lakeeriemonsters.com: News & Features

View From the Booth...Opening Night!

10/07/2010 4:18 PM

Hello again hockey fans and welcome to another edition of "The View From The Booth." The 2010-11 season for the Monsters is here and there's a lot of excitement within our organization. From top to bottom, everyone is ready for this season, the fourth for the Monsters.

It's been a very busy and exciting last few days for our hockey club. Training camp went very well at Hoover Arena in Strongsville and the energy in practices was really good. I am so excited to start my second season with the hockey club and I am very excited for our great fans to see the new players our organization has brought in. I really think you will enjoy the type of players and people we have here this season.

The biggest thing I've noticed in being at practice each and every day is the speed, talent and depth our team has to start the season. As all who follow our great game and our great league know, things can change in an instant with injures, knock on wood, call ups to the big club in Denver, etc, but I think with the depth that is in place, the Monsters will be strong on the ice.

Jason Bacashihua is back between the pipes along with veteran John Grahame. Jason, or "Cash," has been sharp and on his game during camp and leading up to our opener. Defensively, Travis Gawryletz, Ray Macias and Kevin Montgomery lead the way in terms of returning players. David Liffiton, who was signed in the off season is going to be a big addition to our blue line. He's tough, physical, smart and I really like his game. Colby Cohen, who played three games at the end of last season with the Monsters and was one of the last players sent down from Avalanche training camp, has looked good and he's got an absolute cannon for a shot from the line, which will be a huge weapon on the power play.

Up front, Greg Mauldin, David Van Der Gulik, Ben Walter and Julian Talbot, all off season acquisitions, are going to be welcomed additions to our club. They are solid two-way players, very skilled and they compete at a high level. Tom Zanoski has also looked good in camp, as he dedicated his summer, like all of our players do, to a rigorous off season training program. He's been flying in camp and always plays with a ton of energy. Luke Walker is another player who caught my eye in camp. Luke is a highly skilled, well rounded player. Patrick Bordeleau, Matt Ford and Justin Mercier have also had very good camps and are ready to roll this season. The bottom line is that the forward group is strong from top to bottom.

Friday's season-opening game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio, beginning at 7:30 p.m. You can also listen to the game on one of our two flagship radio stations, AM 1220. Our organization is very excited about the new partnership with AM 1220 and we are also very excited to be back on ESPN 850 for the coming season. Each radio station will broadcast 40 regular season games.

Saturday's game in Syracuse will be a radio only broadcast on AM 1220, starting at 7:25pm. This season all of our games that are broadcast on radio will start 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. I will continue to chat with head coach David Quinn prior to each game, which will be a major part of our extended pregame show. Throughout the season, I will be making some Saturday night appearances on the sports talk show, "The Sports Fix" on AM 1420. "The Sports Fix" airs from 10:00pm to Midnight on Saturdays and I hope you can join us for that and all of our broadcasts on radio and television this season.

And I will continue to shoot videos at home and on the road with our players and many other points of interest. Remember to check into our website each and every day for news, videos and interviews.

It all begins Friday night at The Q at 7:30 p.m. and then it's off to Syracuse for Saturday's game at 7:30!!!

I hope to see you at The Q this season!

GO MONSTERS!!!

Sincerely,

Ben Holden