Meet the Mon-Stars: Three help lead the way in Cleveland

Spending part of the season in Cleveland wasn’t part of the plan for Kent Johnson, but when he was sent down for a 10-game span earlier this season, the young CBJ forward did learn something about the Monsters.

The top farm team of the Blue Jackets remains tied for first place in the American Hockey League’s North Division with two months to go, and Johnson – who counts a number of Monsters players among his best friends – learned the secret sauce in Cleveland has to do with the people.

“Those guys are really funny,” Johnson said. “They really love hockey, and when your top players on the team like that really love it and really enjoy working hard in practice every day, it really sets the culture for the team. I think that’s a big part of their success.”

At the forefront of that is a trio of All-Stars, all of whom have become leaders on the Monsters at three different positions. Forward Trey Fix-Wolansky, defenseman Jake Christiansen and goaltender Jet Greaves were chosen to represent Cleveland at the AHL’s All-Star Game earlier this month. They were joined by head coach Trent Vogelhuber at the league’s headline event, which was held the first weekend of February in San Jose.

While visiting Cleveland this past weekend for the team’s Friday night game vs. Charlotte, we caught up with Fix-Wolansky, Christiansen and Greaves to talk about their impressive seasons as well as the success of the Monsters this season.

Fix-Wolansky Sets The Pace

If there’s a Mr. Monster, there’s little doubt it’s Fix-Wolansky. That was confirmed on Saturday night, as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer was honored with his own bobblehead.

Fix-Wolansky rose to the occasion, scoring in the game and celebrating on the bench by having trainers slap him in the helmet to bobble his noggin. It was a piece of personality that fits the dynamic Fix-Wolansky, who feels at home in Cleveland, whether it’s on the ice, as a bobblehead, or in local TV and billboard appearances.

“I would say my first year here, I definitely would have never expected any of this,” Fix-Wolansky said. “I’m really happy with how far our team has come and proud of myself for how far I’ve come since having a couple of injuries at the start of my career.”

Fix-Wolansky has always been able to score, totaling 191 points his final two seasons with Edmonton of the WHL, which is why he was a seventh-round draft pick of the Jackets in 2018. He first arrived in Cleveland full-time for the 2019-20 campaign, but he was limited to just nine games the next season when he suffered a torn ACL early in the campaign.

Since his return, he’s been one of the top scorers in the AHL, posting 57 goals and 146 points in 155 games over the past three seasons. This year, his 13-29-42 line places him in a tie for sixth in the league in scoring and led to his first midseason All-Star bid.

And as we mentioned, his career line of 73 goals, 108 assists and 181 points are all Monsters records since the franchise came into existence in 2007. With such impressive credentials, the 24-year-old is seen as a leader on the squad even though it’s clear he still has a lot of hockey to play in his career.

“The main thing is being myself,” said Fix-Wolansky, who also has two goals in 16 career NHL games over three seasons. “This is my fifth year here and guys look up to me, so I have to make sure I’m doing whatever I can on the ice and the locker room to prove that I can be a leader.”

Listed at 5-foot-7, Fix-Wolansky is the kind of player that gets under the skin of the opposition, one that teammates love and others love to hate. In a gritty, hard-working city like Cleveland, that mentality has been embraced, and Fix-Wolansky said he’s fit right in and feels the love each time he steps on the ice.

“100 percent,” he said. “At the rink, in the community, Cleveland is a great place to play, and the fans love hockey. I’ve been very fortunate to be in Cleveland for my career.”

Greaves Having Breakout Season

Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent has said it a few times this season – when the Blue Jackets went through their annual training camp this fall, Jet Greaves might have been the best goalie on the ice.

He also boasts the best numbers of any CBJ goalie this year, starting two games earlier this season, earning his first career win and posting a 2.52 GAA and .934 save percentage.

Those are positive signs for the potential Greaves has, and he’s showing it on a nightly basis in Cleveland. Greaves is tied for second in the AHL with 20 wins, and overall he’s 20-9-2 with a 2.94 GAA and .906 save percentage.

‘I think there’s been some positives for sure,” Greaves said of his breakout season. “For me, it’s just always about improving. I think as the years go by, I gain more experience with so many different situations. That’s helped me to understand what brings me success and what doesn’t. It’s just about getting a clearer picture.

“This season continues to help me with that. There’s been some things I’ve been able to acquire that have brought me some success, and there’s also some things that I still can learn from. It’s a continuing process.”

If there’s one thing that’s admirable about Greaves, it’s his consistency, as he brings the same level of concentration and effort to the game each day. It shows up in his play, as Greaves has been dialed in since the start of camp; there’s little wasted movement in his economical game, and his reflexes have allowed him to make save after save when he’s in position.

That’s the kind of goaltending a team can appreciate, but with Greaves still just 22 years old, there’s plenty of time for him to keep working on his game before heading to the NHL level. In the meantime, he hopes to just keep improving, and not just on the ice.

“I think for me, it’s just important to not only have an identity in hockey,” he said. “There’s a lot to life, and there’s a lot of important things. I think understanding that and understanding who I am just helps me bring balance to the game and perspective. Sometimes there’s ups, sometimes there’s downs, but if I can stay steady through it, I’ll come out better on the other side.”

Christiansen Keeps Going

In the second period of the Monsters’ game Friday against Charlotte, Christiansen gathered a puck as he neared the goal line along the left side of the ice. The Checkers netminder clearly didn’t expect what happened next, as even though he was at a nearly parallel angle to the net, Christiansen ripped a quick wrist shot that buzzed past the goalie’s helmet and into the back of net.

It’s a move Johnson says Christiansen, one of his best friends from back at home in Vancouver, pulls off all the time during their offseason work. And it goes to show the skill Christiansen has, as for the third season in a row, he’s one of the top goal scorers among AHL defenseman.

This year, Christiansen’s 11 tallies tie him for third in the league among blueliners, one year after his 11 goals tied for eighth in the league. In 2021-22, Christiansen scored 13 times to tie for the AHL lead.

So there’s no doubt he can score, and watching Christiansen play at the AHL level is to see a defenseman who oozes confidence. The next step is for Christiansen to continue to refine his defensive game in order to break through what is a crowded CBJ blue line at the moment.

“Just growing every day and working on what I can, playing the game, watching the game and then addressing it and working on it in practice is something that’s helped me a lot,” said Christiansen, who has 35 NHL games under his belt over three seasons. “I’m growing that confidence through the work. I’m going to keep growing and keep building that confidence and getting my game into a good spot for hopefully if I get another chance in the NHL.”

Much like Fix-Wolansky, Christiansen is a high scorer from his junior days – he scored 22 times and had 50 points in 38 games his final year of junior hockey with Everett of the WHL – who still has a lot of hockey ahead of him. The left-shot defenseman is also just 24 years old, though that makes him one of the more veteran defenders on a Monsters team that features young talents David Jiricek, Stanislav Svozil and Corson Ceulemans.

“This is my fourth year now,” he said. “I think for sure I can lead the back end. We have a young D corps, and I know what it feels like to be a young guy, so just bringing that experience and helping lead any way I can.”