Cleveland Monsters The Cleveland Monsters are an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League . They began play in the 2007 – 08 AHL season at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland , Ohio . The team is the minor league affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL . History . The Lake Erie Monsters began in 2006 when the dormant Utah Grizzlies AHL franchise was purchased by a Cleveland ownership group led by Dan Gilbert , owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team and Quicken Loans on May 16 , 2006 , after a new AHL team was awarded to Cleveland following the Cleveland Barons moving to Worcester following the 2005 – 06 season . With the Quicken Loans Arena established as the team ' s home venue , the Colorado Avalanche were announced as the franchise ' s first NHL parent club with a five - year agreement on December 17 , 2006 . On January 25 , 2007 , the franchise was officially announced as the Lake Erie Monsters , referring to Bessie , a creature of local folklore . The name was chosen from researching focus groups around the Cleveland area and the logo incorporated the Geographical connection in the Region with Lake Erie . The Monsters do not recognize any past links to the Grizzlies and promote themselves as having began in 2007 . Former NHL player Joe Sacco was named as the Lake Erie Monsters first head coach . The Monsters opened their inaugural 2007 – 08 campaign at home against the Grand Rapids Griffins on October 6 , 2007 , with Craig Billington acting as the Monsters General Manager . At the end of the 2010 – 11 season the Monsters made it into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history . After gaining a 3 - 1 game lead over the Manitoba Moose they lost in game 7 4 - 1 and lost the round four games to three . On April 17 , 2015 , it was announced that the Monsters had signed a multi - year agreement to become the AHL affiliate for the Columbus Blue Jackets , which will take effect in the 2015 – 16 season . The affiliation was among several that offseason that brought AHL and NHL franchise affiliations geographically closer together . Winning the Calder Cup . The Monsters finished the 2015 – 16 by setting a franchise record in points ( 97 ) and qualified for the playoffs for the second time in team history . On April 23 , 2016 , the Monsters defeated their first round opponent , the Rockford Ice Hogs 5 - 3 , capping a three game sweep of their opponent in a best - of - five series . The Monsters advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals to play the Grand Rapids Griffins in a best - of - seven series , defeating them 4 – 2 in six games . They then swept the defending Calder Cup Champion Ontario Reign in the Western Conference Finals to reach their first Calder Cup Final in franchise history . On June 11 , 2016 , the Monsters won the franchise ' s first Calder Cup in a four - game sweep of the Hershey Bears . This marked Cleveland ' s first AHL title since the Barons in 1964 , and 10th overall between the Barons and Monsters . Game 4 sold out Quicken Loans Arena and featured 19 , 665 spectators , the largest ice hockey attendance ever in Ohio , and the second in AHL history behind Philadelphia Phantoms vs . Chicago Wolves in 2005 . The team would announce on August 9 , 2016 that the team would be renamed the Cleveland Monsters citing the winning of the Calder Cup by the team , the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the NBA championship and the team ' s tenth anniversary as making it the right time to change the team ' s name to better identify with the city of Cleveland . Cleveland hockey history . The following teams have previously played in Cleveland . The Monsters recognize and honor past Cleveland teams with commemorative banners at Quicken Loans Arena : Retired numbers . No Monsters player has had his number retired . However the team has retired the numbers of players who have played on past Cleveland franchises to honor the city ' s hockey history .