Tag Archives: Cleveland Monsters

Trey Fix-Wolansky signs two-year two-way extension to remain with Blue Jackets organization

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It appears that a familiar face will be extending his stay as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets organization. Trey Fix-Wolansky will forgo becoming a restricted free agent and has signed a two-year two-way contract extension to remain with the club.

Trey Fix-Wolansky has been in the Blue Jackets organization dating back to the 2018-19 season, mostly spending time down in the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters. Fix-Wolansky has made the occasional appearance with Columbus, registering two goals and one assist in 15 career NHL games. Comparatively, he has 60 goals and 79 assists in 166 AHL games.

At just 24-years old and with a new two-way contract to his name, it would not be surprising to see Trey Fix-Wolansky see more time with the Blue Jackets in the very near future.

David Jiricek named to Top Prospects Team

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The inaugural AHL Top Prospects Team has been announced and the Cleveland Monsters have some representation in defenseman David Jiricek. Jiricek completed his first season stateside after spending the previous three seasons for Plzen HC in the Czech Republic League.

Jiricek appeared in 55 games for the Monsters last season, finishing with 38 points on six goals and 32 assists. The 19-year old also made four appearances for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but only registered two penalty minutes. It should not be too long before David Jiricek is spending most of his time in Columbus. Until then, being a regular presence for the Monsters while being named to the first ever AHL Top Prospects team will do.

Jake Christiansen signs 1-year 2-way deal

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed Jake Christiansen to a one-year two-way extension according to reports.

Christiansen spent a little bit of time with the Blue Jackets last season, tallying four assists in 24 games with the Blue Jackets. This was not the first NHL action for Jake Christiansen as he scored his first and to this point only career goal in one of his eight appearances during the 2021-22 season.

Most of Christiansen’s time has come in a Monsters uniform, registering 11 goals and 23 assists in 50 games last season. Christiansen has 140 games under his belt, scoring 27 goals and assisting on 67 others during his time in Cleveland.

Monsters recall Erik Bradford from Kalamazoo

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The Cleveland Monsters have recalled the forward from the ECHL.

Erik Bradford has been recalled by the Cleveland Monsters. The team made an announcement Wednesday in regards to the 28-year old forward coming up to Cleveland from Kalamazoo.

Bradford has spent most of his time in the East Coast Hockey League with just a few stints in the American Hockey League. In 20 career AHL games Bradford has two goals and three assists with the Toronto Marlies and Grand Rapids Griffins. The ECHL has been a more enjoyable experience for Bradrod with 103 goals and 219 assists in 388 games. Bradford has two assists in four games with Kalamazoo this season.

Monsters look to get back on track in Syracuse

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The Cleveland Monsters are looking to get back into the win column after losing three consecutive games.

It has not been a good run as of late for the Monsters. has lost three straight games including back-to-back 5 losses, the most recent coming last night in Utica. During their three-game losing streak the Monsters have allowed five goals in each contest and have been outscored 15-6. There is a chance to get back on the right track Saturday night, as they take on the Syracuse Crunch, a team that they have defeated twice via shootout.

The Crunch also find themselves in the midst of a losing streak having lost two straight games to the Toronto Marlies. Syracuse was edged out in both contests losing by just one goal each time. Like Cleveland, Syracuse sits in the middle of the AHL North standings. The Monsters have 6 points in seven games while the Crunch have 5 points in six. Both teams have negative goal differentials, Cleveland -7 and Syracuse -2.

Felix Robert and Alex Barre-Boulet lead the Crunch in points with 10. Robert is Syracuse’s leading goal-scorer with six while Barre-Boulet’s eight assists is the team high. For comparison it is Emil Bemstrom leading Cleveland in points (10), goals (5) and assists (5).

It could be a real goal fest between the two teams as they are two of the higher scoring goals in the AHL this season. Syracuse’s 24 goals is tied for second while Cleveland’s 23 is tied for sixth.

Max Lagace is Syracuse’s primary goaltender, allowing 19 goals in five games. Lagace has a 0.892 save percentage 3.71 goals against average. Hugo Alnefelt has one start this season, allowing four goals and one additional via shootout.

Jet Greaves has started five of seven games for Cleveland this season allowing 22 goals in the process. It was Pavel Cajan who was in net for last night against Utica, allowing five goals in the loss.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. in Syracuse.

Monsters bottom out in Utica, lose 5-1

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It was a rough night for Cleveland in Utica as the Monsters found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-1 final score.

Coming into Friday’s matchup there were two losing streaks that the Cleveland Monsters were trying to snap. A current two-game losing streak overall and a streak of the same length against the Utica Comets. Unfortunately both streaks remain intact as Cleveland could not crack the Comets, losing 5-1.

The Monsters lone goal in the contest came late in the 2nd period courtesy of Emil Bemstrom. Bemstrom was able to capitalize on one of Cleveland’s three power play opportunities for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Assisting on the goal was Marcus Bjork and Kirill Marchenko with their third and fourth assists of the season.

Starting in net for just the second time this season was Pavel Cajan and it was not a good outing. Cajan allowed four goals on 27 shots in 59:09 minutes of ice time. Unlike his last outing Cajan was not saved by the Monsters goal scoring. The 20-year old netminder was able to get by allowing three goals due to Cleveland scoring four in an overtime win over Lehigh Valley.

It is a quick turnaround for Cleveland as they will head to Syracuse to try and get back on the right tack. The Monsters and Crunch previously played in back-to-back shootouts with Cleveland coming out on top both times. This will be the third of four matchups with Syracuse this season with their final taking place in early-March.

Monsters look to snap losing streak vs Utica

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The Cleveland Monsters are looking to snap two losing streaks.

At the current moment in time the Cleveland Monsters have lost two games in a row. Cleveland will have a chance to snap their in-season losing streak against the Utica Comets. It will also be a chance to snap their current losing streak to Utica. The Monsters have lost two straight to the Comets going back to last season. The last win against Utica took place back in April of last season. Getting back into the win column would help their current season and put an end to two streaks in need of snapping.

Cleveland and Utica faced off just one week ago with the Comets coming away with what has been their only win of the season so far. Utica would lose the very next day to Providence while Cleveland would split two games with Lehigh Valley. A win for either team would give one team an active win streak while the other losing streak would continue.

As things stand currently it is the Monsters in fourth place in the AHL North Division with 6 points with Utica in seventh (last) with 2. Cleveland has played twice as many games as the Comets (6-3), due to this comparing goals for and against can be a bit misleading. (22-25 to 7-8). The one takeaway is that the Monsters appear to play in games with plenty of goals scored while the Comets are playing low-scoring contests. It seems that if it is a goal-a-palooza it would favor Cleveland and a defensive showdown would give the Comets an edge.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. in Utica.

Monsters lose to Penguins 5-1

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The Cleveland Monsters lost to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins 5-1, their second consecutive road loss.

What could have been a fun night out like The Dundies turned into Scott’s Tots real quick Wednesday. The Cleveland Monsters were no match for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the 5-1 final score was an indicator of that.

Wilkes-Barre Scranton scored three times before Cleveland was able to find the back of the net for the first time. It was a Cole Fonstad power play goal that finally got the Monsters on the scoreboard. It was Fonstad’s of the season with Samuel Knazko (1) and Jake Christiansen (4) being credited with assists. This goal was a nothing burger as they were unable to score again while the Penguins scored two more times.

It was another rough night in net for Jet Greaves, allowing five goals for the third time this season. While two of the goals were of the rebound variety, Greaves did not get a ton of help from his teammates. Wilkes-Barre Scranton’s fourth goal of the game came when the Monsters defenders were as effective as the Michael Scott Paper Company’s business plan.

With the loss Cleveland has dropped into fourth place in the AHL North Division with six points in six games. The Monsters have allowed the most goals in the AHL this season (25) and that is something that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. If not, this current two-game losing streak could build and make their season come to an early end. Cleveland has two more road games before returning home November 4th. Earning a split on these next two games would go a long way for the Monsters and their outlook for the season.

Monsters back in action vs Penguins

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The Cleveland Monsters are back on the ice as they are set to take on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

It was a relatively unpleasant set of games this past weekend for the Cleveland Monsters, luckily they have a chance to put that all behind them. Cleveland is on the road to take on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. The Monsters have six points though five games which has them at the top of the division, so things are not quite at Threat Level Midnight. This Penguins team that has seven in four games with two of their three wins coming in regulation will not be an easy task.

Cleveland has a clear advantage in the goals scored department as their 21 goals in five games has them at just over four goals per game. Meanwhile Wilkes-Barre Scranton’s 11 is just under three per contest. The Penguins do hold the advantage when it comes to goals allowed, just 10 to Cleveland’s 20, a 2.5 to 4 ratio. It is an extremely small sample size at the moment, but it is something to note as an early season trend for both teams.

Comparing points leaders

The Monsters have played one more game and have been part of goal scoring extravaganzas on a nightly basis. These two factors five Cleveland a bit of an advantage when looking at the points leaders for each team.

Alexander Nylander is Wilkes-Barre Scanton’s points leader with five. Nylander’s three goals is a team-high with his two assists ranking second with three others (Sam Houde, Xavier Ouellet, Drew O’Connor). It is defenseman Ty Smith who is the Penguins assist leader with three on the year.

Cleveland has five players who have more points than Nylander this year. Emil Bemstorm (9), Kirill Marchneko (7), Brendan Guance (7), Trey Fix-Wolansky (6), and Carson Meyer (6) all have more points than the Penguins so far this season. Bemstrom is the Monsters assist leader with five while he is tied with Marchenko for the team lead in goals scored (4).

Goaltending goes to the Penguins

Jet Greaves has started the majority of the games in net for the Monsters (4), allowing 17 goals with a save percentage of just 0.867. Greaves also has five saves on seven shootout goal attempts. Pavel Cajan has started on game with three goals allowed on 30 attempts.

Wilkes-Barre Scranton’s Dustin Tokarski has been stout in his first three appearances. Tokarski has saved 75 of 80 shots on goal, a 0.938 save percentage and 1.63 goals against average. Filip Lindberg has also allowed five goals, but this is on 44 shots. Lindberg’s 2.93 GAA is better than both of Cleveland’s goaltenders while his 0.866 is slightly worse. The rookie netminder has also stopped all three shootout attempts faced.

Goals in bunches are needed or another road loss appears inevitable

If Cleveland is going to win they are going to have to buck two trends. The Monsters must be able to score in bunches against the Penguins goaltenders. They also must find a way to win in regulation. Going to yet another overtime game or shootout does not seem like it will be a fruitful endeavor. It is going to be about attacking the net, scoring early and often. If not a second consecutive road loss could be in the cards.

Gavin Bayreuther recalled by Blue Jackets

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled the defenseman from the Cleveland Monsters.

Gavin Bayreuther is returning to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time this season. Columbus has recalled Bayreuther ahead of Tuesday’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes.

The recall of Bayreuther appears to be connected to the status of Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg.

Gavin Bayreuther has appeared in three games for the Monsters this season, tallying three assists, all coming over this past weekend. As far as his time in the NHL is concerned, Bayreuther has 14 total points (three goals, 11 assists) in 71 games between the Blue Jackets and Dallas Stars across three seasons.