-04-28. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ↑ "Monsters affiliate with the Columbus Blue Jackets". Lake Erie Monsters. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
- ↑ "Cleveland hockey history". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
- ↑ "Lake Erie Monsters - Team roster". Eliteprospects. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
- 1 2 "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)...
- ↑ Monsters broadcast schedule - Lake Erie Monsters.com
- ↑ "Sully, the Monsters official Mascot". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
- ↑ "Mullet Bros game entertainment". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
- ↑ "Monsters Hockey Girls". Lake Erie Monsters. 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Erie Monsters. |
- Lake Erie Monsters (official website)
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