Monsters Fail to Show Up Versus Checkers

CLEVELAND – On Sunday afternoon, the Cleveland Monsters fell to the Charlotte Checkers, 6-3. Cleveland struggled to put any sort of meaningful shot on net during the first 28 minutes of the game — only six shots, to be exact. It probably didn’t make matters any better that the refs seemed to be handing out 10-minute misconducts like candy (and made some questionable offsides calls). The two shorthanded goals the Monsters gave up in the second period didn’t help one bit, either.

On Friday, Cleveland showed up in commanding fashion, scoring a goal early in the first period and then holding Charlotte to zero goals the rest of the game. The team that showed up Sunday was completely different. In fact, the Monsters didn’t really show up at all. 

How does a team show up and show out one night and then the next game forget to make an appearance until late in the game? Well, according to assistant coach Trent Vogelhuber, it could stem from a little bit of complacency. “You win and you feel good about yourself. A failure to recognize that the other team feels the opposite and will be ready to go,” Vogelhuber explained. He then went on to shoulder some of the blame by stating, “That’s on me and the coaches to not properly communicate that to the team.” 

Now, there are going to be people who look at that score and automatically think every goal falls on the goaltenders. Even though Cam Johnson tagged in to replace Jet Greaves in the third, the blame doesn’t fall solely on the men between the pipes. It was a team full of no shows. “There’s probably a couple he (Greaves) would like to have back, but none of us were ready to go. I think Jet would admit that he wasn’t ready to go either,” said Vogelhuber. “That’s from the crease all the way out. We certainty didn’t help him as the game went on.”

Yes, people can blame the refs all they want, but Coach Vogelhuber reminded all of us that it doesn’t just fall on the refs. “They gave them a bunch of penalties, as well,” said Vogelhuber. “We just tell them to focus on what’s between the whistles. That’s all you can do.”

At the end of the day, the Monsters didn’t focus as much as they should have between whistles. As stated earlier, they simply didn’t show up. 

But do you know when they’ll show up? They will show up on Tuesday against the Chicago Wolves. Coach Vogelhuber is making sure of that. “We’re gonna get to work tomorrow. We’re gonna make sure we’re ready to play on Tuesday night. I don’t know if we will win the game or not, but I can promise you we will be ready to play.”