CLEVELAND, OH — While the Grand Rapids Griffins didn’t give up much to their opponent on Sunday night, they didn’t produce a whole lot either to finish up their extended weekend.

In their first meeting with the Cleveland Monsters, the Griffins were not able to generate a ton of offense, leading to a 3-1 defeat, the team’s third loss in a row.

The Griffins fell behind the Columbus Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League affiliate early on, as Roman Ahcan beat Grand Rapids goaltender Sebastian Cossa for his sixth goal of the season just over four minutes into the contest.

However, a great play by two of the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects leveled the score just past the halfway mark of the frame. First-year Griffin Jakub Rychlovsky made a nice pass to Amadeus Lombardi, who made a great play to get around Monster netminder Zach Sawchenko to pot his fifth of the campaign.

Elmer Soderblom was awarded the secondary assist on the goal, his first of the season.

Unfortunately for GR, they wouldn’t be able to keep the game tied for long, as Ahcan was able to sneak a shot over Cossa with just over a minute to play in the first.

Grand Rapids had a couple of chances in the middle stanza, putting nine shots on goal. Yet, they could not find the equalizer. Things didn’t get any better for the Griffins in the final 20 minutes. While they attempted to create some scoring chances, they were only to put three shots on goal in the third period. Owen Sillinger put the icing on the cake with an empty-net goal in the final minute to give the Monsters the win.

The Monsters have beaten Grand Rapids in seven of the last nine meetings.

The Griffins were outshot 26-18 by Cleveland on Sunday, including 12-3 in the final frame. In 10 games this season, Grand Rapids has ended up on the wrong end of the shot counter every time. Cossa did all he could to give his team a chance, making 23 stops in his third regulation defeat of the campaign. Sawchenko, who had to be sharp when called upon, registered just his second win of the young season, turning away 17 shots.

Each team had a pair of chances on the power play, with both the Griffins and the Monsters coming up empty on the man advantage.

Grand Rapids (6-3-1-0) still holds the second-best winning percentage in the Central Division (.650), trailing the Milwaukee Admirals. Cleveland (4-3-0-1) is fifth among teams in the North with a .563 winning percentage.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Griffins go back on the road for a couple of matchups against divisional rivals, beginning on Thursday against the Iowa Wild in their annual School Day Game.

The Wild (3- 6-1-0) struggled in the early going, losing each of their first seven games of the season, finally snapping their losing skid last Tuesday against the Chicago Wolves. They have now won each of their last three after sweeping the San Jose Barracuda this weekend.

Thursday morning will mark the first of eight matchups between Iowa and Grand Rapids this year. The Griffins took seven of the eight meetings in 2023-24.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Home games in BOLD)

• Thursday, Nov. 7 @ Iowa Wild (11:30 a.m. ET)
• Friday, Nov. 8 @ Rockford IceHogs (8 p.m. ET)
• Wednesday, Nov. 13 vs. Rockford IceHogs (11 a.m. ET)
• Friday, Nov. 15 vs. Chicago Wolves (7 p.m. ET)
• Saturday, Nov. 16 @ Milwaukee Admirals (7 p.m. ET)

You can watch and listen to the Griffins all season long on AHL.TV

Find AHL standings and results here

Veronica “Roni” Neiman

OBITUARY

Veronica “Roni” Neiman (nee Zawistowski) age 86, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, sadly passed away on November 1, 2024. Roni was born July 21, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Holy Name High School and Ursuline College. She and her sister Chris were professional singers (The Zawie Sisters) and also sang in local polka bands. Roni spent much of her working career (18 years) at The Lubrizol Corporation.Roni lived family first, she enjoyed singing, dancing, musicals, her Polish heritage, cruises with her husband, living 10 years in Las Vegas, and watching the Cleveland Indians and Browns.Roni was the heart of our home and family and will be dearly missed. She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Edward R. Neiman Sr. She raised four children, Christine (Neiman) Smith, Edward R. Neiman Jr. (Kathleen), Richard A. Neiman (Annie) and Elizabeth (Neiman) Mould (Jack) in a happy and loving home. She was also a grandmother to Melissa Smith, Steven Smith II, Jack Neiman, Devyn Neiman, and Alex Mould. She was preceded in death by her mother Sophie Hermann, sister Chris Mauer, and her loving poodle, Lovette.A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday Nov. 6 at 12:30 PM at St. Gabriel Church, 9925 Johnnycake Ridge Rd. in Concord Twp. The Family will receive friends Tuesday Nov. 5 from 3-7 PM at Brickman Bros. Funeral Home, 37433 Euclid Ave. in Willoughby. In lieu of flowers, contributions to Hospice of the Western Reserve, P. O. Box 72101, Cleveland, Ohio 44192 (www.hospicewr.org/Give) would be appreciated.

• Rents skyrocketed after the pandemic, and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down.
• Now, consumers are either moving to different states or downgrading their apartments to save money.
• Bank of America shares the top eight cities people are moving to for cheaper rent.

It’s one of your biggest monthly expenses, and it’s only increasing every year.

A recent Redfin report found that the median rent in the US is now $1,634 — up 20% from pre-pandemic times. Rents have gone up significantly in just the last year, too. According to Consumer Price Index data, you’re paying almost 5% more to rent the same apartment compared to this time a year ago.

The rent hikes are driving people to move to cheaper areas, according to Bank of America. In an October 30 client note, the bank found that based on its deposit data, the average consumer’s rent payment increased 3.7% year over year in September 2024. That discrepancy between Bank of America’s data and the official rate of rent inflation indicates that people are moving to find more affordable rent instead of staying put, the bank said.

Consumers are either moving away from high-cost-of-living areas or downgrading within the same city to save money. Renters make up around 34% of all US households and are disproportionately younger and lower-income consumers, meaning that they’re more price-sensitive.

This isn’t a new trend — the pandemic led to many people moving to places with cheaper rent as remote work became normalized. Now, persistent rent increases are pushing consumers to continue moving in search of lower housing costs.

Bank of America analyzed the number of address changes among its customer base to track migration trends. The bank found that areas of the West and Northeast are seeing an especially big exodus of consumers, with rental inflation in the Northeast rising the fastest. New York, Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles are seeing the biggest net outflows of residents as many consumers are being priced out.

On the contrary, people moving to Southern states saw only a 2% increase in new rents, below the rate of inflation. The Midwest was also a popular destination for consumers moving across state lines, as rents there are relatively low compared to the rest of the country.

Bank of America identified eight cities where people are moving to for cheaper rent below the national average, indicated by a net positive population inflow in Q3 2024. Included also is the median asking rent for September 2024, provided by Redfin.