Cleveland Barons (2001-2006)

Cleveland Barons (2001-2006)

The Cleveland Barons was a professional hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Cleveland, Ohio, USA at the Gund Arena between 2001 and 2006.

The team was named in honor of the popular Barons team that played in the AHL and its forerunners from 1929 to 1973. The Barons name was revived in 2001 when the San Jose Sharks purchased their AHL affiliate, the Kentucky Thoroughblades, and relocated them to Cleveland, where they would play at the arena which was owned and operated by Sharks owners George and Gordon Gund. The Gunds had also owned the most recent incarnation of the Barons, who played in the NHL in the late 1970s (the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978, and the Sharks spun off from the North Stars in 1991).

The franchise relocated to Worcester, Massachusetts for the 2006–07 season and became the Worcester Sharks. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, purchased the inactive Utah Grizzlies AHL franchise and moved it to Cleveland. Renamed the Lake Erie Monsters, the club began play in Cleveland in 2007.

The team logo, a shark holding a hockey stick, was originally designed as an alternate logo for the San Jose Sharks before being modified with a top hat, a monocle, and formal wear for the Barons.