12/18: Aeros 2, Texas 5

You could see this one coming a mile away. The Texas Stars are just damn good. They've slumped a little in goal with Brent Krahn's injury, but Climie is still an excellent goalie and his backup, Dallas prospect Bachman is also proving to be quite good.

The win against them on Tuesday in their barn was... maybe not a fluke... but that certainly wasn't the Texas Stars you get on most nights. And they knew it and you can bet they were looking to redeem themselves like a book of S&H Green Stamps. (How much did I just age myself?)

On top of that, the Aeros are playing 4 games in 6 nights and they looked a little tired. I thought the Stars had the edge on speed and sharpness all night, even though the Aeros seemed to be giving it all the gas they had.

One of the guys will probably give you the full quote, but after the game, Constantine said the goals against were Team Goals Against. Indeed they were. Breakdowns started upfront and rolled back to the net. Man, that second goal on Dubie by Peters was just sick. Sure Gunderson got beat badly on it, but it was a sweet goal finding the hole over Dubie's shoulder.

I continue to be impressed by Cody Almond. He just has terrific vision and hockey sense and does the "little things" coaches always talk about that make a big difference.

Brandon Rogers is another guy who really seems to have that ability to dig deep and find energy when others seem to be lagging a bit. He was terrific tonight. And really, you can't say enough about a guy who goes from being a cornerstone of a team's defense to being the STARTING CENTER. This isn't just like John Scott filling in on the wing. That's still a tough transition, but centers have more responsibility, a LOT more skating, and then to be the starting center? Wow.

We always have a laugh about it and shake our heads when he's announced as such each night because of what it says about the team as a whole, but it says nothing but really great things about Brandon.

This isn't going to be popular, but I'm going old school with the stick figure today. Well, technically there's no stick figure at all, but this is the kind of thing where a string of photos from Fred would probably give us some proof one way or the other as to that no-goal call.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter, but we all felt like based on replays that it was not a goal. It looked like it hit the back of the post and out, but I really don't believe if you could look down from above, that the puck was ALL the way over the line.

This drawing conclusively proves that T3I needs Fred taking pictures for us, because that is just craptastic and proves absolutely nothing.

Speaking of Fred, be sure and tell him HAPPY BIRTHDAY because he turns 29 today (Saturday)! Happy Birthday Freddycakes!

A disappointing turn of events...

So, we've got bad news and worse news.

The bad news is that the Aeros have chosen not to provide our dear Fred with credentials this season. Which means, apart from other sources/circumstances, The Third Intermission will not have photos of the Aeros this season.

It's their hockey team and they can do what they want, but certainly, Fred is an important part of our twisted little family here at T3I and his hockey photography is magnificent, so frankly, it stinks and we're deeply disappointed. The universe of Aeros information is unquestionably left lacking with this decision.

The even worse news is that Fred's photos of critical moments in each game and the players you love will be replaced by stick figure drawings by yours truly. For instance, right now, this is how we feel:
I know what you're thinking: "These crappy stick figures sure will be a disappointment to loyal Aeros fans like me who have come to rely on Fred's amazing photos, not only to document games and seasons but also to help explain things that happened in games. This sucks."

Exactly.

Fred will follow up in a bit with his own thoughts but we wanted to explain the situation first, as much as we can, as well as our plans for moving forward (albeit with a lot less color and charm).

We hope you'll still come visit. We'll still have the same written content (now with a bonus undercurrent of bitterness!) and have some fun here. Just not much in the way of stuff to look at. Unless you've got a particular affinity for bad stick figure drawings, in which case you're gonna LOVE this season at T3I, baby!

Apologies For The Lack Of Photos

I just wanted to offer up my apologies. I know that normally, after an Aeros game, you come over here to T3I to see some of Mr. Fred's great game photos. But you didn't get any tonight, and that's my fault. I kidnapped him and made him photograph the Houston Cougars/Texas Tech Red Raiders football game that I was covering for the mothership.

I haven't seen all of the photos yet, but let me tell you, based on the photos that he had of Houston's Case Keenum scoring the game winning touchdown, I think I can safely say that Mr. Fred is as good at shooting football as he is at shooting hockey. And we all know how good he is at hockey.

So thanks for letting me borrow him tonight.

Your T3I Weather Report

Nothing personal, Fred. But I always knew you were just a bunch of hot air who was a threat to no one. And now I have proof.