Cleveland Monsters Report: Christmas Break

The Cleveland Monsters have started their yearly up-and-down trek down Interstate 71 from Cleveland to Columbus. The injury bug is starting to take hold with the Blue Jackets, which usually costs Cleveland dearly almost every season.

The Monsters currently sit in third place in the AHL's North Division with 37 points, just one point behind Laval for first place. Points-wise, they're tied with Rochester, but the Americans currently own the tie-breaker. The Monsters are 17-8-1-2 and have won just four of their last 10 games. Luckily, first-place Laval have won just five of their previous 10, so they haven't been able to pull away. The 10-game win streak the Monsters had a few weeks ago is doing wonders for the standings right now.

So how is the team doing on an individual basis? Let's take a look.

Points

1. Trey Fix-Wolansky - 32 Points - 28 Games - 2nd in the AHL in scoring

2. Luca Del Bel Belluz - 31 Points - 28 Games - 4th in the AHL in scoring

3. Rocco Grimaldi - 28 Points - 24 Games - 8th in AHL scoring

4. Denton Mateychuk - 25 Points - 27 games - 16th in AHL scoring; 2nd among rookies; 1st among all defensemen in the AHL.

Goals

1. Luca Del Bel Belluz - 16 - 4 PP Goals

2. Trey Fix-Wolansky - 14 - 4 PP Goals, 4 GWG

3. Denton Mateychuk - 9 - 4 PP Goals, 3 GWG

4. 3 Others Tied - 7

Assists

1. Rocco Grimaldi - 21 - 8 PP assists

2. Trey Fix-Wolansky - 18

3. Denton Mateychuk - 16 - 7 PP assists

Goalies

• Jet Greaves - 8-4-2 - .902% - 3.21 GAA - 1 Shutout

• Zach Sawchenko - 7-4-0 - .902% - 2.97 GAA - 1 Shutout

The Columbus Blue Jackets, despite having some season-ending injuries, have remained fairly healthy (knock on wood). That means that the Cleveland Monsters have been able to keep the majority of their players, which also means they can showcase just how much talent they have in stock.

The Monsters have been in a bit of a funk lately, which has allowed the North Division to bunch up a little. Luckily, the Laval Rocket has also been playing not-so-hot lately as well, so no team has been allowed to pull away.

The Jackets, due to injuries, pulled Denton Mateychuk up and gave him his first NHL start. He didn't look too out of place and made some good plays. There were a couple that I'm sure he'd like to have back, but he had a short memory and made some really good defensive plays to make up for the little errors.

What's Next - The Blue Jackets are back home to play the Boston Bruins on Friday

What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum.