That exhibition game was terrible.
No forechecking, No shots on goal during power plays, NO DEFENSE.
We do have an enforcer but he is 5'10" and 205, David Simoes is a BEAST, his punches are quick and he can mix it up. Won't see much ice time as he skated twice I seen, once got in a fight and once he got whistled for interference 5 seconds into a shift (Off of a faceoff).
Weiman had no help on Defense. It was nice to see Wes O'Neill mix it up too.

They will become better soon. It was the pre-season opener so I'm not scared. Also, some good players will join them soon and at least two of them will add a little grit. I'm pretty optimistic about the new season and I just wished I could watch the Monsters play. I guess, there will be only two or three games provided by the Sopcast guys. Still better than nothing.

it was an exhibition game but it shows what they need to work on before the home opener. they played well in the first despite the score, fizzled in the second, had some good chances for goals and did okay in the third.
even though the score was 3-0 in favor of the amerks they still did well and some of those penalties that were call were iffy at best.
let's hope they have better luck in rochester.

too many men on the ice, not once but twice. the first line change was 16 seconds into the first period. that's beyond bushleague. I wonder if this will be Joe's last season coaching here.

KJ - I got your message after I got home. My wife and I watched the third period from behind the goal. I was in a monsters away jersey and was wearing glasses (old 50s style frames).

They definitely played bad, but they'll get better once they have some practices under their belt as a team. They've gotta develop that team unity and whatnot.

it's debatable on if/how this team practices. they do conditioning on the honor system under this coaching staff, which is why we have 25 second line shifts. i'm an out of shape slob and i think i could handle a period or two of hockey on sacco's bench.

what this team needs is a skills & skating coach, not that these guys can't skate or play but when you bring in a specialist and since this is a developmental league, it would be a good idea. some nhl teams have coaches like this. it can only help, bring it back to basics and see what happens.
also sacco doesnt teach his guys to finish their checks. there were so many times when guys would just not lay into the other player and take em out of the play.
its a young team and hopefully by the first game they can get it together and try and compete otherwise this is going to be another LONG season.

It's hard to say. They basically play a lot of guys that are on the fence, and they are doing final evaluations. And the other thing is maybe Sacco was having the players perform certain formations and plays to see what they've learned and who is in position, etc.

At least I like to think that was what was going on. It appeared to me that the team was working a defensive formation in the first period and didn't really move the puck up and out. While we did get scored on twice, they did do a good job of playing D. You just can't keep the puck on your side of the ice for 20 minutes and not expect to get scored on. Some of the guys didn't look like they were ready to work as much as some others. Those guys are probably the ones that'll get cut. (One would hope.)

By the second, it appeared the team was trying harder but couldn't setup a play to save their life. And it was more of the same in the third.

Sacco got out coached. Maybe on purpose, I dunno, but Rochester was able to make plays and communicate the puck where it was supposed to be. Our guys weren't as tight.

I hope for better things when the season starts. Sacco has no excuses this year. He's got the players, he's got the facility, he has the backing. If he doesn't bring us to the playoffs this year I can see real question marks about his future coaching. But I'll hold off judgement on that for a little while. These preseason games don't really mean anything. Although they would mean MORE if we had won.

If anyone here wants to check out my Cleveland Sports podcast where we talk about the Monsters and other teams in Cleveland, check out www.ClevelandSportsRadio.net
Or you can find it on iTunes, just do a search for Cleveland Sports Radio. I'm always looking for fans of the teams to chime in, call in, send in an email that we can read on the air with your thoughts on the team and how things are going.