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Columbus Blue Jackets: Why You Should Watch the Cleveland Monsters

By William Espy

CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 10: Cleveland Monsters G Joonas Korpisalo (70) and Cleveland Monsters LW Nick Moutrey (7) celebrate following the AHL hockey game between the Manitoba Moose and Cleveland Monsters on February 10, 2017, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Cleveland defeated Manitoba 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 10: Cleveland Monsters G Joonas Korpisalo (70) and Cleveland Monsters LW Nick Moutrey (7) celebrate following the AHL hockey game between the Manitoba Moose and Cleveland Monsters on February 10, 2017, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. Cleveland defeated Manitoba 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Columbus Blue Jackets have been tearing it up at the NHL level, however the best is yet to come. Checking out the Cleveland Monsters this season would be the easiest way to see what the future entails.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Cleveland Monsters are on completely different sides of the spectrum to start the season, Columbus is 4-1-0 to start while the Monsters are currently only at a record of 1-2-0. However, that’s no reason to not check out Cleveland hockey. The AHL is a developmental league which has housed over 80% of current NHL players according to TheAHL.com.

The Blue Jackets roster is no exception. Players such as Zach Werenski, Sonny Milano and Josh Anderson have all played with the Monsters in recent years. Going back further, Cam Atkinson, David Savard and Matt Calvert all had extended stays in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons prior to the Blue Jackets’ partnership with the Monsters.

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When the Cleveland Monsters won the Calder Cup in 2016, the roster contained Lukas Sedlak, Sonny Milano, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Josh Anderson, Zach Werenski and Joonas Korpisalo, just to name a few. Fast forward just a couple years later, and all of those players are full-time NHLers.

If you want to check out the Cleveland Monsters this season, the easiest way to keep up with the action from home would be AHL Live, which is the AHL’s streaming service. There are also a few games aired on SportsTime Ohio and Fox Sports Ohio later in the season. If neither of those options intrigue you, the best way to get involved with the action would be taking a trip to Cleveland and seeing a game in person.

The future of the Columbus Blue Jackets is bright and if you want to keep up to date on the stars of tomorrow, be sure to check out the Cleveland Monsters. We’ll be covering the Monsters’ 2017-18 season closely too, so you can read about them here as well.

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