I think all the superlatives have been said already. That was an amazing game, and I'm pretty sure there are claw marks in the table on press row where I was sitting.
I needed every minute of those intermissions to gather my nerves and find my breath. I can't even imagine actually PLAYING that game.
Well done, boys. Amazing stuff. Keep it up. I cannot WAIT for Monday to see what happens.
And how great was it having Schultzie back? He made little (and sometimes big) plays nearly every shift that made a difference. Amazing stuff after having been out for a month. He's my super secret star of the night.
If Matt Climie isn't backing Turco up in Dallas next season, oh boy, is he gonna make the Aeros lives hell playing for the new Austin team. (BTW, if you want to keep tabs on the approach of their inaugural season, they have a decent Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/TexasStars) that's worth following if you are into the tweets and whatnot.)
Anyway, on to the media round-up. It was a night full of great quotes and even some great non-quotes from a very angry Manitoba coach.
From Houston:
Andrew's article for the Chronicle (plus video)
My article for PHN
John's article for the Press (coming soon)
From Winnipeg:
Post gamer from the Winnipeg Free Press
And finally, from the Winnipeg Sun
Showing posts with label Jesse Schultz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesse Schultz. Show all posts
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Round 3, Game #5: Aeros vs. Moose -- The Get Back Edition
“In retrospect,” Kevin Constantine said after the Houston Aeros 4-3 double overtime victory over the Manitoba Moose. “I think it was a bad coaching decision not to call the timeout. If we’d lost, it would have been a long, long summer for me.”
But luckily for Constantine, and for the Aeros, the summer is not starting. Yet. As once again the Houston Aeros held off playoff elimination and live to see another day.
And looking back at the first 59:39 of the game, it’s hard to believe that this game came down to overtime and the failure of Constantine to call a timeout. Yet it did as the Aeros and Moose played one of the most entertaining and exciting hockey games seen in Toyota Center in a long time.
The game got off to a great start for the Aeros when Maxim Noreau converted on the power play at 2:56 to put the Aeros up 1-0 in the first period. And just under two minutes later, Tony Hrkac found himself in the perfect position to get his stick on the rebound of a Robbie Earl shot and sink the puck in the net to put the Aeros up 2-0 at 4:22. Then at 17:24 of the second period – topping a nearly 15 minute barrage of non-stop, high-speed hockey – a streaking Matt Beaudoin got the pass from John Lammers and put the puck past an out-of-position Cory Schneider to put the Aeros up 3-0.
Then the unthinkable happened. The Moose came out to start the third period with a new goalie as Curtis Sanford took the place of Schneider, the ace number one Moose goalie who’d played every minute of every playoff game for the Moose. But though the Aeros got several good opportunities, they couldn’t get the puck past Sanford. The Moose, however, had better some better luck.
The first Moose goal came at 2:29 of the third just seconds before the Aeros were about to kill off a penalty. But Michael Grabner got the puck past Matt Climie to make the score 3-1, and that’s where the score remained for the next 17 minutes. But as the crowd was roaring and the players were preparing to jump off of the bench and celebrate the sure-awarding of the number one star to Climie, the Moose, on the power play and using the six-on-four advantage, surrounded the net and kept shoving the puck at Climie as the Aeros failed to clear the puck. So at 19:39, Jason Krog got the puck past Climie to make the score 3-2. Then came that time in the game that had Constantine wishing he would have called the timeout as with just two seconds remaining in the game and the victory within their grasp, former Aero Mark Cullen got the puck past Climie to send the game to overtime.
“I felt good the whole game, but I caught a couple of unlucky breaks at the end there, Climie said. “They had a couple of lucky goals to tie it up. I just wanted to keep the boys in it and give them a chance in overtime. The third goal was a kind of weak one to give up, with just two seconds left. And I wanted to do my part in overtime to shut the door.”
So for the next 24:19, Climie did, indeed, shut the door, stopping 18 Manitoba shots in the two overtimes. Trouble was, Sanford, was just as good as Climie, stopping 16 shots. Until, at 4:19 of the second overtime, Robbie Earl found Tony Hrkac in the slot and Hrkac found a way to get the puck in the net to give the Aeros the 4-3 victory.
“Benoit [Pouliot] made a nice play behind the net to get it in,” Hrkac said. “Robbie [Earl] got it in the corner, and their forwards were kind of on me, but then they spread out because they were thinking about Robbie going to the point, and there was a little lane there, so Robbie saw it and I saw it, and he gave me the puck, the goalie went down and boom, over the shoulder.”
The Aeros then stormed the ice and the crowd erupted.
“I thought it was a great play,” Constantine said. “Robbie had enough patient and poise to wait till the pass was there. Like a coy veteran, you wonder how Hrkac put it in.”
And suddenly, Manitoba’s seemingly insurmountable 3-0 series lead didn’t look so insurmountable as, wonder of all wonders, the Aeros found away to get this series back to Winnipeg for a Game Six on Monday night.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
Matt Climie was solid in this game, despite the last 21 seconds. Except for some mop-up duty in two games, he’s barely played, and recently, with Nolan Schaefer’s return, he’s not even had as much ice time with the team. Then again, it’s not every AHL team that has a fourth string goalie who actually played three games in the NHL this season. And when the time came tonight, he was ready.
“It’s the AHL playoffs,” he said. “It’s a dream come true to play this caliber of hockey. I just wanted to make sure I was prepared and ready to go tonight. I just wanted to make the most of this opportunity, and the guys inside here have really welcomed me and I just wanted to do my part to them win.”
Jesse Schultz, who also returned to action tonight, stressed that the team has confidence in all of their goalies, then he mentioned how difficult tonight was for Climie. “He was unbelievable,” Schultz said. “He didn’t travel with us on the road last time. It’s tough to skate with four or five guys here and not see a lot of shots.”
Kevin Constantine called Climie’s play solid, and it looks as if he’ll be getting the start on Monday night.
*********************
Jesse Schultz returned to action for the first time since injuring his ankle in Game Six against Peoria almost four weeks ago. And from the press box vantage point, he looked really good out there.
“I feel pretty good, actually,” he said of his ankle. “It held up real well. It was four weeks tomorrow since it happened. I wasn’t sure what to expect getting back in there. It’s felt pretty good the past couple of days, and it’s held up, so hopefully it just keeps getting better.”
*********************
With his two assists, Corey Locke has now tied Mark Freer for the most points by an Aero in a playoff season. Freer got 22 points in 1999 (11-11=22), and Locke also has 22 points (11-11=22). Matt Beaudoin’s goal gives him 17 points (8-9=17) for the playoffs.
And how about a little appreciation for the old man. Tony Hrkac’s two goals gives him 14 points for the playoffs (4-10=14), including three goals in the past two games. Hrkac told us after the game that while he knew he could still play when he got the call from Troy Ward, he still didn’t expect anything like this.
********************
During the game, we found out that Tom Lynn, the Wild’s assistant GM and the Aeros GM would be staying with the team in his same capacity to work under new GM Chuck Fletcher. And if anybody has a right to be happy about the Aeros right now, it’s Lynn, who during the offseason added Krys Kolanos, Corey Locke, and Jesse Schultz to the team and who, during the season, added Matt Beaudoin and Tony Hrkac, traded for Robbie Earl, and even though the playoffs had already started, was able to get Matt Climie from the Dallas Stars for the remainder of the team’s Calder Cup run.
So I just want to congratulate Tom on the job he did with this Aeros team, and for keeping his job with the Wild since often, when people from outside an organization take over a team, they bring in their own people to work under them.
********************
The quote of the season definitely goes to Kevin Constantine who, after it was all over, was asked his thoughts on the game. “I always look at President Obama – or any president,” he said. “I look at how they age. I started the playoffs at 50 and I’m 73 years old already.”
********************
The Aeros are making the trip to Winnipeg tomorrow. They’ll fly to Minneapolis tomorrow morning. From there they’ll fly to Fargo, ND. And from Fargo they’ll take a three-hour bus ride to Winnipeg, arriving sometime late tomorrow night. They’ll probably practice on Sunday, and they’ll play on Monday night.
And for those of you (like Danny Irmen) who are wondering if I’ll be making any of the games in Winnipeg, the answer, unfortunately, is no. I’d love to be there, but damn, the cheapest airplane ticket I could find was around $1300, and I couldn’t even guarantee that I’d make the arena by game time. I’d love nothing better than to be there, but I’m unemployed at the moment, and there’s no possible flight combination I could use that could get me there on my frequent flier miles.
So guys, you’re just going to have to do it without me this time. Sorry.
*******************
There’s no way, after Monday’s game, that I thought the Aeros were going to get this series back to Winnipeg. No way. So I thought that, to play us out tonight, I’d go with a little classic rock and The Beatles playing, appropriately enough, “Get Back” – and Paul’s even got him a playoff beard going.
But luckily for Constantine, and for the Aeros, the summer is not starting. Yet. As once again the Houston Aeros held off playoff elimination and live to see another day.
And looking back at the first 59:39 of the game, it’s hard to believe that this game came down to overtime and the failure of Constantine to call a timeout. Yet it did as the Aeros and Moose played one of the most entertaining and exciting hockey games seen in Toyota Center in a long time.
The game got off to a great start for the Aeros when Maxim Noreau converted on the power play at 2:56 to put the Aeros up 1-0 in the first period. And just under two minutes later, Tony Hrkac found himself in the perfect position to get his stick on the rebound of a Robbie Earl shot and sink the puck in the net to put the Aeros up 2-0 at 4:22. Then at 17:24 of the second period – topping a nearly 15 minute barrage of non-stop, high-speed hockey – a streaking Matt Beaudoin got the pass from John Lammers and put the puck past an out-of-position Cory Schneider to put the Aeros up 3-0.
Then the unthinkable happened. The Moose came out to start the third period with a new goalie as Curtis Sanford took the place of Schneider, the ace number one Moose goalie who’d played every minute of every playoff game for the Moose. But though the Aeros got several good opportunities, they couldn’t get the puck past Sanford. The Moose, however, had better some better luck.
The first Moose goal came at 2:29 of the third just seconds before the Aeros were about to kill off a penalty. But Michael Grabner got the puck past Matt Climie to make the score 3-1, and that’s where the score remained for the next 17 minutes. But as the crowd was roaring and the players were preparing to jump off of the bench and celebrate the sure-awarding of the number one star to Climie, the Moose, on the power play and using the six-on-four advantage, surrounded the net and kept shoving the puck at Climie as the Aeros failed to clear the puck. So at 19:39, Jason Krog got the puck past Climie to make the score 3-2. Then came that time in the game that had Constantine wishing he would have called the timeout as with just two seconds remaining in the game and the victory within their grasp, former Aero Mark Cullen got the puck past Climie to send the game to overtime.
“I felt good the whole game, but I caught a couple of unlucky breaks at the end there, Climie said. “They had a couple of lucky goals to tie it up. I just wanted to keep the boys in it and give them a chance in overtime. The third goal was a kind of weak one to give up, with just two seconds left. And I wanted to do my part in overtime to shut the door.”
So for the next 24:19, Climie did, indeed, shut the door, stopping 18 Manitoba shots in the two overtimes. Trouble was, Sanford, was just as good as Climie, stopping 16 shots. Until, at 4:19 of the second overtime, Robbie Earl found Tony Hrkac in the slot and Hrkac found a way to get the puck in the net to give the Aeros the 4-3 victory.
“Benoit [Pouliot] made a nice play behind the net to get it in,” Hrkac said. “Robbie [Earl] got it in the corner, and their forwards were kind of on me, but then they spread out because they were thinking about Robbie going to the point, and there was a little lane there, so Robbie saw it and I saw it, and he gave me the puck, the goalie went down and boom, over the shoulder.”
The Aeros then stormed the ice and the crowd erupted.
“I thought it was a great play,” Constantine said. “Robbie had enough patient and poise to wait till the pass was there. Like a coy veteran, you wonder how Hrkac put it in.”
And suddenly, Manitoba’s seemingly insurmountable 3-0 series lead didn’t look so insurmountable as, wonder of all wonders, the Aeros found away to get this series back to Winnipeg for a Game Six on Monday night.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
Matt Climie was solid in this game, despite the last 21 seconds. Except for some mop-up duty in two games, he’s barely played, and recently, with Nolan Schaefer’s return, he’s not even had as much ice time with the team. Then again, it’s not every AHL team that has a fourth string goalie who actually played three games in the NHL this season. And when the time came tonight, he was ready.
“It’s the AHL playoffs,” he said. “It’s a dream come true to play this caliber of hockey. I just wanted to make sure I was prepared and ready to go tonight. I just wanted to make the most of this opportunity, and the guys inside here have really welcomed me and I just wanted to do my part to them win.”
Jesse Schultz, who also returned to action tonight, stressed that the team has confidence in all of their goalies, then he mentioned how difficult tonight was for Climie. “He was unbelievable,” Schultz said. “He didn’t travel with us on the road last time. It’s tough to skate with four or five guys here and not see a lot of shots.”
Kevin Constantine called Climie’s play solid, and it looks as if he’ll be getting the start on Monday night.
*********************
Jesse Schultz returned to action for the first time since injuring his ankle in Game Six against Peoria almost four weeks ago. And from the press box vantage point, he looked really good out there.
“I feel pretty good, actually,” he said of his ankle. “It held up real well. It was four weeks tomorrow since it happened. I wasn’t sure what to expect getting back in there. It’s felt pretty good the past couple of days, and it’s held up, so hopefully it just keeps getting better.”
*********************
With his two assists, Corey Locke has now tied Mark Freer for the most points by an Aero in a playoff season. Freer got 22 points in 1999 (11-11=22), and Locke also has 22 points (11-11=22). Matt Beaudoin’s goal gives him 17 points (8-9=17) for the playoffs.
And how about a little appreciation for the old man. Tony Hrkac’s two goals gives him 14 points for the playoffs (4-10=14), including three goals in the past two games. Hrkac told us after the game that while he knew he could still play when he got the call from Troy Ward, he still didn’t expect anything like this.
********************
During the game, we found out that Tom Lynn, the Wild’s assistant GM and the Aeros GM would be staying with the team in his same capacity to work under new GM Chuck Fletcher. And if anybody has a right to be happy about the Aeros right now, it’s Lynn, who during the offseason added Krys Kolanos, Corey Locke, and Jesse Schultz to the team and who, during the season, added Matt Beaudoin and Tony Hrkac, traded for Robbie Earl, and even though the playoffs had already started, was able to get Matt Climie from the Dallas Stars for the remainder of the team’s Calder Cup run.
So I just want to congratulate Tom on the job he did with this Aeros team, and for keeping his job with the Wild since often, when people from outside an organization take over a team, they bring in their own people to work under them.
********************
The quote of the season definitely goes to Kevin Constantine who, after it was all over, was asked his thoughts on the game. “I always look at President Obama – or any president,” he said. “I look at how they age. I started the playoffs at 50 and I’m 73 years old already.”
********************
The Aeros are making the trip to Winnipeg tomorrow. They’ll fly to Minneapolis tomorrow morning. From there they’ll fly to Fargo, ND. And from Fargo they’ll take a three-hour bus ride to Winnipeg, arriving sometime late tomorrow night. They’ll probably practice on Sunday, and they’ll play on Monday night.
And for those of you (like Danny Irmen) who are wondering if I’ll be making any of the games in Winnipeg, the answer, unfortunately, is no. I’d love to be there, but damn, the cheapest airplane ticket I could find was around $1300, and I couldn’t even guarantee that I’d make the arena by game time. I’d love nothing better than to be there, but I’m unemployed at the moment, and there’s no possible flight combination I could use that could get me there on my frequent flier miles.
So guys, you’re just going to have to do it without me this time. Sorry.
*******************
There’s no way, after Monday’s game, that I thought the Aeros were going to get this series back to Winnipeg. No way. So I thought that, to play us out tonight, I’d go with a little classic rock and The Beatles playing, appropriately enough, “Get Back” – and Paul’s even got him a playoff beard going.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Observations From The Morning Skate
I took you on a look into the numbers in the post below. But I thought I would share some of the info I got from this morning's skate.
As Heather already posted, Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer are pretty much being counted out for the playoffs. I was a bit surprised to hear that from Kevin Constantine, as Schaefer has supposedly been on the brink of returning to action since the San Antonio series to end the season. But Constantine said that the rehab for his lower body injury isn't progressing as planned, and that no one is more frustrated by this than Schaefer. Barry Brust is battling a broken foot, and he's pretty much out for the length of the playoffs, but if something should happen, he's the closest one to a full recovery.
So that pretty much means that the Aeros will be going with Anton Khudobin for the rest of the playoffs. Constantine says he pulled Khudobin on Saturday night to basically give him a rest, and because he just had this feeling that the team wasn't going to pull off one of its comebacks.
"Anton had played pretty good, and he’d made some great saves early to keep us in the game," Constantine said. "It wasn’t a thing of Anton being bad, it was a thing of, well, he’s played every game for us, let’s give him a breather and let him come back."
Jesse Schultz, meanwhile, is skating, but not with the team. He's able to get on the ice and move around a bit, but he can't place too much pressure on the ankle and he obviously has difficulties with the sudden movements a hockey player has to make on his ankle. I didn't see Schultz while I was at Toyota Center this morning, so I couldn't check with him, but Constantine implied that it would pretty much take a miracle for Schultz to make it back for this series.
"He’s trying to work his way back," Constantine said of Schultz. "You never say never, but we just don’t feel at this point that he’s close to making his way back."
I can't really say much about Paul Albers's injury. I saw him on the ice with the rest of the team this morning, and he appeared to be fully participating in all of the drills. If he was in any kind of pain, it didn't show. Of course, he could end up being a game time decision.
The rookies, J.P. Testwuide and Marco Scandella, are getting playing time because of Albers injury. Testwuide had been working with the forwards in practice, so when Albers was injured, Constantine thought of putting him in at his natural position, but chose to stick with him at forward for because he brings a little added size up front and put Scandella in at Albers spot instead.
Constantine thinks the key to tonight's game is the team worrying less about what Milwaukee's doing, and concentrating more on making their plays. He was happy with their play last Thursday, but much less so with Saturday's play. So I look for the team to play more like Game One when they seemed more concerned with pressing the action and forcing Milwaukee to react to them, than like they were on Saturday, when they seemed to be more reactive to what was happening.
*******************
I also took a little time to talk to the newest Aeros goalie, Matt Climie. Climie says that he is "ready, and I’m just waiting for the opportunity to go in and prove myself." He knows that his job at the moment is to sit on the bench and stay prepared for sudden action, and he says he's got a game plan for dealing with that.
"I just try to keep loose," he says. "I don’t place a lot of emphasis on preparing mentally. Where as a lot of guys spend two hours visualizing and thinking about making saves. I just try to stay loose and have fun with it. And then when there’s a chance to go in the net, I focus and regroup quickly because you get thrown in there, and it doesn’t take long to focus. I just try to make the saves."
*******************
And for those of you who Kevin Constantine talking about the flipper play between periods on Saturday night, I got an explanation. And it's just as it sounds. One of the guys at the far end of the ice flips the puck high in the air toward the other side in hopes that one his teammates will be able to get under the puck and take it in for the goal.
As Heather already posted, Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer are pretty much being counted out for the playoffs. I was a bit surprised to hear that from Kevin Constantine, as Schaefer has supposedly been on the brink of returning to action since the San Antonio series to end the season. But Constantine said that the rehab for his lower body injury isn't progressing as planned, and that no one is more frustrated by this than Schaefer. Barry Brust is battling a broken foot, and he's pretty much out for the length of the playoffs, but if something should happen, he's the closest one to a full recovery.
So that pretty much means that the Aeros will be going with Anton Khudobin for the rest of the playoffs. Constantine says he pulled Khudobin on Saturday night to basically give him a rest, and because he just had this feeling that the team wasn't going to pull off one of its comebacks.
"Anton had played pretty good, and he’d made some great saves early to keep us in the game," Constantine said. "It wasn’t a thing of Anton being bad, it was a thing of, well, he’s played every game for us, let’s give him a breather and let him come back."
Jesse Schultz, meanwhile, is skating, but not with the team. He's able to get on the ice and move around a bit, but he can't place too much pressure on the ankle and he obviously has difficulties with the sudden movements a hockey player has to make on his ankle. I didn't see Schultz while I was at Toyota Center this morning, so I couldn't check with him, but Constantine implied that it would pretty much take a miracle for Schultz to make it back for this series.
"He’s trying to work his way back," Constantine said of Schultz. "You never say never, but we just don’t feel at this point that he’s close to making his way back."
I can't really say much about Paul Albers's injury. I saw him on the ice with the rest of the team this morning, and he appeared to be fully participating in all of the drills. If he was in any kind of pain, it didn't show. Of course, he could end up being a game time decision.
The rookies, J.P. Testwuide and Marco Scandella, are getting playing time because of Albers injury. Testwuide had been working with the forwards in practice, so when Albers was injured, Constantine thought of putting him in at his natural position, but chose to stick with him at forward for because he brings a little added size up front and put Scandella in at Albers spot instead.
Constantine thinks the key to tonight's game is the team worrying less about what Milwaukee's doing, and concentrating more on making their plays. He was happy with their play last Thursday, but much less so with Saturday's play. So I look for the team to play more like Game One when they seemed more concerned with pressing the action and forcing Milwaukee to react to them, than like they were on Saturday, when they seemed to be more reactive to what was happening.
*******************
I also took a little time to talk to the newest Aeros goalie, Matt Climie. Climie says that he is "ready, and I’m just waiting for the opportunity to go in and prove myself." He knows that his job at the moment is to sit on the bench and stay prepared for sudden action, and he says he's got a game plan for dealing with that.
"I just try to keep loose," he says. "I don’t place a lot of emphasis on preparing mentally. Where as a lot of guys spend two hours visualizing and thinking about making saves. I just try to stay loose and have fun with it. And then when there’s a chance to go in the net, I focus and regroup quickly because you get thrown in there, and it doesn’t take long to focus. I just try to make the saves."
*******************
And for those of you who Kevin Constantine talking about the flipper play between periods on Saturday night, I got an explanation. And it's just as it sounds. One of the guys at the far end of the ice flips the puck high in the air toward the other side in hopes that one his teammates will be able to get under the puck and take it in for the goal.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Round 1, Game #4 -- Aeros vs.Peoria -- Photos 2
Here are a couple of shots of Matt Climie, he's a big one at 6' 3".
Ms C. has been touting the play of Justin Falk. Here is a big hit on Peoria's Julian Talbot.
Here is the hug from Robbie Earl on the Hrkac goal. You can see Legace is already yelling at the ref.
As the Aeros celebrate, referee Frederick L'Ecuyer explains to Manny Legace that the goal is good.
Anton Khudobin comes across the crease hard to stop the shot of Steve Wagner on the Peoria power play.
Unfortunately, he didn't make a solid stop and Peoria ties the game at 2.
This one was a back breaker. On a shot that looked high and wide, Khudobin got a glove on the puck only to have it flop to the ice behind him and trickle in before he could locate it.
Jesse Schultz gives the shot everything he has, as he stretches out airborne, on the back end of a 2 man penalty. He beats Manny Legace to bring the Aeros back within one goal.
All Photos:Fred Trask
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Aeros v. Rockford 3/27 - Photos Part 1
It was Lyme Disease Awareness night and it was good to see the guys support Nolan Schaefer and his wife Lisa in their fight against the disease and to educate the public (as well as doctors) about Lyme Disease. Please take a trip over to Unmask Lyme and educate yourself. You'd be wise to read the horrific story of Lisa's struggle with the disease, the horrors she went through in getting it properly diagnosed, and her struggle to cope with this terrible disease. Keep Nolan and Lisa in your prayers.
Unfortunately Nolan had a slight injury tonight and didn't get the start. Here you can see he has his entire stick wrapped in the green tape the team used to show their support. Several players kept some tape on themselves or gear throughout the game.
This one made a funny sound when it hit his stick and I thought perhaps the stick had broken.
There was discussion on some of the calls made, and not made, by Nygel Pelletier in this one. Here you can see a "no call" of what I think is a pretty clear holding offense by Robbie Earl.
Literally 2 seconds later Earl was hit with a goaltender interference for this. (Forgive the focus on this one it's a crap photo but it still clearly shows there was no penalty) He was skating through the top of the crease and Niemi clearly steps up into him, obstructs him with the stick and sticks his leg out. If there was ANY penalty to call here it was on Niemi. My guess is this was a make up call for not calling the obvious hold.
Earl pleads his case, to no avail.
This was the "no call" on Schultz. It looked to me like there was a penalty to be called here but I've not watched it on TV yet to see for sure, it could have been a good no call though. In any case, Schultz showed great effort to stay with the puck and make the play here.
And here is a Tony Hrkac for the Circus Hrkac crowd.
I'll have more photos later, especially some fantastic shoot out saves.
All Photos:Fred Trask
Unfortunately Nolan had a slight injury tonight and didn't get the start. Here you can see he has his entire stick wrapped in the green tape the team used to show their support. Several players kept some tape on themselves or gear throughout the game.
Here is a shot of Brandon Rogers - The Aeros finalist for the AHL Man of the Year. It would have been nice if someone from the Aeros had informed Brandon of this honor. Congratulations and good luck in your bid to win the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award Brandon
Benoit Pouliot has really turned it on since his return from the NHL. He's been very physical, hit the score sheet regularly and his play has been notably better. Great job Benoit, your hard work is definately being noticed.
Anton Khudobin had a great night. He was outstanding in the shoot out and one of the biggest reasons the Aeros were able to get a point out of this one. Here he is locked in on a shot from Rockford's Tim Hambly
This one made a funny sound when it hit his stick and I thought perhaps the stick had broken.
Antti Niemi had a big night for Rockford after an easy first period.
Here is the Albers goal reaction from Pouliot, Kolanos, Niemi and Hambly.
This is the Robbie Earl goal that put the Aeros up 2-1 in the 3rd period.
There was discussion on some of the calls made, and not made, by Nygel Pelletier in this one. Here you can see a "no call" of what I think is a pretty clear holding offense by Robbie Earl.
Literally 2 seconds later Earl was hit with a goaltender interference for this. (Forgive the focus on this one it's a crap photo but it still clearly shows there was no penalty) He was skating through the top of the crease and Niemi clearly steps up into him, obstructs him with the stick and sticks his leg out. If there was ANY penalty to call here it was on Niemi. My guess is this was a make up call for not calling the obvious hold.
Earl pleads his case, to no avail.
This was the "no call" on Schultz. It looked to me like there was a penalty to be called here but I've not watched it on TV yet to see for sure, it could have been a good no call though. In any case, Schultz showed great effort to stay with the puck and make the play here.
And here is a Tony Hrkac for the Circus Hrkac crowd.
I'll have more photos later, especially some fantastic shoot out saves.All Photos:Fred Trask
Saturday, March 14, 2009
QCY 03/13 - A Stinker - Part 2
Many of the Aeros struggled all night and unfortunately Nolan Schaefer was one of those Aeros.
Even on a night when the posts were Nolan's friends, it just wasn't enough. Here you can see a shot on an early QC power play that just wouldn't go over the line.
It hit the post and came back out behind Schaefer.
Rogers was able to clear it away just before John Vigilante could poke it home.
Schaefer still made plenty of big stops
but it seemed like he had to struggle and everything looked difficult for him.
Here you can see the Farynuk goal in the second period going in over Schaefer's shoulder.
One of the bright spots of the game was this goal by Jesse Schultz from Maxim Noreau. This was the goal described by John Royal in his post below.
All Photos : Fred Trask
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Aeros 3, Quad City Flames 1
Andrew and John covered the game well with their words. I would only add that the Aeros had many good chances to score, some on open nets, that they failed to capitalize on. If you want to take the "half-full" viewpoint that means they are doing good things and the goals will come.
I'll add a few photos to illustrate some points already made.
Add a little head rub from Jesse Schultz and you have a pretty nice goal to tie the game.
Kolanos had another goal that was in and out in a hurry. Here you see a dejected Irving with the puck already out of the net and Kolanos doing his fist pump.
I'll throw in a Paul Albers celebration too. Lost in the 6-1 debacle vs Rockford was an awesome goal from Paul Albers. Here is the celebration of the goal with Matt Kassian and Mitch Love swooping in for a group hug.
All photos : Fred Trask
I'll add a few photos to illustrate some points already made.
Here is the QC goal by Brandon Roach. It appeared that Schaefer may have been screened on the shot and it beat him glove side. I think it might have squirted between his arm and body or gone in off the outside of his arm.. You can see the puck as it is about to cross the goal line.
Here are a few shots of the Benoit Pouliot goal that tied the game at 1. This was a rocket from Pouliot that beat Irving stick side and came right back out of the net on the glove side. Great pass from Schultz. What you don't see is the Aeros had great spacing on this one. Schultz was coming up the middle with Pouliot on his left and Locke was coming hard on the right. Irving had to respect all 3 and I think the spacing on this play really helped to open the spot for Benoit who nailed it.
Add a little head rub from Jesse Schultz and you have a pretty nice goal to tie the game.
Kolanos had another goal that was in and out in a hurry. Here you see a dejected Irving with the puck already out of the net and Kolanos doing his fist pump.
Matt Beaudoin celebrates with Kolanos
Nolan Schaefer had some big saves on the night.
Here are a few shots of one example of the kind of "near misses" the Aeros had. In this one Kris Kolanos had a fantastic wrap around chance in the third period. Corey Locke is tied up out front and Leland Irving has no chance on the play. Unfortunately Kolanos was not able to get it to go in and is sailed through the crease.
Here is your first star - Krys Kolanos
And your second star - Benoit Pouliot
I'll throw in a Paul Albers celebration too. Lost in the 6-1 debacle vs Rockford was an awesome goal from Paul Albers. Here is the celebration of the goal with Matt Kassian and Mitch Love swooping in for a group hug.
All photos : Fred Trask
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