Tag Archives: AHL

Monsters drop two of three on road trip

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The Cleveland Monsters six-game road trip did not get off to a good start as they lost two of their three games over the weekend.

The prospect of playing six consecutive games on the road to close out the month of October was always going to be tough for the Cleveland Monsters. Coming away with just one win in three contests is disappointing, yet unsurprising. Playing on the road in the AHL is tough enough, there days in a row is even more difficult. Add in the fact that Cleveland is a team in transition and the results from the weekend are expected.

The disappointing aspect of the weekend is that Utica won their first game of the season against the Monsters. While it is early in the season and the Comets were going to win eventually, it is a bit more comforting to not be the team a formerly winless club gets their first win of the season against. The split against Lehigh Valley is nice and so is winning in non-shootout fashion. The next step for Cleveland is finding a way to win in regulation as the win over the Phantoms came in overtime.

Skater stats

Kirill Marchenko (4), Brendan Gaunce (1 PP, 2, 3), Justin Richards (1), Emil Bemstrom (3,4), Trey Fix-Wolansky (2,3), and Carson Meyer (2) all scored for the Monsters over the weekend.

Assisting on those goals were David Jiricek (1,2,3,4), Gavin Beyrether (1,2,3), Jake Christiansen (3) Bemstrom (2,3,4,5), Marchenko (2,3), Meyer (2,3,4), and Richards (3).

Between the pipes

Goaltending duties were split between Jet Greaves and Pavel Cajan. Greaves saved 51 of 59 shots on goal across two games with eight goals allowed. Cajan allowed three goals on 30 shots in his lone appearance. Cajan’s appearance in the second game of the weekend was the Monsters only win in their three games.

Looking at the Standings

Even with the disappointing weekend the Monsters spot in the standings was not subject to a fall. Cleveland and Rochester currently both has 6 points on the year, the most in the AHL North Division. While the Americans have two regulation wins to Cleveland’s zero, it is the Monsters who have outscored the Americans 21-15. Additionally Cleveland is one of just two teams in the division with a positive goal differential (21-20), the other being the Syracuse Crunch (18-17).

What’s ahead

The Monsters will close out the remainder of their six-game road trip beginning Wednesday. Cleveland will be taking on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins as they look to get back in the win column. After that it is a return trip to Utica and their first visit to Syracuse to finish things up.

Monsters to close out month on road

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The Cleveland Monsters will head out on a six-game road trip that will last the remainder of the month.

After a successful two game stand against the Syracuse Crunch, the Cleveland Monsters will head out on the road. Cleveland embarks on a six-game road trip that will keep them out of town until November. The Monsters will take on the Utica Comets, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Three of their four upcoming opponents made the postseason last year and advancing to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Utica dominated Cleveland last year which saw the Monsters drop six of their eight matchups. The AHL North Division champs outscored Cleveland 26-22 in their season series. Utica has only completed one game this season, a loss to the Hershey Bears while their second game against Wilkes-Barre Scranton was suspended.

Cleveland faired well against their opponent least season, Lehigh Valley. The Monsters won three of four against the Phantoms with a positive five goal differential (12-7). Lehigh Valley has split their first two games of the season while scoring and allowing the same amount of goals (4).

Wilkes-Barre Scranton was a tough opponent for Cleveland last year, losing three of four matchups and being outscored 16-6. The Penguins lone completed game was an overtime loss to Lehigh Valley.

Cleveland split their eight-game series with the Crunch last year with four wins apiece. The Monsters edged out Syracuse in the goal-scoring department with a slim 27-25 advantage. So far this season it is also a two-goal margin for Cleveland 11-9 excluding shootout goals.

The Monsters will definitely have a fair shot on this road trip to still be in a good position in the standings when it concludes. It is going to come down to whether or not Cleveland can find a way to win in regulation or at least overtime and not a shootout.

Monsters sitting pretty after shootout wins

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Back-to-back wins against the Syracuse Crunch have the Cleveland Monsters off to a good start.

The Cleveland Monsters are coming off a disappointing year which saw the team win just 28 games and miss the playoffs with just 69 points on the season. Expectations were not necessarily high for this season, but they find themselves in a good spot early on. Through the first two games the Cleveland Monsters have come out on top and are tied atop the AHL North Division with four points.

The Monsters hold a slim two goal advantage in the goals for and against department (11-9) and this does not include any scored in a shootout. The Monsters have converted on four of six shootout attempts while their opponent (Syracuse) only made two of seven. While winning in a shootout fashion is not sustainable, being able to do so early is a nice boost for the season.

Goal scorers

The leading goalscorer for the Monsters this season is Kirill Marchenko with three goals including one shootout goal. Emil Bemstron is second with two goals, also one shootout goal. Trey Fix-Wolansky, Marcus Bjork, Carson Meyer, and Dillon Simpson each have scored one goal. Fix-Wolansky’s goal was a shootout goal while the other three Cleveland players scored in regulation.

Goaltending

Jet Greaves was in net for both games and has saved 60 of 69 shots on goal and five of seven in shootouts. Greaves’ .870 save percentage and 4.16 goals against average are far from ideal and improvement in this area is needed.

Upcoming games

Cleveland will head out on their first road trip of the season this weekend. The Monsters begin with a single game against the Utica Comets. They will then take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for two games over the next two days. Cleveland’s road trip actually lasts the rest of the month, presenting an early test for the Monsters. Should they be successful it would be an encouraging sign for what could be a promising season.

Monsters: Johnson recalled, Greaves back

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The Columbus Blue Jackets made two moves which impacted the roster of the Cleveland Monsters.

Jet Greaves is back with the Cleveland Monsters just one day after being called up by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus was in need of a backup for Daniil Tarasov due to Elvis Merzlikins having an illness. As part of the move Kent Johnson was sent to Cleveland. Now the entire set of transactions have been reversed with Johnson back with the Blue Jackets and Greaves with the Monsters.

Cleveland begins their season at home Friday as they take on the visiting Syracuse Crunch. Columbus will return to action on Friday, also at home, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Monsters announce roster moves

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The Cleveland Monsters have announced a series of roster moves ahead of the start of the regular season.

The Cleveland Monsters are getting ready to begin their season and have announced a series of roster moves beforehand. Emil Bemstrom and David Jiricek have been loaned to Cleveland from the Columbus Blue Jackets while Brandon Saigeon and Hayden Stewart have been released from their tryout contracts. The final move was assigning Oliver LeBlanc to the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL.

In a story appearing in The Athletic (subscription required), Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline stated that Bemstrom essentially had his spot taken him from Yegor Chinakhov and Justin Danforth. Perhaps should things change (one way or the other) Bemstrom could find his way back to Columbus at some point this season.

Recent stats

Bemstrom appeared in 41 games for the Blue Jackets last season, totaling 11 points on six goals and five assists. He was no stranger to the AHL as he appeared in four games for the Monsters scoring twice.

Jiricek appeared in 29 games for Plzen HC of the Czech Republic League in 2021-22, assisting on six goals and scoring five times.

Brendan Gaunce clears waivers, sent to CLE

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The forward has been sent to the Cleveland Monsters after clearing waivers.

The Columbus Blue Jackets placed 28-year old forward Brendan Gaunce on waivers earlier this week and after clearing waivers has been sent to the Cleveland Monsters. This is just a continuation of Columbus’ roster trim down ahead of the regular season.

This is the second year in the Blue Jackets system for Brendan Gaunce who spent near equal time with Cleveland and Columbus last season. Gaunce totaled seven points (five goals, two assists) in 30 games with Columbus while tallying 28 points (16 goals, 12 asissts) in 39 games with the Monsters. It would not be a surprise to see things play out in a similar manner for Gaunce this season.

Blue Jackets send three players to Monsters

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have sent three players to the Cleveland Monsters.

Part of the process of preparing for the NHL regular season is trimming players off the roster. That is what the Columbus Blue Jackets did Wednesdays as they sent Kirill Marchenko, Carson Meyer, and Jake Christiansen to the Cleveland Monsters.

Meyer and Christiansen each played for Cleveland last season appearing in 57 and 62 games with point totals of 27 (16,11) and 45 (12, 32) respectively. Marchenko is a newcomer to the Monsters as he has spent the last five seasons in the KHL, totaling 20 points (12,8) in 39 games last season.

Using the last couple of seasons as precedent it would hardly be surprising to not see these players make their way back to Columbus at some point. Meyer scored one goal and assisted on two others in 13 games while Christiansen scored one goal in eight games.

Monsters announce 2022-23 promo nights

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With the AHL season set to begin in about a month, the Cleveland Monsters have announced their promo nights for the upcoming year. As always there are a variety of different types of promo nights that are put on by the team throughout the season.

The giveaways are highlighted by the Purple Hockey Strong Towel on Friday, November 25th for Hockey Fights Cancer Night and a Denzel Ward bobblehead giveaway March 25th.

Specialty jerseys include the annual Purple Jersey worn during the aforementioned Hockey Fights Cancer night and the yearly Lumberjacks Weekend on February 3rd and 4th.

Other nights of note include First Responders Night (Nov. 4), Grow the Game Night (Dec. 3), Pride Night (Jan. 17), and Women’s History Celebration (Mar. 24).

The full list can be found here on the Monsters website.

Cavs, Monsters to cover travel costs for reproductive health outside of Ohio

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Following the very controversial decision by the Supreme Court last week, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Monsters with the rest of the Rock Entertainment Group will be covering travel expenses for those needing to travel outside Ohio for reproductive health.

Covering travel costs will transform from a nice gesture to a reality as the State of Ohio is working towards limiting certain care that people can receive. This decision by the parent company of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Monsters is one of many that have been made by similar companies in recent days. More are sure to follow as long as the State of Ohio and the government of the United States allow limitations on reproductive healthcare to continue.

Brendan Gaunce signs two-year two-way deal

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It was a busy day of the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday as they agreed to a two-way deal with veteran center Brendan Gaunce. The 28-year old forward had a fairly even split between Cleveland (39 games) and Columbus (30 games) last season. Gaunce was going to be an unrestricted free agent prior to the deal.

Gaunce was the second signee for the Blue Jackets organization as they also signed Liam Foudy to an extension.

Brendan Gaunce finished with 16 goals and 12 assists with the Monsters last season while scoring five times and assisting on two others with the Blue Jackets. Gaunce was tied with Justin Scott and Carson Meyer for Cleveland’s goalscoring leader. More of the same should be expected from Gaunce during his stay with the club.