2013 Calder Cup Playoffs
Western Conference Quarter Finals - Best of five
Houston Aeros (6 - Seed) vs. Grand Rapids Griffins (3 - Seed)
Schedule:
1 Grand Rapids at Houston Friday, Apr. 26 7:05 PM
2 Grand Rapids at Houston Sunday, Apr. 28 5:05 PM
3 Houston at Grand Rapids Wednesday, May 1 7:00 PM (ET)
4 Houston at Grand Rapids Friday, May 3 7:00 PM (ET) - X
5 Houston at Grand Rapids Saturday, May 4 7:00 PM (ET) - X
X = If Necessary
Dear Aeros fan,
I'm not going to start this one out with any fluff. After grinding their way through 76 games, the Aeros finished the regular season with 90 points, and that was good enough for only 6th place in the Western Conference. That just goes to show you how good ALL the playoff teams are. I can almost make a legitimate case as to why every team in this conference could be skating for the Calder Cup in June.
But with the Aeros leaving for Des Moines after the season, it's almost hard not to picture this squad making a miracle run and giving Houston hockey fans one more taste of glory.
As much as I want to believe that is a realistic possibility, my brain says otherwise. I'd love to see them take out Grand Rapids in the first round and then upset another team to make things very interesting. But the dice and cards and all that stuff just isn't lining up right now. I don't have a good feeling about the roster right now due to all the recent injuries in Minnesota, and I really don't like entering the playoffs with a cold goalie in a best-of-five series.
I am blessed and have seen a lot of playoff hockey since 1994, and I usually have a good pulse on the team going into the playoffs. While I hope I am wrong, and I hope I get flamed off the internet if I don't call it right, but I think Sunday will be the last Aeros game of the season ... and foreseeable future.
I know the team is hot recently, but they beat up on non-playoff teams down the stretch and while that was good enough to get them into the playoffs, it's not going to be good enough to get by a division winner like Grand Rapids.
Debbie Downer's prediction is Grand Rapids in five.
Tomorrow, we'll hear from Sunshine Sally, who has a different take on this series and the rest of the playoffs.
Posts
9 comments:
I'll give you the cold goalie argument...but the MN Wild have only used 31 players this year (3 of which have been traded away) so I don't buy the "Wild have so many injuries they poached all our good players" line of thought. IF and I mean IF Zucker and Granlund stay this Friday and Saturday I think they have a pretty good shot at winning both games in Houston but I'm concerned about the roster after the regular season ends and Minnie calls up players for the playoffs. GO AEROS!
Judging by the regime of "The Sunshine Kid" I don't think the cold goalie will make any difference.
most of the games with the Griffins were close save a blow out for each on the other's home ice.
The Aeros have proven to be a decent road time.
My crystal ball says we advance and live to play another day.
Go Aeros
Go Aeros it's our last stand in Houston! Kuemper is ready and we are going to win the Cup.
Seriously, they need to get ready for Iowa...big EMPTY playoffs.
Who is the "they" who need to get ready for Iowa? The coaches and the team need to get ready for the playoffs and I dare say they would like nothing better than to go as deep as they possibly can. You can't possibly believe they're thinking beyond winning the Cup. They're a competitive group; they want to win. They'll worry about Iowa later.
Attendance and fan support is a big reason that TWO (2)AHL teams have failed in Des Moines. The front office will give tickets away the first year or two and attendance will fall off accordingly. By then the Wild will have justification that they have lost so much money they are moving the team to the NEW arena they control in Sioux city.
Yes so WE need a hockey arena around Houston! Have you seen the number of minor league hockey teams around Dallas? They have a team in Frisco! Houston has to be hell next year for hockey fans this is ridiculous build US a hockey arena!
hopefully the county and city fathers won't make the same mistake twice.
there will never be hockey in houston at any level as long as les has the final say
Awesome game tonight!!! Kuemper was untouchable in goal, Scandella and Fontaine had some nice goals, and even Fontaine's empty netter was nice (bad angle, but he put it in the net, and beat icing to boot). Crowd was smaller than I expected, but they were definetly in playoff mode. I love playoff hockey!!! Awesome.
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