Aeros' most exciting finishes - Volume II

Welcome to the second installment of "Aeros' most exciting finishes!" I hope you enjoyed reading the first one as much as I liked writing it. What a trip down memory lane, and the best is yet to come.

Oh, and yes, the gorgeous photo above is by Fred Trask.

Before we get to the top 5 home finishes of all time -- (four of the top five will debut Wednesday and the granddaddy of them all will grace this blog on Thursday) -- I wanted to talk about exciting playoff finishes. Now yes, this blog is called "most exciting finishes," but think of all the OT games over the years. Those are all hard to beat, and I don't have the time or space to talk about all of them. I wanted to bring up two Aeros playoffs games where I wrote them dead late in the game, only to have them come back and win.

Again, we're talking home games here ... and there are two that I want to point out before we move to the best of the best.

Runner up, most exciting home playoff finish of all time:

Aeros 3, Peoria Rivermen 2 - Apr. 22, 2009 at Toyota Center (Game five)

I know most of you remember this series very well. The Rivermen surged from bottom-feeders to the top of the West behind a strong finish and the sharp goaltending of Manny Legace. I think I publicly picked the Aeros to lose in five or six. (Do you remember all the late-season goaltending issues that year?) The series was 2-2, and the Aeros blew Game 4. Our boys wasted a 2-1 lead in the middle of the game and lost 4-3. Lose this next one, and the Aeros would have been forced to go back to Peoria and win two. That was not going to happen. Anton Khudobin battled his ass off in Game five, but the Rivermen took a 1-0 lead late in the second period and doubled their lead in the third period with a back-breaking goal by Steve Regier. The Peoria beat writer to my right, who after the Aeros won Game 3 said the Rivermen were left for dead, suddenly starting crafting a different story. That is when the Aeros amazing power play went to work.

Down 2-0 with five minutes to go, the Aeros got a break and cut the lead in half when Matt Beaudoin scored his first of the playoffs. Then, amazingly, Robbie Earl tied it less than two minutes later and the Peoria writer and I both hit delete. It was going to be a new story either way.

The overtime period did not last very long thanks to back-to-back penalties by the Rivermen. Just a few moments after the 5-on-3 expired, Beaudoin to Noreau and ballgame. Bedlam, etc.! That was the first time that spring that I REALLY believed the Aeros could do something. They made it to Game 6 of the West finals, but ultimately ran out of gas against the Manitoba Moose.

Most exciting home playoff finish of all time:

Aeros 3, Hamilton Bulldogs 2 (OT) - June 6, 2003 at Compaq Center (Game four)

As many of you know, 2002-03 was my first year covering the team. They won the Cup that year, and they have only been close one time since then. This entire series was one nail-biter after another, and, as a rookie writer, I wanted to decapitate Bulldogs forward Bill Lindsay by the time the Aeros took a 3-2 lead back to Hamilton. In Game 5, he tied the game late in the third period, but the Aeros came back to win in regulation. They did it late in regulation, and that game would have been the most exciting of all time had Jay Henderson not been so careless with his money (and mouth) before the game. I'll explain.

Veilleux was in a scoring slump, and Henderson had to do something to get one of the team's most talented players going again. During the morning skate that day, Henderson said he'd give Veilleux $25 for every goal he scored in Game 4. (Hey, $25 is $25!)

Tied 1-1, the Bulldogs looked to put a nail in the coffin against Johan Holmqvist and the Aeros when Lindsay scored with 4:56 left in regulation. After about 60-70 seconds of sulking, the Aeros turned things up a notch and Veilleux earned himself the first $25 with the game tying goal with 1:46 left in regulation. Marc Cavosie and Travis Roche assisted on the play, but the Aeros weren't done yet. Both teams exchanged a few scoring chances, but the game went to overtime.

Zbynek Michalek and Veilleux finished one of the quickest OT games in playoff history when the teamed up to beat Ty Conklin and the Bulldogs at 2:22. Jean-Guy Trudel and Hnat Domenichelli were the big guns that year, but in Game 4, Stephane Veilleux was the hero. The Aeros only needed one shot to send the 7,500 fans through the roof. Arguably, but not really, it was the biggest shot in the history of the franchise.

The Aeros lost Game 6, but played their most complete game of the postseason with a 3-0 win in Game 7.