Cleveland Monsters

Early years

The 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.

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. The Monsters do not recognize any past links to the Grizzlies (including the Grizzlies' two Turner Cups) 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.

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 consecutive games, losing the series 4-3.

Blue Jackets era

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.

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. On June 11, 2016, the Monsters won the franchise's first Calder Cup in a four-game sweep of the Hershey Bears, with Oliver Bjorkstrand scoring the Cup-winning goal in overtime.

This marked Cleveland's first AHL title since the Barons won their last Calder Cup in 1964, and 10th overall for a Cleveland-based AHL team. The Monsters won Game 4 before a sellout crowd of 19,665 people at Quicken Loans Arena—the second largest crowd ever to see a professional hockey game in Ohio behind the 19,941 who witnessed the Cleveland Lumberjacks square off against the Minnesota Moose on 2/3/96, and the second largest in Calder Cup playoff history behind the 20,103 who saw the Philadelphia Phantoms win Game 4 of the 2005 Calder Cup Finals over the Chicago Wolves.

On August 9, 2016, the Lake Erie Monsters changed their name to the Cleveland Monsters. Coincidentally, the major/minor league sports connection between Cleveland and Columbus is duplicated, but with reverse roles, in baseball, as the Columbus Clippers are the top-level minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians.

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:

Cleveland Indians/Falcons/Barons (1929-1936 IHL; 1936-1973 AHL) - nine-time Calder Cup Champions

Cleveland Crusaders (1972–1976) WHA

Cleveland Barons (1976–1978) NHL

Cleveland Lumberjacks (1992–2001) IHL

Cleveland Barons (2001–2006) AHL

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 Cleveland Monsters seasons

Current roster

Updated February 28, 2017.

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.

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

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

All Monsters radio broadcasts will air on WMMS 100.7 FM HD-2/W265BT 99.1 FM (collectively known as 99X). Tony Brown serves as the play-by-play broadcaster.

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 broadcaster 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.

Mascot and entertainment

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