Well, that was nice to see a win and a relatively entertaining game to boot.
I thought the guys looked a little leaden of foot when they first came out, but Daoust's very early goal seemed to spark them. Cloutier looked like he had molasses in his crease (down in the butterfly and just stuck there) on that one and I thought, "Okay, they have a chance tonight."
For those who don't know, Cloutier, 33, has been out of hockey for almost the last 2 years after requiring surgery on both his hips and then having a long recovery and then basically need to find a team who a) had a need and b) was willing to gamble on a an old (*ahem*) goalie who wasn't really a world beater to start with.
But due to injuries and lacking depth at goal, the Icehogs signed him to a PTO a few weeks ago. (He got kicked out of his first game back for whacking a guy with his blocker.)
Cloutier played Saturday night in Cedar Park and then today in Houston, which I thought was interesting. It's tough to play back to back at any point as a goalie, but to be just a few weeks into your comeback after a long lapse, coming off injury, and being a little longer in the tooth... well, frankly, I don't care if the guy is Patrick Roy, you're not getting top of the line goaltending.
Not to say that the Aeros didn't earn that win and put some great shots on net, I'm just giving some context.
Add to that that the Hogs were at the end of the 3 in 3 and you're really not skating against the freshest opponent.
Not trying to rain on the parade or anything. Just, well, like I said, context.
The goal on Dubielewicz was a bit of a softie and there were a few, "OMG is he a lucky SOB" moments, BUT he was very good when he needed to be, particularly on penalty kills, where things got pretty hairy a few times.
DiSalvatore's shot was just straight up legit. I thought it was Noreau for a moment. High slot through lots of traffic, nothing but net. But Noreau's goal, Cloutier was very clearly interfered with, pulled to the side of his crease, leaving basically an open net for Noreau to launch his trademark shot into.
And then of course, Irmen got the empty netter to seal the deal in the final minute of play.
I don't know about you guys, but it felt a little surreal to both see a bunch of pucks go in the net AND to enjoy the game. The nutritious shredded wheat side of me says, "Even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut." But the hockey fan in me hopes that maybe this will be a springboard for confidence and continued success.
With plenty of home games coming up, we'll all get to find out together before the year is out.
No drawing tonight. I've gotta get home and get ready for my own game and stoppin' those pucks. :)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
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11 comments:
And I was hoping for a drawing of Duby being faked out his boots on the wrap-around attempt. How did that one NOT go in?
Before we get too high on the hog (groan), remember Rockford was a tired team playing their third in three nights. It showed in the first few minutes as they seemed to have a case of road legs and the Aeros were trying to exploit that.
Rumor had it Chuck Fletcher was in attendance, usually the guys play crappy when the GM is there. But maybe he is better at yelling at them about their offensive production than his predecessor.
The Aeros game was a mix of good and bad.I liked the early offense, and the power play did register a tally. But the tower play was at best weak the rest of the game. The ice Hogs goal might have been Faulk’s fault just as much. Looks like he didn’t know how to play the 4 on 2 and maybe wound up screening Duby.
Stoner took another dumb cross-checking penalty late making it two in his last two games. Is this how you want one your “A”s playing?
Word verification "bizingi", which I think is a cross between an Aeros forward, a search engine, and one of those ice resurfacing thingys.
Well, it was ONE wish fulfilled, thank you, Santa, the Aeros won this afternoon.
And Daoust, the Scrapper, with Rau=Wow was right there to start it.
Apropos RAU, did you all see the "RAUWAY" to stop a puck? Rau=Wow on his knees! ;-)
Tonight's Rockford team, tired or not, does not measure up to the teams of the last 2 years. The absence of Corey Crawford (NFL), three 50+point-players (Tim Brent, Pascal Pelletier, and Petri Kontiola), and Justin Fletcher cannot be offset by the addition of aging, ex-Moose Mark Cullen (50+points and (as you said) R&R-Dan Cloutier (notwithstanding his 350+ NHL games).
Several perennial IceHogs gave the fans a few tremors (Evan Brophey with his goal, Rob Klinkhammer with his near-miss on the wraparound attempt, and Pete MacArthur with his crafty moves).
With regard to Forecheck's comment about Falk's failure to position-defend Brophey's goal on the odd-man rush, it is noteworthy that the OTHER Aeros defenseman (Kassian) was 40+ feet away from the net action, having turned-over the puck in the center zone which led to the odd-man rush. With further development, Falk has a great future.....Kassian has NONE and is more of a liability than an asset to this struggling Aeros team.
This was a stabilizing win for the Team (and Dubbie), with a bunch of home games coming up to build some needed confidence. Go Aeros!
Ice -
{{Corey Crawford (NFL)}}
So another hockey player got called up to the NFL? Just like Ovechkin? {{grin}}
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXvy968BCs8
Speaking of "suck-minus" has Gillies had a minus game yet this year?
Gillies only minus game this season (-1) was Friday against Peoria.
Mark Cullen, at one time, was an Aero. I can't remember if it was the year they won the Calder Cup or not. He always played with a lot of heart and the fans appreciated that.
To Ms. Conduct and Forecheck: The "F" in Corey Crawford (NFL) was meant to be an "H" (as in NHL)...thanks for the catch. Perhaps, this suggests, in the mind of a serious hockey fan, that there may a strong correlation between football and hockey???
Ms. Conduct can shed further light on the status of 25-year old Corey Crawford (currently, under a 2-year blackhawks contract); however, further research indicates that his last IceHogs game was 11/13, following a 11/7 Abbotsford game in which he was replaced by Joe Fallon (due to unknown injury). Since that time, the IceHogs have operated with 3 netminders: Fallon, Cloutier, and a very promising Toledo netminder, Alec Richards (2.02GA, .929SV in 3 AHL games before recall).
On a related note, the Icehogs split a pair with the Stars (before the final 3/3 Aeros contest) in which Matt Beaudoin picked up a couple of goals (8 on season)...now no. 3 or 4 stars point-man.
Go Aeros!
To B2Bomber:
To extend my previous comment on Corey Crawford and address your question, Mark Cullen was a key Aeros member for 3 seasons:
. 2002-3 Reg 72 ga 47 pts
Post 15 ga 10 pts
. 2003-4 Reg 53 ga 38 pts
Post 2 ga 0 pts
. 2004-5 Reg 64 ga 34 pts
Post 5 ga 2 pts
His best stats, after leaving the Aeros (2005-6) were posted with Norfolk, generating 72 points in 58games.
B2 -
He sure was. He broke his ankle on the opening face-off of Game 7 vs. Grand Rapids.
Both of you are correct. I looked it up and he did play for three years....I couldn't remember for sure how long his stint was with us.
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