Photo Time From Aeros/Crunch

So how about a few photos from tonight's game versus the Crunch? Yeah, I thought you would agree, too. These photos are through glass, and I haven't done any editing tricks, yet, so...

Here's Josh Tordjman making a stop early in the first period.

Here's Pascal Morency going for a little spin on the ice.

Here's is Jarod Palmer's first goal.

Here are the guys celebrating Palmer's goal.

And here's Palmer moving in to stop Nate Prosser from getting into further trouble.

Quick Hits: Sully, Torch, Earl, and Anton

Just a few things:

1. Patrick "Golden Ticket" O'Sullivan was named AHL Player of the Month for his stellar play in February. Well deserved honor.
2. It's quite a blow for Bakersfield but Josh Tordjman's been called up officially as of today. Also, Cody Almond is showing as having been called up yesterday. Not sure if that was some trade deadline maneuvering or if he's actually not going to be available to the Aeros tomorrow. I do know the Wild was looking to send someone to New York as an illness replacement, but I didn't think that was known until today.
3. I wrote a little piece on Robbie Earl's stepped-up efforts for theAHL.com today. He was good talking about finding his game again. I've also probably jinxed him just like I jinxed poor Palmer (dude, I seriously owe you, like, a muffin basket or pitcher of beer or something). 
4. Finally, I reciprocated a little Khudobin appetizer for our P-Bruins friends over at Something's Bruin. Check it out if you want to throw your own thoughts in the comments over there. It's probably a little bit sunshinier than I've felt about him day-to-day this season, but when I look at the big picture, I've got a very warm spot in my heart for Anton along with a lot of belief in him, and I hope he does great things and blows them all away.

So long and thanks for all the savegasms; Broda and Zingoni gone

News out of Minnesota this morning is that Nik Backstrom and Jose Theodore are both healthy, so whirling dervish Anton Khudobin is headed back to Houston. If you throw out the one lousy game where he just wasn't up to NHL speed yet, he was nearly perfect, allowing only 1 goal in his last 2 starts.

What's more, Wild fans (and the rest of the NHL) got to see what a unique goalie he is and have a few little heart attacks along the way. Always fun to "share" our guys with the rest of the world and show what they can do. Plus he made a week or two of show dough, so dinner's on Dimples, bitches.

But of course, this means Josh Tordjman is headed back to the Condors in Cali. *sigh* Oh well. Better to have loved and lost, right? At least the Aeros know they're in good hands when the inevitable late season goalie injuries hit either here or in Minnesota, where they're actually getting their shit together and making a playoff push.

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Adding to this transaction news is that Joel Broda has been assigned to Bakersfield along with Tordjman, and Peter Zingoni has signed to play in the German Elite League. I can't find anything on which team, but, well, it ain't the Aeros, so...

1/15/11 -- Aeros v. Griffins -- The Barry Brust Who Edition?

How about those Houston Aeros? As Andrew mentioned, Mike Yeo didn't think this was his team's best game, but even not playing their best game, they pulled off the 2-1 win over Grand Rapids to move into tie, points wise for third place, while sitting in sole possession of fourth place. Who would have thought that possible during December?

I'll get into more stuff further below, but first, a little photo essay, if you don't mind. After the first period, I moved back up to the press box, and took my seat next to Heather. About midway through the period there was this play which I captured in these three photos. And I swear, Heather hasn't reacted like this about anything a goalie has done since Barry Brust was at the top of his game. She was just blown away by Josh Tordjman's play right here.

In that same period, Grand Rapids goalie Jordan Pearce made the save below on a Casey Wellman shot. With this save, Heather was rather "meh" and felt it was nothing special.

Now on to my bullet points and discussion of the game, with, I hope, some choice quotes and stats.

1. The game's first goal came off of the stick of Patrick O'Sullivan, playing his first game since his demotion to the AHL. As you can tell from my earlier post of photos of the goal, it was a thing of beauty.

After the game, Andrew asked if there was anybody on the team happier about the O'Sullivan than Jon DiSalvatore as playing on a line with O'Sullivan gives him a high-skills player to compliment his skills and draw defenders.I think the photo right below gives a good idea of just how excited DiSalvatore was to have O'Sullivan around. (This is just after the O'Sullivan goal.)

2. Yeo thinks O'Sullivan will be good for DiSalvatore:

"When you have a guy like that to compliment a guy like Jon DiSalvatore – now [DiSalvatore] becomes more of a threat," Yeo said. "Not only is he going to get the puck to Johnny in better spots and key situations, it takes the focus away from Johnny as well. It’s easier to get lost for a goal scorer like Johnny when all of the focus all of the sudden they’re sending two guys on Patrick down in the corner, and that means that someone’s going to be open in the high slot, like Johnny was a couple of times tonight."

3. One such time was on the DiSalvatore's power play goal -- the game-winner -- in the second period, which found DiSalvatore up in that slot and ready for the shot.

4. A quick note about that second goal. The score sheet still says the goal was scored by Cody Almond on a tip-in of DiSalvatore's shot. This was after the original ruling was that DiSalvatore got the goal. After more consideration and review, the goal is being given to DiSalvatore with teh ruling that the puck hit off of a Grand Rapids player and not Almond. But with the way things go, this could still change about 20 more times.

5. We asked DiSalvatore what a guy like O'Sullivan means to his game:

"It’s great….I played against him when he was here his rookie year. A very dynamic player. A very smart player. Just to even talk to him on the bench. His vision is great. His idea and approach to the game is great. I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to the future with him."

6. We talked to Yeo and DiSalvatore, and I talked to Max Noreau, about the team's play the past month or so, especially after the Christmas break. DiSalvatore spoke about the team really buying into Yeo's system:

"Coach Yeo is stressing the importance of what it means to be a winner," he said. "The whole system, and every learning experience that we’ve had, has been geared towards that. It was a huge commitment for the guys to make this big push as this point in the season right now. We knew that either we have to make this push right now in this chunk of the season or we’re going to be the odd man out. With the way our division is, we can’t afford to give up any points on any given night. So I think it’s just a top to bottom team commitment that’s really pushed us."

And Noreau spoke of how the team bonded together when they were going through that stretch on the road in December:

"I think one of the big parts was we were on the road a lot. It was easy for us to make excuses on why we were losing or winning, but we put our heads down and went to work, and now we’re at home. It’s a lot easier to play. There’s no excuses anymore.

"It built character on the road when we were flying in on the day of the game, or busing in the night before, and we were getting those wins anyway. We were saying, when we’re rested, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be winning those games."

7. I spoke a bit to Noreau after the game about being named to the All Star team again, and what he's been doing to improve his game this year. You'll have to read about this over in the mothership on Monday. But let's just say that Darryl Sydor has really grabbed his attention.

8. The three stars for the game were 1) Jon DiSalvatore, 2) Josh Tordjman, and 3) Patrick O'Sullivan. I argued for O'Sullivan as the number one, and lost, because my comrades thought DiSalvatore had the better game and was everywhere on the ice.

9. But I based my opinion on this. I spent the first period down in the corner with the back-up goalie for Grand Rapids. And I saw what O'Sullivan's presence did to him, and I can't help but think the same thoughts were going through the head of Pearce.

Essentially, right after that goal, I heard about how unfair it was that they had to face O'Sullivan because he was too good to be in the AHL. There was just a kind of awe in his voice that they were facing someone this good. (For what it's worth, he was amazed that Ortmeyer was also on the Aeros).

10. The win was the fourth in the row for the team. That's the first time they've pulled that off since winning four in a row from October 30 to November 6. They've also won five of their last six, six of the last seven, and seven of their last 10 for what is, undoubtedly, their best streak of hockey this season.

11. The team's record is now 24-18-1-2 (51 points) and they sit alone in fourth place. That's the first time the Aeros have been in fourth place since November 26 when they were tied, points wise, with Milwaukee, but were in fifth place by percentage points.

As of now, however, they're tied, points wise, with San Antonio, for third place while sitting alone, percentage wise, in fourth. And, knowing where they were in December, the team is only three points after first place and could, conceivably, be in a tie for second place after Sunday's game with Grand Rapids.

12. For those who keep track of such things, the Aeros are now 20-6-0-2 when they score first. They lead the AHL in that category, having scored first now in 28 games.

The Motion of the Ocean: Giving in to the waves and Josh Tordjman

I tried. I really did. I tried to be a pro. To be objective and fair and rational.

I tried to plant my feet in the sand and not get buffeted by the waves of the season. When I was only in up to my ankles, I could do it. Waves would only swish the sand around my toes, or send seaweed brushing up against my ankles.

But now, I'm in too deep. This Aeros team has sucked me in and the waves push me and pull me and rather than being frustrated at my inability to resist their force, I'm giving in. I'm on my knees, my hair is wet, I'm laughing and spitting out saltwater.

And it's fantastic. This is how I came to love hockey, and for the purposes of this blog, this is how I will write about hockey.

This 2-1 win tonight over the Griffins was a lot like playing in the ocean. Messy, scrape-your-knees, leave it all out there in the sun wonderfulness. The messy part coach Yeo didn't like so much, and I get that. Lots of breakaways and odd man rushes that Tordjman had to turn away (and if he hadn't, it could have been really ugly). But the good stuff -- the part where every man on the team is doing what it takes to win -- he is proud of and should be.

It takes an awful lot of buy-in from a pretty large group of individuals to get the kind of commitment he's gotten out of this team. He's doing something very right, as is the leadership of this team.

John asked Jon DiSalvatore after the game about this onset of what I would call "stick-to-it-tivness."

"It's a big push and Coach Yeo is stressing the importance of and what it means to be a winner. And the whole system and every learning experience we've had has been geared towards that and it was a huge commitment from the guys to make this big push at this point in the season. We knew that either we've got to make this big push right now or we're going to be the odd man out," DiSalvatore said. "So I think it's just a top to bottom team commitment that's really pushed it. It may seem real cliche but it's really what it's been all about."

Great stuff. The "big push" is a phrase that came out of Yeo, DiSal, and Noreau's mouths tonight so it's obviously been much-discussed in the inner circles of the team. It makes sense. This is often a time when teams that started hot burn out a little. The dog days of winter. Bodies and minds are weary from the grind of the first half.

But teams like the Aeros... late bloomers who have been hanging in there but seeing only middling results... if they can own these dog days and start filling up the win bucket while the other teams are catching their breath, boy can that go a long way in March and April, when the rest of the division is making their "big push."

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It's been a long time since I had to watch an Aeros game with my hand clamped over my mouth to muffle the gasps and squeaks that don't belong on press row.

I really never paid much attention to Tordjman before, even though I saw him plenty. All I knew was he's Kate Moss-skinny and he played for those devils in San Antonio. Feh.

So, I have to admit, he was a revelation of hand-clamped-over-mouth proportions tonight. I haven't been so completely moved to gasps over a goalie since Brusty was here.

First of all, he handles the puck with this sort of terrifying nonchalance and clumsy confidence. I know those seem contradicting, but how else can you explain how he really never has great control of the puck on his stick but seems utterly unconcerned about it?

Something about that just thrills me to pieces. I fully admit that seems like crazy talk.

Also, the decisiveness with which he makes saves, even if they're huge rebounds into the middle of traffic, he just does it with such conviction, and then he stops the rebound shots with the same conviction, like, "I MEANT TO DO THAT! TA-DAAA!!!!" *cape swish*

I was utterly transfixed by his entire game. And by the end of the game, I was smitten. When he batted that puck out of the air in front of him OVER the back of his net with his stick, I didn't move, except to giggle, for 5 straight minutes. Who DOES that???  Josh Tordjman does that, bitches!

It just felt so good to be excited about an Aeros goalie without having to convince myself that, "Well, he's a GOOD goalie, so I SHOULD like him." Nope. In fact, I was fully prepared to be unimpressed.

But you win, Torch. You got me. You, too, Aeros. Surf's up...

As The Goalies Turn

This is interesting, and probably something to watch because, per Russo, the only healthy Wild goalie at the moment is Anton Khudobin. Neither Backstrom or Theodore are practicing, and it's just Khudobin and the strength coach.

The Wild don't play again until tomorrow night, so it's possible that Theodore will be healthy enough to play, but this is the Wild, so it's just as possible that the Aeros are currently turning over every rock in the Chicago area so they'll have a backup goalie for Hackett tomorrow night should Tordjman be called to backup Khudobin, or vice versa.

PER HEATHER: Tordjman's on an AHL-only deal. So if anybody goes up, it's Hackett. But hey, I said vise versa, right?

Give Me The Puck, Damn It

Okay, Matt Hackett didn't really say that to Mike Yeo on Sunday afternoon. We don't know really know what the two said. We just know what they told us they said. But what we know is this: Yeo was going to start Josh Tordjman today. He told Hackett a couple of hours before the game, when they were at Toyota Center. And Hackett asked to play instead. And Yeo said fine, go for it.

It could be argued that Yeo, no matter what, should have gone with Tordjman in this game with the San Antonio Rampage. There's some validity to that argument since Tordjman has a lot of AHL experience, so he probably offered up the better chance for the win. But Yeo was after something else. He wanted to see what his young goalie was capable of. Whether he had that fire.
I think we saw the answer, a 3-1 win that saw Hackett play an excellent game.

I didn't see Saturday's 4-0 disaster at San Antonio -- I was watching the NFL Playoffs, and from what I understand, is you tried AHL Live you couldn't see it either -- so I don't really know how bad the kid, or the team as a whole, looked. But they held their own against San Antonio today, and Hackett did a hell of a job against one of the best teams in the league.

So, here are the bullet points.

1. Yeo says it is not his practice to let a player dictate his lineup, and he's not going to make it a practice. But there are circumstances when you let Hackett do what he did. Today was one of them.

"It’s quite the story," Yeo said. "We’re a development league, right? But we’re also here to win hockey games. I was going to play Josh today, and after talking with Matt, he wanted it. Badly. He said, I’m ready for this. I want the game. This is something that I’ve talked to him about, and we’ve talked to him about. The next step for him is, he’s got to show that he wants that. That’s he the guy. That he’s the man, take the wheel. I want to see some fight."

[SNIP]

"If he wants it that bad, I’m going to see what you’ve got then. I’m going to give you that opportunity, and he responded the right way. I was pretty impressed."

2. For those wondering, things like this happened with Kevin Constantine, as well. I can remember talking to Constantine in his office after Nolan Schaefer or Barry Brust had had a bad game, or several bad games, and asking who would go at goal the next day, and he would say one guy, then come game time, out would skate the other guy. And KC would say after the game that they talked and he saw that they wanted to get back out there and set things right.

3. I know that there will be injuries, and people moving up and down from Minnesota. I know that different guys will join the team and depart, etc., but...

I really like the way the lines shape up right now. I think that Peters/Ortmeyer/Gillies line is doing a great job of getting things started with just the right sense of energy and urgency. And I'm also liking the Rau/Earl/Daoust line. Earl's been playing some really good hockey for several weeks, but Daoust has suddenly started to come life.

4. We talked to Daoust after the game, and he attributed part of his early season slump to bad luck: "I’ve been working hard, and all of that," he said. "The puck didn’t bounce for me since the beginning of the year."

But Daoust attributed his turnaround to something besides the puck finally bouncing the right way. Yeo's got him paired up with Rau, and Daoust likes the pairing. He said they were paired a lot last season and they work well together.

5. Was that really Max Noreau almost getting into a fight at the end of the first period? Seriously, I can't remember the last time I saw Noreau close to a fight. That's not a knock against Max, it's just not his game. The framing's a bit off, or I would post a photo of it, but the best part of the near fight was Max jawing it out with Nolan Yonkman who as just towering over him.

6. The Lake Erie goalie didn't hang out in his corner when I was down there on Friday. But Matt Climie was sitting in his corner on Sunday. He was supposed to be taking notes, as he had a clipboard and paper and pin, but the guy was having fun, talking to the guards and arena personnel. People were handing pucks for him to sign, and he was doing that. And there were these kids behind us shouting about how they wanted to see blood and kill them -- the standard hockey stuff -- and he was just laughing away.

Once again, while the results do matter, it's all just a game, and it's all about having fun.

7. One of the guards asked him when he was going to play in Houston again, and Climie reminded him that his last time out, he got raked over the coals by the Aeros, so he wasn't eager to repeat the experience.

8. I'm kind of sick of the Rampage. So I guess it's kind of nice that these two teams won't face each other again until mid-March.

9. I'll have a story in the Press sometime on Monday with a focus on Hackett. So please look for it. I'll try and post it, but I'm facing a possible root canal on Monday morning, so I might have other things to worry about.

1/9/11 -- Aeros v. Rampage -- Some Photos and Notes

I don't have a lot of time at the moment -- I've got real work stuff to handle -- so I'll try to throw up some quotes and notes later today. As it is, all that really needs to be known is that San Antonio got the 1-0 lead in the first, but Kris Fredheim tied it about 30 seconds later.

Jean-Michel Daoust got the game winner later in the third, and Colton Gillies got an empty-netter to seal the 3-1 win. Matt Hackett, after getting pulled early last night for allowing four goals, was solid tonight in the win.

The really interesting thing to note is that Hackett wasn't supposed to start tonight. Mike Yeo was going to start Josh Tordjman, but Hackett came to Yeo a couple of hours before the game and said that he really wanted to go tonight, so Yeo let him go. I think that worked out rather well.

The three stars were 3. Fredheim, 2. Hackett, and 1. Daoust.

Now for some photos.

There's nothing special, gamewise, about this photo with Carson McMillan in a face-off. I just like it.


This is Fredheim's goal in the first. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the puck right at the top of Ortmeyer's stick and behind Montoya.

This is Daoust's game-winner.

Matt Kassian congratulates Hackett after a great game.

And the star of the game, Jean-Michel Daoust.

1/7/11 -- Aeros v. Lake Erie -- Rookie Shutout Edition

Well, was this a fun night of hockey, or what? The Aeros got the 3-0 win over the Lake Erie Monsters in what, to me, was their best game of this season. The Aeros dominated in every phase of this game, whether it was on offense -- they outshot Lake Erie 41-25, defense, goaltending, hitting, penalty kill, you name it.

So let's just take this in list form.

1. The game's number one star was rookie goalie Matt Hackett, who got the first shutout of his AHL career. He had really good vision tonight, and he seemed to see the puck no matter where it was at.

2. "It’s unbelievable," Hackett said of the game. "I didn’t know it was going to come, and the boys played great and kept the shots to the outside, and I saw everything. It’s exciting, and I had a couple of buddies in the stands, so it’s special."

Here's Hackett making a save in the first period.

3. Hackett attributed his play to the guys making great plays in front of him, but also for working with him in practice. He also noted that Bob Mason, the Wild goalie has been in town this week, and he's been giving Hackett some attention.

4. Mike Yeo thought this was the best game played by Hackett this season, and he agreed that Mason played an important role in that.

"It’s probably not a coincidence," Yeo said. "We’ve had a week off. He’s a young guy. The details of his game probably weren’t as big, and he’s been able to work on some things this week. We’ve had [Bob Mason] our goalie coach from Minnesota, has been here this week and been able to work with him. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s able to play like that."

5. The third star of the game was Jean-Michel Daoust who scored on a penalty shot in the first period. I've missed some games this year, but this was one of the few times this season that I've seen Daoust was that pest he specialized in playing last season.

For instance, Daoust was able to get his penalty shot because he was on a breakaway. He was on a breakaway because he was in the penalty box for boarding. He leaped out of the box as the penalty time expired and was in great position for the breakaway.

(If you'll click on this picture, you'll see that Daoust has this little, playful smile on his face, as he prepares to head to the box, almost as if this is all part of a grand plan.)

And here is Mr. Daoust on his approach for the penalty shot.

6. A big key to the game for Yeo, and as I discovered when checking my camera, for myself down low, was the play of Warren Peters and his line, featuring Peters, Jed Ortmeyer, and Colton Gillies. If there was hit being made, or if the goalie's view was being blocked, then it seemed to always be the doing of these guys.

Peters on a first period face-off.

And here is Mr. Peters getting in the way of Lake Erie's Jason Bacashihua.

7. I'm sorry that I don't have a photo of Chad Rau's goal in the second period. It was a thing of beauty. He got a great pass from Robbie Earl -- who seemed to be everywhere tonight (he was the number two star for his goal and assist) -- and then Rau just made a few moves with his stick and the puck and the goalie didn't stand a chance.

8. As Andrew mentioned below, and I noted on twitter, Anton Khudobin was not available for tonight's game as he was called up to Minnesota late in the day. Because of the timing, there was no way to get Josh Tordjman to Houston in time to back up Hackett. That's when the panic and the phone calls started. And by panic and phone calls, I mean panic and phone calls.

9. The Aeros eventually found a former college and pro goalie in town, David Weninger. Of course, Weninger hadn't played pro hockey since 2000.

10. Here's the story as told by Mike Yeo:

"Believe it or not, the call-up happened so quickly that we didn’t have a chance, and exhausted all other opportunities. I actually called my son’s coach, who, he played Division One hockey, and I knew that he played pretty decent men’s league hockey here in town, and I asked him, listen if all else fails I may need a goalie.

"He said, I know a guy who played college, and I believe he was drafted. He calls back and says it turns out you actually coached this guy. So I actually played with him briefly, and coached him [at Wilkes-Barre Scranton]. Needless to say, probably neither of us look the same as we did back then. He was great. He was cheering the guys on."

11. Tordjman will be available in San Antonio for Saturday's game, as well as the game in Houston on Sunday. After the game, Yeo was leaning toward starting Hackett on Saturday, and he noted that the thought had briefly crossed his mind of letting Hackett start on Sunday as well. But I have a feeling that that is all based on how things go tomorrow night.

12. With the win, the Aeros are 20-17-1-2 on the season (43 points). They're in sixth place in the West, two points behind fifth place Chicago and three points behind fourth place Texas.

13. And then there's this from the Aeros' crackerjack media staff. Daoust's penalty shot was 26th penalty shot in the AHL this season. But it was only the eighth one that was successful. It was also the second successful penalty shot of the night, as Michael Swift of Albany was successful on his penalty shot against Charlotte's Justin Pogge.

About Josh Tordjman

For those of you wondering why Josh Tordjman wasn't brought up yesterday instead of Mike Ouzas, who was signed to a PTO, the answer is simple: Tordjman is serving a 6-game suspension for physical abuse of an official.

And my apology for not following the ECHL Transaction wire more carefully.

And here is a good recap of what happened.

Sounds like he actually has a good beef, but you can't throw your stick.

Read here for more.

Goalie News From Minnesota

For those who missed the news, Josh Harding was injured in last night's exhibition game. Michael Russo is tweeting that Harding tore his right ACL and right MCL and that he is likely out for the season. Russo is also tweeting that, as of now, the Wild's number two goalie for the season will be Anton Khudobin until/unless he proves he can't handle the position.

For the Aeros, that means that Josh Tordjman and Matt Hackett will be number one and two in Houston to start the season, and I would expect Jim Mill to get another AHL-experienced goalie under contract and stashed in the ECHL.

Meet your 2010-11 Aeros: Josh Tordjman

JOSH TORDJMAN

Born: January 11, 1985
Montreal, Quebec
6'1" -- 155 lbs

Goalie
Catches Left

Other side...

The rule when writing about goalies is that they're going to make you look like an idiot as soon as you publish a piece on them. If they're playing well and you write about it, they'll start sieving it up. If they're playing poorly and you write about it, suddenly they're Patrick Roy.

Apparently this holds up in the off-season as no sooner had I written a piece for a goalie scouting report about how Tordjman hadn't been picked up this off-season and how bizarre that is, the Aeros signed him.

But the benefits of the move for the team and organization outweigh the annoyance at making me look painfully out of the loop. Mostly. Kinda. Hmph.

Anyway, we all know Tordjman from his seasons in the Phoenix system with San Antonio. He's a solid tender you can count on to put up a good fight. He's reliable, steady, and kabob skewer skinny, so I'm in constant fear of him snapping like a twig, but I guess he's held up better than a lot of other goalies having played significant minutes throughout his pro career.

I think a lot of folks were a little puzzled by the move. With Khudobin and Hackett already slated for Houston, why do they need another one? Essentially, he provides insurance and competition. The team could still look to trade Harding, which would pull Khudobin up to the Wild, and you can't leave an AHL team with a rookie tender and an emergency backup between the pipes.

So for a spell, either Hackett or Tordjman will be in the ECHL until someone gets hurt, traded, etc.It's a lot like Brusty's situation last season, except I think this time, it's a more calculated abundance of tendies where guys are coming into the season with expectations appropriately set. But even better is the competition he provides. It's good to have two goalies pushing each other. It's great to have 3 trying desperately to earn their spot in the AHL. We will see their very best and I think the Aeros are going to need that this season.

Aeros Ink New Goalie

Just a quick note. The Aeros have announced today the signing of former San Antonio Rampage goalie Josh Tordjman to a one-year contract. Along with Tordjman, the team also signed center Rylan Kaip to a one-year deal. Kaip spent the past two seasons with the Chicago Wolves.

Aeros vs San Antonio 4/12 -- Photos Part 1

Mitch Love had a bit of a battle with Chris Frank, who decided to do a little purse swinging -- only it wasn't a purse, it was Love's helmet. I can't decide if he should have received extra minutes for the "double nipple" or the purse swing.
Bryan Lundbohm started off the scoring by scooping up a misplayed puck by Josh Tordjman, deftly skating around the netminder and burying the puck top shelf. Even though Tordjman threw his stick he couldn't prevent the goal.
Kris Kolanos' first goal of the night was in and out of the net so quickly, almost no one saw it. Here is a sample of his joy.
And his second goal was a thing of beauty. He wasn't going to miss the open net from there.
Will Kevin Constantine be the next coach of the Minnesota Wild?All Photos:Fred Trask

More photos tomorrow.