Some Monday Afternoon Thoughts And Quotes

Sign taped to the glass at SLICE.

Headed up to SLICE for the Aeros skate/practice today, and everyone appeared to be in good spirits with no feel of impending doom and/or destruction. So that's a good thing. The guys are ready to play, they're confident in their ability to win the game, they're having fun playing in June, and Mike Yeo is still a little peeved about the officiating on Saturday night.

First things first...it appears that the only people reading/commenting on today's story in the mothership are the people from Binghamton. It's another take on the officiating, and I also state my firm belief that the officiating is not why the Aeros lost games four and five, but that the Aeros and how they played are the reason they lost games four and five, but when you have a coach supporting what you've been writing the whole postseason about the officiating, then of course you're going to lead with that, right? Anyway, click here and go read.

And some other things before getting to the heart of this post. To the commenter claiming there's some kind of conspiracy to keep Matt Kassian from playing and how the use of Pascal Morency is in clear violation of the Clear Day Roster rules, I thought I would try to offer up an explanation.

Each team is allowed a Clear Day Roster with a maximum of 22 players. These are the only players who can play in the playoffs, with a few caveats. Amateurs don't have to be part of the Clear Day Roster, and once their seasons end, they can join the team and play, as happened with Brett Bulmer. The other caveat is if there is an emergency situation, such as a call-up to the NHL, a suspension, or an injury.

With the injury to Cody Almond on Friday night, the Aeros Clear Day Roster consisted of 21 healthy players. Thus, it's an emergency situation and they can add a player to the roster. Thus, Pascal Morency, who was not on the Clear Day Roster can be added to the playing roster and play on Saturday night. With the injury to Jared Spurgeon on Saturday night, I would expect to see the Aeros adding Kris Fredheim to the roster, though I expect Jeff Penner to get Spurgeon's playing time.

So, I hope that satisfies though of you who have been asking about the use of Morency.

Now on with the notes from practice.

There were no real surprises. Cody Almond and Jared Spurgeon didn't skate, and it appeared that Pascal Morency and Jeff Penner were skating in their spots -- Morency with Daoust and McMillan as he did Saturday night, and Penner teamed up with Marco Scandella. Jed Ortmeyer did not skate, but is fine. Matt Kassian, Brandon Buck, and Kris Fredheim were also out skating with the regulars -- Buck took Ortmeyer's spot so the third line could get in some practice.

Mike Yeo spoke to the assembled media after the game, and I'm sure many of you have seen the video clips the Aeros posted, or the snippets that will be on TV tonight. But for those who didn't, well, I was there.

I asked if he was going to ask the guys to skate a bit more cautiously given the uneven officiating and how the penalties are being called. The question elicited this response, which I'll give in full:

"We have to watch our discipline for sure. We’re going to do that. Obviously those statements [on Saturday] are made to hopefully make other people take notice. Even when I went back and watched the game again, I stand by my words. I think that there were some things that should have been called in the third period when we were taking the play to them that weren’t called especially. But we can’t – that’s over and done with. Those statements were made to hopefully draw some attention to it, but for us, we can’t think about it any further. It’s all about tomorrow and making sure that we play disciplined, but at the same time, we can’t change our game. We have to be playing hard, and we have to be playing that aggressive style that we do."

So yes, he's still a bit bothered by the officiating, and no, he's not going to have the guys change their style of play, aside from asking them to be a bit more disciplined, thus no obvious tripping penalties please, Mr. Gillies.

The majority of the questions from me and my brethren to Yeo and the players were about how to approach a game six, and what it's like to play in such a game when you know a loss means the season is over.

"This is a game seven for us obviously, it’s only game six, but we’re approaching it with that mentality," Yeo said. "We’ve been pretty strong in those games. When we’ve been faced with our back against the wall situations, when we’ve come out, we’ve had strong performances. We’re real excited about getting in front of our home crowd and doing everything we can to keep this series going."

Warren Peters faced a similar situation last year with the Texas Stars, but he thinks what he dealt with last year is irrelevant to anything. He instead offered up the following.

"We definitely haven’t made it easy on ourselves, not that you plan on doing that. The conference finals was a lot more stressful than maybe it needed to be, but again, that’s in the past. [Binghamton] deserve some credit in making it 3-2 and getting a win on home ice, which was big for them, obviously. They did a good job in getting that done. Now it’s our turn to respond.

[SNIP]

"We’ve had our backs against the wall a couple of times in the playoffs, and we’ve responded well. I expect the same thing from our team and the guys in our room because we’ve been doing it the whole second half of the season for sure."

Everybody seems to be focusing on how they handled the game seven situations in Milwaukee and here against Hamilton, and applying that approach to tomorrow's game six. That makes some sense, and it gives the team a semblance of confidence in that they know that, with their backs against the wall, facing a win or go home situation, they've responded by putting together a good game and getting the win. Yet tomorrow is somewhat different in that this is a game six, they've got to win this game just to get to a game seven.

Now Mike Yeo did face a somewhat similar situation as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup, and he sees some similarities to those Penguins and these Aeros.

"I think the biggest thing is, the similarity between that and this is that our group has confidence. I think that if you look at a series as a whole, and the way things have panned out, then we’re down 3-2 but it could easily be a different series with a couple of bounces here or there. I think that for the most part we’ve out-chanced them, we’ve out-shot them, and for the better part of most games we’ve been, I believe, the better team.

"We had that same mentality [with Pittsburgh] in 09 when we were faced with having to win both games and one of those was being game seven on the road where we get to both at home. But I know that that team, this team, both believe in themselves. And we believe in ourselves, and that doesn’t necessarily guarantee us anything, but certainly it makes things a lot more possible for us."

The Aero with the longest tenure with the club is defenseman Max Noreau, who joined the club early during Kevin Constantine's first season at the helm four seasons ago. And yes, this game does mean a bit more to him because of his time here.

"I think it means a lot to me because of that run we had two years ago. We lost in the semi-finals. We were so close, but didn’t quite get it done. Now we’re in the finals, and we’re down 3-2. It’d be nice to get it done this time. I have a lot of belief in this team. Everyone does. We had a great meeting today, great practice. Seemed pretty upbeat. Nobody’s really down. We’re coming home. We have great fans; they’ve been really good to us in the playoffs this year. We’ve just got to stick with it and get the two wins this week."

And then Noreau came out with the really important stuff. It's the stuff we hear from the team a lot, and have heard from the team a lot when they're down, and though it's rather cliched and simplistic, it has worked for the team. They've got to forget about everything and just follow the process.

"We had a big talk about that today," he said. "The main focus was, focus on the process, and focus on the little details you have to do, whether it’s getting a puck deep or getting a shot on net. Don’t focus on whether you’re going to score the goal or block that shot or whether you’re going to win the game for us. Just focus on the details. Do the right thing every time you’re out there. And if you focus on that process, the result at the end, we’re going to get the win. It’ll take care of itself."

Without any doubt this has been a physical series which has seen the Aeros lose Cody Almond and Jared Spurgeon to injury. Noreau thinks this could be part of the Senators plan, but he noted that it's been tried before, and that those other teams that tried it failed.

"I think they’re a pretty skilled team, but I think that at home they definitely upped their intensity," he said. "Whether it was because of their fans or they just completely changed because they thought that that would work, they came at us definitely a lot harder the past three games. But I think we’re by far the most physical team of the two, we’ve just got to get back to doing that.

"It’s been a grind for us, a couple of game sevens, Milwaukee was a pretty physical team. So was Hamilton. And mentally it’s been tough for us, too. We were up three-nothing and [Hamilton] came back, so I think we’ve learned a lot in the past month or two. We’ve got to put all of that together and bring it together tomorrow."

And despite the importance of tomorrow's game, Noreau had a great perspective: it's June and the Aeros are one of the very few hockey teams still playing.

"It’s pretty special," he said. "To know that it’s only us and maybe the two NHL teams left, you might be only the last four teams left playing the in the world. It’s a pretty good feeling. We’re pretty fortunate. We’re pretty lucky. We feel lucky to be here. But at the same time, I think we deserve to be here. We worked really hard this year, and all the guys poured their hearts out. It’s do-or-die. We’ve got two games, but two games away from the Calder Cup. That’s how you’ve got to look at it. It’s a pretty big honor."

I've talked to JM Daoust a bit, and I'll throw that up in a post for tomorrow, as he's always a fun guy to talk to. But before I end, the guys offered up their thoughts on what they're expecting from the fans tomorrow night.

"Just what they’ve been doing is fantastic," Yeo said. "We’re hoping for a great turnout. Binghamton was well-represented. When we get back home, we’re playing in front of our home crowd. I know that they’re going to be loud; I know that they’re going to be into the game, and they’re going to crank up the energy level for our guys. We’re hoping that it’s a big crowd and ready to come out and cheer us on, hopefully setting us up for a game seven here."

Warren Peters was a bit more precise: "We hope that they’re loud. We came from a chaotic building, and we’d like ours to be as loud and as noisy as possible"

And then there's Noreau who once again put things in a proper perspective. No matter what the crowd is like, it's still up to the Aeros to do their job out on the ice.

"Just some enthusiasm, some energy, but the bottom line is it’s our livelihood right now," he said. "It’s do-or-die tomorrow and whether the fans are upbeat or not, we’ve got to go out and produce. I know the fans are going to show up. They’ve been there the whole playoff run. They’ve been unbelievable. It’s up to us. It’s going to start in our room and it’s going to finish on the ice."

The Game Winner (Some Blurry Photos)

That was an exciting night here at Toyota Center as the Aeros get the 3-2 OT win to even the series at 2-2. As Andrew promised below, I'll be back later with some quotes from the game star, Carson McMillan, as well as Colton Gillies and Mike Yeo.

But I thought I would share these somewhat awful photos I got of the game-winner. The first photo shows Jarod Palmer moving into position with the puck. You see the just how little space he has to work with for the pass. The second shot is just as the puck's gone in the net, though you can't really tell. The third one's really out of focus, and while I know it won't meet with the approval of Mr. Fred, or myself really, I do think you can get a nice view of the expression on Palmer's face as he's falling down. Then you get McMillan's expression as Max Noreau comes running at him. Then we have the big celebration.

Max Noreau Named first-team AHL All Star

There have been several times this year when the three of us in the press box would have a 5-minute discussion on what is wrong with Max Noreau this year. I kid you not, we all have thought that at least one time this season.

Silly us, right?

But the offensive defenseman continues to impress, put up the points and make a very good case as to why he will sign with the parent club of the Manitoba Moose, Chicago Wolves or Hartford Wolf Pack sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Today, the AHL released their 2010-11 AHL All-Star teams, and yep, Noreau is on that list.
He is on their first-team in fact, and if they announce this tonight at the Aeros game, there better be a big cheer. Noreau is one of the best Aeros I have ever had the pleasure to cover,all in terms of his game, skill-set for his position at this level, and the gentleman-ly way he interacts with the coaches, fans and least importantly, the media.

Congrats Max! Below is a copy of the AHL press release from moments ago.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2011

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2010-11 AHL ALL-STAR TEAMS ANNOUNCED

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... The American Hockey League announced today the 2010-11 AHL First and Second All-Star Teams, as voted by AHL coaches, players and media in each of the league’s 30 member cities.

2010-11 AHL First All-Star Team
G - Brad Thiessen, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (42gp, 32-7-1, 1.88gaa, .924sv%, 7so)
D - Marc-Andre Gragnani, Portland Pirates (63gp, 12+48=60pts., +22, 25 PP pts.)
D - Maxim Noreau, Houston Aeros (75gp, 10+43=53pts., 32 PP pts.)
LW - Alexandre Giroux, Oklahoma City Barons (66gp, 30+41=71pts., 14 PPG, 7 GWG)
C - Corey Locke, Binghamton Senators (66gp, 21+64=85pts., +15, 4 GWG)
RW - Mark Mancari, Portland Pirates (56gp, 32+32=64pts., +19, 4 GWG)

2010-11 AHL Second All-Star Team
G - Curtis Sanford, Hamilton Bulldogs (40gp, 22-13-2, 1.93gaa, .930sv%, 5so)
D - Andre Benoit, Binghamton Senators (70gp, 10+43=53pts., 24 PP pts.)
D - Viatcheslav Voynov, Manchester Monarchs (71gp, 13+33=46pts., +19, 6 PPG)
LW - Nigel Dawes, Hamilton Bulldogs (60gp, 38+24=62pts., +11, 9 PPG)
C - Keith Aucoin, Hershey Bears (49gp, 17+50=67pts., +12, 6 GWG)
RW - Darren Haydar, Chicago Wolves (71gp, 25+43=68pts., +9, 4 GWG)

Each All-Star Team member will receive a custom designed crystal award in recognition of his selection to the 2010-11 AHL First and Second All-Star Teams.

2010-11 AHL First All-Star Team
Brad Thiessen, Goaltender (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins):
Second-year pro Brad Thiessen began his season with eight consecutive victories and has never looked back en route to amassing an AHL-high 32 wins (32-7-1) and a top-ranked 1.88 goals-against average through 42 appearances for the league-leading Penguins. A native of Aldergrove, B.C., the 25-year-old Thiessen is tied for the AHL lead with seven shutouts, ranks seventh in save percentage (.924), and has not lost back-to-back appearances all season long. He could become the first AHL goaltender to record more than 30 wins and fewer than 10 losses since Hartford’s Jason LaBarbera in 2003-04 (34-9-9).

Marc-Andre Gragnani, Defenseman (Portland Pirates):
Coming off the least productive season of his career in 2009-10, fourth-year pro Marc-Andre Gragnani has bounced back in a big way to lead all AHL defensemen in assists (48) and points (60) while producing a plus-22 rating in 63 games for Portland. A native of Montreal, Gragnani is averaging better than a point per game since the calendar turned to 2011, including a 20-point showing (3-17-20) during the month of March. The 24-year-old has also appeared in four NHL games with Buffalo this season and earned his first NHL point with an assist on the game-winning goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over the N.Y. Rangers.

Maxim Noreau, Defenseman (Houston Aeros):
Montreal native Maxim Noreau has followed up a strong 2009-10 campaign with an even better showing in 2010-11, establishing career highs in assists (43) and points (53), both of which are tied for second among AHL rearguards. Noreau leads all defensemen in power-play assists (26) and points (32) along with total shots on goal (215), and he has recorded multiple points on 15 occasions this season. A Second Team AHL All-Star a year ago, Noreau has increased his point production in each of his four seasons with the Aeros.

Alexandre Giroux, Left Wing (Oklahoma City Barons):
After back-to-back goal-scoring titles and Calder Cups in Hershey, Alexandre Giroux joined the Edmonton organization last summer and nabbed his seventh consecutive 30-goal season, tying a record held by AHL Hall of Famer Dick Gamble. The Quebec City native also ranks second in the AHL with 71 points in 66 games for Oklahoma City, and is tied for the league lead with seven game-winning goals. Currently 10th in AHL history in goals (338), Giroux, who also has a goal and an assist in eight games with the Oilers this season, has earned his third straight First All-Star Team nod, a feat accomplished by only two other forwards in AHL history (LW Pete Leswick 1948-50, C Art Stratton 1963-65).

Corey Locke, Center (Binghamton Senators):
Leading a different team in scoring for the fourth consecutive season (Hamilton, Houston, Hartford, Binghamton), Corey Locke has sat atop the AHL scoring race virtually wire-to-wire and has matched a career high with 85 points in 66 games for the Senators, including a personal-best 64 assists. A Toronto native, Locke shows 21 goals – his fifth straight 20-goal season – and a league-high 30 of his 64 helpers have come on Binghamton’s top-ranked power play (22.1 percent). The 26-year-old Locke, a 2007 Calder Cup champion with Hamilton and a Second Team All-Star in 2009-10 , has authored scoring streaks of seven, nine and 12 games this season and earned his first career NHL point with an assist in five games for Ottawa.

Mark Mancari, Right Wing (Portland Pirates):
Earning his first career postseason All-Star berth, sixth-year pro Mark Mancari has racked up a career-high 32 goals in 56 games for Portland this season, tying for third in the AHL in that category and placing eighth with 64 points. A native of London, Ont., Mancari piled up 10 points in the season’s first four games and has recorded three points on seven different occasions, including three hat tricks – two of them on back-to-back nights (Jan. 22 and 23). Mancari, 25, has also appeared in a career-best 15 NHL games with Buffalo, with a goal and five assists.


2010-11 AHL Second All-Star Team
Curtis Sanford, Goaltender (Hamilton Bulldogs):
Curtis Sanford’s season both began and ended with injury, but in between, the backstop from Owen Sound, Ont., turned in one of his more impressive performances to date. Sanford made his season debut on Nov. 2 and won eight of his first nine decisions, surrendering more than two goals only once. Overall, Sanford ranks second among AHL goaltenders in both goals-against average (1.93) and save percentage (.930) while putting up a 22-13-2 mark in 40 appearances for the Bulldogs. Sanford earned three shutouts in a four-start span in January and matched a career-high with five whitewashes on the year.

Andre Benoit, Defenseman (Binghamton Senators):
A native of St. Albert, Ont., and a 2007 Calder Cup champion with Hamilton, Andre Benoit is tied for second among AHL defensemen with career-best totals in both assists (43) and points (53) through 70 games for Binghamton. The 27-year-old Benoit, who also needs one more goal to establish a career high in that category, boasts 12 multiple-point efforts on the year and made his NHL debut for Ottawa on Feb. 18, appearing in four games for the parent Senators this season.

Viatcheslav Voynov, Defenseman (Manchester Monarchs):
Drafted in the second round (32nd overall) by the Los Angeles Kings in 2008, 21-year-old defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov has blossomed as a third-year pro in Manchester, posting his best offensive numbers yet with 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 points in 71 games. The native of Chelyabinsk, Russia, leads Manchester with a plus-19 rating, and he made his second straight AHL All-Star Classic appearance after recording a point in 10 of 12 games during the month of December.

Nigel Dawes, Left Wing (Hamilton Bulldogs):
After spending the past three seasons in the NHL, Nigel Dawes returned to the AHL in 2010-11 and has torn up the circuit for a league-high 38 goals (38-24-62) in 60 games split between Hamilton and Chicago. Dawes, who eclipsed the 35 goals he scored as a rookie in 2005-06, registered a four-goal game for Chicago on Jan. 5, and since his February trade to the Montreal organization, the 26-year-old has piled up 11-7-18 in 13 games for the Bulldogs and added two more hat tricks. The Winnipeg, Man., native has also played 13 NHL games for Atlanta and Montreal in 2010-11.

Keith Aucoin, Center (Hershey Bears):
Well on his way to becoming one of the greatest AHL playmakers of all time, Keith Aucoin has battled multiple injuries this season but is nonetheless on track for his sixth career top-10 finish in the AHL scoring race with 67 points (17-50-67) in just 49 games. Aucoin burst out of the gate with a 10-game scoring streak, and the native of Waltham, Mass., shows 22 multiple-point efforts all told. In the AHL’s 75-year history, Aucoin currently ranks 10th in assists (491) and 21st in points (702) through 626 career regular-season games. This is the fifth postseason All-Star nod for Aucoin (Second Team 2006, ’07; First Team ’09, ’10), tied with AHL Hall of Famer Les Cunningham for the most career selections for a center.

Darren Haydar, Right Wing (Chicago Wolves):
A former AHL rookie of the year (2003), MVP (’07), scoring champion (’07) and Calder Cup winner (’04, ’08), Darren Haydar adds to his list of accolades with his third career postseason All-Star berth (First Team 2007, Second Team ’09). A native of Milton, Ont., Haydar is tied for third in the AHL scoring race with 68 points (25-43-68) in 71 games for Chicago in his second stint with the Wolves. Haydar, who tallied a hat trick on Nov. 5 at Lake Erie and produced four points (2-2-4) on Nov. 27 vs. Grand Rapids, has 668 career regular-season points and is the AHL’s career postseason leader in goals (59), assists (76-tied), and points (135).

# # #

Contact:
Jason Chaimovitch, Vice President of Communications
AJ Atchue, Coordinator of Communications
(413) 781-2030

1/28/11 -- Aeros v. Abbotsford -- Aeros Ice the Heat

Cody Almond brings the pain in the first period.

The night was a struggle for the Aeros. They probably should have won this game easily, but instead found themselves having to get into the shootout to pull out the win and get the two points with the 4-3 win.

The Aeros took the early lead, had to hold on through an end of first period that was rather bizarre and disjointed due to a very serious injury to an Abbotsford player. They gave up leads in the second and third periods. They had some excellent play from those guys they've been getting excellent play from, and they had some disappointing and sloppy play from some others.

In the end, all that matters is the Aeros got the win and they're going into the All Star break on a very high note.

1. As of right now, the Aeros are tied, points wise, with the San Antonio Rampage for first place in the AHL West. The Aeros are 28-19-1-3 with 60 points. They're one point ahead of Peoria, two points ahead of Milwaukee, three points ahead of Texas and Oklahoma City and five points up on Chicago.

2. The Aeros do not play again this weekend. So they best they can come out of the weekend with is a tie for first place. However, Peoria plays Grand Rapids tomorrow, so with a win, the Rivermen jump into first place, or can move into a tie for first if they should get into overtime. Milwaukee, meanwhile, plays in Rockford on Saturday, so a win moves the Admirals into a tie with Houston and San Antonio.

3. Another fantastic night from Max Noreau -- two assists to give him 30 points for the season (7-23=30). And he has been ratcheting up the physical play.

4. Robbie Earl didn't score tonight, but he seemed to be around the action often, and he did great work drawing a penalty in overtime and putting the Aeros on the power play.

5. The officiating was awful. Beyond awful, if that's possible. I'm still trying to understand how it was that Tyler Cuma was sent to the box of interference on what was, instead, a fantastic and legal hip check. As it was, the game was rough and chippy from the start, and the guys in the stripes made little effort to get under control.

6. Mike Yeo sensed that Abbotsford might try to go physical and force the Aeros out of their game. And he and the staff warned the team beforehand, and throughout the game, to not let Abbotsford get them out of their game.

I didn't recognize this at the time, but Carson McMillan was pummeled at one point in the first period, and instead of getting into a big fight, backed down. He was following the game plan. And Warren Peters was mugged in the first period, yet it was Peters who wound up with all of the penalty minutes.

"I believe that we were really controlling the play," Yeo said. "That was part of their focus, the stuff after the whistles. We tried to talk about that, not getting involved in that, making sure our play, we were playing between the whistles. I felt that that kind of slowed the game down a little bit. Give them credit, it did take us off our game a little bit. But that’s something we have to make sure – it’s always about whatever the situation calls for. If the situation calls for you to get in there and stick up for your teammate at that time or maybe it calls for a momentum shift and you need to bring some energy and some life, then you do it. But there’s also a time to skate away and get out of that stuff and keep the flow of the game going our way."

7. And I think that's a bit of what Drew Bagnall was doing later in the game -- going in and sticking up for teammates. Bagnall was iffy for the game, but he surely made his presence felt throughout the game.

8. Bizarre end to the first period. With about 3.5 seconds left, the Aeros were off on what appeared to be a breakaway. Then two guys from the Heat collided around mid-ice and collapsed to the ice. The whistle blew to stop play and nothing much happened for about 15 minutes. The teams were eventually sent to the locker rooms while the medical staff handled things during what turned out to be the first part of intermission.

Play resumed after intermission with 3.5 seconds on the ice in which the first period was ended. Then the horn sounded to end the period, and then the second period was started. Bizarre.

"I’ve seen it affect both teams," Yeo said. "It’s tough, but it just depends on your group. It’s just our job as coaches to make sure that we’re saying the right things, to make sure that you don’t lose your focus. Quite often, when a player does get hurt like that, I’ve seen many times where the game changes one way or the other. It’s got to be about the next play, the next shift mentality."

9. You might not have noticed, but Nathan Smith was in uniform for the Aeros tonight. Well, not really, but for two minutes there in the second period, the scoreboard showed that it was "8," Smith's number last season, sitting in the penalty box and not "18," Colton Gillies. That wasn't as bad, however, as the PA guy who had trouble spitting out Abbotsford and Heat on numerous occasions.

10. Strange night for Anton Khudobin. He had a very poor second period in which he gave up two very soft goals. He appeared to get his act together in the third -- that third goal from Matt Keith appeared to be more the result of poor defensive play on part of Justin Falk than anything Khudobin did, and he was very solid in the OT. The one goal that Abbotsford got in the shootout was the result of a spectacular Corey Locke-esque shot than anything that Khudobin did wrong.

11. In some ways it's a shame that the All Star break is coming because the Aeros have been one of the hottest teams in the league. They were 10-2-0-1 in January and they're 12-4-0-1 since Christmas. When you're on a streak like this, you kind of want to keep going, especially when one thinks of where the team was when they headed into the Christmas break.

12. For those of you who are wondering, the Aeros will have an optional skate on Tuesday then return to practice on Wednesday before hosting Texas on Friday night. And despite the team's hot streak, the Aeros can use the break to rest up, mentally and physically.

13. The Aeros are in a tight playoff race with seven teams within five points of each other in the standings. Yeo compares the Aeros current situation to the one the Penguins were in the year they won the Stanley Cup.

"I think that our schedule is going to be better for us," he said. "Where before we were dealing with that stuff, we felt like we were always chasing everybody, at the same time we were physically getting tired. Where I think we have a little more rest now coming out of this break. But the flip side of it is, and it happened to us in Pittsburgh, we had to make a run that year. We were phenomenal after the coaching change. And every game was so important. And we were in full stride when playoffs began. I think that, usually, if you look at teams that do something in the playoffs, they found a way to elevate their game and bring their game up to a new level, and once the playoffs begin, you don’t have to try to find that next gear. "

14. Just a few quick notes. Jon DiSalvatore has a point in eight of his last nine games (4-5=9). Anton Khudobin has won four of his last five starts. Jean-Micheal Daoust's first period goal was his 300th career goal.

15. The Aeros are now 23-7-0-2 when they score the first goal.

16. Chad Rau, who hit the game-winning shot in the shootout, was not entirely happy with his shot, and after the game, he was talking about how he would have liked to take it back and try it again. He thinks he got lucky because he didn't exactly do what he wanted to do and as such, the goalie was able to get his glove on the puck.

17. On a personal note, it was nice to see Abbotsford assistant coach Troy Ward tonight. I dealt with Troy a lot in his three years as Kevin Constantine's assistant here with the Aeros, and he was always easy to deal with.

Aeros v. Abbotsford Game Photos

The Aeros got the big 4-3 win over Abbotsford in the shootout tonight. The game probably shouldn't have gone to the shootout, but there were a few guys who didn't have a very good game when it came to stopping the puck, or helping to stop the puck, for Houston.

More important than the win is that the Aeros are tied for first place with San Antonio as they head into the All-Star break, and the team went 10-2-0-1 in January. And one other note, when we last checked, Abbotsford's Josh Meyers was at Memorial Hermann getting a CT Scan after being carted off of the ice at the end of the first period.

I'll throw up some quotes and some analysis and thoughts later tonight but I thought I would get some photos up first. And first things first, if you notice some slight smudges, it's not my camera, it's because I was shooting through the plastic tonight. I did some quick playing around with the editing tools to make the photos clearer and sharper, but I'm still nowhere near being close to Mr. Fred.

I don't have a photo of Jean-Michel Daoust's first period goal. I have a shot of the puck going in the net, but not of the actual shot. What I do have is this shot of Max Noreau making the pass that triggered the shot.

And for no reason except I like the shot, here's another shot of Noreau trying to get the puck into the offensive zone in the first period.

Robbie Earl had another strong, physical game. And here he is in the first period trying to pull off a wraparound.

I'm posting this shot to give an indication of the type of night it was. Abbotsford went the physical intimidation route tonight because they weren't skilled enough to stick with the Aeros. So you saw a lot of the Aeros on the ice with Abbotsford guys towering over them. Yet strangely, it was the Aeros who kept getting penalty time.

And this last shot is included because Heather liked it and indicated that she might want to use it as wallpaper for the blog someday. It's Rau and Cuma preparing for a faceoff.

We'll all have much much later, I think. I know that I will.

Aeros-Stars -- The Texas Goal (Photo)

Okay, I've been trying to load several photos for a good long time now, and I'm tired, and want to go to bed, so...

Here is the Texas goal in the first period that gave the Stars the brief 1-0 lead. The goal was credited to Texas's Michael Neal. At the time, I thought Matt Hackett had actually stopped the shot and that he was sitting on the puck. However, looking at the photos of the sequence, I saw the puck in the back of the net.

That's not the interesting thing to me here, and I'm posting these two photos because they are in the middle of the goal scoring sequence, and immediately follow each other. If you'll look closely at the first photo, and I think there's a way to blow it up and expand it in Google, you'll note that the puck is actually on Max Noreau's stick.

And in the second photo, you'll note that the puck is behind Hackett, on the ice, in the net, and just barely visible -- check between Neal's legs. Now I'm not sure of my shutter speeds -- I did what Mr. Fred told me to do -- so it's possible between clicks that somebody else got a stick on the puck, but it appears in the photos that Noreau actually knocked it in.


I did get a photo of Casey Wellman's first period goal, but it was really from a distance, and you can't really see anything, and I didn't get Robbie Earl's second period goal or Jon DiSalvatore's empty-netter. I did get some Gordie Howe on the puck drop, and some photos of the fight, so I'll try to get those up later.

Max Noreau: Hey Now, You're An All Star

As promised, here's my story over at the mothership on Max Noreau. There's talk of the All Star game selection. Of the push for the playoffs. And how he's aware that the perceived weakness in his game is his defensive play and that he's been working hard that, with the hopes that the Wild will give him a chance.

So give it a read. Hopefully you'll like it.

1/16/11 -- Aeros v. Griffins -- So Much For The Shootout

The Aeros lost 3-2 in the shootout to the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight. The good news is, that out of a possible eight points they could get playing four games in five nights, they got seven.

The bad news is that they led 2-0 in the second period, and were up 2-1 with half of the third period left. The ugly news, they were up 2-0 in the shootout with only two shooters left, then proceeded to give up three goals.

The important news is that the Aeros are now alone in third place with a record of 24-18-1-3, and they're only two points behind first place Milwaukee. Still, the loss tonight was disappointing, and Mike Yeo was very disappointed in the team's play the last half of the game.

This is it for me tonight. Maybe Andrew or Heather will provide some quotes. Make sure to check the mothership tomorrow as I've got a story on Max Noreau lined up. And of course, here are some photos from Robbie Earl's first period goal.

That's it. Later.

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.

Max Noreau: All-Star

I mentioned this earlier today on Twitter, but for all those of you who don't follow our twitter feed -- how dare you -- the news is that defenseman Max Noreau was named to the AHL All Star game.

This is the second year in a row that Noreau's made the all star team. And once again, he's more than deserving. He's the team second-leading scorer (7-16=23) behind Robbie Earl. He's tied for second among AHL defenseman with five power play goals, and he's second among AHL defenseman with 116 shots on goal.

So let's all say congrats to Noreau the next time we see him.

And well done. Well done indeed.

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.

Some (Awful) Photos of the Aeros v. Rampage

I'm sure that all of you are aware of this, I know that I am, but Fred Trask is a genius. And so is Chris Jerina. Now I had already recognized this because I've always enjoyed fantastic photography. So I decided to get me one of those fancy cameras with some basic lenses -- thanks for the advice Mr. Fred -- and tonight's game was my virgin outing.

I've got to say this. I don't know how they do it. I spent the first period down on the boards, and I was always trying to find the action. By action, I mean trying to find the puck, the flow of play, and keeping the damn camera in focus.

I think I took about 700 photos. And I think I deleted about 600 of them. Here are five that kind of convey the night. This first photo is just as Cody Almond has scored his short-handed goal to tie the game.

Here's the story. I was down at the other end, the end where Almond scored. And the Aeros were whistled for a penalty, so knowing the Rampage were going on the power play, I started hiking down toward the other goal. Which is when the Rampage scored their first goal, when I was under the stands and couldn't see anything.

Then the Aeros were back on the penalty kill. And I was trying to get situated, and Almond takes off. And before I can locate everything and get the focus and distance at a good spot, Almond scores. Yeah, it sucks.

This is shot I got of Mike Yeo just after the Aeros were called for a penalty in the first. He told us after the game that he was very displeased with the team's play in the first two periods. He told us he challenged them during the second intermission to go out and play some good hockey, and he was very, very happy with their response.

There's nothing really special about this photo. It's of Max Noreau, and it's one of the few photos that I got all night that I just really, really like as a photo. I'm still learning all of the camera details and all of the editing tricks. But I think this worked out. I did fix the white balance and sharpness and I tweeked the colors just a bit.

And here we see the team reacting as they tie the game. Yeah, Cody Almond was in the middle of the action on this goal, just as he was in the middle of the action all night. The kid has really been impressing me, lately. He's been impressing Yeo, as well. He's one of those guys the Aeros need to continue performing if they're going to get anything done later in the season.

And in this photo, the guys are celebrating like they just won the Calder Cup. I've seen the team win lots of games over my four years covering the team, but I can't think of a time that I've seen more happy about a win.

While not happy with the team's overall record for the past month, Yeo was pleased that they were able to hang together and not totally fall out of contention. And along with the 4-3 win, the Aeros got an even bigger victory in that nobody was injured during the game. The team now has a week until their next game, and Yeo's trying to figure out the best way to use that week because the team needs some regular practice time on their game and power play, etc., but he's well aware that they're mentally and physically wiped.

11/26/10 -- Aeros v. Rampage -- San Antonio Bulls Over The Aeros

I should write up the game tonight, a 5-3 Aeros loss to the San Antonio Rampage. But I just don't feel like putting in the effort. Kind of like the Aeros tonight, as they really didn't seem to give a damn about putting any effort into the game.

Think I'm being harsh? Well how about this from Mike Yeo: "I was very disappointed in the game. I’m very disappointed with the way we started, and the lack of urgency in our play. We talked about it in the morning about what a great opportunity it was, a great challenge playing against a first place team, and I thought right from the start we were making soft plays. There was no desperation in our game. We were losing every loose puck and battle – every one on one battle. And ultimately we got what we deserved tonight."

And trust me, there's more where that came from. But frankly, my sense of urgency for getting this written is kind of on the same level as the team starting the game. So let's just say the Aeros got the 1-0 lead. Quickly gave it up. They let the Rampage take the 2-1 lead in the second, tied it again, then quickly surrendered the lead. Yeah, it was just one of those nights.

A few quick points:

1. Both of the Aeros goals came on the power play. When's the last time the Aeros only goals in a game came off the power play?

2. Instrumental in both goals was the game's third star, Max Noreau. Noreau set up Casey Wellman for the first goal, then Noreau got the second goal on one of his patented laser shots, of which we've seen far too few of this season.

3. "One of the biggest keys is we’re shooting the puck a lot now," Noreau said of the power play. "We’re not looking for the pretty play all of the time now. It doesn’t have to be a tap-in goal. It could be a point shot with guys in front of the net shot. I’m thinking that’s our bread and butter so far, so just keeping doing that. When teams see that we’re shooting the puck a lot, we’ll try the pretty plays."

4. Mike Yeo wasn't happy with the power play. Then again, Yeo wasn't happy, rightfully, with much in tonight's game.

5. Yeo's not throwing the goalies under the bus. He put some of the problems that Hackett tonight on the play of the defensemen, especially those plays which found Hackett trying to field the puck and getting plays started.

6. "I’m not going to sit here and say Hack played great, that’s for sure," Yeo said. "Probably I think what we’re doing for right now is a game where we don’t play great, but a goalie wins a game for us. But having said that, a lot of the stuff that was happening, especially as far as playing the puck, was on the defensemen more than him. We have a plan for how we’re supposed to retrieve plucks, and that plan wasn’t executed too well. It’s a matter of going back and communicating with your goaltender and wanting the puck is ultimately what it comes down too."

7. What this game was missing tonight was Mitch Love. Or a Mitch Love type player. The team was down and not exerting much effort. The crowd was down, stuffed with too much turkey. This was the type of game that, when Love was here, sensing the lack of energy amongst the team and crowd, that Love would go out and get some action started that would ignite the team and the crowd.

8. Cal Clutterbuck was also good in this role in his one season with the Aeros. Clutterbuck had an ability to level a hit that would get the crowd and the team engaged in the game.

9. No video tonight. This game didn't deserve one.

10/24/10 -- Aeros vs. Lake Erie -- I Think I'm On A Losing Streak Edition

In case you were elsewhere today, you might have missed the big news. The Aeros actually held a lead going into the third period. That's no lie, the Aeros skated out for the third period with a 2-1 lead. They promptly lost that lead :47 into the period, and they eventually lost the game 3-2. But with the Aeros, you take the small victories where you can find them, and for this game, it should be noted, the Aeros actually had a lead after two periods.

Now the hail of bullets.

1. The Aeros second goal was a thing of beauty. Jarod Palmer rushed the net with the puck. He drew a defenseman with him, and as he went past the goal, Lake Erie goalie John Grahame followed. Palmer passed back up the ice, and across the net, where he hit perfectly hit Casey Wellman with the puck, and Wellman buried the puck before Grahame could even think of getting back into position. And for once, the Aeros got the puck in the net.

2. I should know this. Those of us on press row should know this. But none of us do, so...is Max Noreau hurt? He's not shooting the puck as often as he did last year, especially on the power play, and when he does, the shot seems to lack the zip it's had in seasons past.

3. If Noreau's not hurt, then why the hell isn't he shooting it more on the power play?

4. I thought Marco Scandella had another good game. He bailed out Khudobin in the second period when Khudobin made a block and the puck bounced around the crease, seemingly forever. As a Lake Erie player came rushing for the puck, Scandella appeared from out of nowhere and swatted the puck away, preventing the goal.

5. Yeah, I'm liking what I see from Scandella.

6. It would have been nice to see Warren Peters swat the puck out of harm's way in the third period on the goal that tied the game. Peters thought he should have got to the puck, but didn't, saying: "Looking back on what happened – I was on the ice for one of them – we ended up going back into our zone, the puck went over my head, I guess close enough for me to grab it with my hand and try to take a swipe at it. The guy’s waiting on the other side, he bangs it into the empty net."

7. Where in the hell were the Ice Girls? Damn it, don't toss them out for just one game to start the season then get rid of them. You don't expect me to have to watch this team, do you?

8. I was the only one of us three there for the entire game. Heather went to something called an opera and didn't show up until the second period. Andrew's son was playing a little league baseball game, and he didn't arrive until the third -- note, the Aeros were winning when Andrew arrived, then promptly gave up the lead. Make of that what you will.

9. I thought the team looked awful in the first period. Whether it was just sluggishness from playing the third game in three days, or whether it was just bad play, I don't know. I thought the team looked better in the second. Heather thought I was nuts for saying this, but after all, she didn't see them in the first period. I thought their third period was the worst of the three.

10. There was no excuse for the way the team started that third period.

11. Mike Yeo agrees about that third period: "That’s a very disappointing way to lose a hockey game. Right there. For three games in three nights I thought, for two periods we’d done a lot of good things. But to come out – there were three mental lapses on the first goal, and there were two on the second. You’ve got to know – to be a winner you’ve got to know what the situation calls for. And we didn’t there in the third period."

12. For the commenter to an earlier post saying the Aeros should sign Krys Kolanos. Know this: Kolanos is unsigned at this point. There's a reason he's unsigned. So get over the mythology of Kolanos already.

13. The defenseman, for the most part, and in my opinion, have been very good. Especially Scandella and Drew Bagnall. And I think I understand why Brandon Rogers is being scratched every night. But it's obvious to all that the power play's not working, and in the past, before the current folks took over in St. Paul, Rogers was a good power play quarterback -- he was especially good at it getting it to Noreau in just the right spot for one of Noreau's shots. So maybe they should sit one of the ineffective forwards -- I think they can find a few to choose from -- and find away to get Rogers some ice time. If even for just the power play.

14. You know that Troy Ward's up in Abbotsford, looking at the power play stats, and laughing at all those who thought he and Kevin Constantine were at fault for the power play woes. Constantine's in Switzerland, and if I were in Switzerland, or anywhere in Europe, I wouldn't be wasting my time checking out AHL stats.

15. I did the math during the first intermission. It was 158:30 between goals for the Aeros. Yeah, that's bad.

16. When asked after the game if he saw anything good in the Aeros, Yeo responded that he liked seeing the team have a lead, and score some goals as opposed to losing with no goals. But that was said with an air of resignation.

17. Jarod Palmer: no more fights please. That was a pretty weak one in the first period. Leave the fighting to Bagnall or Matt Kassian. That's what they're there for.

18. The Aeros lost to the Lake Erie Monsters. How bad do you have to be lose to the Monsters, especially when this is the last game of a seven-game road trip.

19. After seven games: the Aeros are 2-4-1 (five points) and in last place in the West Division.

20. The Aeros have their third three-in-three in three consecutive weekends this week. They play in San Antonio on Friday, Austin on Saturday, and here for Sunday. Sunday is Halloween. If the Aeros play anything next Sunday like they did today, then that's going to be one scary Halloween.

21. On the plus side, next Sunday is Halloween which means the Dynamics will be in costume.

22. That's it for this edition. And I think the Rolling Stones and "Satisfaction" might be in order because this team is on a five game losing streak and nobody who is watching them is getting any satisfaction.

10/22/10 -- Aeros v. Rivermen -- The Hail of Bullets Edition

I'm trying a different approach to these things, at this point. I just can't see writing up full-scale game stories -- I've been working a lot, and I want to get that sleep thing. So I'm going to feed you guys a hail of bullets reflecting some thoughts on this game that the Aeros lost 1-0 in overtime.

1. This was a hell of a game. It was one of the more entertaining games that I've seen the Aeros play in a long, long time. So I really, really, really don't understand why they were being booed off of the ice. I just don't get it.

2. Marco Scandella, wow. He's a young kid. He's not perfect, yet. But he just continues to amaze me every game. He's making hits. He's throwing his body around and blocking pucks. He's someone I find myself looking at constantly when he' s out on the ice -- and when I'm not looking at the Dynamics.

3. Mike Yeo on Scandella: "One of the biggest things, it’s obvious by the amount of ice time that we’re giving him. He’s a young guy, and young guys generally have a lot more to learn, but he plays a pretty mature game for a young guy. I think part of that is he has a very good understanding of what kind of player he is, and he’s going to be in the NHL, and he’s committed to being a solid defensive player, and he knows he has to go make a good first pass and try to contribute offensively when it’s there. But he also understands the foundation of his game, and that’s being strong one-on-one and being solid defensively."

4. I also like seeing Drew Bagnall on the ice. He's just not going to take crap off of anybody.

5. Anton Khudobin seems different to me this year. He seems to have matured and kicked his game up another level. I saw him challenging players. He didn't lose his poise like he might have at times in the past. And he played a hell of a game against one of the top teams in the AHL.

6. I saw a semblance, tonight, of what Mike Yeo wants this team to be. It wasn't there the entire game, but it was there. I hadn't seen it in the first two home games. There's still hesitation. There's still too much passing, trying to be too perfect. But I could actually see what Yeo wants to accomplish.

"I think that we have to, at this point in the season especially, we have to remember what it is we’re trying to do here," Yeo told us. "And I think that that game looked a lot more like our game is supposed to look. There was a lot of times where I felt like we were really taking it to them. We were getting good shifts in the offensive zone. Our forecheck was really effective, and the way were attacking pucks and creating turnovers was a lot better. Shooting pucks and going to the net."

7. I'm disappointed in the power play. Which seems to be the standard Houston Aeros observer response over the years. Yeo's disappointed, and he thought they were trying to be too perfect. One thing I noticed is that Max Noreau seems to be backing off a bit. I thought there were multiple times tonight when he had an opportunity from the blue line and didn't take it. We saw last year what a weapon the Noreau slap shot can be.

8. That said, I don't know what, if anything, the Aeros have planned for Brandon Rogers. And maybe it's just something with my memory, but I could swear that I remember that several seasons ago he and Noreau made a great power play duo.

9. I agree with Heather's assessment on Ben Bishop. The guy has really improved, and he stopped everything the Aeros through his way. I don't even think that the myth that fans have turned Krys Kolanos into could have gotten the puck past Bishop.

10. Where were the Ice Girls?

11. I hope you didn't pay any attention to the PA guy on the way out of the arena tonight, because despite what they said, the Aeros next two games aren't on the road. They play in San Antonio tomorrow, but then they host Lake Erie on Sunday.

12. Nothing against Jarod Palmer, but damn it, when I see the #19 on the ice, the first thing that pops into my mind is Danny Irmen. So can someone please get Palmer another a number.

13. I think The White Stripes are currently one of the most-overrated bands in rock music. They've done some good stuff, but most of what I hear just reinforces my belief that Jack White has bought into his own hype and mythology. Most of their "genius," to me, sounds rushed, and unfinished. But when they get a song right, they get the song right, such as in "Seven Nation Army."

Now to get to my point, I find the Aeros to be rough, unfinished. But I can see what they're aiming at. And I see "Seven Nation Army" as fitting the theme that Yeo wants for the team. An onrushing onslaught of attackers firing time after time on the net. So...

Meet Your 2010-11 Aeros: Maxim Noreau

MAXIM NOREAU

Born: May 24, 1987 (age 23)
Montreal, Quebec

5 ft 11
192 lbs
Defenseman
Shoots: Right

Career Transactions:
Signed multi-year contract with Minnesota on May 22, 2008…earned way onto the team after signing a PTO in 2007-08 and starting the season in Beaumont.

I’m going to be an old man, and I’m going to have this everlasting memory of Max Noreau. It was his rookie year with the Aeros in 2007-08. He was still trying to earn a contract with the Wild. But he was at that point where he was earning the trust of Kevin Constantine and his staff. As such, he was beginning to earn playing time at key points of the game. I don’t remember the game, but I do know the Aeros were in overtime. And the guy who scored the game-winning goal was Noreau.

But my memory is of interviewing him in the locker room after the game. There was this big smile on his face, and he eagerly, yet patiently answered our questions. That’s not the big deal as numerous players have done that. No, what I remember is showing up for the next game and finding out that Noreau had been playing that game with a broken foot.

In his three years with the Aeros, Noreau has become one of the team’s top clutch players, and he’s the key to the team’s power play. Noreau from the blue line on the power play is a very dangerous man, and over the years, he’s worked hard to improve all facets of his game. He made the AHL All-Star Game last year, and he earned a late season call-up to the Wild.

Noreau was the guy that Kevin Constantine pointed to when he was dealing with a youngster on his way back to the ECHL. Constantine would tell them to look at Noreau, an undrafted free agent who worked hard and made use of all his available talent to earn a NHL contract. I don’t know that much about new coach Mike Yeo, yet. But I’m sure of this, he’s going to like Max Noreau.

The First Annual T3I Awards

We've decided to do some postseason items on the team. And I volunteered to do the Aeros awards for the season just played. So after consulting with the rest of the T3I crew, here are the winners for the T3I Houston Aeros Awards.

TEAM MVP: Max Noreau. There's a reason that Noreau made the second team All-AHL Team. He's that good. He tied for second on the team in points (18 goals-34 assists=52 points). He was named to the AHL All Star team. He was the team's most consistent offensive threat, even from the blue line. And he anchored a defense that was often full of holes due to injuries in Houston and Minnesota.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Chad Rau. Cody Almond was the big name coming into the season, and he showed flashes of brilliance, between injuries, call ups to Minnesota, and inconsistent play. But Rau played in all but one game, was one of the team's leading scorers (19 goals-19 assists=38 points), and never appeared to be out of his element. He didn't make stupid mistakes.

GOALIE OF THE YEAR: Anton Khudobin. It was a tough year for Aeros goalies. There was the inconsistent defense. The almost nightly inability of the offense to score goals. The need to be perfect every night. Khudobin kept the team in contention the first part of the year. His record might only have been 14-19-4, but he was bombarded by shots every night, from nearly every angle. He was able to get four shutouts, and despite it all, allowed only 91 goals in 40 games.

DEFENSEMAN OF THE YEAR: Max Noreau. Brandon Rogers spent way too much time having to play forward. Clayton Stoner went to Minnesota and never came back. That left Noreau as the veteran of the bunch, and he ended up virtually leading the team's offensive attack -- what little there was of it -- from the blue line.

FORWARD OF THE YEAR: Jon DiSalvatore. DiSalvatore was not only the team's captain, but he was one of the team's leading scorer, finishing with 52 points after getting 21 goals, 31 assists, and a team high 11 power play goals. DiSalvatore didn't have a lot to work with as Kevin Constantine constantly shifted lines because of injuries, call-ups, and ineffectiveness. Yet DiSalvatore was always a constant.

THE SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Jean-Michel Daoust. Neither of us press types knew anything about Daoust when he made the team -- and I admit to enjoying listening to the Toyota PA types change the pronunciation of his name from game-to-game. But damn, this guy played some hockey. He was the team's leading scorer (21 goals-34 assists=55 points), and I don't think anyone played with more effort or determination. I can't help but think that if the whole team would have played with the want of Daoust, this team would have found a way to make the playoffs.

BIGGEST LOST (PLAYER WISE): Andy Hilbert. Hilbert missed most of the season due to concussion issues. And without him, the offense just couldn't click. DiSalvatore was left alone as the team's go-to offensive option. It's hard to play the what-if game, but one can't help but wonder if things would have been different if Hilbert had been available the entire season.

WORST LUCK: Wade Dubielewicz. I can't think of one guy who had worst luck this season than Dubie. Who can forget opening night, against Manitoba, when the puck bounced high off of the glass behind the net, hit Dubie in the back, then bounced into the net for a goal. Then there was the Rockford game on January 10 that the Aeros lost 2-1 after Rockford's Mike Brennan took a shot in OT that was going to be wide of the net, very wide of the net, only it hit the knob of Dubie's stick and went into the net to win the game for Rockford.

WORST LUCK NOT INVOLVING WADE DUBIELEWICZ (TIE): Peter Zingoni and Barry Brust. Zingoni came to the team after an injury-filled 2008-09 season. He came out hot, then got injured. Nobody worked harder to get back, then he got hurt again. And he came back, and got hurt again. Then there's the strange case of Barry Brust. Andrew and Heather know more details, but the brass in Minnesota didn't seem to like him. Then he got injured in camp. He got stuck in purgatory in Florida, and when he got his chance in Houston, he got injured -- first an ugly leg slash, then injuring his foot again.

WACKIEST MOMENTS (TIE): A puck hits Dubie on the back and bounces into the goal. A puck hits the knob of Dubie's stick and bounces into the goal -- a shot that would have gone way wide. But the true wackiest moment was any game in which Dubielewicz was sitting on the bench. If you didn't see Coach Dubie on the bench during a game, then you missed out. He banged the boards. He shouted out instructions at the goalies, and the players. He encouraged his teammates. I think he got a bigger workout on the bench than he did when playing.

(That said, and as an aside, Wade was a very good guy to deal with in the locker room for us. He never shied away from answering questions. He always spoke his mind. He never threw anybody under the bus.)

WACKIEST MOMENT NOT INVOLVING WADE DUBIELEWICZ: It was tough watching Barry Brust suffer that leg slash against Peoria. But without it, there would have never been that moment when Jeff Crawford came skating out to goal as the first intermission came to a close. We didn't know the condition of Brust at the moment, so the entire press row thought that Crawford was going to have to play the rest of the game. What made the moment was watching all of the scouts on press row, and there were still a lot of scouts following the team on February 3rd, and they were scrambling through every sheet of paper on the tables trying to get any scrap of info on Crawford.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT: With the scouts scrambling to find out info on Crawford, the Peoria coach agreed to give the Aeros a few extra minutes, and as the clock ticked to zero, Barry Brust, who had suffered a deep slash of his thigh in the first period. He got about 30 stitches during the intermission, did a few butterflies to show he was capable of making the blocks and making the moves, then skated out to the ice and got the win, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he saw that night.

BEST ARENA ADDITION: Let's hear for the brass up in Minnesota for getting replays for every game played at Toyota Center, no matter when the game was played. In the past, we've been stuck with replays just on Friday and Saturday. But this year, we had them every game. So thank you.

WORST NON-TEAM DEVELOPMENT: For some reason, the number of Lady Dynamics dropped, and dropped, throughout the season. And I liked watching the Lady Dynamics. But I want to give my thanks to those young ladies who stuck it out for the whole season. Thank you.

BEST READERS: This is for the readers of T3I. Thanks for sticking with us all season. I apologize for not being around as much as last season, but hopefully the T3I supplied you with all of the information about the team that you needed, and wanted. Thanks for reading. We appreciate it.

BIGGEST T3I LOSS: Fred, we missed you this season. It wasn't the same without you around. I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help out.