January 2019 By Pat Harrington

A Happy New Year to each of you. May you have a lit- tle bit of joy each day and share it with another per- son.

To this date with have donated $600.00 to the Monster’s Communi- ty Fund and it will in return be sent to the City Mission. This is the direct result of the Extra Effort Awards monies that are earned by the Cleveland Monster players. There is a paid advertisement from the City Mission in the 12/30/19, edition of the Plain Dealer, page A14. The CEO thanks the people of Cleveland. He says the follow- ing: “choose to care for people you’ll never meet and who will never be able to repay you. In all the ways we see and all the ways we don’t see, we appreciate that you go beyond the surface and seek to make this community a better place” Remember this is another part of the charity work we do as a Club.

However, our basic mission as the Cleveland Hockey Booster Club is to provide scholarships to high school seniors. Through this year’s generosity of the Community Fund and their donation of $15,000, the winners of this year’s scholarship awards will be tremendous. What a great assistance this is in helping these young women and men start their college learning experiences. These scholarships are why we are a 501c3 organization.

So, I’m asking each you as a member of this Booster Club, in a year where we do not have the players due to a decision made by the , that you come to the Award’s Din- ner to honor the persons who win these awards; details to follow but the date is April 9th. Remem- ber the top winner will win the Matthew Castro Shlonsky Award. We are looking to have 75-100 at- tendees at this event. Please be one of them and bring a friend.

The equipment donations for the hockey program at Halloran Park have been spectacular. Thanks to John Boblick and his hard work. I know the folks at Halloran Park are pleased with what they have received. I also want to thank Christine Uhrin for her willingness to take over the Membership person position. Thank you Diane for all your work on the membership program. Other good news, we are going to Syracuse NY for a Monster’s hockey game on 2/2/19. An old fashioned bus trip, great times! GO MONSTERS!!

The Cleveland Hockey Booster Club, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization, is an independent, volunteer organization sup- porting the Cleveland Monsters of the , as well as promoting a greater interest in the sport of hockey in Northeast Ohio. Page 2

By Len Matlock You may have noticed at the last two Monster home games in December art work being raffled off at our club’s table in the concourse. What goes unnoticed is the care, work and effort put in by many people to make this happen. In the early part of December, the Monster players donated their time, and they offered their off ice artistic talents to create the art work. This was after a very long and strenu- ous practice and the day before they left on a road trip. What an exciting turn-out of players! Of the 30 players on the roster, 28 graciously joined us to help create this fundraiser. Of the two who couldn’t make it to the drawing day, one player was sick and one had left for the ECHL. The guys had fun draw- ing and at times were caught laughing like line ma- tes who had just scored the go-ahead . They were all very creative. Things ran smoothly, and many thanks to Jock Callander as he kept the guys moving at a regular pace from the dressing room to the “art” room at OBM arena. Many thanks to the entire Monsters’ roster! Several booster club members took their time in order to work with the players from giving them their art supplies to snapping their pictures. We even collected incomplete pieces of art as every now and then a player, wanting to do it right, asked for more paper in order to start over. Some club members donated their own funds to cover costs in order to make the fund- raiser project happen. Club members continue to offer their time to work the raffles at the table. Many thanks to all from the drawers to the raffle ticket sellers. Ah, hockey team work! Speaking of players continuing to show their support for our efforts, I’d like to mention an experience from October 2015 after the team moved here from Springfield. These were the guys who went on to win the Calder Cup the next spring. Since they were new to Cleveland and knew nothing about our booster club, Lynn Mathias, Pat Harrington and I were designated to present information about the club after a practice at OBM. As the players came into the meeting area, they formed a sin- gle file and each politely shook each of our hands and introduced themselves. They showed a lot of courtesy and listened intently to our presentation. After the meeting, they each took the time to shake each of our hands again, and they each thanked us for being there! Each player showed a lot of class and all were fantas- tic gentlemen. Our players today continue to demonstrate those same characteristics! What a great way to have started a neat relationship between the players in the Columbus organization and our club. Many of you have had similar situations with players, either as a group or individual- ly. Win or lose, we are proud to call our team the Cleveland Monsters! They represent our city ex- tremely well; whether they have a hockey stick or felt tipped marker in hand. Page 3

By Diane Burns

As of December 31st, the CHBC has a total of 96 registered members for the 2018-2019 hockey season. A total of 8 members renewed or joined in the month of December. A warm Welcome to our December new member, Tom Krotseng Membership Packets are in the process of being mailed out to all new and renewing members, due to increased security measures the USPS has made some changes in how we can mail these type of packets out, this has caused a delay in mailing. With which I apologize. Beginning January 1st, 2019, Christine Uhrin will assume the role of Acting Membership Chairper- son. Due to personal commitments, I will be stepping down from this role and am very confident that Christine will be able to move this club forward in building its membership. Thank you Chris- tine for taking on this responsibility. UPCOMING MEETINGS Join us at the monthly Booster Club Meetings! You can play an active role in what our club does and gets involved in! All meetings start at 7p unless noted. 1/8/19– 6:30 START TIME— Cuyahoga County Library on Snow Road (2121 Snow Rd. Parma, Ohio) 2/5/19—Panera Restaurant on Tiedeman Road in Brooklyn 3/12/19—Panera Restaurant on Tiedeman Road in Brooklyn 4/16/19– — Cuyahoga County Library on Snow Road Page 4

Happy Birthday to our Members with January birthdays! Nina Baker Kathleen Marshall Ron Siedler Eric Shebestak Luke Shebestak Christine Uhrin Judson Fell Casey Adamus Julie Knox Be sure to list your birthday on your membership renewal application so we can include you in our birthday celebrations! Happy Birthday to players who have been on the Monsters roster during the 2018-19 sea- son who have January birthdays! Gabriel Carlsson Matt Prapavessis Kole Sherwood As always when contacting the Sunshine Committee, please provide the following information: 1) Occasion 2) Name and Address of person to receive the card Contact Sandy Thomas at 440-842-6630 or [email protected] for anything Sunshine Commit- tee related. CHBC OFFICERS CHBC TRUSTEES

President— Patricia Harrington [email protected] 2016-2019 John Boblick, Andrea Loyal, Marcia 1st Vice President— Committee(Diane Burns ,Rebecca Slaby, Angela Walsted Siedler, Heather Burns, Marcia Slaby, Mary Dejak, Cindy Torkowski, Pat Harrington 2017-2020 Mary Dejak, Jason Lehman, Sue Mar- 2nd Vice President—Tara Gould [email protected] ton, Cindy Torkowski, Treasurer- Len Matlock [email protected] 2018-2021 Valerie Lloyd, Stephanie Shebestak, Membership—Diane Burns [email protected] Christine Uhrin, David Uhrin Secretary—Rebecca Siedler [email protected] Editor(Acting)- David Uhrin [email protected] Page 5

CHBC Outreach—Halloran Park By David Uhrin

As the Cleveland Monsters continue their efforts to grow the game of hockey, the Cleveland Hockey Booster Club has also increased its efforts to do the same within Greater Cleveland. Tara Gould, Pat Harrington, and John Boblick began meeting to see how the Booster Club could impact the growth of the game and perhaps even expose hockey to children who normally wouldn't have the chance. That is where our connection with Halloran Park in Cleveland was born!

In August of 2018 at our summer picnic, we voted to make a donation of $1350 to the Halloran Youth Hockey Program spe- cifically to purchase equipment for its young members. If you recall, Halloran Park is the last of city rinks for inter-city kids. Under the program, the kids receive free ice time and free equipment. They learn how to play hockey from scratch! Last year they had 50 players ages eight to seventeen, plus some younger children who skated with their parents. This year they plan to increase the 50 players to 100 players. They are also working on a program that includes disabled children.

While our financial help was wel- comed with open arms, John Boblick saw another opportunity. We all know how quickly children grow, and that means they out- grow their equipment! John be- gan to reach out to his contacts in various hockey organizations as well as the folks at the Michael A. Reis ice rink in Parma to see if anyone had old or new equipment they were willing to donate to the cause. And donate they did! John coordinated pick-ups of equipment from a number of sources and delivered it to Halloran Park. John along with Justin Sterling from Halloran estimate a total of $5000 worth of equipment was donated and will be put to use by the program. The generosity and hard work of the Cleve- land Hockey Booster Club helped ensure a great start to the hockey season at Halloran and will make an impact on many young players lives as they start to learn the game! Page 6 Page 7

JERSEY RAFFLES!! Congrats to Eric Schroeder who won our sec- ond jersey raffle of the season!! We currently have a game worn Cam Gaunce jersey raffle underway as well as player artwork raffles as well! GO MONSTERS!!

Peterson’s Nuts Sale—UPDATE!! I want to THANK ALL who ordered this year. We made over $500 in profit! There was one small problem with an order but it was taken care of by the club. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND GO MONSTERS! ! Big thanks to Marcia Slaby for or- ganizing this great fundraiser!

FIND THE CHBC ONLINE!!! On the web: www.clevelandhockeyboosterclub.org

On Facebook: facebook.com/groups/ clevelandhockeybc

On Twitter: @ClevelandHBC Page 8

Did You Know? by Dave Covert *1917-The NHL is formed with 5 charter members: , , , , and Bulldogs. Frank Calder is elected its 1st president. *1925-Montreal G Georges Vezina, playing in his 328th straight game, collapses against Pittsburgh. He's diagnosed with tuberculosis and dies 4 months later. The Vezina Trophy was donated in his name. *1961-Gordie Howe becomes the 1st player in the NHL to play 1,000 regular season games. *1968-Former Barons' G Johnny Bower wins #250, his last in the NHL. *1975-Bobby Orr plays his last game as a Bruin due to knee injuries. *1977-On Thanksgiving Day, the WHA Cincinnati Stingers travel to Birmingham to meet the Bulls. Swindled by promises from the league that Alabama is the promised land for hockey, Bulls owner John Bassett stocks the team with goons, saying the "uneducated" fans would prefer a good fight. Twenty seconds into the game, a brawl breaks out resulting in the "Thanksgiving Day Massacre". The center of attention is Paul Stewart, who would later become an NHL referee. *1977-Tom Bladon of the Flyers sets a single-game record for most pts by a Dman when he scores 4G, 4A in an 11-1 win over the Cleveland Barons. He finishes the season with 35 pts. *1978-The Indianapolis Racers of the WHA fold 25 games into the season after 4 seasons of play. With some of the most fanatical fans, they were the 1st major league team to sign Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. *1979-NYI Billy Smith is the 1st goalie in NHL history to be credited with a goal; an errant pass produced the goal. *2006-NYR G Henrik Lundqvist plays against his twin brother, Joel, of Dallas for the 1st time. It's the 3rd twin vs. twin matchup in NHL history. Joel records no SOG. *2017-The VGK beat Pitts- burgh 2-1 for their 20th win in 31 games, setting the NHL record for fewest games needed for an expansion team to reach 20 wins. Page 9

SHOP ONLINE AND HELP THE CHBC! Amazon Smile is a program that allows you to shop on Amazon.com and have the Amazon Smile Foundation automatically donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the Club! You simply use the special link be- low and shop like you normally would. Amazon does the rest! General details about Amazon Smile are here http://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/ch/about Use this link to access the CHBC connection and happy shopping!! https://smile.amazon.com/ch/34-1868102

The Puckeater is published monthly by the Cleveland Hockey Booster Club, and is distributed to all members of record. All submitted material is subject to editorial approval and will become the property of the Cleveland Hockey Booster Club. The editor reserves the right to edit for length or content. The opinions expressed in this publication are strictly those of the au- thors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Hockey Booster Club or the Cleveland Monsters. Articles and comments are welcome! Please forward items for publication to: The Puckeater David Uhrin(acting editor) [email protected]