Brian HedgerColumbus Dispatch
The Cleveland Monsters’ bus rolled toward home with a flickering light ofNHL playoff games streaming on its TV screens.
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After clinching the American Hockey League’s North Division with a 3-1 victory April 21 over the Toronto Marlies, their first division title in franchise history, the Monsters celebrated the only way a team full of “hockey nerds” knows how to do it.
They watched the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs together, picturing themselvesin those games someday. One of them, goalie Malcolm Subban, sat toward the back and face-timed with his older brother, P.K., who’s now an ESPN studio analyst after finishing his playing career as a star NHL defenseman.
“Ya gotta give us a shout out!” Malcolm shouted. “Ya gotta give us a shout out!”
The bus chugged onward, the games continued to flicker and, eventually, the next intermission arrived. Sure enough, P.K. and hall-of-famer Mark Messier appeared on-screen and gave the Monsters their “shout out” on national television.
Assistant coach Mark Letestu cracked a smile. An NHL veteran of 11 seasons, who began his professional journey in the AHL, Letestu and his fellow coaches felt goose bumps at their team’s reaction.
“The boys went nuts,” Letestu said. “It was a lot of fun.”
It was also a perfect way to conclude another season that went down to the wire for the Monsters, who arepowered by Blue Jackets prospects. A year earlier,Cleveland felt the sting of finishing just short of qualifying for the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Now, the Monsters are the North’s top seed. After getting a bye through the first round, they’ll begin their own playoff ‘Cup’ quest Wednesday night in Belleville, Ontario. They’re one of the AHL’s most prospect-laden playoff teams, coached by a mostly young staff ledby head coach Trent Vogelhuber, and the bonds the Monsters have already forged could soon pay off in Columbus.
Just like 2016, when they won the Calder Cup as the Lake Erie Monsters, the Blue Jackets’ top affiliate in the minors is poised to give a host of NHL hopefuls a valuable experience that could last throughout their careers. It starts with a best-of-fiveagainst the Belleville Senators, including the final three gamesnext week at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and the hockey nerds are ready to go.
“It’s been a solid first six months,” Vogelhuber said. “Now, the fun begins.Guys just want to get to the fun part, and that’s the playoff games, but I can tell the guys are ready. They’re excited and the coaches are the same way.”
Cleveland Monsters rallied to win AHL North
The most challenging thing about fielding a winner in the AHL is the transient nature of the league, which isa developmental feeder for the NHL.
Injuries or trades at the NHL level create a vacuumthat pulls players up to fill roster holes, leaving AHL rosters with gaping voids. General managers of AHL teams are often scrambling to even field full lineups at points, pulling players from the ECHL, U.S colleges and juniors.
“When we look at our roster at the beginning of the year, it’s always a joke saying, ‘This isn’t going to be even close to what we have at the end of the year,’ or even in December or January,” said Chris Clark, the Blue Jackets’ director of player personnel and Monsters’ general manager.“It’s something where the coaching staff does a terrific job of rolling with it. I’ll call them and say, ‘Hey, this guy’s coming up,’ and they say, ‘Alright, cool. We’ll talk to him. We’ll figure it out.’”
They usually do, too, even though it can become a scramble.
And that’s exactly what happened to the Monster. After the Blue Jackets dealt Jack Roslovic and Andrew Peeke at the NHL trade deadline (March 8), they were hit with a spate of injuries. A parade of Monsters made their way to Columbus, and the parade didn’t stop until the Jackets ended their season with avictory April 16 over the Carolina Hurricanes at Nationwide Arena.
Rookies Luca Del Bel Belluz and James Malatesta scored goals in that game, while rookie goalie Jet Greaves earned the win. All three plus a handful of others were reassigned to Cleveland after the game, giving the Monsters a needed jolt.Cleveland had already clinched a playoff spot, but three road games remained to make a push for the division title.
Powered by the return of key regulars, the Monsters got it done by sweeping all three games and getting some help in other games.
It was a relief after dropping back to third in the North during a seven-game winless skidprompted by the Blue Jackets’ injury glut.
“Last year, I think if we had one more week of games, if we had one more game or two more games, I think we would’ve made the playoffs and really could’ve done some damage,” Clark said. “We were fortunate this year to have a little bit of a cushion, but the young players who weren’t called up (to Columbus) plus the AHL contract guys really stepped up when we needed it during that six-week stretch where a lot of the team was gone. It was fun to watch.”
Cleveland Monsters’ coaching staff, Columbus Blue Jackets prospectslearning to win together
Mike Haviland, 56, has his name etched on the Stanley Cup from his time with the Chicago Blackhawks and is the elder statesman of the Monsters’ staff.
The others are all just a few years out from their playing days.
Vogelhuber is 35, played six full professional seasons (AHL, ECHL) and helped the Monsters win the Calder Cup in 2016. He’s already finishing his second full season as Cleveland’s head coach. Letestu is 39 and retiredafter 2019-20. Goalie coach Brad Thiessen is 38 and played his final professional season in 2020-21 for the Monsters as a player/coach.
“I think it would be an understatement to say that we have a blast together, and that includes the training staff, the medical staff, the coaching staff,” Letestu said. “We have a lot of fun and I think we genuinely enjoy each other’s company. We disagree on a lot of things, but all good staffs do.It’s been cool building something over three years, and now we’re getting a chance to reward ourselves as a team in the playoffs.”
bhedger@dispatch.com
