It has been a couple of weeks short of five months since the Cleveland Monsters and Belleville Senators last faced off. For two divisional rivals in the American Hockey League (AHL), it’s hard to imagine that an entire season series was wrapped up by mid-December.
Now, these two teams find themselves on day one of the best-of-five Calder Cup Playoff North Division Semifinals. The Cleveland Monsters, the winner of the Division in the regular season, come in after a well-deserved bye in the first round. The Belleville Senators, who defeated the Toronto Marlies two games to one, set their sights on a potential juggernaut.
How do these teams match up? Let’s find out!
Cleveland Monsters Season Recap
It might be shocking to some that this Cleveland Monsters team went from just outside the playoff picture in the 2022-23 regular season to divisional champions in one season. Led by the franchise’s offensive leader in almost every scoring category, Trey Fix-Wolansky, an All-Star goaltender in Jet Greaves, and a young yet wise head coach in Trent Vogelhuber, it truly isn’t that big of a surprise.
By the time December and January rolled around, Cleveland dominated the North Division. The roster was largely untouched from the start of the regular season, and chemistry and moods were flying off the top of the charts.
Then, on March 8, 2024, the NHL trade deadline hit. Fix-Wolansky was called up to the affiliate Columbus Blue Jackets to fill a hole left by trades. That was the first domino in a never-ending parade of players getting recalled from their loan to the Monsters.
Captain Brendan Gaunce, Carson Meyer, Mikael Pyyhtia, Jake Christiansen, David Jiricek, and Greaves were just a handful who made their way down I-71 for long-term stints with the Jackets.
Cleveland was left with seven of their top eight scorers at one point. This left the team in shambles, going on a seven-game losing streak from March 18 through April 13. With three games left in the season, Cleveland received all of their players back from Columbus (aside from Gaunce and Meyer, who are injured). All three games were victories against the Rochester Americans and Toronto Marlies.
Cleveland rose from the fearsome depths, with help from the Utica Comets, to take the regular season crown on the last day of the season.
The chemistry in those three games was like the call-ups never happened. This is amazing news as the team embarks on their Calder Cup run.
Three Reasons Belleville Beat Toronto
The Belleville Senators won the North Division’s play-in round against the Marlies, who took the series the distance. This inaugural Calder Cup Battle of Ontario saw plenty of fireworks and close moments. But how did the Sens emerge victorious?
Limiting Toronto’s Chances
Belleville’s defense limited Toronto to a total of 67 shots across three games. On the flip side, the Sens put up 96. This kept Mads Sogaard protected for large swaths of the game. In his first playoff action, Sogaard has a 2.64 goals-against average and a 0.881 save percentage.
If Belleville allowed more shots, the series’ result would have likely been in Toronto’s favor.
Powerful Penalty Kill
How often do you see a 100% penalty kill in the playoffs? Well, through three games, the Senators have it! Toronto had seven power plays and failed to score on a single one.
The biggest question here is if this can be sustained. We are looking at a team that put up at 79.3% mark on the penalty kill during the 2023-24 regular season.
Scoring By Committee
The best hockey teams always tout and, at times, rely on their depth. Belleville put that on display in the first round. A total of 14 skaters hit the scoresheet: nine forwards and five defensemen.
Leading the way are Garrett Pilon (3G, 1A), Josh Currie (2G, 1A), Wyatt Bongiovanni (3A), and Jacob Larsson (3A).
Regular Season Series Recap
On paper, the Monsters and Senators look pretty lopsided in favor of the Monsters. Cleveland took the season series with a record of 3-0-1-0. The only loss came in overtime in Belleville.
However, this Senators team was far from its final form during the series. Belleville did not hit its stride until later in the season, while Cleveland was at its true strength at midseason.
Leading scorers in the season series were Belleville’s Angus Crookshank with two goals and two assists and Cleveland’s Hunter McKown with five assists.
Monsters netminder Greaves took all three of Cleveland’s wins, sporting a 1.33 goals-against average and a 0.961 save percentage. For Belleville, goaltending duties were spilt between Sogaard, Leevi Merilainen, and Kevin Madolese. Sogaard started in half of the games with nine goals against, a 4.53 GAA, and a 0.852 GAA.
Belleville 1 @ Cleveland 2 December 15, 2023
Belleville 1 @ Cleveland 5 December 14, 2023
Cleveland 1 @ Belleville 2 November 12, 2023 OT
Cleveland 4 @ Belleville 2 November 10, 2023
Cleveland Monsters vs Belleville Senators Storylines To Watch
How Does Cleveland Navigate a Bye Week and the Roster Issues?
Cleveland has been idle for ten days before tonight’s game one. Of course, there are plenty of practices during that time span. However, nothing makes up for the intensity, chemistry, and conditioning that come from consistent game action.
However, this also gives the Monsters some time to rest, heal any injuries, and work out their lines. This includes Luca Pinelli, who recently joined the team on an Amateur Tryout Contract. Pinelli skated 68 games with the OHL’s Ottawa 67s this season. In total, he scored 48 goals and 34 assists, good for 82 points.
How does Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber incorporate the assets coming from Columbus? Does Pinelli immediately slot in? How much will the lines and defense pairings be moved around? These are all things to watch.
Coaching Strategies
How Belleville Senators head coach David Bell and Monsters coach Trent Vogelhuber approach this series is going to make a huge difference. Bell is in his first full season as the head coach for the Sens. He’s been coaching in the AHL since the 2017-18 season and has been an assistant coach with Belleville since the 2019-20 season. As a player, Bell skated in eight postseason games as an AHL player in the 1999-2000, 2000-01, and 2001-02 seasons. Bell has limited playoff coaching experience in the AHL.
Meanwhile, Vogelhuber has a Calder Cup working in his favor as a member of the 2015-16 Lake Erie Monsters. He skated in 17 games that postseason with two goals and five assists. He has been coaching in the organization since his retirement after the 2017-18 season. In the 2022-23 season, he was named head coach.
In the playoffs, a coach’s approach to matchups, assignments, called plays, and tempering his players’ emotions can make or break a series.
Watch how each goes about their role. It’ll be key!
Monsters to Watch
Listing out impactful or top players to watch on the Monsters would seemingly be easy. We have Fix-Wolansky’s record season, a promising potential NHL goaltender in Greaves, and talent for days. But, there are two potential X-factors to watch on this team:
Luca Pinelli- Jumping into a pro career with a team that clinched a division title and seems primed for a deep run can be daunting. Let’s watch how he acclimates and if his scoring touch can translate.
Josh Dunne- Only playing in 25 games this season has left a huge hole in Cleveland’s center depth. His seven points over that stretch is a pro career low. Of course, with the number of scorers on this team, he is needed more for his size and grit than pure scoring ability. With the rest of the leadership group in Gaunce and Meyer injured, Dunne (along with Billy Sweezey) will be the defacto patrolmen for the young players.
Senators to Watch
With one round of play under their belt, this Senators team has a lot of good going for it. But who stands out as their top two players to watch?
Mads Sogaard– A 2.64 GAA isn’t ideal when looking ahead at a Monsters team that put 233 goals on the board during the season. While Sogaard didn’t necessarily look out of place against the Marlies, his save percentage is concerning. Was it just nerves, or is there something more there? Luckily for Sogaard, Cleveland sometimes struggles to tally up impressive shot totals. The start to the Division Semifinals is key for him to get settled in the crease.
Donovan Sebrango– What a revelation the young defenseman was in the opening round of play! In his first two games of career playoff action, Sebrango put up one assist and one goal respectively.
Has the switch out of Detroit’s system into Ottawa’s unleashed his potential? Can he keep up his production? Or is his feisty personality going to land his team in potential penalty issues at a key juncture? There are lots of questions, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds!
Bold Predictions
When I think of bold predections, I want to go above and beyond. Shoot for the moon, I guess. Here’s what I think will happen:
Bold Prediction for the Monsters
One player I always enjoy watching is feisty sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg. From scraps to playing way bigger than his 5-9 178-pound frame, he’s so dynamic on the ice.
But I’m counting on him scoring a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Bold Prediction for the Senators
One fascinating player to watch so far this postseason is Garett Pilon. He helped win the Calder Cup for the Hershey Bears last season and scored the series-clinching goal for the Sens.
With already three goals in three games with two on the power play, I’m going for a bit of a reach. Let’s watch to see if Pilon can get a PP hatty during a game this series!
Cleveland Monsters vs Belleville Senators Series Prediction
When predicting this series, it comes down to one position: goaltending. If Greaves is at his peak form, this series is over in three games. However, if Sogaard can steady himself and his defense stifles Cleveland, this can easily stretch to five.
Either way, Cleveland is coming out as the victor.
Game one is tonight at 7:00 pm in Belleville with game two on Friday, May 3, also at 7:00 in Belleville. There is a tentative schedule for games three-five in Cleveland, though these are subject to change due to arena availability.
