CLEVELAND — The AHL Playoffs are returning to Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Monsters will host the Hershey Bears in Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals this week.
“We’re excited to get back here, where we’ve had a ton of success in front of our home fans. We’re ready to go,” said Monsters Head Coach Trent Vogelhuber.
As play shifts from Hershey, Pennsylvania, the Bears lead the best-of-seven series 2-0.
“Both games were tight games. They’re the defending champs, so it’s not gonna be easy. It's our hardest test yet,” says Vogelhuber.
Cleveland fell short of a complete comeback in games one and two, losing both in overtime.
“You just gotta make one more play and stick with it. Mentally, I think we’re in a good spot. Everybody knows that we played some good hockey, and we just gotta find a way to get one more than them,” said Vogelhuber.
“There [are] a lot of great things to bring back home from those road games, and I think, for us, it's just sticking to how we’ve been playing and using the crowd noise and the energy in our building to our advantage,” said forward Trey Fix-Wolansky.
“They were close games. It was only by one play, one goal, so we just wanna play the same way,” said defenseman David Jiricek.
The Monsters anticipate that returning to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse will give the team a boost. Game 3 is on track to house the biggest crowd of this year’s playoff run.
“It is tough at this time of year, playing on the road, because the whole building’s on top of you. When something good for them happens, the whole building explodes. Nobody is able to use that advantage as much as us with the group that we have here and the fans that we get,” says Vogelhuber.
“We need some points in the playoffs, so it’s good to be back, and I hope it’s gonna be packed,” says Jiricek.
“Our fans have been great for us all season. In the playoffs, they’re making a ton of noise, so it’s gonna be nice to be back on home ice advantage and have the crowd here in our favor,” says Fix-Wolansky.
Cleveland hosted the biggest crowd for the AHL Playoffs since 2016 last month when the Monsters hosted the Belleville Senators in Game 3 of the North Division Semifinals on May 8. That drew 12,659 spectators to the arena. Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals could out-perform those numbers. More than 10,000 fans are expected to pack the stands for each of the next two games.
“I think we play fast, and we’re hard to play against. We compete as well as anybody. That’s gotten us here to this point, so those things certainly can’t waiver. That’s what’s given [Hershey] hard times during the first two games when we’ve had good minutes, so just gotta continue to lean into that,” said Vogelhuber.
“It's only 2-0, so we just have to win the next four games, and we can go to the finals. That simple. We just wanna win the next game right now,” says Jiricek.
“We all want the same thing and that’s the Calder Cup, so we’re gonna do whatever it takes to get there,” says Fix-Wolansky.
The series picks back up with a 7 p.m. puck drop for Game 3 on Tuesday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Game 4 is slated for the same time and place on Thursday, June 6. If necessary, Game 5 will also be in Cleveland, and then 6 and 7 will return to GIANT Center.
Carly Mascitti is a sports anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @carlymascitti.
