Ohio Hockey News – Frozen Frontier Edition

Photo Credit: Dan Strine, Hook-S-One Productions

The Columbus Blue Jackets have the night off and the rest of the NHL schedule is pretty light as well. But fear not Ohio hockey fans, SportsTime Ohio and the Lake Erie Monsters have you covered! Tonight at 7:05, the Monsters will take on the Rochester Americans in the Frozen Frontier outdoor game at Frontier Field. While outdoor games have become a common occurrence at the NHL level, this will only be the 6th outdoor game in the AHL’s 78 year existence. Tonight will be the Monsters first outdoor game, as they did not take part in Cleveland’s Frozen Diamond event a few years ago.

Lake Erie and Rochester played on Wednesday night in an indoor preview to tonight’s game. While Lake Erie kept the pressure on the Americans the entire game, Rochester walked away with a 4-2 win. Thursday provided an opportunity for both teams to practice on the outdoor rink and get used to the ice and adjust to the sight lines.

Doug Plagens spoke with several Monsters players about the growing rivalry with the Rochester Americans, and what the Monsters need to do to be successful:

(Courtesy of Lake Erie Monsters.com)

Image courtesy of theahlstore.com

In addition to the spectacle of the outdoor game, both teams will be wearing throwback jerseys that honor both Cleveland and Rochester’s AHL history. The Monsters will be wearing jerseys similar to those of the 1930s era Cleveland Barons (The Barons were a charter member of the AHL and won 9 championships between 1936 and 1964).

While often overlooked as a hockey town, Cleveland has a rich hockey history, including the AHL Barons, the WHA’s Cleveland Crusaders (who the Monsters honored two years ago with throwback jerseys), the NHL version of the Cleveland Barons, the IHLs Cleveland Lunberjacks, a 2nd AHL Cleveland Barons, and now the Lake Erie Monsters. While the names and leagues have changed over the years, there has been a solid core of support from Cleveland hockey fans.

As a fan of the Monsters, I see tonight’s game as a big opportunity to grow interest in both the Monsters and hockey in Ohio. When I moved to Ohio, the Monsters were the first Ohio hockey team I had interest in. Eventually that led me to watching the Blue Jackets as well, so there is the potential of growing interest in all of Ohio’s hockey teams tonight.

Since it is not your standard minor league hockey game, the Frozen Frontier has received a lot of coverage in the local media, including the Plain Dealer and daily mentions on The Sports Fix, a popular Cleveland online radio show.

Doug Plagens spoke with Mikael Tam, Matt Hunwick and Daniel Maggio about the outdoor game experience and what it means to them as players:

(Courtesy of Lake Erie Monsters.com)

Game Day Links:

Mile High Hockey – SB Nation’s Colorado Avalanche blog has a great preview with several photos from Monster’s play-by-play analyst Doug Plagens.

Sabre Noise – FanSided’s Sabre Noise also has a great preview (more from the Rochester side of things). It contains some great info if you are thinking about making the trip to Rochester to watch the game.

Cleveland Plain Dealer – The Plain Dealer also had a quick preview to tonight’s game that is worth checking out.