AHL switching Monsters to Eastern Conference

The Cleveland Monsters will start playing in the North Division of the Eastern Conference next season after three seasons playing in the West, the American Hockey League announced on May 7.

The AHL went through a major shift prior to the 2015-16 season so teams could be closer to their NHL affiliates. Part of the change included the Springfield (Massachusetts) Falcons, farm team to the Columbus Blue Jackets, moving from the Northeast Division in the Eastern Conference to Cleveland. The team that had been the Monsters for eight years moved to San Antonio and remained the farm team to the Colorado Avalanche.

The team that moved from Springfield won the Calder Cup the first year it was in Cleveland. Several players from that Falcons team, including Josh Anderson, Sonny Milano, Lukas Sedlak, plus goalies Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo, were critical to winning the championship.

The Monsters missed the AHL playoffs the last two years while Anderson, Milano, Sedlak and Korpisalo were playing with the Blue Jackets. Forsberg is now with the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Monsters next season will be in the same division as the Belleville Senators (Ottawa Senators), Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres), Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning), Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Utica Comets (Vancouver Canucks).