CRUNCH AND MONSTERS OPEN PLAYOFF SERIES
 
The Crunch and Cleveland Monsters begin their best-of-five North Division Semifinals tonight from the War Memorial Arena.
 
It is the first playoff series between the Crunch and Monsters and the third ever in the Calder Cup Playoffs between Syracuse and Cleveland. Most recently, the Cleveland Barons defeated the Syracuse Warriors in the league semifinals 66 years ago.  
 
SEASON SERIES
 
The Crunch earned points in all four season-series matchups (2-0-1-1) against the Monsters and won the last head-to-head game, 6-3, Feb. 2 at the War Memorial Arena. In Syracuse's highest-scoring series output, defenseman Cameron Gaunce tallied twice for his first career multi-goal game and Carter Verhaeghe topped all players with three points (1g, 2a). Verhaeghe registered a series-best eight points (3g, 5a) in the four games. He and Alex Barré-Boulet topped Syracuse with three goals against Cleveland. The Crunch went 1-0-0-1 against the Monsters at the War Memorial this season.
 
Three Cleveland netminders opposed Syracuse, J-F Berube (3 games), Brad Thiessen (1 game) and Matiss Kivlenieks (1 game). Berube surrendered nine goals in three games and went 1-2-0, including one loss in relief. Thiessen defeated the Crunch in a shootout, 4-3, with 37 saves Jan. 11.
 
In three games against the Monsters, Eddie Pasquale went 1-0-2 with a 3.18 goals-against average and .904 save percentage. Forwards Kole Sherwood and Adam Clendening led Cleveland with one goal and three points against Syracuse. Clendening was recalled to Columbus April 12.
 
RECORD-BREAKING SEASON NETS AHL AWARDS 
 
With a 47-21-4-4 finish to the regular season, the Crunch claimed the North Division for the second time in three years with their second straight 100-point campaign. The Crunch's 102 points also tied their record set in 2005-06, but since they achieved this feat in four fewer games, their 0.671 points percentage is the best in franchise history. While Syracuse's 47 overall wins and 27 home-ice victories tie franchise records set in an 80-game season, they set new team records for the most in a 76-game season.
 
The record breaking did not stop there; individual Crunch players had career seasons and racked up AHL awards to show for it. In his second season with Syracuse, Carter Verhaeghe etched his name in the history book with a new franchise record 82 points (34g, 48a), eclipsing his goals, assists and points totals through his previous three seasons. Those 82 points were good enough for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the 23-year-old finished the regular season as the AHL scoring leader; Verhaeghe is the first Crunch skater to capture the AHL scoring title and first Syracuse player since Norm Locking of the Syracuse Stars led the league in 1939-40. The First Team AHL All-Star also shared the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL's leading goal scorer in 2018-19; Crunch teammate Alex Barré-Boulet also finished with 34 markers on the year. Verhaeghe and Barré-Boulet join Tyler Johnson (2012-13) as the only Crunch players to win the award.
 
Barré-Boulet is also the first Crunch rookie to lead the AHL in rookie scoring with 68 points (34g, 34a), earning him the organization's first Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the league's outstanding rookie this season. He's the first Tampa Bay Lightning prospect to win the award since Cory Conacher with the Norfolk Admirals in 2011-12.
 
Defensively, the Crunch led the AHL with 2.46 goals-against per game, earning goaltender Eddie Pasquale the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award, given to goalies with at least 25 appearances on the team allowing the fewest goals per game.  
 
WE'RE TALKING PLAYOFFS 
 
The Syracuse Stars collected the first ever AHL championship in 1937, defeating the Philadelphia Ramblers in a best-of-five series. Since that inaugural year, the Calder Cup has evaded the hospitality of the Salt City.
Syracuse has reached the finals three additional times, including two trips in the last six years (2013 and 2017). Both of those recent appearances came against the Western Conference champion Grand Rapids Griffins.
 
The Crunch begin the playoffs for the second time in three seasons with the F.G. Oke Trophy, recognizing the North Division champions, in their possession. In 2016-17, Syracuse also won the division and reached the Calder Cup Finals; the North Division champion has advanced to the finals in back-to-back seasons.
 
Hockey in Cleveland has a storied history since the AHL's inception. It was just two seasons after the Stars took the first title that the Cleveland Barons won the Calder Cup in 1939. The Barons went on to claim eight other championships through 1964. Just three springs ago, the city snapped a 50-year drought, winning the Calder Cup as the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016. They won their final nine playoff games and went 15-2 in the postseason. Behind Hershey's 11 Calder Cups, Cleveland owns the second-most in the American Hockey League with 10 titles.
 
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS 
 
Cleveland outraced Belleville for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, giving the Monsters their third postseason berth in their 12-year history and first since changing their name from Lake Erie to Cleveland before the 2016-17 season. The Monsters are hunting their second league championship in the last four years after lifting the Calder Cup in 2016.
 
The Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate ranked 16th in the league in goals per game (3.05) and 21st in goals allowed (3.08 per game) during the regular season. Cleveland averaged a league-leading 33.49 shots per game and allowed 28.66, 11th-fewest in the AHL; the plus-4.83 shot differential led the league.
 
Zac Dalpe paced the Monsters in scoring with 55 points (33g, 22a) in 55 regular-season games. The former Ohio State Buckeye finished tied for third in the AHL with 33 goals; the only two players with more markers both play for the Crunch—Carter Verhaeghe and Alex Barré-Boulet shared the league lead with 34 apiece. The Blue Jackets recalled Dalpe last week but sent him back to Cleveland three days later. He led the Monsters in their playoff push, tallying 18 goals and 26 points in his final 22 games.
 
Sonny Milano has logged three points (1g, 2a) in three games since returning to the Monsters after missing roughly two and a half months with an injury. The 16th overall pick in the 2014 draft skated in 55 games and scored 14 goals for the NHL club last year; this season, he appeared in eight games for Columbus. Milano has scored 24 points (11g, 13a) in 27 AHL games this year.
 
Between the pipes, Brad Thiessen started Cleveland's last 11 regular-season games, going 6-3-2 during the stretch. The 33-year-old posted a 2.36 goals-against average and .913 save percentage across 26 regular-season appearances, both tops on the team.