Category Archives: Monsters

Monsters to take on Utica Comets

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The Cleveland Monsters will play host to the Uitca Comets this weekend as they have a two-games series against the third place team in the North Division.

Winners of two-straight, the Cleveland Monsters will take on the Utica Comets at home Friday and Saturday. Cleveland is currently in eighth place in the North Division with 44 points while Utica is in third with 54. Cleveland previously faced Utica on January 18th, the Comets coming out on top by a score of 6-2.

Utica comes into town losers of four straight games, their last win coming against Cleveland earlier this month. The average score of their past four games is 4.5-2.25, with Utica on the losing end. While Cleveland has two wins in their past four games, the average score of their games is 4-3.5, with the Monsters being outscored by half a goal on average. The 6-2 loss to Utica is a major factor in this negative goal differential.

Utica has scored 162 goals this season while allowing 146. The Comets have scored the second-most goals in the division while giving up the second-most. Cleveland’s 123 goals scored this season is the least, but they have only surrendered the second-fewest (130). This weekend will be a serious battle of goal scoring versus goal prevention.

Reid Boucher leads Utica in points this season with 50 in 41 games. Boucher is tied for the team lead in goals with Justin Bailey (24). Bailey has appeared in 45 games this season. Utica’s assist leader is rookie Brogan Rafferty with 32 in 42 games.

Utica has deployed two different goalies this season with an even amount of appearances (32). Rookie Michael DiPietro edges out Zane McIntyre in average goals allowed (2.82-3.17) and save percentage (.903-.894).

Getting off on the right foot now that the All-Star festivities have concluded will be key for the Monsters. Cleveland has six straight games at home before heading out on the road. The Monsters need to take care of business at home before worrying about their performance on the road.

Monsters represented by Adam Clendening

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Adam Clendening was the lone representative of the Cleveland Monsters at the AHL All-Star Classic taking place in Ontario, California. 

Adam Clendening appeared in three events during the skills competition. The Monsters defenseman also appeared in the North Division’s three losses Monday night. 

Skills competition 

Adam Clendening appeared in the Accuracy Shooting, Pass and Score challenge, and Breakaway Relay events.

During the accuracy challenge, Clendening managed to hit all four targets, but needed eight attempts in order to do so. This put Clendening in 4th place for this competition behind Charles Hudon, Chris Terry, and Gerald Mayhew.

While participating in the Pass and Score event, Clendening was teamed up with Jeremy Braccco and Alex Barre-Boulet. This trio converted 2 of 3 shot attempts against Cal Petersen.

Clendening failed to score on his attempt in the Breakaway Relay. Facing Cal Petersen again, he managed to stop his attempt.

Games

Adam Clendening appeared in all three games that the North Division All-Stars participated in. Unfortunately, they lost all three. Clendening tallied 1 assist across all three games.

The North All-Stars lost Game 1 to the Pacific All-Star 6-5 in a shootout. The North All-Stars had more shots on goal than the Pacific All-Stars (12-10).

Their second game was also a 6-5 final, but was final in their 2 period regulation format. The North All-Stars led in shots (16-14), but that did not help them when it comes to the final score.

Game 3 was not close. The Atlantic All-Stars won the game in a decisive manner 5-2. This was the only game that the North All-Stars did not lead in shots, being outshot by the Atlantic All-Stars 17-13.

Adam Clendening will return to the Monsters as they prepare to for a six-game home stand.

Monsters at the All-Star Break

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The Cleveland Monsters find themselves in eighth place with 46 points at the All-Star Break. Through 40 games the Monsters have the same amount of wins and losses (20). 15 of Cleveland’s victories have come in regulation, three in overtime, and two are shootout wins. The Monsters have 16 regulation losses, two overtime losses and two shootout losses on the season.

Cleveland comes into the break riding a two-game winning streak. Both wins coming against the Toronto Marlies. An impressive 5-2 win Friday and a 5-4 comeback win in overtime Saturday. Over their past 10 games Cleveland is 4-5-1-0, not exactly a hot streak.

While the Monsters goal differential is only -7, they trail first place Belleville by 42 in the goal scoring department. On the bright side, Cleveland has allowed the second-fewest amount of goals in the AHL’s North Division (130).  The only team to allow fewer goals is second place Rochester.

Monsters team leaders

AHL All-Star Adam Clendening leads the Monsters in points (30) and assists (24). Clendening has appeared in 37 games for Cleveland this season and has been one of their key players.

Stefan Matteau leads Cleveland in goals with 10 on the season. Matteau’s latest goal came was the game-winner in Saturday’s overtime victory over Toronto, an impressive way to become the team leader in goals scored.

Dillon Simpson has appeared in the most games for Cleveland with 44 appearances this season. Simpson has 18 points total (10 assists, eight goals).

Veini Vehvilainen barely edges out Matiss Kivlenieks in save percetange (.907 for Vehvilainen, .903 for Kivlenieks). Vehvilainen has the advantage when it comes to goals against average (2.55), better than Kivlenieks by nearly four-tenths of a goal.

Columbus has gone to Cleveland for reinforcements quite often 

There’s been plenty of roster moves for Cleveland this season. This is due to their NHL affiliate Columbus Blue Jackets being hit hard with injuries and needing players from Cleveland to fill out their roster. One notable Monsters player who seems to have found a spot in Columbus? Nathan Gerbe. Gerbe has been given another chance to play in the NHL. A chance he is certainly not going to squander. Gerbe has been playing well and is definitely earning his ice time with the Blue Jackets.

Other Monsters players making appearances for the Blue Jackets this season? Ryan MacInnis, Andrew Peeke, Gabriel Carlsson, Marko Dano, Kevin Stenlund, Mattis Kivlenieks, and Kole Sherwood.

Kivlenieks lone start in the NHL was the outstanding performance against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Kivleniks allowed one goal on 32 shots, earning his first career NHL win. If people did not know who Matiss Kivlenieks was before that game, they sure do now.

Monsters schedule after the break

Cleveland has six straight games at home after the break and they will be tough matchups. Five of their six games are against teams in their division. Two games against third place Utica to start the home stand. After that a visit from second place Rochester before hosting seventh place Binghamton for two games. A single home game against the Grand Rapids Griffins will close out their home stand before heading out on the road. Cleveland will head to Grand Rapids three days later to take on the Griffins. Things may not be easy for the Monsters after the All-Star Break concludes, but the return of some of their key players should give them a better chance now compared to earlier in the season.

Monsters postgame quotes from 5-4 win over Marlies

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The Cleveland Monsters came out victorious over the Toronto Marlies with a 5-4 overtime win. Cleveland took both games against Toronto.

Saturday’s win against the Toronto Marlies did not go to plan for the Cleveland Monsters. Veini Vehvilainen had a rough 15 minutes in the 1st period and was pulled after allowing three goals. Cleveland Monsters head coach Mike Eaves addressed this after the game.

Mike Eaves

Mike Eaves said the following regards to Matiss Kivlenieks coming in for Vehvilainen.

They’ve played long enough that it’s happened to them before and even when they’re not dressing, they don’t think they’re going to play, there’s that little wire that says you have to be ready.

Eaves also added that Kivlenieks was able to “do a nice job for us” in regards to his performance.

When asked about his decision to make the switch, Eaves talked about his thought process.

Leave him in and have him work through it or is he struggling so badly that you’re just gonna bury him.

Eaves made the move so Vehvilainen “wouldn’t get buried out there”. The move also made to send a message to the rest of the team that they were not mailing this game in. They obviously felt they could come back and win this game.

When it came to the game-winning goal, Eaves mentioned that some of the players said that “yeah, we’ll be working on that when we get back”. It was more about their hockey skills and they took over in the moment.

Trey Fix-Wolansky

Trey Fix-Wolanksy described the pass from Paul Bittner on his power play goal.

It was a great pass down low, and then just tried to find a soft pocket. Bittsy made a great pass to me and put it far side, just happy it went in.

Fix-Wolansky would later describe this win as huge, mentioning that they have previously failed when it comes to closing a game.

Kole Sherwood

Kole Sherwood described what it means to come away with two wins against Toronto.

It’s huge, going into the break. Obviously we were struggling for a bit there, to pull away some points.

Sherwood smiled when commenting on his second goal of the game, mentioning that he was “just feelin’ it”.

Sherwood mentioned that the system in Cleveland and the system in Columbus are the same. This means that there is less of an adjustment for players going back and forth between the AHL and NHL.

Monsters top Marlies in overtime 5-4

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The Cleveland Monsters took on the Toronto Marlies looking to win their second consecutive game at home. Cleveland defeated the Marlies by a score of 5-2 Friday night.

Veini Vehvilainen got the start in goal after not playing in Friday’s victory. Matiss Kivlenieks started in place of Vehvilainen Friday, saving 35 of 37 shots.

Ryan Collins, Steve Johnson, Bryan Moore, Justin Scott, Michael Prapavessis, Markus Hannikainen, and Brad Thiessen did not play in the contest.

1st period

The Monsters found themselves on the power play rather quickly. Toronto’s Pontus Aberg was called for cross-checking. Cleveland was not able to make anything out of their power play opportunity as Toroto’s penalty kill was quite effective.

Cleveland found themselves on the power play again with just under 13 minutes remaining in the 1st. Toronto’s Kenny Agostino received a penalty for elbowing. Just like their first power play opportunity, the Monsters were unable to score.

Toronto scored two goals within 30 seconds of each other, Ben Harpur and Nic Petan scoring for the Marlies to give them 2-0 lead.

Cleveland was able to answer with a goal of their own, Derek Barach scoring his fifth goal of the season. Andrew Peeke and Maxime Fortier are credited with assists on Barach’s goal. Tanner MacMaster gave Toronto their two goal lead back 19 seconds later.

All four goals came within one minute of each other. Every shot appeared destined to become a goal. Matiss Kivlenieks came on to replace Veini Vehvilainen after allowing three goals in the 1st period.

Kole Sherwood got the Monsters back within one with his sixth goal of the season. Sherwood’s goal came with 1:01 left in the period. Assisting on the goal were Marko Dano and Ryan MacInnis.

Cleveland had two power play opportunities in the period but failed to score on either. Toronto had the edge in shots (11) compared to Cleveland’s (10) even with the Marlies not having a power play chance in the 1st period.

2nd period

Cleveland and Toronto traded shots back and forth for the first five minutes of the period with neither team scoring. Kevin Stenlund was called for tripping, giving Toronto their first power play opportunity of the game. The Monsters penalty kill was successful as they did not give up a goal. Matiss Kivlenieks kept all three Marlies shot attempts from ending up in the back of the net.

Cleveland’s Sam Vigneault was called for holding with 7:47 remaining in the 2nd, giving Toronto their second power play chance of the period. Just like the previous power play for the Marlies, they did not score.

Cleveland was not at full strength for long as a high sticking call sent Kevin Stenlund to the penalty box. As a result, Toronto was on their third power play of the 2nd period. Cleveland’s penalty kill was successful yet again, preventing the Marlies from extending their lead.

Cleveland did not let Toronto extend their lead in the 2nd period, but they were not able to tie things up either. This is a massive win considering Toronto outshot Cleveland 15-4 and the Marlies have three power play opportunities.

3rd period

After just over nine minutes of trading shots with Toronto, Cleveland found themselves on their first power play since the 1st period. Cleveland finally converted a power play opportunity with Trey Fix-Wolanksy tying things up at 3. Assisted by Paul Bittner and Stefan Matteau.

Kole Sherwood followed with a goal of his own nine seconds later to put Cleveland up 4-3. Andrew Peeke and Calvin Thurkauf receive credit for assists on Sherwood’s goal.

Toronto was back on the power play after Ryan MacInnis was called for cross-checking. Cleveland successfully prevented Toronto from scoring on their power play chance.

With just under five minutes left Kenny Agostino tied the game at 4. This was the first goal Cleveland surrendered since the goalie swap in the 1st period. This goal seemed inevitable. Cleveland did not have control of the situation at hand and were desperately trying to stop Toronto’s attack. The Marlies just seemed to be a step ahead and that led to the game-tying goal.

Things could have gone south at this point. Cleveland found themselves down a man again as Paul Bittner was called for tripping. The Monsters stifled the Marlies power play yet again, Toronto finished 0-5 on power play opportunities in this game.

Things stood tied at 4 as regulation ended and the game headed to overtime. Again, Toronto outshot Cleveland 14-8. The fact that Cleveland outscored Toronto 2 goals to 1 in a period where they were doubled up on shots is quite impressive.

Overtime

The last time the Monsters found themselves in overtime was just a few days ago, Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Rochester. There was not a doubt that Cleveland would want to change their fortunes this time around.

Cleveland found themselves on another power play fairly early in the overtime period. Just 55 seconds in and Cleveland had a 4-on-3 advantage. Cleveland was only able to attempt one shot while they had the advantage, but their second and final shot of the overtime period went in thanks to Stefan Matteau. Assisting on Matteau’s goal were AHL All-Star Adam Clendening and Dillon Simpson.

This was the second straight win for Cleveland over Toronto and they needed it badly. Cleveland now has 46 points on the season and need every point they can get as they are trying to stay out of eighth place in the AHL’s North Division.

Monsters defeat Toronto Marlies 5-2

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The Cleveland Monsters defeated the visiting Toronto Marlies 5-2. Cleveland came away with a much needed victory in their first of two games this weekend.

The Cleveland Monsters took an early lead and didn’t look back, defeating the Toronto Marlies by a score of 5-2. 

This was an important win for Cleveland. The Monsters lost in overtime to Rochester Wednesday, coming away with a comfortable win Friday could go a long way for the Monsters. Rather than dwelling on the disappointing loss, they went and took care of business against Toronto.

Matiss Kivlenieks got the start in goal, saving 35 of 37 shots. Veini Vehvilainen had the night off and may start tomorrow.

Dillon Simpson got things started for the Monsters 1:28 into the game. Calvin Thurkauf and Trey Fix-Wolansky assisted on the goal. 

Just over two minutes later, Simpson got his second goal of the game. An unassisted goal which gave Cleveland a comfortable 2-0 lead. Toronto would answer quickly as Trevor Moore got the Marlies on the scoreboard 17 seconds later.

Trey Fix-Wolansky would add a goal of his own in the 2nd period to provide a little breathing room for Cleveland. Kevin Stenlund was credited with his 11th assist on the season. 

Towards the end of the 3rd period Cleveland found themselves down two men due to two delay of game penalties. This was far from being a great situation. Giving up a goal seemed inevitable and that is just what happened. Toronto’s Jeremy Bracco took advantage and gave the Marlies a chance. 

With under a minute to play Toronto pulled their goalie and Paul Bittner sealed the deal for the Monsters with an empty net goal. Ryan MacInnis and Dillon Simpson were credited with assists.

Derek Barach would put an exclamation point on the victory, scoring his fourth goal of the season with only five seconds remaining. 

Their second and final game with the Marlies is Saturday at 1 P.M.

Monsters to host Toronto Marlies

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The Cleveland Monsters continue their home stand will be hosting the Toronto Marlies for a two set at home Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

The Cleveland Monsters will be looking to bounce back from their 3-2 loss to the Rochester Americans Wednesday with a two game set against the Toronto Marlies. Cleveland is 0-3 against Toronto this season, their last matchup being a 4-1 loss on New Year’s Eve.

Cleveland has lost two straight games, including six of their last seven. Five of the last six games were on the road, which usually makes things just a bit more difficult. The Monsters have lost their games by an average of four goals to two. Giving up twice as many goals than their opponent over the last seven games is a tough look. It will make things just a bit more difficult when facing the Marlies this weekend.

Toronto has lost three straight games and four of their past five. The previous game before this streak Toronto forfeited due to a medical emergency. Toronto’s opponents are averaging 5.25 goals per game while the Marlies only average 3.6.

If the Monsters want to climb out of last place in the AHL North division they need to start winnings games on a more consistent basis.

Monsters lose in overtime to Americans 3-2

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The Cleveland Monsters returned home from a lengthy road trip and took on the Rochester Americans Wednesday. Losing by a score of 3-2. This was the second consecutive loss for the Cleveland Monsters.

1st Period

Remi Elie gave Rochester an early 1-0 lead over Cleveland with a goal 3:44 into the game.

The Monsters were having a difficult time getting the puck out of their defensive zone. This did Veini Vehvilanien zero favors. Constant pressure on a goalie is never good and that is just what Vehvilainen saw early in the game.

Cleveland saw themselves down a man with just under nine minutes to go in the 1st period due to an Anton Karlsson penalty for holding an opponents stick. The Monsters successfully killed the penalty and were back to full strength without giving up a goal.

Casey Mittelstadt scored for Rochester with just over 3 minutes remaining in the 1st period, giving the Americans a 2-0 lead.

Rochester (12) finished with more shots than Cleveland (10) in the 1st period. Not exactly a recipe for success.

2nd Period

The Monsters were on a power play very early on in the 2nd period. Unfortunately they were unable to make anything of it and Rochester successfully killed the penalty.

With just under 15 minutes remaining in the period Karlsson was called for boarding, resulting in a two-minute penalty. For the second time Cleveland was able to avoid giving up a goal while shorthanded.

Brett Gallant was called for high-sticking, this led to a four minute penalty. Cleveland went on the offensive even though they were shorthanded and Ryan MacInnis scored an unassisted goal to cut the Americans lead to just one. Cleveland was able to navigate being down a man for four minutes without surrendering a goal.

The Monsters were able to cut the deficit in half in the 2nd Period thanks to four more shots on goal than Rochester (9-5).

3rd Period

Marko Dano tied the game at 2 with 6:27 gone in the 3rd period. Assisting on the goal were Ryan MacInnis and Markus Hannikainen.

A Rochester penalty with 11:04 to go in the 3rd led to a power play opportunity for the Monsters. Cleveland was not able to convert on the power play and shortly after were shorthanded due to a Calvin Thurkauf slashing penalty. Cleveland came out unscathed from this penalty and kept the game tied.

Neither team would score in the remainder of the 3rd period and the game would head to overtime.

Overtime

The game went to a 3-on-3 sudden death overtime. Rochester was able to score with 1:36 left in overtime to end the game.

The Monsters had momentum on their side for the majority of the game, coming back from two goals down. Rochester just seized the opportunity to win the game with just over a minute and a half left to play.

Cleveland will look to get back on the right track Friday as they host the Toronto Marlies.

Monsters: Adam Clendening named AHL All-Star

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Cleveland Monsters defenseman Adam Clendening will participate in the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic (January 26, 27) in Ontario, California.

Adam Clendening has been selected to represent the Cleveland Monsters at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario, California. Nathan Gerbe was originally Cleveland’s representative, but he is currently up with Columbus. The Monsters made the announcement in regards to Adam Clendening’s selection via their twitter account.

Adam Clendening has appeared in 35 games for the Monsters this season. Clendening leads Cleveland with 29 points, six goals and 23 assists. The Cleveland defenseman is tied with Nathan Gerbe averaging 0.83 points per game and is second on the team in shots with 85, trailing Stefan Matteau by five.

Where does Adam Clendening rank among other AHL defensemen?

Adam Clendening ranks high in a few categories. The Cleveland defenseman is fourth in points and fifth in assists. Appearing in fewer games than those ahead of him in those categories which is contributing to trailing in these areas. A few more games and it is possible that Clendening could be a bit higher among AHL defensemen.

Clendening is 12th in goals, trailing the leader by only two. Some players have appeared in more games than the Monsters defenseman. While others have appeared in less. Only two defensemen who have appeared in 23 or more games average more points per game than Clendening.

Adam Clendening has made several stops before coming to Cleveland

Adam Clendening has been with Cleveland since the 2018-19 season. Bouncing around the league for a few seasons, spending time with Rockford, Utica, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and Tucson. Clendening made 45 appearances for the Monsters last season, scoring four goals and assisting on 33 others.

Columbus called up Adam Clendening last season, appearing in four regular season games and seven postseason games for the Blue Jackets. This was his first NHL postseason action.

Nathan Gerbe is finding success in Columbus

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The former team captain of the Cleveland Monsters Nathan Gerbe is finding success while he is with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.

The first you notice about Nathan Gerbe is his size. No, he is not a large player, he is the complete opposite. Gerbe stands at 5’4″, but plays much larger than that. The effort and play of Gerbe led to the Monsters naming him their team captain prior to the 2018-19 season. Gerbe was called up to the Blue Jackets after Columbus experienced a series of injuries. That same effort level and ability has been on display with the Blue Jackets and is part of the reason why he is still in Columbus.

While some others are returning to Cleveland, Nathan Gerbe will remain in Columbus. Part of this is due to the fact that Gerbe is out of minor league options and would require to pass through waivers first. The other part is that Gerbe is contributing during his time in Columbus. Gerbe has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 14 games. Gerbe’s last longterm stint in the NHL was during the 2015-16 season with the Carolina Hurricanes. Nathan Gerbe has more points in 14 games this season than the 47 games he spent in Carolina four seasons ago (seven points on three goals and four assists). Nathan Gerbe is experiencing more success this time around when compared to his last extended look in the NHL.

Before getting called up to Columbus, Nathan Gerbe was productive in Cleveland. Totaling 25 points in 30 games this season (eight goals, 17 assists). Gerbe averaged .83 points per game while with the Monsters. This is tied with Adam Clendening for the team lead.

As mentioned above, the waiver process may keep Gerbe in Columbus for the time being. Gerbe being able to show that he can contribute in the NHL may keep him from passing through waivers resulting in a longer stay with the Columbus Blue Jackets.