For the first time in franchise history, the Lake Erie Monsters will start their season on the road. The 2009-10 schedule will begin in Rochester on October 3rd before the Monsters open at Quicken Loans Arena on October 10th. The team will then play 14 of its first 22 games of the year at home. The 80-game regular season schedule was released by the American Hockey League today.

The Monsters will play 29 of their 40 home games on the weekend, including 12 Friday games, 13 Saturday games, and four Sunday games. Five of the Saturday games will be double-headers, with The Q hosting both Monsters hockey in the afternoon and Cavs basketball in the evening (October 31st, November 14th, November 28th, January 23rd and February 6th). For the first time in team history, Lake Erie will play at home on New Year’s Eve (5:00 p.m.), and will also host its first “school day game,” a 10:45 a.m. contest on February 24th.

Lake Erie will be led this season by new head coach David Quinn, who joins the team after serving the past five seasons as associate head coach at Boston University, where his team won the 2009 NCAA Championship. He replaces former Monsters head coach Joe Sacco who was promoted to head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in June. Quinn will be joined on the bench by new Monsters assistant coach Dan Laperriere, who takes over for former assistant Sylvain Lefebvre, who joined Sacco in Colorado. Laperriere comes to Lake Erie from the Arizona Sundogs (CHL) where he was assistant coach last season and player/assistant the two years prior.

The Monsters will play a total of 16 back-to-backs, as well as eight back-to-back-to-backs in 2009-10. The team will host a season-high five-game home stand on two occasions (October 30th – November 8th and February 3rd - February 12th) , and will take its longest road trip of the year from March 3rd – March 13th, playing seven games in 11 days. For the second straight year, the Monsters will finish the regular season at home on April 10th.

The Monsters played their second season in Cleveland in 2008-09, finishing ninth in average attendance in the AHL, up from 11th in their first season in 2007-08. On April 11th, the final game of the season and Fan Appreciation Night, the Monsters set the AHL’s largest single-game attendance total for the 2008-09 season with 17,652. The attendance mark was a franchise record and was also the 11th highest regular season total overall in the 73-year old history of the league. Lake Erie finished last season with eight more wins and 11 more points than the previous year. With the Monsters serving as the top affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, fans were able to watch some of the top young prospects in all of hockey: a total of 15 Lake Erie players were called up by the Avs during 2008-09, 11 of who made their NHL debut.

Fans can expect to enjoy the same fun, affordable family entertainment that has become synonymous with Monsters game, including free postgame open skates and autograph sessions, celebrity promotional appearances, and Dollar Dog Fridays, when all hot dogs and 16-ounce pops are only $1 each.

Full season tickets, starting at just $10 per seat per game, as well as group tickets, are on sale now by visiting LakeErieMonsters.com or calling (216) 420-0000. Partial (multiple games) season ticket plans will go on sale later this summer. Single game tickets will go on sale closer to the start of the season on a date to be announced. The 2009-10 broadcast and promotional schedules will also be announced at a later date and before single game tickets go on sale.