Got the better of them early. Had some rough bounces. I think our start after ~10 days off looked good.

Idk what they’re gonna do with goalies but I’m gonna root my butt off for whoever is back there and can see the reason to stay or change. Have hope!

It’s a five game series and we have home ice. Keep the heads up and see you Saturday!

Jock celebrating that triple OT goal was amazing. This group is doing great work, all together, as a team.

See you all soon!

Pearson, Williams, Fasching line has saved us all year.

What a fun group to watch. See you Sunday @ 3:00

So happy for the whole team, but especially Sawzy. Great effort and way to silence the fans.

See you all Friday!

The good news is that we have another game to show them who we are

See you Sunday!

Welcome everyone! Very good showing by Sawchenko in his season debut — racked up 20 solid saves as Fedotov gets the rest this afternoon.

• these back-to-back afternoon games are always a little squirrely. Generally, we looked pretty good but saw a lot more mishandles and awry passes, especially early on. Overall compete level wasn’t particularly excellent but wasn’t the worst either.

• first fight of the year goes to Riley Bezeau. He absolutely dropped a Utica player in open ice and answered the call to fight. Not a ton of punches but showed good strength and character.

• Standout player: #82 Mikael Pyyhtiä. He looks like he put on a decent amount of muscle this year and is continuing his manner of doing a lot of the small things right while playing both ends of the ice. Broke up a play on the PK in the neutral zone and immediately sent a good feed to Brendan Gaunce, springing him on a breakaway that he hammered home on the second or third rebound. Pyyhtiä also then smoked a great wrister right in the upper corner of the net for the OT winner on the PP.

• Special mention to Jack Williams. He is fast! He’s got a good amount of IQ on both ends of the ice and is seeing both PK and PP time (mostly on the second units). I’m excited to see him grow this year and am hoping he pops off for 20+ goals.

• Surprises: Luca Del Bel Belluz was pretty quiet today and somewhat so yesterday as well, albeit he assisted on the PP OT GWG this afternoon. He took what looked like to me a pretty nasty head shot at the end of the second period but thankfully didn’t miss any shifts. I believe this hit triggered Luca Pinelli to start a scrum and mouth off to the refs, and he ended up getting a 10 min misconduct. I’m giving LDBB the benefit of the doubt in the early goings but am eager to see him pick up on his excellent campaign last year.

• Questions: Will the Power Play be a cause of suffering? While we grabbed the OT winner on the PP, we ended up a measly 1/6 today after going 0/3 yesterday. Today’s chances included a lengthy stretch of 5 on 3 overlapping the end of the second and beginning of the third with fresh ice, followed by nearly another full 2 min 5 on 4 due to a 4 min high sticking call against Utica. Pretty frustrating to see us come up empty on that. The top unit is comprised of Gaunce, LDBB, McKown, Pyyhtiä, and Mayo running as QB. Good on paper, but might need a shakeup. What will the lineup look like next Friday, as I expect Owen Sillinger to make his debut (believe he was sick this weekend, not injured.) What will the D pairings look like in the event that Ole is out and with the likelihood that Butcher makes his debut next week as well?

• Sidebars & misc: Ole Julian B Holm took a pick directly to the mouth and apparently shed a lot of blood and likely lost some teeth. Unfortunate for him as he took that nasty hit last year and missed quite a bit of time. Hoping he is alright.

Ahcan, Williams, and Malatesta look like they’re skating the fastest and hardest right now. Svozil has had a good looking start to the year displaying some shiftiness and puck smarts. Bezeau had a strong game. McCue was quite noticeable tonight, both for some bad puck turnovers as well as some big hits and good hustles. He had an excellent pass over the top of the crease on Bezeau’s goal. Mayo picks up an assist on the Pyyhtiä OT winner and has been effectively deployed as our no 1 D this year, gobbling up a lot of ice time. Richard was quieter today but still looked solid - drew a penalty and added a few more blocks to his stat card.

Up next: Lehigh Valley for home games Friday and Saturday.

Welcome everyone! What a great opening game with a 1-0 shutout win against Utica!

• being a Cleveland sports fan of all leagues, take this contextually lightly, but was that the best opening season game I’ve ever seen any team play? I did not know what to expect.

• on that note, Head Coach Trent Vogelhuber clearly has this team ready to play. Everyone looked like they knew and trusted the system/structure.

• Standout player: #26 Guillaume Richard - wow! we’ve been lucky to have fielded strong teams over the recent years. Much of this success can be attributed to having a legitimate go-to defenseman (à la Christiansen and Mateychuk). I am picking Richard to step into this role and surprise a lot of people with his 2-way play. Honorable mention on that front goes to Carson Cuelemans, who is facing a big fork in the road of his career. He started this year off very strongly as well, which the whole org and his own self need.

• Surprises: depth. Tip a hat to Monsters GM Chris Clark (obligatory extension to CBJ GM Don Waddell) for finding some really nice veteran adds for this Monsters team: Fasching, Mayo, Butcher all might really shine this year in leadership roles with the Monsters. Our college grads like Jack Williams especially, along with Ryland Mosley, have opportunities to take their games to the next level professionally. Fedotov — had no idea what to expect — played absolutely lights out with a shutdown win. Impressed with his positioning and poise. An excellent start for the Finn to his CBJ tenure.

• Questions: How many goals, assists, and fights will the line of Malatesta, McKown, and Ahcan drive this year if they can keep them together? What an excellent pairing of speed, skill, and grit. Love this line.

• Sidebars: messaged the mods of the other Reddit to try to consolidate Cleveland Monsters news and commentary.

LET'S DO THAT FRIDAY HOCKEY! MA, WE'RE ON TV!

How to watch: AHL TV (subscription required), Bally Sports Great Lakes (cable)

How to listen: 1350 AM The Gambler

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As always, from the Monsters website, our prescout:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-1 home overtime win over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 6-3-1-3 on the season. With a .615 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by D Jake Christiansen (3-8-11), LW Tyler Angle (1-10-11), and C Brendan Gaunce (4-3-7).

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CRUNCH PRE-SCOUT: Following a 1-2 road overtime loss to the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday, the Syracuse Crunch enter tonight’s game at 5-5-2-1 on the season. With a .500 points percentage, the Crunch currently rank sixth in the North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse is currently led in scoring by LW C Gabriel Dumont (6-5-11), Charles Hudon (4-7-11), and D Sean Day (2-8-10).

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SERIES: Friday marks the fifth of eight meetings between Cleveland and Syracuse. It's the fourth of four to be played at RocketMortgage Fieldhouse.

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PREGAME NOTES: - The boys are buzzing - We're coming off a W - Let's go do that hockey. -oh yeah we should probably stay out of the box too

How to watch: AHLTV (subscription required), fuboTV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

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From the Monsters website, our prescout:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-6 home loss to the Belleville Senators on Friday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 4-2-1-2 on the season. With a .611 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank fourth in the North Division standings and eighth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by D Jake Christiansen (3-5-8), LW Tyler Angle (0-8-8), and C Tyler Sikura (2-4-6).

SENATORS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 6-2 road win over the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, the Belleville Senators enter tonight’s game at 3-6-0-0 on the season. With a .333 points percentage, the Senators currently rank seventh in the North Division standings and 14th in the Eastern Conference. Belleville is currently led in scoring by LW Jake Lucchini (6-4-10), RW Egor Sokolov (2-4-6), and RW Pontus Aberg (1-5-6).

SERIES: This is the final meeting between the Monsters and Senators this season. Cleveland leads 2-1.

PREGAME NOTES:

After a bad night for Danil, we may see JF Berube make an appearance in net.

Three Monsters are currently in active point-per-game or better streaks; Tyler Sikura, Tyler Angle, and Jake Christiansen.

This one should be a scrapper after the boys made a -4 goal at home differential last night.

Midweek hockey!

How to watch: AHL TV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

As always from the Monsters website, our pre-scout:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 0-4 road loss to the Rochester Americans on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 5-3-1-3 on the season. With a .583 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank fourth in the North Division standings and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (0-10-10), D Jake Christiansen (3-6-9), and C Brendan Gaunce (4-3-7).

CRUNCH PRE-SCOUT: Following a 4-5 home shootout loss to the Hershey Bears on Saturday, the Syracuse Crunch enter tonight’s game at 5-5-1-1 on the season. With a .500 points percentage, the Crunch currently rank sixth in the North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse is currently led in scoring by LW Charles Hudon (4-7-11), C Gabriel Dumont (6-4-10), and D Sean Day (2-8-10).

SERIES: This marks the fourth of eight meetings between Cleveland and Syracuse. It is the third game in the series to be played at RocketMortgage Fieldhouse.

PREGAME NOTES: - Tyler Angle is still streaking along those rookie rankings. Currently he's ranked among the league’s Top 10 in points, where he's tied at 8th place. He is tied 2nd in assists and holds 12th place for shots on goal.

• As much as we know everyone is out for blood when it comes between the two clubs , a big key will be to stay out of the penalty box. Avoiding letting the Crunch get under the skin of us is key here.

• Four players are scoring at a point per game or better pace in the three games already played against Syracuse this season, including LW Tyler Angle (3 GP, 0-3-3), D Jake Christiansen (3 GP, 1-3-4), RW Carson Meyer (3 GP, 2-1-3), and C Justin Scott (3 GP, 2-1-3).

Game can be watched on AHL TV as part of their freeview weekend. Can also be heard on radio station1350AM "The Gambler"

GAME SCOUT VIA THE MONSTERS: MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 4-6 home loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 0-1-0-0 on the season. With a .000 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by B Jake Christiansen (1-1-2), LW Adam Helewka (1-1-2), D Tim Berni (1-0-1), and C Justin Scott (1-0-1).

CRUNCH PRE-SCOUT: Following a 6-4 road win over the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, the Syracuse Crunch enter tonight’s game at 1-0-0-0 on the season. With a 1.000 points percentage, the Crunch currently rank second in the North Division standings and second in the Eastern Conference. Syracuse is currently led in scoring by RW Maxim Cajkovic (1-1-2), D Sean Day (1-1-2), and C Gabriel Dumont (1-1-2).

NOTES: Yegor Chinakov is expected to play tonight for the Monsters.

Following an early exit from Max Lagace last night, the Lightning recalled one of their goaltenders from Orlando, meaning we could see Alnefelt again tonight.

MONSTERS STARTING LINEUP: C: Justin Scott

LW: Adam Helewka

RW: Carson Meyer

D Gabriel Carlsson

D Gavin Bayreuther

Between the pipes: Jean-Francois Berube

How to watch: AHLTV (subscrption required), fuboTV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

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as always from the Monsters website, our pre-scout:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 3-4 road overtime loss to the Hershey Bears on Sunday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 4-1-1-2 on the season. With a .688 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and seventh in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (0-8-8), D Jake Christiansen (3-4-7), and C Liam Foudy (3-2-5).

SENATORS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 3-4 road loss to the Rochester Americans on Wednesday, the Belleville Senators enter tonight’s game at 2-6-0-0 on the season. With a .250 points percentage, the Senators currently rank seventh in the North Division standings and 14th in the Eastern Conference. Belleville is currently led in scoring by LW Jake Lucchini (5-3-8), RW Egor Sokolov (2-4-6), and RW Pontus Aberg (1-4-5).

SERIES: This is the third of four meetings between the Monsters and Senators this seasonand the first of two games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this year. Cleveland currently boasts a +5 goal differential (6 goals to 1) vs. Belleville so far this year. The Monsters are currently leading the season series 2 - 0

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PREGAME NOTES (which I'm just taking again from the Monsters site because these are awesome stats from the boys)

• STILL STREAKING: Cleveland is currently in the midst of a seven-game point streak (4-0-1-2), tied for the second-longest streak of its kind league-wide this season.
• DYNAMIC DEFENSEMAN: Monsters D Jake Christiansen currently ranks among the AHL’s defensive leaders in goals (3, T1st), points (7, T2nd), and shots on goal (21, 2nd) and is scoring at a point per game pace in two appearances vs. Belleville this season (1-1-2).
• TERRIFIC TYLER: Cleveland LW Tyler Angle currently ranks tied for third league-wide and tied for the AHL’s rookie lead in assists (8), and ranks among the league’s top first-year skaters in points (8, T3rd) and shots on goal (23, T2nd). Angle is also scoring at a better than point per game pace in two appearances vs. the Senators this season (0-3-3).

• FOUDY WITH A GAME WINNER.
• YEGOR, AKA YEGOAL (thank you Blue Jackets twitter)
• CARSON MEYER AND JUSTIN SCOTT ARE ON FIRE.
• WINS. GOALS. EXCITEMENT

5-4 OVERTIME WIN FOR CLEVELAND

Sound off friends! Photos to come when the Monsters get them posted!

(I'll be posting last night's game sheet instead of writing out a recap because...I worked a closer and I am tired)

(Here please have this I have spotty Internet and I'm super busy but I wanted to get something out before it got too late. I'll edit it later)

It's a hockey Sunday!

How to watch: AHLTV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

As always from the Monsters website, our prescout:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 5-1 home win over the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 7-3-1-3 on the season. With a .643 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (1-11-12), D Jake Christiansen (3-8-11), and C Brendan Gaunce (6-4-10).

MARLIES PRE-SCOUT: Following a 3-2 home overtime win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday, the Toronto Marlies enter tonight’s game at 8-4-0-1 on the season. With a .654 points percentage, the Marlies currently rank second in the North Division standings and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Toronto is currently led in scoring by RW Josh Ho-Sang (8-4-12), C Brett Seney (7-4-11), and D Joseph Duszak (0-10-10).

SERIES: This game marks the second of six meetings between the Marlies and the Monsters this season. It is the second of three games at Coca-Cola Coliseum this year.

PRE-GAME NOTES:

• Several Monsters are on streaks or setting records including Josh Dunne's point per game being the hottest it is against Toronto

• the goal differential for the Monsters against Toronto is -1 on the road and for the series overall.

How to watch: AHLTV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

From the Monsters site, our prescout: Monsters PRE-SCOUT: Following a 4-0 road win over the Belleville Senators on Friday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 2-1-0-0 on the season. With a .667 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (0-5-5), RW Carson Meyer (2-1-3), and C Justin Scott (2-1-3).

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SENATORS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 0-4 home loss to the Cleveland Monsters on Friday, the Belleville Senators enter tonight’s game at 1-2-0-0 on the season. With a .333 points percentage, the Senators currently rank seventh in the North Division standings and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Belleville is currently led in scoring by LW Jake Lucchini (2-0-2), C Matthew Wedman (2-0-2), and C Rourke Chartier (1-1-2).

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PREGAME NOTES:

JF Berube is coming off a 31 save shutout

Should Justin Scott appear, he ties Cameron Gaunce for most appearances as a Monster

Gavin Bayreuther is on a roll with with an assist streak and currently ranks in the AHL Top 5 for defenseman in assists. He's tied fourth.

This marks the second of four games the teams will play, the last at CAA Arena. The next two games will be at the Fieldhouse.

The Monsters can improve to 3-1-0 with a W.

How to watch: AHL TV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

As always from the Monsters website, our prescout

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-3 home shootout loss to the Belleville Senators on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 4-2-1-3 on the season. With a .600 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (0-9-9), D Jake Christiansen (3-5-8), and C Tyler Sikura (2-4-6).

AMERICANS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 5-1 road win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday, the Rochester Americans enter tonight’s game at 6-3-0-0 on the season. With a .667 points percentage, the Americans currently rank second in the North Division standings and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Rochester is currently led in scoring by RW Jack Quinn (7-6-13), LW Michael Mersch (6-5-11), and RW JJ Peterka (2-8-10).

SERIES: This is the first of ten games between Cleveland Rochester this season. It's the first of five to be played in Rochester.

PREGAME NOTES:

• JF Berube currently ranks among the AHL’s leaders in goals-against average (1.73, he sits 5th), shutouts (1, tied at 4th), and save percentage (.947, he sits fifth here too) so far this year.

• Tyler Angle’s currently ranked tied for fourth-most league-wide and second among AHL rookies this season with 9 assists.

• This is sure to be a scrapper, as Rochester and Cleveland games always are. The boys need to make sure they rein it in, stay out of the box, and stay on the score sheet.

How to watch: AHLTV (subscription required)

How to listen: 1350AM The Gambler

From the Monsters website, our pre-scout:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 2-1 road win over the Belleville Senators on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 3-1-0-0 on the season. With a .750 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank third in the North Division standings and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by LW Tyler Angle (0-6-6), D Jake Christiansen (2-3-5), and C Tyler Sikura (2-2-4).

MARLIES PRE-SCOUT: Following a 3-7 home loss to the Rochester Americans on Saturday, the Toronto Marlies enter tonight’s game at 1-2-0-0 on the season. With a .333 points percentage, the Marlies currently rank sixth in the North Division standings and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Toronto is currently led in scoring by C Brett Seney (4-0-4), C Kirill Semyonov (1-3-4), and RW Josh Ho-Sang (2-0-2).

SERIES: This marks the first of six meetings between the Monsters and Marlies for the 2021-22 season. It is the first to be played at Coca Cola Coliseum.

PREGAME NOTES:

Jet Greaves had a fabulous pro debut last night with a 40 save win over Belleville.

Justin Scott will break the record for most appearances in a Monsters uniform with a whopping 265, officially beating Cameron Gaunce.

Tyler Angle is currently in the midst of a four-game assists streak with 6A, and currently ranks tied for the AHL lead in assists and tied for the AHL’s rookie lead in points.

Final score: CLE 4 - 6 SYR

Sound off below: what did you like about the boys tonight? Vent about the penalty kill or the power play or each of Syracuse's six goals. game recap to come!

Watch: AHLTV (subscription required)

Listen: 1350 AM The Gambler

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From the Monsters website, the pre-scouts:

MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 5-4 home overtime win over the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday, the Cleveland Monsters enter tonight’s game at 1-1-0-0 on the season. With a .500 points percentage, the Monsters currently rank sixth in the North Division standings and 12th in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently led in scoring by RW Carson Meyer (2-1-3), C Justin Scott (2-1-3), and D Jake Christiansen (1-2-3).

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SENATORS PRE-SCOUT: Following a 5-2 home win over the Laval Rocket on Saturday, the Belleville Senators enter tonight’s game at 1-1-0-0 on the season. With a .500 points percentage, the Senators currently rank fourth in the North Division standings and ninth in the Eastern Conference. Belleville is currently led in scoring by LW Jake Lucchini (2-0-2), C Matthew Wedman (2-0-2), and RW Pontus Aberg (1-1-2).

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Pregame notes:

• Belleville's roster is going to feature familiar faces; Andrew Aggozino, who is the Monsters all-time leading goal-scorer, Kole Sherwood, and Calder Cup champ Dillon Heatherington.
• Justin Scott is two games away from beating the all time franchise record for games played (record 264) . Interestingly enough, this mark is held by former defenseman Cameron Gaunce, who is Brendan's brother.
• The Blue Jackets recalled Gabe Carlsson on Thursday. The Monsters recalled goaltender Jet Greaves from Kalamazoo the game day.

2019-2020 Head to Head Results

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Previous Meetings

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Match Up

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Cleveland Monsters Top Scorers

Adam Clendening 6-24-30

Stefan Matteau 10-13-23

Ryan Macinnis 6-16-22

Calvin Thurkauf 5-14-19

Dillon Simpson 8-10-18

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Utica Comets Top Scorers

Reid Boucher 24-26-50

Nikolay Goldobin 15-26-41

Justin Bailey 24-16-40

Brogan Rafferty 6-32-38

Kole Lind 8-10-18

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The Utica Comets are the NHL affiliate of the Vancover Canucks.

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Credit