CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Cleveland Monsters did not end last year the way they wanted to. If not for a crushing loss in their home finale to the Milwaukee Admirals, the Monsters would have had a chance to defend their Calder Cup championship reign in the playoffs. Instead, they watched as the Charlotte Checkers jumped into the playoff madness from afar, wondering what could’ve been.
Now, they look to make their return to the playoffs with the guidance of second-year head coach John Madden. Madden had a ‘miserable summer’ if you ask Cleveland Monsters General Manager Bill Zito. Zito says that the team maybe fell into a bad way of looking at things after going through a rough spell midway through the season.
“It was very easy to say ‘New head coach’. That’s bush, that’s not right. We should always be good.”
Sure, it’s not hard to get caught up in the cliches that Zito refers to. Madden was taking over for Jared Bednar and had a lot to live up to. He did a very nice job in his first year and seemed to put it all together at the end of the year, as the team went on an unbelievable 13-1-1 run to make things interesting down the stretch. Madden was not too pleased with having a rather extended amount of time this summer.
“It was too long. We came one point away from getting to the playoffs.”
When talking about why the team missed the playoffs, Madden brings up some first-year coaching mistakes. He hopes that he has cleaned them up and can teach the team to play better in different areas and points of the game. Among the focus of Madden’s coaching will be winning the special teams battle.
“I think there’s a real focus on special teams. With the new rules being implemented this year, I think early on if we can get our penalty kill numbers real high and our PP (Power Play) numbers real high, we can come away with a bunch of wins.”
With such a new roster after departures from Ryan Craig, T.J. Tynan and Jaime Sifers, Cleveland looks to establish a new culture and a fresh look to bounce back with. Some of those names include Kole Sherwood, Carter Camper, Cameron Guance and Bobby MacIntyre. Guys like Justin Scott, Jordan Maletta, Nick Moutrey and Alex Broadburst will look to have big years and lead the young team to great heights. For Madden, it’s not a matter of who’s been here longer than somebody else. If you aren’t performing, your job is in danger.
“We want guys to be aggressively smart, that’s kind of our theory. But at the end of the day we’re looking to win hockey games and I believe we have the guys to do it. So it’s gonna be a real competitive lineup were gonna have this year and if you’re not getting it done, someone else will get an opportunity and if they steal an opportunity, that’s just the way it goes.”
They will also be seeing a lot more of Brad Thiessen, who takes on the responsibilities of the top goaltender in Cleveland this year. Thiessen spent time last year playing behind Anton Forsberg, who was shipped to Chicago during the off-season in the deal that brought the Blue Jackets a goal-scoring machine in Artemi Panarin.
“As a goalie, you always want to be in the net playing. Obviously the past couple years we’ve had a couple really good goalies and I had a lot of fun playing with those guys and learning from them. Different situation this year. A little more opportunity to play and lead the team out there. Looking forward to getting out playing and doing my thing out there.”
Thiessen is a guy that a lot of players give a lot of high praise to, as he is referred to as a locker room leader and an overall good guy to be with on a team. Zito called the way Thiessen plays ‘consistent excellence’, which is as high a compliment as one could receive.
Depth is the real story here for this Cleveland Monsters team and they understand that. With Madden not willing to suffer a bitter end to the season again this year, they understand that it’s a time to perform in order to keep their spot safe on the ice.
After going 39-29-4-4 a year ago, the Monsters look to create some big moments in the 2017-18 campaign. That journey starts this Saturday against the Rockford IceHogs at The Q.
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