After spending four of the past five games on home ice at Quicken Loans Arena, the Lake Erie Monsters begin the 2010 calendar year on the road, traveling north to face the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday, January 2nd at 7:00 p.m. before ending the brief two-game road trip on Sunday for a 4:00 p.m. game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

So far this season, the Monsters have struggled against the Bulldogs, as the team suffered a pair of back-to-back shutout losses to Hamilton at home on November 27th and 28th. On the 27th, Cedric Desjardins and Curtis Sanford teamed up to make 24 saves in a 4-0 Bulldogs win while Desjardins was the first star of the game on the 28th, making 32 saves in a 3-0 Hamilton victory. Last season, Lake Erie was 2-6-0-0 against the Bulldogs, and was shutout in three of those losses. Saturday’s visit to the Copps Coliseum marks the first of four this season for the Monsters.

On Sunday, Lake Erie travels to Van Andel Arena for the third time this season in the fifth of eight regular season contests against the Griffins. The Monsters hold an all-time mark of 9-10-0-3 against the Griffins. This season, Lake Erie has lost three shootout games, two of which have been against the Griffins, as the team has gone 1-1-0-2 in the 2009-10 regular season against their North Division foes. In the Monsters 8-6 loss to the Griffins on November 8th, the teams combined for an AHL season high 14 goals.

After their pair of road games this weekend, the Monsters return home for a 7:00 p.m. contest on Tuesday, January 5th against the Milwaukee Admirals before playing their next six games on the road. Lake Erie’s next home game after January 5th won’t be until Friday, January 22nd, when they host the Texas Stars at 7:30 p.m.