Monsters take on Rocket in Season Opener at Laval
In the first of eight meetings between the two teams this season, the Cleveland Monsters, affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, drop the puck vs. the Laval Rocket, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadians, on Friday with full coverage, live from Place Bell in Laval, QC, underway at 7:30 pm on Alt 99.1, AHLTV and the Monsters Hockey Network.
MONSTERS PRE-SCOUT: The Monsters finished the 2018-19 season in fourth place in the North Division standings with a record of 37-29-8-2. After dispatching the division champion Syracuse Crunch in four games in the best-of-five North Division Semi-Finals, Cleveland succumbed to the Toronto Marlies in four games in the best-of-seven North Division Finals.
LAVAL PRE-SCOUT: The Rocket finished the 2018-19 season in sixth place in the North Division standings with a record of 30-34-6-6 on the outside of the Calder Cup playoff picture.
REGULAR-SEASON SERIES: Friday marks the first of eight meetings between the Monsters and Rocket this season and the first of four head-to-head meetings between the two teams at Laval’s Place Bell this year.
MONSTERS GOALTENDERS:
| 35 Veini Vehvilainen | OVERALL | 0 GP, (0-0-0), 0 SO, 0.00 GAA, .000 S% |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A | |
| 39 Brad Thiessen | OVERALL | 0 GP, (0-0-0), 0 SO, 0.00 GAA, .000 S% |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A | |
| 80 Matiss Kivlenieks | OVERALL | 0 GP, (0-0-0), 0 SO, 0.00 GAA, .000 S% |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A |
ROCKET GOALTENDERS:
| 31 Cayden Primeau | OVERALL | 0 GP, (0-0-0), 0 SO, 0.00 GAA, .000 S% |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A | |
| 35 Charlie Lindgren | OVERALL | 0 GP, (0-0-0), 0 SO, 0.00 GAA, .000 S% |
| LAST APP. | N/A | |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD | N/A | |
| ON THE ROAD | N/A |
KEYS TO SUCCESS:
- ENTER THE EAVES ERA: In 2019-20, the Cleveland Monsters welcome the club’s sixth head coach in franchise history, Mike Eaves. In 34 seasons in the coaching ranks, Eaves has patrolled the bench in the NHL (Assistant Coach with Calgary from 1985-86, Assistant Coach with Philadelphia from 1988-90 and in 1993-94, Assistant Coach with Pittsburgh from 1997-00), the AHL (Head Coach with Hershey from 1990-93), Finland’s Liiga (Head Coach with HIFK Helsinki in 1996-97), the USHL (Head Coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in 2000-01) and the collegiate ranks (Head Coach with the U. of Wisconsin from 2002-16, Head Coach at St. Olaf College from 2016-19). Eaves was especially successful at Wisconsin, coaching his alma mater to a National Championship in 2006 and leading the Badgers to the NCAA Title Game in 2010. Eaves also coached Team USA to a Gold Medal at the 2004 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships and served as Team USA’s Head Coach at the 2006 IIHF World Championships.
- FAMILIAR FACES: Cleveland’s 2019-20 opening day roster features 30 players, all but six of whom (LW Marko Dano, LW Markus Hannikainen, D Anton Karlsson, C Stefan Matteau, D Andrew Peeke and G Veini Vehvilainen) appeared in at least one regular-season or Calder Cup Playoff game for the team a season ago. Among the returners are Cleveland’s captain and lone AHL All-Star in 2018-19, Nathan Gerbe, and Zac Dalpe, the Monsters’ leading scorer a season ago and new single-season franchise goal-scoring record holder (33).
- NEWCOMERS TO THE LEAGUE: Four players on Cleveland’s opening day roster have yet to play in a regular-season AHL game: RW Trey Fix-Wolansky, D Anton Karlsson, D Andrew Peeke and G Veini Vehvilainen. Fix-Wolansky appeared in three Calder Cup Playoff games for the Monsters in 2019, posting 1-1-2 with a -3 rating, but didn’t join the club until the regular season had concluded.
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