CLEVELAND -- The Lake Erie Monsters are the 2016 Calder Cup Champions!
Courtesy of a goal from Oliver Bjorkstrand, the Calder Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player, with 1.9 seconds left in the first overtime, the Monsters earned a 1-0 win to complete the four-game sweep of the Hershey Bears at Quicken Loans Arena Saturday night.
Your @monstershockey are #CalderCup champs! And they've got the hardware to prove it! #BattleTogether @wkyc pic.twitter.com/kWKaPIbXzk
— Matt Florjancic (@MattFlorjancic) June 12, 2016
Bjorkstrand controlled a rebound off of a missed shot from center Lukas Sedlak on the goal line, fired it past Hershey goaltender Justin Peters and into the net for his 10th tally for the Monsters in 17 postseason games.
The Monsters pressured Peters all night, and he turned away their first 32 shots on net, many of which were sent away because of fancy glove work, as well as a perfectly timed stick save while diving back into position to make a play on the puck on Lake Erie left winger Sonny Milano in the second period.
While the offense peppered Peters for much of the night, the defense supported the efforts of Lake Erie goaltender Anton Forsberg, who stopped all 23 of Hershey’s shots that got on net. Defenseman Jaime Sifers dove in front of the goal and blocked a shot when Forsberg was out of position early in the second period that kept the game scoreless.
The win over the Bears gave the Monsters their first-ever Calder Cup title and broke a 52-year hockey championship drought for the city of Cleveland. After the Barons dominated play in the American Hockey League’s early days, they won their ninth, and last, Calder Cup Championship in the 1963-1964 season.
