The Lake Erie Monsters begin a weekend tonight that will see them play three games in just as many days. The weekend kicks off in Hamilton with the Monsters playing their North Division foes, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Both teams will travel to Cleveland after the game in Ontario and will complete Lake Erie’s first home-and-home series of the season Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena. Saturday’s game will be an exciting one, as the team also welcomes Cleveland Cavaliers Daniel “Boobie” Gibson and J.J. Hickson, who will be at The Q for a pregame autograph session from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Also, the first 5,000 fans will receive a Monsters ski cap, compliments of Verizon Wireless.

So far this season, the Monsters are 1-1 against the Bulldogs, with each team winning a game on their home ice. In the first game of the season between the two teams, October 31st in Hamilton, the Bulldogs took the game by a 3-2 final. Hamilton won the game at the 9:27 mark of the third period on center Ryan White’s second goal of the season. The Monsters received scoring from T.J. Hensick and Brian Willsie, two players currently playing with Lake Erie’s parent club, the Colorado Avalanche. For his effort, Willsie was named second star of the game. Both goalies - Jason Bacashihua of Lake Erie and Marc Denis of Hamilton – turned aside 29 shots in the game.

In their win over the Bulldogs, November 9th at The Q, Lake Erie beat Hamilton by a 6-4 final. The 10 combined goals is a season high in a game so far for Lake Erie. Two players now with Colorado, Kyle Cumiskey and Chris Stewart, set individual season highs for Lake Erie. Cumiskey registered three assists, a total yet to be matched by anyone in one game, and Stewart registered the team’s lone hat trick of the season. The team received multi-point efforts from five players: Cumiskey (3A), Phil Dupuis (1G, 1A), T.J. Galiardi (1G, 1A), Stewart (3G) and Mike Vernace (1G, 1A). Lake Erie also dominated the post game accolades as Stewart, Cumiskey and Dupuis earned the first, second and third stars of the game.

After this weekend, the next game between Lake Erie and Hamilton will take place on January 16th, when Lake Erie travels to Copps Coliseum for the third time this season. Last year, the Monsters were 1-4-1-2 against the Bulldogs.

On Sunday, the Monsters welcome the Philadelphia Phantoms to The Q for an afternoon tilt scheduled to begin at 5:00. The game is also an Arby’s Family Pack Value Day. A family of four can get four Monsters tickets, four Arby’s combo meals and four Monsters ski caps starting at just $68.

The Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, are a relatively unfamiliar opponent to the Monsters. The teams only played twice last season, with the last game played on January 11, 2008. The Monsters will only play Philadelphia one more time this year, when they head to the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia on January 24th. Last year, the Monsters were a perfect 2-0 against the Phantoms.