Well, ita just about over. So what does everyone think? I personally think it was a great start. Let's admit, we had to start some where. Did you actually expect the Calder this season. There a re alot of growing pains, on the ice and off, but in general, I am OK with it. I dont think blaming the coaches is a place to start, he was new at the head coaching thing too. Many very young players and some turmoil as far as roster stability, but there are some positives to look forward to next season. Hopefully the people in C-Town are realizing hockey is back, and will continue to support the team as they have this year. I still think ticket prices could use an adjutment to bring in more "casual" fans without papering the house to many times. I will be there next season, locked in my seats already! So lets ride out this year and look to a bright future.

Lower average tickets and less freebies would make the games more affordable and more enjoyable. Empty seats in the third period are pretty common. Our facility is nicer than most AHL teams, but our prices are much higher. Tickets in Syracuse are $17 for the best seats. We could do better.

Overall it was good to see Cleveland with an AHL franchise not looking to resurrect the old Barons name or Sharks affiliation. I did expect a better record, more consistency from the team and a team that could play three periods +. This isn't Sacco's or the players' first year in hockey, just their first in Cleveland (and in Joe's case, as a head coach). I'll be interested to see how the team roster looks for next season. We probably won't see too many familiar faces as Hensick and Boychuk will likely be in Colorado, Purinton will be gone and other prospects will be transfered as part of multi-player off-season trades.

it was a slow start for this team, going so many games into the season to get their first win. we have alot of rookies on the team and no i wasnt expecting to see the calder cup here, yet but i was expecting to see a more cohesive unit as the season wore on. they had some good runs, some tough wins and very tough losses. they need to build on their strengths and cut their losses.
overall, good first season, cant wait to see what happens next season. hopefully we can make it more exciting next season. yes the ticket prices could be lower but for the arena we play in the ticket prices reflect it.

You know, at the end of the night whether we win or lose, I've walked out feeling like I had a good time and I got my money's worth. (Except maybe that one Manitoba game.) That's enough for me. Winter in this town is long and boring and having hockey games to break up the monotony is great.

Saying I'd like to see the team do better is a given. I think we see how Sacco does next year to make any real decisions on his coaching. While everyone may not be NEW to hockey, the fact that they have to learn and play by the Avs' rules/plays is new to most everyone on the team. It would take anyone a while to forget what they know, and do something in a new way. But if next year ends up like this year, I doubt they'll keep Sacco as coach.

Then again, maybe Sacco will decide to start harvesting corn as a new career and quit Hockey after this season. Haha...

I agree with KJB, I've enjoyed myself at the games. I hope the team does better than recent history in this town.
Ned isn't the 1st to say that about the Barons. I'm not as knowledgeable as most of you about our hockey heritage but the OLD Barons had such a good history. Held the cup record until recently. so is it the Barons or the San Jose affiliate that people don't like?
Anyway, 4 more home games (only 2 for me unfortunately) I plan to enjoy them and look forward to next year.

I must say, I have always had an interest in hockey so now that I'm old enough to go downtown without the parental units, I went to a game in December and have only missed 4 games since! I've locked in season tickets for next season and I am counting down the days til the opener (whenever that is!) I've become a huge fan of this team and can't wait to see what happens next year!

My season ticket package went from $700 per seat to $388 per seat for next year so some adjustments have been made. My seats are in C123 row 15

I take it frankburger that you had the food option, they must be changing it.

I've been to 3 games and I'm really impressed. BUT, and I hope the owners/management read these forums, the ticket prices are one of the highest in the AHL. I grew up back in NY with AHL hockey and the tickets were ALWAYS affordable. I KNOW if they lower them $4-$5 and start promoting more on TV and radio they will start drawing bigger and better crowds. From what I've saw, it was a great start for them for sure!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by G2:
I take it frankburger that you had the food option, they must be changing it.

No i had to move over one section because the seats i had for the Barons for 5 years were selling for $1400+ ($41 per seat per game without the season ticket holder discount) with the food option, which i did not want.

the ticket prices are relative to the building we play in, now if we played in one of the smaller arenas in the ahl than i would think (keyword THINK) the ticket prices would reflect that, still its a little high but to go see a blue jackets game and sit somewhere you can see is goin to cost you plenty, so they are high but less costly than going to see an nhl team play.

I would understand that if Mr. Gilbert wasn't in control of the operations of the building. Its not like the team has to pay rent. Basically the hockey team is helping to pay LeBron's salary. He has parking revenue, concessions, and merchandising, which the Barons did not have in the end. So every person he can get down there, is money in the bank. So lowering a few bucks and maybe drawing more people, sounds like a plan to me. My opinion, and it dont mean a hill of beans! LOL

quote:

Originally posted by frankburger:

quote:

Originally posted by G2:
I take it frankburger that you had the food option, they must be changing it.

No i had to move over one section because the seats i had for the Barons for 5 years were selling for $1400+ ($41 per seat per game without the season ticket holder discount) with the food option, which i did not want.

Sorry, I thought about it later and it didn't add up. I should've done the math before making that statement.

Ya know, win or lose I feel like I got my money's worth this year. Of course there were nights when the effort was lacking a bit but overall I feel this year's growing pains were worth it. 2 other points:

1)This team was essentially an expansion team with no real hot-shot prospects. We have 1 Colorado first rounder (a late one), 1 Sharks middle first rounder, and a few top 5 rounders but they are all basically grinders. Richardson, Hensick and Healey are the only real top line talent. Let's face it, Colorado scrounged for talent and Dave Oliver did a helluva job finding bodies that could fill holes and the roles of the departed lifetime grinders Rycroft and Hussey. Colorado has prospects coming up next year and a good number of draft picks for this year's draft so it will be a few years before we see an actual "stocked" farm system.

2)As far as the coaching goes,for some reason, fans of franchises with losing records often blame the coaching staff. In this case I can assure you they are not the problem. The team is learning the system, the players are learning the expectations of the parent club, and while there remains much to be desired in the results department, player development is actually taking place in Cleveland for the first time in umpteen years. If you watch a practice you can see this first-hand.

Defensively, any coach that can help Love improve THAT much in one year has my vote. Any coach that gets Jillson to use an active stick gets my vote. We dont have top notch defensive talent, thus the +/- and high shots on goal. Offensively, with the firepower we have, the results are pretty typical. Wyatt Smith re-energized his career here and I am glad for him. Lundmark proved that he is capable when he tries and also proved why he is not in the NHL any more. Hensick has improved massively as has DaSilva. For a bunch of third and fourth liners , I will take it. For trying to instill the values of being hard-nosed and tough to play against, i feel the coaches have been successful. When Sacco got on Stewarts behind, results followed (that should tell you something Chris!).

It's gonna take time, it's an expansion team. I liken the Monsters to the Wild in their first few years. Same types of players and same growing pains. It aint the coaches folks.

Oh yeah, dont get me started on Aramark. They are the worst in every arena I have been in. Try getting some eye contact while being served hehehe.

quote:

Originally posted by HermanMonster:
2)As far as the coaching goes,for some reason, fans of franchises with losing records often blame the coaching staff. In this case I can assure you they are not the problem.

Herman, how can you say that?
You telling me that conditioning isn't the coach's responsibility? Jillson? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He was the reason we had to work out of a hole all night last night.
Cash was a first rounder of the Blues I believe. David Jones was a good player here and now up with the Avs. THERE IS A HUGE FALL OFF WHEN WYATT DOESN'T PLAY. That is coaching pal, lack of leadership from the bench.

yes, some of the things you just mentioned are due to coaching. Jillson, I used to hate his guts but he has IMPROVED a bit.lol. Jones is up because of coaching/development. Conditioning is a result of coaching and player attitude. The conditioning of this team is far superior to the garbage we were privy to for the previous 5 years. Cash was a mid-season pickup not a Colorado 1st rounder. So, basically, you proved most of my points. My point about Wyatt is that he was floundering until he came here-coaching. What happens when he is not in the lineup is indicative of the lack of talent in this organization so far. Read closer next time ok?

I'm VERY pleased with the first year... Considering they built everything from the ground up, I think they did a great job.

People actually KNEW we had a hockey team ! That's good promotional work by the marketing department.

I'm hoping for a better home schedule next season... we played an awful lot of home games in Nov & Dec when everyone is concentrating on Browns Football. I hope we get more home games in Jan & Feb after the holidays and before the Tribe season starts !

As for the play on the ice... they patched together a team that had never played all together before... with their previous split affiliation... these guys didn't play together on a consistent basis. Then of course, the call ups to Colorado depleted the roster too, so I think they did a good job with what they had.

Imagine showing up to work and you have different co-workers than the day before... it can't be easy.

I would grade the first year a B.

this team is a good team but they sometimes lack. they have won some games that they should have probably lost and lost games that they should have won, but overall i like this team. i wish we had a true enforcer, love in my opinion is good but not a great s*******.
as far as the shedule i dont think anything can be done about it, hockey is a winter sport so they start it close to the end of football, plus it doesnt help that we have all major sports teams in this city with the exception of the monsters,
and most ahl cities only have the ahl.
i would like to see the team get more stingy on defense not giving up on average 40-50 shots a game, it makes it really hard on the goaltender when that happens but overall it has been a good season and next season should be better.

People are back in the building, which makes the games more fun to attend. The team showed progress from the first games' mistakes instead of staying static. Overall, a decided improvement over the last franchise.

Next season we should make the playoffs. The season after that...Calder Cup? Okay, maybe not, but in the AHL it often takes only three seasons to go from last to first. It is nice to be along for the ride.

And for the record, I think the coaches are doing just fine. If there are players you still don't like it may have to do with them personally, not what the coaches are doing. While you can assign drills until the cows come home during practice, you can't police what players do in their off time.

GO MONSTERS.

A great return for hockey in Cleveland. I like the coaching staff and alot of the players. They struggled through alot of call-ups and other things that new teams go through but overall I believe they weathered the storm and are on the right track.

With more help in the form of draft picks on the way next year along with what we already have, except for maybe a few call-ups after The Avs summer camp I think we will have a play-off caliber team next year.

For the management staff I would like to say a job well done. Good job of getting the average non-hockey fan in the building with tickets reasonably priced from $10-$26. Great atmosphere in the building with all the activities you planned. Also good job centering it around the kids with the Mascots, zoo animals, hair painting and sign making. That concourse and building were really buzzing this year. It won't be long before the success in the stands follows suit on the ice.

The increased media attention was great. Also putting 20 games on FSN and landing a great radio deal with WKNR was fantastic. Most AHL cities will love to have the coverage we have. Also great work getting all the radio stations down there for promotions and live pre-game broadcasts from The Q like WKNR. Also hearing commercials for The Monsters on FM Channels like 100.7, 92.3 and 96.5 was great. Getting those FM channels to do in game promotions there was also sweet.

I look forward to 2008-09, the year this franchise takes another big step forward and continues to make great strides in building the fan base while also chasing The Calder Cup.

Game on!
Go Monsters!

i know this is the first year as sacco being a head coach but i've got to tell you, he does absolutely nothing, he doesn't talk to his players while their is an offical time out, only once did he open his mouth last night against the crunch, while his opposition would talk to his players while the time out was going on. sacco needs to get alot more vocal out there, its almost as if these players are coaching themselves.
we will see what happens next year and then i will make my assessment of sacco and if anyone goes on the av's message board you see people all over wanting to fire quenville.
i will give sacco one more year to see what he can do as a coach, i am giving him the benefit of the doubt being a first time head coach, trying to develop young players and a new system. so until next season.

Sacco has said that "these guys are professionals, they know what they need to do."

that's certainly not Vince Lombardi on our bench.