Lake Erie Monsters

The Lake Erie Monsters took to the ice on Valentine’s Day with one goal in mind:  to close their current home stand by beat the team from the land of Kisses. 

Lake Erie hosted the Hershey Bears at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio, in a contest that featured four ties, two lead changes, a goal in the last minute of regulation, and an eventual shootout win as the Monsters bested the Bears 5-4. 

The game was probably the most exciting contest to date in the Monsters brief history, especially for 12 people that were married during the second intermission.  That’s right, you go to a Monsters game and leave with in-laws.  Jane Fonda would have been proud of this particular promotion.  One of the couples even ended up winning a honeymoon package to Cancun!

The first period ended in a 1-1 deadlock after the Monsters squandered an early 1-0 lead.  Duprius tallied the Monster goal with assists to Smith and Boychuck.  Potulny netted one for the Bears with assists to Lepisto and Gordon.

The second period opened similar to the first.  The Monsters scored their second power play goal of the contest, opening up a 2-1 lead, the goal coming from Vernace with assists to Lundmark and Jones.  That lead, however, was short lived. 

Hershey started a rush and scored on a goal by Sani Lepisto and assist by Andrew Gordon.  This period had all the elements of a barnburner based on the two goals in two minutes theory.  Things settled down a bit though, and the period expired with no further damage on the scoreboard. For a 2-2 hockey contest, the shots on goal were 16-13, a pretty low shooting game.

With 14:37 left in the third, the Hershey Bears opened up their first lead of the evening:  a power play goal scored by Joe Motzko, assists by Gordon and Lepisto.  The Monsters did not help themselves out with McCutcheon taking a really poor holding penalty not long after going down a goal, but the Monsters killed off the penalty. 

On a play you could ‘t have drawn up on the board any better, the Monsters went left to right to left and scored, as goalie Cassivi had no choice but to be out of position.  This was an absolutely beautiful goal by Kelly.  Assists went to Eric Healey and Denisov.

Yet again, the Bears answered right back with four and a half to go.  It was a 4-3 game in Hershey’s favor.

The Monsters just missed stuffing one home 20 seconds later, and the puck was covered up.  Two minutes later and basically the same amount of time left in the game, Eric Healey broke of the pack, drove wide, and was slammed into the boards drawing an obstruction penalty.  The face-off was in Hershey’s end, but surprisingly Mike Wall was in goal for the Monsters.  You’d expect them to pull him for an extra skater.  The Monsters kept in the zone for thirty seconds; Wall was pulled with a minute five left. 

It was six on four, twenty-three seconds left, when the pressure packed house erupted for a Monster goal.  The pass came from behind the net from Healey, right to the front Dasilva poke it home, and the game was tied.  Instead of heading for the exits, the fans were headed to overtime.  Typically the opposition scores the late game goal.  It was nice watching the Monsters as the benefactor for once.

Boychuk unloaded the first shot in overtime, slamming a slapshot off the pads of Cassivi.  The Monsters had a power play opportunity with 2:30 left in the overtime, but Hershey killed off the power play, and the teams headed into a sudden death shootout contact taking place.

In the five-man shootout, Hershey opened up the early lead, the Monsters tied it up, and because of their last shooter,Eric Healey, they took the lead.  Mike Wall stopped the final shot, and just like that, the Monsters snatched victory from defeat, getting a much  needed two-point night.

The Lake Erie Monsters took on the Grand Rapids Griffins at Quicken Loans Arena for the second time in as many days. They were coming off a 4-1 loss just twenty-four hours earlier, but tonight they had additional support on their side. 

In the promotion of the year, the Monsters brought in the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. A crowd of 11,000-plus fans was on hand to witness “Beauty and the Beast,” the beast of course, being the Monsters.

Lake Erie didn’t waste any time, scoring a power play goal just 1:48 into the contest.  After a horrible special teams performance the prior evening, this was exactly what the Monsters needed to break out of their funk. Lundmark scored the goal with assists by Vernace and Boychuk. Vernace, the league leader in saves, would add another later in the contest, upping his team leading assist total to 20 on the season. 

The Griffins evened the scoring at 1-1 midway through the second on a goal from McGrath, and assists to Ritola and Hartigan. 

Lake Erie went back up by one prior to the second period ending on a rebound cleaned up by Healey. Vernace and Lundmark were credited with the assists on this particular tally.

Grand Rapids lived up to their hometown name as early in the third they picked up a quick goal, knotting the score at 2-2 on a goal and assist for Cullen and Helm respectively. Cullen has really been a thorn in the Monsters' side all season.

The Monsters were not going to let this one slip away, however. 

The previous evening, Grand Rapids was all over Lake Erie, registering short-handed chance after chance. Tonight, the Monsters got a bit of revenge as Smith netted a great short-handed scoring chance with less than five minutes left in the game to give the Monsters a 3-2 lead. 

Mike Wall came up huge save in the third for the Monsters. A backdoor pass across the slot looked to be a certain goal, but Wall slid all the way across the net and gloved the shot. The crowd’s groans changed to cheers immediately on the best save of the night. His evening consisted of blocking shot after shot in this forty-save evening.

The Monsters take on the Hershey Bears Thursday evening in the Bears only visit to Quicken Loans Arena this year. 

Hershey is second in the standings in their respective division and it only seems appropriate that a team sponsored by the company that makes kisses will show up on Valentine’s Day. 

The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders put on a great show during both intermissions, but the best part of the evening was seeing them overshadowed by the Monsters and Griffins playing some great hockey in the coolest game on earth. 

The Monsters hadn’t been home for quite a while, and were quite a different looking team when they took to the ice at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.  

First and foremost, Mark Rycroft—the former captain of the Lake Erie Monsters—was on the ice, but in a Syracuse Crunch jersey.  

Rycroft was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets (Syracuse’s parent club) for defenseman Darcy Campbell and forward Philippe Dupuis. 

Dupuis didn’t even have is name etched on the back of his jersey until the beginning of the second period—that’s how quickly this trade went down prior to the two teams suiting up. 

While Rycroft had been nursing a sore back for a few weeks and had not played recently, Lake Erie will miss his energy and leadership.  He was on ice for the Crunch on this particular evening. 

Additionally, David Jones and T.J. Hensick both headed back to the Colorado Avalanche; both players' returns were a foregone conclusion. 

The Monsters, hungry for a win, and hoping to edge up in the standings on Syracuse, managed to swing one point in the tie, but lost in overtime, 2-1.

The first period was somewhat ho-hum, as both teams came out flat.  While the Monsters enjoyed a four-minute power play edge in the first frame, they trailed where it counted most—the scoreboard. 

On the Crunch's only power play of the first period, Alexandre Picard scored with his back to the net from his knees, slamming home his own rebound with just over three minutes left in the first.  Duvia Westcott and Gilbert Brule registered assists. 

Less than five minutes into the second period, the Monsters evened the score on a sweet move by Wyatt Smith.  He came in from left side, and showed the puck to goalie Adam Munro from about six feet away. Smith then pulled the puck back, waited for the goalie to go down, skated in front of the crease, and wrapped it around the left foot of Syracuse netminder.  An assist was registered by Jamie Lundmark. 

Lundmark and Smith looked good on the same line, with one or the other almost always creating traffic in front of the net.  Smith had only been back two games after recovering from a knee injury.   Unfortunately, that broke up the Lundmark-Kelly tandem that had been so lethal as of late.  

Deep into the second, in an inexplicably dunderhead move, the Crunch had removed netminder Adam Munro because of a delayed penalty on Chris Stewart of the Monsters.  Syracuse threw the puck back to the non-existent goalie, just missing scoring an own goal.  Too bad the defenseman didn’t have better aim! 

The Monsters took another penalty on Mark McCutcheon, putting the Crunch on a five-on-three for well over a minute. But thirty seconds later Knopka gave up the two-man advantage by taking a hook, making it a Syracuse four-on-three. 

With the penalties racking up, there was no way this period wasn’t going to end in confrontation. Sure enough, Dale Purinton grabbed a five-minute penalty for spearing, and a game misconduct just as the period ended.

The third period opened with a Monster of a penalty kill by Lake Erie; both teams continued to show a lack of energy.  It was obvious this one was going to end in a tie, as the third period only generated six shots by each team.

At the end of regulation it was 1-1.  Denisov was a one man wrecking crew for the Monsters, laying big hit after big hit on the Crunch forwards.  The hits, though, did not translate into victory for the Monsters, when a poor turnover in the neutral zone opened up the winning scoring opportunity. 

Kinocka of the Crunch took it right in front of the crease on a beautiful between-the-legs maneuver, then dumped the puck to Lindstrom, who went high for the win. 

Lake Erie wasted a huge opportunity to pick up a point on a team they really need to catch if they want any chance of securing a playoff berth come April.'

Third star of the game - Lake Erie Monsters, Tyler Weiman

Second star of the game - Syracuse Crunch, Adam Monroe

First Star of the game -  Syracuse Crunch, Jokim Lindstom

After outplaying the Rockford Icehogs but recording a disappointing loss the night before, the Lake Erie Monsters butted heads with Rockford again at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio. 

The first period started out all Rockford, as Lake Erie gave up numerous shots within their own zone while registering little or nothing of their own.  At 12:05, the Monsters' Jeff Jillson got called for hooking. The five-on-four yielded more scoring chances for Rockford, with Lake Erie goalie Tyler Weiman holding the Monsters with great saves. 

With eighteen seconds left in the Icehog power play, Rockford surrendered their one man advantage, sending #21 Mike Blinden to the box for holding.  After Lake Erie returned to full strength, the Monsters scored the first goal of the evening on a wrister from #25 Chris Stewart.  Stewart faked the slapshot, taking the defender out of position, and went low to the stick side of  Corey Crawford.  Assists were registered by # 18 Jeff Jillson and #6 Mike Vernace. 

Less than a minute later, the Monsters went on the power play again.  David Jones scored, assisted by #6 Mike Vernace and #10 Wyatt Smith.  The Icehogs did themselves no favors, taking yet another penalty, this time on #17 Bryan Bickell with one minute left in the period. 

While the Monsters didn’t score to end the period, they had a lot of positives going into the locker room.  The highlights included the offense generated by David Jones, Wyatt Smith, and assists by defenseman Mike Vernace.  Also, net minder Tyler Weiman pulled off his share of Houdini’s, stopping the puck time and time again. 

The Monsters were, as usual, out shot in first period, this time 15-9.  On the detriment end, watching #39 Martin St. Pierre stand behind the net and quarterback the Icehogs to multiple scoring opportunities made Monsters fans pray to Lake Erie that Weiman could keep up his outstanding goaltending performance.

The second period opened with Lake Erie having one minute left on the power play.  The Icehogs killed that one off without a shot. 

When they returned to even strength, Rockford laid on some heavy pressure.  To turn up the heat, they started pinching in on offense, giving up three odd-man rushes.  It seemed like if Lake Erie sat back and waited for these chances, they would probably end up capitalizing.  Taking a penalty negated that advantage however, as #32 Codey Burki got sent to the box for hooking. 

The Monsters' penalty killers held, demonstrating resilience on both ends of the power play.  It was a good thing, because #18 Jeff Jillson returned to the box for a high stick, giving Rockford another chance at reducing the deficit.  This penalty was a bad one—a stick to the face drawing blood, a.k.a. a five minute major.

# 25 Cam Barker took a slapshot from the left point that was routine for Weiman, since there wasn’t any traffic in the net.  It looked like Rockford learned from that one, as they parked #12 Jack Skille right in front of Weiman and he immediately scored. Richmond and Ryan notched assists. 

Rockford still had three plus minutes on the five-minute major—Skille’s slapshot from the point had traffic.  They weren’t the only ones learning though, as Weiman peered around Bouwer and stopped that attempt.  With twenty nine seconds to go, #4 Mitch Love took a boarding call, giving Rockford a five on three.  They rung the post once, then scored just as Jillson came out of the box. 

That brought Lake Erie back to full strength, and it also evened the score.  This was a rerun of the prior day, where the Monsters went up 2-0 only to see the game evened in the second.

#39 Martin St Pierre got two minutes for a high stick, hitting Boychuk in the face.  Why he didn’t get five is beyond me.  The Monsters' David Jones scored almost immediately, with an assist by #2 Ray Macias.

#10 Kris Versteeg got called for a slashing.  The penalty went without incident.

With both teams back at full strength, and 2.4 seconds remaining in the period, both squads took multiple penalties in the different scrums going on all over the ice.  The bottom line was Lake Erie came out on the short end by a two minute minor.  Total shots favored Rockford 30-17 through two.

Opening up the third, Rockford #23 Adam Hobson went to the box for two minutes for high sticking on #10 Wyatt Smith, and the Monsters went on the power play. 

While that went without incident, #25 Cam Barker was called for hooking. 28 seconds later, #10 Chris Versteeb went to the box for holding, giving the Monsters a minute and a half of five-on-three. 

For all the good work they did during the evening on the power play, the five-on-three was not at all productive, and they came away empty handed on both penalties.

A huge momentum swing came close, as they earned a penalty shot because the Lake Erie Monsters fell on the puck in the crease.  Weiman stoned the shot, preserving the lead.  #3 Johnny Boychuck created havok all over the front line of Rockford late in the game, ringing up a couple of major hits on an offensive surge by the Icehogs, the last hit coming right in front of the net as Weiman went down. 

Play was stopped for a minute as Weiman recovered.  Apparently worse for wear, the IceHogs evened up the score with 2:42 remaining, as Mike Blunden poked it home on a dribbler to the left of a still shaken Weiman.

The game went to overtime, with the Monsters losing 4-3 on a trickler through the legs of Weiman.

The Monsters came up short in both games they should have won.  Third star of the game goes to Monsters # 6 Mike Vernace, loggin two assists. Second star goes to #23 David Jones, scoring two goals. The first star and game winning goal scorer was #24 Preston Ryan. 

The game was “Women in Heels” night at the arena, and the ladies in attendance won some pretty cool prize packages as a result of attending.  
 

A nice crowd was in attendance for the Monsters on Friday with one-dollar hotdog night at the “Q.” 

No one-dollar hotdog night would be complete without a hot dog eating contest, as two contestants stuffed themselves with as many dogs as they could muster in a thirty second time frame.  Even my stomach ached after watching that one.

The game began in ominous fashion for Lake Erie.  #23 David Jones was called for hooking 25 seconds in.  The Monsters did a nice job killing off the penalty, and right out of the box, David Jones made his presence known. 

Fantastic passing from McCeod to Jones to goal scorer Ray Bascias, and just like that, the Monsters were up one zip.  Less than thirty seconds later, Eric Healey added to his Monster-leading scoring total.  Assist by Smith, 2-0.

Minutes later, #5 Ryan Stokes went to the box for hooking.  The Monsters went on the power play.  A bad give-away at center ice by the Monsters opened up a short handed chance for the IceHogs, as  #18 Jeff Jillson fell down and the puck went right to Rockford, who ripped a shot though the crease. 

Bacashihua denied the short-handed chance, keeping the game at 2-1.  Finally, after a home ice first period, the Monsters came out on top in shots on goal, 14-12. 

During the second period, David Jones did the dirty work down low.  In one sequence, he crushed an IceHog, held the puck, passed behind the net to the other side of the ice, skated to the opposite side of the ice, slammed another IceHog against the boards, and regained the puck!

It was a fantastic individual effort.  It unfortunately wasn't capped off with a score, but still…

Rockford got on the board with a goal from St. Pierre, assists to Bickel and Hobson, at 11:30 into the second period. 

If Martin St. Pierre were represented in a Nintendo game, he would be faster than everyone around him.  He is easy to follow—not only for his speed, but also because he is noticeably the smallest guy on the ice.

#22 Steve Margeson popped off a pair of two-minute penalties in a row.  The Monsters killed off the first one, and right out of the box Margeson took a second one. That one cost them.  One minute and 17 seconds into the penalty kill, #22 Troy Brouwer scored, assisted by St Pierre and Versteep.

As with all hockey contests, the fighting is as entertaining as the game itself—and tonight was no exception.  #19 Adam Berti and #8 Cody McLeod each received five minutes for fighting.

With one minute to go in the period, #23 David Jones was called for slashing.  The shots on goal evened up to 25-24 in favor of the Icehogs. 

They teams headed into the locker room with the game tied 2-2.

The third period yielded one score for each club, ending the regulation period in a 1-1 tie. The Monsters took the lead early in the period, and it looked like they would hold on to win this one.  However, with five minutes left in the game, the Icehogs put on a furious charge. 

Corbin drew a penalty on #24 Preston Ryan for hooking, with only four minutes remaining in the contest.  Rockford was denied!  The defense held, and the crowd grew optimistic of a win. 

Unfortunately, with 1:41 left, the Icehogs pressure finally paid off—and they scored from the corner on St Pierre’s second goal of the night, on a puck Bacashihua should have covered up.

In the overtime frame in the AHL, each team is reduced a skater and play four-on-four for five minutes.  Lake Erie charged down ice on the breakaway, and just missed the win on a shot that hit the post by David Jones.  The Monsters looked to close out the game, after Rockford player #20 Petri Kontiola was called for hooking.  Only twenty-three seconds left of the four-on-three, and the Monsters squeezed off a nice shot from the point, but couldn’t score. 

Even though the Monsters outplayed the Icehogs, the scored remained 3-3 after overtime, and the game headed into a shootout. 

If there was any justice in the world, the Monstes would prevail.  On this day, however, justice took a vacation, and the Icehogs won the shootout 3-2 and the game 4-3. 

Third star of the game was #25 Chris Stewart of the Monsters.  Second star for the game goes to #2 Ray Macias.

Star of the game was a deserving Martin St. Pierre of Rockford.  He is destined for the NHL if some team will see their way clear of his small stature and give him a chance.
 

Despite pulling off a huge win on Mullet night Saturday evening, the Lake Erie Monsters succumbed to the Syracuse Crunch.

After stringing together three straight victories, the Monsters were within one point of pulling themselves out of the cellar of the North Division of the West Conference; Syracuse, a team just above them in the standings, presented them with the perfect opportunity.

The first three minutes of the game were wild. Lake Erie was stunned immediately off the faceoff as Syracuse Crunch #24 Derek Mackenzie scored a goal fifteen seconds into the contest with an assist by #19 Derek Dorsett. Had this been golf, a game-starting mulligan would have definitely been in order.

The Monsters were down 1-0 before the popcorn had completely settled in the bag. Additionally right off the ensuing faceoff following the goal a fight broke out and penalties of five minutes for fighting were accessed to #17 Steve Goertzen of the Crunch and #8 Cody McLeod of Lake Erie.

If that weren’t enough action, Dorsett and Love from the Crunch and Monsters respectively each got five minutes for fighting less than two minutes later. That would be four five-minute penalties totaling twenty minutes with only two minutes and seventeen seconds of game time gone.

If that ain’t hockey action, I don’t know what is!

Unfortunately, the only two fired up on the Monsters team were the two in the penalty box. The rest were giving up shots and odd man rushes like there was no tomorrow without registering any of their own. Add to the fact that #15 Eric Healey went to the box for slashing and the first period was very close to getting out of hand.

The penalty kill was somewhat harrowing but held, and the score remained 1-0 through the first half of the first period. The halfway point also marked the Monsters first shot on goal, a problem they continually have in the first, being out shot by a considerable margin every first period.

They got a chance to even up the shooting when #12 Andrew Murry for Syracuse was sent off for holding. One minute thirty into the two minute penalty, the Monsters got another break when #42 Brett Motherwell went off for hooking giving, them a five-on-three for roughly twenty nine seconds. They didn’t score in the five-on-three, but did manage a goal in the remaining five-on-four situation with 7:28 to go in the period. Johnny Boychuk registered his first goal as a Monster, evening the game at one a piece. Assists went to Stewart and Hussey.

The period ended with the shots on goal favoring Syracuse 13-5. This particular statistic has been an Achilles heel for the Monsters all year. Normally, they aren’t paying for it, but at some point it is bound to catch up with them.

The second period opened with a great kick save three minutes into the second period by Bacashihua. Syracuse took a penalty on #11 at 5:11 into the period and the Monsters went on the power play with a chance to take the lead in a contest they had been totally dominated in.

But, forty four seconds into the power play, Syracuse was awarded a penalty shot on a breakaway take-down and #24 Jeffrey Szwez scored to the upper right corner of the net giving the Crunch a 2-1 lead. Not even one minute later, Syracuse generated another quality scoring chance that Bacashihua stopped with a nice glove save, holding the Monsters in the game. His fantastic play was like watching someone with their finger in the dike though.

Eventually all these non-contested scoring chances would pay dividends for Syracuse.  At 11:57, right off a faceoff from the left side in the Syracuse offensive end, the Crunch made it 3-1 on a slap shot from #4 Ciay Wilson, assisted by Dupui.

A turnover in the neutral zone led to a 3-on-1 for the Monsters and they capitalized with some nifty passing from Eric Healy to #8 Cody McCleod who shot left as the goalie was out of position right. 3-2 Syracuse. The score was much closer than the actual contest at this point.

Syracuse leveled themselves shorthanded yet again after having too many men on the ice. The Monsters cycled the puck well, but didn’t get off a shot and ended up off-sides on the charge back into the offensive zone.

Jeff Jillson ripped a nice shot that was stopped cold by Adam Munroe, pretty much ending it for the Monsters' power play. Shots favored the Crunch 33-17 at the end of two.

In past games, Lake Erie usually picked up the pace in the second period and at least equaled their opponent's shot total. Today they just lacked the spark.

The third period was a highlight film for Monsters’ goalie Bacashihua. He took a huge gamble and went out of net to stop a breakaway one-on-one chance. The move paid off, but was not pretty.

Later, the Crunch ripped a shot from the left circle and Bacashihua gloved it. The highlight reel took a hit though as Syracuse immediately came back and #39 Trevor Frischmon scored an unassisted goal that looked like the nail in the coffin for the Monsters.

The Monsters did themselves no favors after the goal as #32 Codey Burki took a hooking penalty, putting the Crunch on the advantage. They scored 46 seconds later on a beautiful deflection of a slap shot. The coffin was no longer just nailed—it was getting dirt thrown on top. Sweze scored the goal from MacKenzie and Wilson.

Syracuse did everything they could to let the Monsters back in the game. First came a two-minute penalty to #18 Tom Sastito for hooking. The Monsters desperately needed to convert on this power play, but got nothing.

They got another power play chance with 5:21 left for a high stick to #39 Trevor Frishmon. Sadly the best shot came from Syracuse on a one-on-one versus Goalie Bacashihua. He won that one, but the Monsters could not convert again.

Had these two power plays resulted in goals, the Monsters would have been right back in the game. The power play was bad all day though.

#18 Sestito and #8 McCleod each got 10 minute misconducts and were done for the game. At this point though, the penalties were academic. The four-on-four favored Syracuse even though they left three men back to protect their lead.

The Crunch got in one final blast before the horn sounded and the crowd left disappointed. Third star of the game was #4 Clay Wilson of Syracuse, #3 Johnny Boychuk of the Monsters was the second star, and#24 Derrick MacKenzie of Syracuse was the star of the game.

After the Sunday contests, the Monsters allow the public skating and autographs on the ice with the players. Except for the 5-2 pounding Lake Erie endured at the hands of the Crunch, the evening was a great time.

The next Monster home game is Friday Dec. 7 when the Monsters take on Rockford in back to back contests the Dec. 7 and 8. Take a break from your Christmas shopping and check out a game—you'll leave knowing that hockey really is the coolest game on earth!