The march to the Calder Cup continues tonight as the Cleveland Monsters begin their best-of-seven series against the Hershey Bears (Washington’s affiliate). The winner of this series will face the winner of the Western Conference finals between the Coachella Valley Firebirds (Seattle) and Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville).
The Monsters swept the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay) in the semis, while Hershey did the same to the Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers).
The big news for the Monsters is the return of team captain Brendan Gaunce. He spent 24 games with the Blue Jackets late in the season, then finished the season on the injured list.