Tag Archives: Emil Bemstrom

Monsters bottom out in Utica, lose 5-1

Posted on by
Advertisements

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 drop two of three on road trip

Posted on by
Advertisements

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 sitting pretty after shootout wins

Posted on by
Advertisements

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 announce roster moves

Posted on by
Advertisements

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.

Monsters comeback falls short in loss to Admirals

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Cleveland Monsters were able to tie things up once, but were not able to come back again in their 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals.

Early in the 1st period it appeared that the Cleveland Monsters were going to have a repeat performance from their 4-1 loss Friday night. Cleveland found themselves down 3-0 15 minutes into the period after Milwaukee scored three times in four minutes. At that moment Cleveland began to stage their first comeback of the evening.

It was Trey Fix-Wolansky getting the Monsters on the scoreboard with less than three minutes to play which jumpstarted a mini goal scoring run. Early in the 2nd it was Emil Bemstrom scoring on a power play to bring Cleveland within one. It was Bemstrom’s first career AHL goal, assisting on the goal was Jake Christiansen (13) and Fix-Wolansky (2). Justin Scott would tie the game two minutes later with his fourth goal of the campaign. Cole Clayton (2) and Jet Greaves (2) were credited with assets on the play, it was the second straight game with an assist for Greaves.

Unfortunately Milwaukee was able retake the lead and expand it two. Josh Dunne attempted to begin another comeback, but his goal 9:51 into the final period was the last for the Monsters. Adam Helewka (9) assisted on Dunne’s goal (3).

Cleveland has now dropped to fourth place in the AHL North Division, trailing third place Toronto based on win percentage (0.625-0.605). The Monsters are off Sunday before returning to action Monday at home as they take on Grand Rapids Griffins.

Emil Bemstrom activated, sent to Cleveland

Posted on by
Advertisements

The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated the 22-year old from injured reserve and assigned him to Cleveland.

Emil Bemstrom has been activated from injured reserve, but will have to wait to make his season debut. The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned Bemstrom to the Cleveland Monsters for the time being.

Emil Bemstrom is yet to appear in a game this season, but appeared in 20 games for Columbus last season. Bemstrom fisniehd with three assists and two goals for the Blue Jackets during the 2020-21 season.

Additionally, in need of a goaltender for Thursday’s game in Dallas, Columbus has recalled Daniil Tarasov.