While the Columbus Blue Jackets continue their great season, the Cleveland Monsters have turned around some of their misfortune and have started to win some games. They are 16-12-1 and are fourth in their division.
They aren’t setting the AHL ablaze like last year but they are starting to heat up at the right time. Because of their stronger play of late, they are sending two players to the AHL All-Star game this year, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Ryan Craig.
The teams are selected by a committee of AHL coaches and each team has to have at least one All-Star selection. Craig was selected weeks ago by the league to represent his division as captain, so while his stats are down, his selection makes a bit more sense. Bjorkstrand has only played in 22 games this year and has 15 points on the season, those marks only put him fifth on the team in scoring. Some of those teammates on the other hand have played nine more games than him, so the discrepancy is explainable.
While Craig is going to end up being a life long AHLer, it is encouraging to see that Bjorkstrand is respected enough by fellow coaches to be named to the team. Even better, the Monsters have some players that are performing at a similar rate as him and weren’t named to the roster. As the team continues to improve, the Jackets’ future remains bright. Keeping tabs on these players is a great indicator of what is to come for the NHL club, as you can see from the current iteration of the Blue Jackets.
The Monsters are an important part of what the Jackets did this year and the relationship will continue to grow as prospects develop into NHLers. It’s important to keep up to date with what is going on down there.
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