The playoffs begin tonight vs. Grand Rapids

Because I was the Aeros Houston Chronicle beat writer for 10 years, I spent way more time that most studying the Aeros, their opponents and the big picture around every game.

I loved that gig more than anything else I have ever done as a freelancer, and I am sad that Houston will not have hockey at Toyota Center next season. 

This is the last run for the Aeros, so I know we all hope they surprise some people and make some noise in the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs. 

Every spring, when the Aeros made the playoffs, I would do a story on the matchups: Who had the better offense, defense, special teams, goalies, coaches and intangibles. And at the very end of that, I would offer a prediction on the series. 

It was a fun process, and on the prediction side, I was a pretty good 13-4. 

So here we are, at the foot of the playoffs of the Aeros last season in Houston ... and I really have no idea how the team will do. I have no gut feeling, but it is leaning more one way than the other now that the Wild had to recall Carson McMillan from the Aeros today. 

Game 1 is epic in this 2-3 series, especially for the lower seeded team. I think whoever wins Game 1 will win the series. The Griffins are the more skilled team, but I think the Aeros have the right intangibles, coaching and goaltending to pull off an upset. And even though this is a 3 vs. 6 matchup, only two points separated the teams in the final standings. 

And now, more from the Aeros players and coaches about their strengths andwhat they need to do to win and advance:

Aeros defenseman Paul Mara (No. 2)

"I think the strength of the team is the team. I don’t think there are any individuals on the team. I think everyone’s bought into our team system and that’s what’s made us successful here throughout the year. I think that’s what we’re going to carry into the playoffs and play as a team and that’s what’s going to help us win."

Aeros forward Chad Rau (No. 20)

"We’ve just got to have a good start. That’s really key and important for us. Keeping them off the power play, too. They’ve got some skilled guys who can put the puck in the net, so that would be a big focus of our is being disciplined and trying to play them 5 on 5."

Aeros defenseman Drew Bagnall (No. 4)

"The key for us is to play as a team, play our systems. Collectively, we’re a lot better than we could ever be individually, so that’s our strength. Just to out-compete teams, have that worker mentality that no one’s going to beat us."

Aeros rookie forward Jason Zucker (No. 16)

"We need to get the puck in deep and use our speed. A lot of teams have trouble with our speed. It’s tough for anybody to adjust to a fast-paced game, so we’ve  got to make sure we’re coming out, getting the puck in deep, eliminating our turnovers and getting the puck on net."

Aeros Head Coach John Torchetti and hjs take on the first opponent, the Grand Rapids Griffins:

"(They) Put a lot of pucks on net. You could bit sitting there and next thing you know it’s 10 shots to 4. We watched them play last night and they were up 10 shots to 4. For us, we’ve just got to do a good job of taking away time and space. They have speedy forwards, they’re not really going to dump the puck in too much, so we want to take away a lot of the neutral zone, making sure we’ve got good gaps, and then we’re re-gapping off of turnovers that we throw back outside the neutral zone. Just making sure we take a little time and space and be a little bit physical."

Here are the playoff sheets from the AHL on all the first round series. Based on these, who do you think has the edge in Round 1?