Patrick O'Shite! Rising Rivermen routing ... everyone.

There was a lot of movement this week because some teams have kept winning and losing, showing that previous slumps or surges were no fluke. The addition of Patrick O'Sullivan has been magical for the Peoria Rivermen, a team that I think could be VERY dangerous during the postseason.

Something about this just makes me sad on the inside.
The Rivermen won't lose in the first round this year. 

And what happened to the Milwaukee Admirals? Some fans of theirs think it is nothing more than a lack of maturity, and that this is just a temporary slide. Whatever it is, it doesn't look like they are going to recover in time to make the playoffs for the billionth time in a row.

With Carter Hutton, the Rockford IceHogs just don't lose any more, and the Lake Erie Monsters have become a force recently. And we have a new No. 1 this week with Toronto taking over on top as the OKC Barons, a team that recently looked to have no flaws, has been sputtering around for the better part of three weeks.

Here comes Rochester, too. David Leggio took the No. 1 goalie spot away from Drew MacIntyre and hasn't looked back. That team has a light schedule down the road and may benefit from all the true Western teams beating up on each other.

Abbotsford is slumping again, but they own the Aeros this year and will probably score four goals in the first period Tuesday night at Toyota Center. The Aeros to the Heat are like the Grand Rapids Griffins to the Aeros: When you need a win, just circle that game on the schedule.

I really struggled putting Chicago ahead of the Rampage. I think San Antonio might be the better overall team, so these two I will really watch closely the week. I just thought the Wolves had the better week, so I gave them the nod.

John Torchetti told us Sunday that he is not doing ANY scoreboard watching. Even though that is hard to believe, I almost believe it with him. It'll ALL be different tomorrow, so why bother?

Maybe that is why he still has all his hair.

PR	Team	Record	Streak	Last	+/-	For the record …
1	TOR	34-21-4-3	2-0	2-0-0-0	+1	Scrivens leading the way
2	OKC	36-17-4-4	0-1	0-2-0-1	-1	Still sputtering; 1 win in last 6
3	PEO	34-26-2-1	3-0	3-0-0-0	+5	Oh, Sullivan! Hot, hot, hot
4	CLT	32-20-3-5	1-0	1-1-0-0	-1	Lead Midwest … barely
5	CHI	33-23-2-3	1-0	2-1-0-0	+1	Had division lead for a day
6	SAT	33-24-3-1	0-1	1-1-1-0	-2	16 wins since Jan. 10
7	LEM	35-25-2-4	2-0	2-0-0-1	+3	Just keep winning. Watch out.
8	ABB	32-24-3-3	0-2	1-2-0-1	-3	Destroyed by Peoria last week
9	RCH	30-22-6-3	2-0	2-0-0-0	+2	Leggio cannot be stopped.
10	RFD	30-26-2-5	4-0	2-0-0-0	+2	Carter Hutton is a beast.
11	HOU	28-20-3-9	0-1	2-2-0-0	-2	Lease is up after this next season.
12	MKE	30-26-2-2	0-3	0-3-0-0	-5	IceHogs road kill last week
13	GRR	26-23-6-4	1-0	1-2-1-0	-	Hanging on by a thread
14	HAM	26-27-2-5	0-2	0-1-1-0	-	For whom the bell tolls…
15	TEX	27-29-2-2	1-0	1-2-0-0	-	Will miss playoffs for first time

Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Words

What's that they say, pictures are worth a thousand words? Well, I'll throw up some words and some quotes later. But I think the photos say all that there really is to say.

Aeros win a sqeaker to take series lead (updated)

Close your eyes and imagine the oldest, grittiest, loudest, most intimate hockey arena you can think of. Beer and blood and taunting and fights in the hallways and more beer.

That's where the Aeros played tonight. And like the honey badger, who suffers a hundred stings to reach in there and get what he wants from the beehive, the Aeros just carried on playing their game to get the 2-1 win and take the series lead.

An early goal by the Aeros, where DiSalvatore jammed a rebound over Lehner's leg pad (bad goal) took a little of the air out of the building, but not much. Still early and these BSens can score like crazy, right?

The first period was fairly even, but in the second, the Aeros found their stride and took it to Binghamton pretty hard, putting 11 shots to Bingo's 5. Prosser scored the second goal, punching the puck in during a wild scramble in Lehner's crease about midway through the period.

Things got crazy in the third, as Bingo scored early in the period on a power play. Hackett argued that it was tipped in with a high stick. It was most certainly tipped in but I didn't see tip itself, but I heard it and it was obvious Hackett was expecting it to go somewhere else entirely.

The irony, at least to me, is that the Aeros worked a ton on executing tip-ins today (not defending them) at morning skate. Oh well. The hockey gods are funny like that.

Hackett was VERY good in this game though and had terrific visual attachment to the puck and didn't worry about saves looking pretty. He just got whatever he could in front of everything. Really big game for that kid and one to be proud of.

Later in the third, with the game 2-1, the BSens had their own mad scramble on the net and the puck hit the crossbar and down to the goal line, bouncing around a bit. Hackett covered it and I guess it looked like it crossed the line as he covered it, or maybe he knocked it across or something.

Anyway, Koho was pretty much standing on the back of the net watching this play transpire and emphatically waved no goal. I don't think anyone had a better view, so it's sort of hard to argue. Everyone I've talked to said, "Ehhhhh, it LOOKED over... but I didn't have a great view."  So *shrug* who knows without replay in this league.

The final minute was absolutely bananas. They pulled Lehner with a minute left, at one point he had to go back in net, but mostly he was out and that was the longest minute ever. Lots of crazy scrambles around the Aeros net, but somehow they were keeping it out. At one point, one of the Aeros was laying across the goal line to keep it out. Didn't think that was legal but they got away with it.

It was seriously insane and exciting. Just glad it worked out like it did. It was a phenomenal effort by the Aeros for the entire 60 minutes. I'm exhausted just thinking about how hard they worked out there.

I've been a little concerned about O'Sullivan lately, but he was back tonight and maybe better than ever. He was fantastic with the puck, but even more so, he made some seriously unbelievable defensive plays that saved a lot of bacon.

All the guys do that stuff, but when you have a guy with hands and ability like Sully, sometimes those guys get a pass. But he's not taking it.

The games are getting chippier for sure. They're developing quite a little dislike for each other out there. And props to the Aeros for not reacting to it and getting into penalty trouble.

Because there's a ton of media up here, the press conferences go quite long and, at least for one night, I'm opting for sleep instead of the bar. So, once I figure out how to upload audio to this darn page, I'll just leave it at that for you to enjoy.

Meanwhile, let's just get this posted so you have someplace to comment for now....

Okay, here's the audio. Only way I could figure out to get it going was to make it a YouTube movie. Had to pick a picture. Didn't have any of Kleinendorst, sooooo.... Brusty it is. 

Note and Observations For Game Seven Prep

Okay, before you do anything else, go read my story on last night's game that is currently in the Press. There's a few quotes I didn't get in last night, and I think the quotes from O'Sullivan and Ortmeyer best represent the mood of the team.

Now the important stuff, game seven.

The Aeros will skate at about 1:30 at Bradley Center today. And part of that skate will involve putting their mind in the right place. They've got to shake off Sunday's game, they've got shake off the disappointment of blowing the lead with 5:00 left. That game is over.

"Game sevens are exciting," Jon DiSalvatore said last night. "Obviously it would be great to close it out right now, but playoffs are an exciting time, and game sevens are an exciting time. We’ve got to shrug it off. Obviously it’s a tough loss to take, but we’ve got to get our heads right, wrapped around what we can do better. And just get excited for a game seven. It’s a good time."

Then he continued with how he wants the youngsters thinking.

"We can’t waste any time feeling sorry for ourselves right now. Let’s enjoy it. Let’s be upbeat and positive. Embrace the day, get better tomorrow, and get ready."

Jed Ortmeyer wants the guys thinking this: the pressure is on Milwaukee, not Houston. Milwaukee's the number one seed. Milwaukee's the home team.

"We came up a little bit short, but we’ve tried to take our game to them the last three games or so," he said. "The hits and the grinding and the shots on their goalie are going to take its toll. Like I said, the pressure’s on them."

And then this from Patrick O'Sullivan: "It’s tough, leading with five or six minutes left. It’s not a fun feeling right now, but take tonight to clear our minds, get back to practice tomorrow and refocus, and like I said, it’s a game seven, and those are fun to play."

Frankly, I think Mike Yeo saved yesterday's game. Sure, the Aeros lost, but they were losing their cool and making stupid play after stupid play, stupid penalty after stupid penalty, and he called a timeout and said something that got them back on track. There were some guys sitting next to me who I think might have been scouts -- they were sitting in spots reserved for the Aeros, but they weren't Aeros guys -- and they were talking about how impressed they were with Yeo and how he got a team quickly spiraling out-of-control back under control.

What are the keys for Game Seven?

Well, Matt Hackett has to play an entire game. Not all of the goals that happened yesterday were his fault. There were the continued defensive breakdowns and pucks deflecting off of players -- like the OT winner. But he's got to play an entire game like he did for the last 15 minutes of the second period and the first half of the third period yesterday. He doesn't need to be Jeremy Smith out there, but he's got to be more consistent.

More importantly, the guys have to play their roles. Ortmeyer and DiSalvatore noted that the problem at the start was that everybody wanted to play the hero and they got out of their roles and they started playing really stupid hockey.

On the plus side, Patrick O'Sullivan finally figured out how to get past Jeremy Smith last night. He and DiSalvatore have been taking their shots all series, good shots, but they broke through last night. And that pass O'Sullivan made to DiSalvatore for the second goal was just a thing of beauty.

And in that fashion, the Aeros can't worry about Smith.

"He’s standing on his head," O'Sullivan said last night. "100 saves in two games in Houston. That’s why they were in those games in our rink for sure. We dominated those games, and he kept them in it. We’ve got to continue to try and get traffic. He’s a good goalie. Goalies get hot in playoffs, and teams do well because of that. And I certainly think that’s the case with them. But we’re not concerned with what they’re doing or guys on that team as much as what we have to do. And what we can control is how hard we play, and we’re going to have a better start next game and we’re going to be okay."

I'll close with this statement from Mike Yeo:

"Playoffs aren’t any fun unless you get a chance to play a game seven. It’s difficult, there’s no question, to sit and say we had a chance to wrap it up. We’ve won a lot of hockey games this year, and we feel a lot of confidence in that room. We have a chance to go out here and play a great game and put all our chips in and give ourselves a chance to win a game seven. I think, if you look at the first series and how things went, and we don’t want to look past Milwaukee here, but if you do want to accomplish moving on and having success further, past this series, then you have to play against these hard games and against these hard teams. Milwaukee’s been a great opponent so far, and I expect [Tuesday] to be the same."

Notes And Observations From A Game Six Loss

Okay, it's been a really long damn day for me -- curse you Continental Airlines -- and I'm really tired, so this won't take long. And it's my understanding that we'll getting some of Chris Jerina's photos up here, so you can look at some good later.

So on with the important stuff. That being that the Aeros lost 5-4 in OT to force a game seven on Tuesday. They were five minutes away from winning the series. Five minutes. Then it all fell apart. Still, seeing the way the Aeros played the first 25 minutes of this game, just getting to OT is a bit of a wonder. But, as Patrick O'Sullivan said after the game: "It sucks for us right now, but we’ll be ready."

1. As much as I would like to believe O'Sullivan, after watching today's game, one can't be blamed for wondering if the team will be ready. If you can't be ready for a game six, then how can you be ready for anything?

2. I think I've figured out the problem with the team's sometimes slow start. I spoiek with Matt Kassian right befor the playoffs, and he said the biggest difference between this team and the Constantine playoff team is that this team expects to win. So, when they come out, they're just really not prepared because they're convinced they can turn it on at anytime.

I think that's what Mike Yeo is getting out here: "Momentum’s a funny thing. We just didn’t have our heads at that point [when he called the timeout]. We weren’t playing our game. If you’re going to lose, that’s one thing. But go down swinging, go down with your game, but we weren’t doing that. That’s just what it was, like we came back last game, we scored in two goals in less than four minutes, so we knew that we still had enough time to crawl back into the game, but the way it was going, the direction it was going, we had no chance. It would have been way uglier, way worse. I give the guys credit because they got their own minds back in the right place."

3. I spoke with Yeo, Jon DiSalvatore, Jed Ortmeyer, and Patrick O'Sullivan after the game, and none of them were happy with the way the game started for the Aeros, or with the team's play up until the time of the timeout.

"I think we were a little geeked up to the start game," DiSalvaore said. "Maybe a little over-anxious, a little over-excited. Obviously they got out to that early lead and emotions kind of took over, and we did lose our heads there for a bit. We took a couple of uncharacteristic penalties, penalties that can hurt you in the playoffs."

"We just needed to focus, to regroup," Ortmeyer said. "We were too excited. To ramped up to get out there and make a difference. Each guy wanted to wear the cape tonight. And that’s not the way we play. We’ve had success by doing the little things right, and we got a way from that and came unglued a little bit."

4. How will this loss affect the team? We'll let Patrick O'Sullivan asnwer: "It’s tough, leading with five or six minutes left. It’s not a fun feeling right now, but take tonight to clear our minds, get back to practice tomorrow and refocus, and like I said, it’s a game seven, and those are fun to play."

5. That's it for now. I've got to get some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

View From The Pressbox: Aeros Lose Game Six

The Aeros almost won a game they had no reason winning. They almost won this series in six games, and they almost didn't have to worry about a seventh game. They had the 4-3 lead with five minutes left, and they lost 5-4.

They came out playing awful, awful, awful hockey. Stupid penalties. Turning over the puck. Not being aggressive on offense. Matt Hackett couldn't stop anything. They were down 3-0 at the 3:24 mark of the second period, and they deserved to be down 3-0.

Then things got really stupid, and the really stupid involved Matt Hackett getting into it with Roman Josi. This happened at the 5:06 mark of the second. Mike Yeo called a timeout and gathered the team. I don't know what he said -- nobody I talked to would go into specifics -- but from that timeout until about the five minute mark of the third period, the Aeros dominated.

Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough.

"We didn’t play very well till we were down three-nothing," Patrick O'Sullivan said. "We took stupid penalties. We knew that they were obviously going to be fighting for their lives."

I'll try to throw some more up later tonight. But the guys I talked to kept going back to how they blew it in that first period.

The good news on the night was the Patrick O'Sullivan and Jon DiSalvatore had their best games of the playoffs. And Jarod Palmer made a spectacular play for the team's first goal.

But they just couldn't hold on. Hackett let down when it most mattered, not that the defense helped. Jeremy Smith recovered when it mattered. And now the Aeros are get to play a game seven they probably shouldn't be playing.

The Aeros can score on Milwaukee and Jeremy Smith. I think that's been proven. A guy can only stop so many shots. The problem on Tuesday will be stopping Milwaukee.

No Respect, No Respect

Dear AHL,

You suck. I caught your Morning Skate post on the website this morning, and noticed your three stars. I know the Aeros only won by a 2-1 score last night, but you would think that the first team to advance to the next round of the playoffs, and the first team this season to do so in a sweep, would merit at least having one guy, like say Patrick O'Sullivan, as at least the third star.

Then again, I guess netting the game-winning, series-clinching goal isn't as important as a guy getting three assists to take the playoff scoring lead.

So, once again, you suck.

Photos From Game Four

Here are a few photos from tonight's game, none of which can compare to the photos below which came from a professional. (Speaking of which, here's a link to more of Todd Quinn's photos from the game. And thanks to Todd for the use of his photos at T3I and for the link.)

Photo number one is of Jon DiSalvatore getting roughed up a bit in the second period.

Here's the reaction after Drew Bagnall's goal. It's not much, but I've got to admit, I was in shock after that, trying to believe if what I just saw had really happened.


Here's Patrick O'Sullivan with the kill shot.


Matt Hackett working in the third period.


And here's the team celebrating after the win.

The Ortmeyer Factor

The Aeros don't play again until Thursday, and they only have four games left in this, what has become a most fun and enjoyable regular season. Unlike the teams from 1999 and 2003 that won it all (and were built to win and win big), nothing this team does for the rest of the time they are together will disappoint me.

They have achieved more than I, or anyone else in the AHL media world thought was possible. Some experts had them finishing dead last in the West, while some others saw enough talent to get them into the playoffs. I could be lumped into the latter of those two. I thought the runaway "favorites" in the West this year would be Peoria and San Antonio.

Milwaukee is always good, and I thought Chicago had just enough offensive firepower to make it work. The rest of the division, I thought would be battling it out with Chicago and Milwaukee to get the last two or three spots.

Now just look at the standings.

Milwaukee can't lose on the road, the Aeros can't lose at home and the Texas Stars, despite all the call-ups to Dallas, have somehow remained near the top with no superstars. The race for the last one or two spots will be epic, and I am not even going to begin to predict that outcome.

We'll provide a playoff primer after the regular season, but I did want to take the time to talk about one ... huge ... x-factor in Jed Ortmeyer (pictured above in a shot by Chris Jerina).

After the loss at Rockford on Dec. 30, the Aeros were 18-17-1-2. They blew a 1-0 third period lead, and I remember thinking to myself that the Aeros just didn't have enough firepower to get into the playoffs. Their leadership group was decent, but they didn't have that emotional guy to make them hate losing enough. Then, the Rampage release Jed Ortmeyer from his AHL deal. The Wild saw value in him for a two-way deal.

He has been with the Aeros since (including one call-up to Minny) and since then, the Aeros are 26-9-0-3. Now consider the other side. When San Antonio released Ortmeyer, they were rolling along at 23-10-1-0. Since his departure the team has lost its best players to Phoenix and has spiraled down to seventh place. Their record since Ortmeyer left? 15-20-2-2. That is fifteen wins and 24 losses.

I am not saying Ortmeyer's departure is the reason San Antonio might not make the playoffs, but I am saying that he is one of the reasons the Aeros are now a virtual lock. His fiery personality coupled with the addition of Patrick O'Sullivan and his amazing offensive skill set have been a can't miss if you are handicapping the teams that are likely to do well in the postseason.

Ortmeyer, I believe, has done wonders for players like Carson McMillan and Colton Gillies. I firmly believe that any of those guys could go to the Wild right now and make them better. O'Sullivan, I believe, is living proof that AHL teams need to spend money on at least one bona fide money scorer to take their teams to the next level.

O'Sullivan has made Jon DiSalvatore play way better; he makes Chad Rau look better. That took the pressure off Robbie Earl somewhat, and now even HE has a career-high 21 goals. Speaking of guys that hate losing? Welcome back Warren Peters.

Not all the news is rosy.

There are some players grumbling about playing time. Not complaining-grumbing mind you, but this is the time of year where these things come up because of past injuries. OF COURSE you want to be playing ...When things are going as good as they are, of course you want more time. I think it would be far worse if the opposite were true. Also, the defense took a hit when both Scandella and Cuma went down with long-term injuries. The PK really, really struggled against OKC, but when those three things are all you can really complain about at the moment ... things are pretty OK in Aeroland.

The last four games are about getting home ice locked up for the first round against Texas. This matchup is going to happen, and that's a little bit scary considering the Dallas Stars won't be going to the playoffs this year. Richard Bachman has been a very pleasant surprise for them this year, and even though the Aeros went 9-3 against them this year, they are still very dangerous.

Texas will close the regular season with seven games in 10 days. The Aeros have just three in that span and will be well rested entering the playoffs. They have achieved more than anyone could have guessed to this point. Here's to what we all hope is another three months of hockey.

A Few Quick Items

The Aeros got the 5-4 win over the Oklahoma City Barons to sweep the series. Milwaukee beat San Antonio again, so points wise, the Aeros are still tied with Admirals for first place. And thanks to our pals in Rockford, who beat up on Chicago yet again, the Aeros, by our best calculation, are just two points away from clinching a playoff spot.

A few quick notes.

1. Patrick O'Sullivan did not play in the third period as a precautionary measure. He got the crap beat out of him over the weekend by the Barons -- who put him in their target -- and by some inept officiating that let him get beat up on. He was cramping and dehydrated during the second intermission, so it was decided to have him sit out. Robbie Earl suffered as well, and his third period ice time was also way reduced from what it normally would have been.

2. This weekend made it very clear that this team needs Matt Kassian healthy and back out on the ice. Pascal Morency might like to fight, but the team needs Kassian out there because Kassian's the kind of guy who can do to opposition scorers what the Barons were doing to O'Sullivan.

3. How great was it to see Nate Prosser back out there on the ice today? He saved some bacon numerous times in the game today, and Yeo was very complimentary of his game and very grateful to have his steadying influence back out on the ice.

4. Both Yeo and Jed Ortmeyer were very clear after the game that the team doesn't just want to make the playoffs. They want to keep winning and earn the number one seed.

5. Let's hear it for Ortmeyer. He played his 500th pro game on Friday night. And he was a huge influence in every game this weekend. The guys really seem to respect Ortmeyer, and when he's out there giving it everything he has, then they're going to go all out, too.

6. They next play on Thursday night when they host Chicago. And this game could be the one where they finally clinch a playoff spot in what has to be one of the toughest, most jumbled, most bizarre, most tight, playoff spot hunts ever.

View from the Press Box - Aeros drop an eight-spot on Rockford

Now that is more like it ...

The Aeros had two days to stew over the disappointing set-back from Sunday and were just one-goal away from breaking their franchise record of eight goals in a game.

Look, let's be real; Rockford tanked after the Aeros scored that third goal. They literally stopped playing for about 30 minutes. It was good to see the Aeros climb the ladder with a franchise record six power play goals, and they got a win against a team that they probably should have beat twice.

Wednesday's game was a treat for those that braved the weeknight to attend.

Heather will have some more stuff for you later about how the team felt about Rockford resorting to cheap shots with the game out of hand.

But for now, I have to mention that the Aeros are down yet another defenseman after Jamie Fraser got hurt in this game. The AHL deadline is Monday, and if the Aeros want to make a run, they will need to add a veteran blueliner that doesn't already have a serious injury.

While I think trading Anton was the absolutely right thing to do, especially for Anton, I am disappointed that all he could fetch was a skilled forward that will never play here and an injured blueliner. In case you were wondering where Penner was tonight, he is out with an upper-body injury and it does not sound like he is close to playing.

We'll see how things look in a week to 10 days when the Wild and Aeros start to get a bit healthier, but until then, it's going to be an interesting weekend.

As for the standings, the Aeros held their own with the win. San Antonio beat Abbotsford and Milwaukee earned an OT point in Hamilton. This weekend, there will be more division games, but don't expect too much separation at this point. This season is literally going to go down to the last 10 days, and the Aeros better find a way to get a six-point cushion or more on the fourth place team.

Here is a look at the updated standings with games remaining. Please click on the image for a closer view.

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.

The O'Sullivan Hit (In Photos)

Andrew mentioned a third period hit on Patrick O'Sullivan that ended up leading to a goal that tied the game. He mentioned he couldn't really see the hit because of where he was sitting, and where the hit was. I had a great view of the hit, and here are the photos. (Note: I was shooting through the glass, thus the smudges, and I haven't edited or touched up the photos yet, so caveats aside, here you go).

The Redemption of Patrick O'Sullivan

Here's my latest on the team in the Houston Press. The focus is on Patrick O'Sullivan and his return to Houston after having tasted some success in the NHL. Give it a read if you get a chance.

2/4/11 -- Aeros v. Stars -- Snowpocalypse Now Edition

One of the Aerodynamics cheers on the team in the first period.

Impressive game from the Aeros tonight. I was kind of worried about tonight's game. Worried because the team was coming off another long break of not playing, but I was worried about nothing as the Aeros dominated the entire game, getting the much easier than it looked 4-1 win over the Texas Stars.

1. First, a hearty well done to all of you who actually turned out for the game. I realize the weather guys did the best possible to scare the crap out of everybody in the Houston metropolitan area over the past week, but the threat of snow was non-existent. Still, the roads were iced over for most of the day, and they weren't entirely safe, so good job.

2. That said, the announced attendance for the game was 6,277. I would say that's an overestimate by about 4,000.

3. Fantastic game by Patrick O'Sullivan tonight. He had two power play goals tonight. The first one, which made the score 1-0 in the second period, came about when Warren Peters went to the boards behind the net and dug out the puck, fed it to Jon DiSalvatore who made a great spin move to find O'Sullivan on the other side of the net, and O'Sullivan's too good a player to miss a wide open net like that.

4. Needless to say, Mike Yeo's a big fan of what O'Sullivan brings to the game, and he told us so after the game. He especially likes how, when O'Sullivan gets a scoring chance, he takes advantage of it.

5. "A guy like that: first off, on the power play, what he adds to you, both of those goals there were moments before he scored the goal where they had pressure on, but he controlled the puck, and he holds off a defender, and he takes the time to make a tape to tape pass," Yeo said. "When you do that, it relieves the pressure. Other players might just get the puck and feel the pressure and slap it to somebody else, and that gives them the opportunity to continue the pressure and the puck goes down the ice. And then obviously, when you’ve got a guy who can shoot the puck like that, you don’t need as many scoring chances to put the puck in the net."

6. We spoke to O'Sullivan after the game. He admitted that he doesn't want to be in Houston, which is what you would hope he would say. But yet he likes Houston, he likes the arena, and he really likes Mike Yeo, telling us that he's learned a lot from Yeo in the short time he's been here.

He also likes playing on the same line with Jon DiSalvatore and Cody Almond, offering up that they have great chemistry and that he's having fun.

"Johnny’s a veteran guy, and he’s been around as long as I have, playing pro," O'Sullivan said. "He’s a smart player. I think we kind of read off each other and compliment each other really well. Cody’s a good young player. He’s big and strong. He compliments us as well. We all three play a little bit of a different style. Usually when you have a good line, you need different attributes in each guy, and I think we have that. It’s been fun."

7. Tonight was another solid night from the starting line of Warren Peters, Colton Gillies, and Jed Ortmeyer. They're not glamorous like the O'Sullivan/DiSalvatore/Almond line. But these are the guys who have been setting the tone every night.

8. Yeo told us that he thought the game started to slip away from the Aeros in the second period. But that Peters, et al came in and reestablished the style of play and tempo that Yeo wanted.

9. "Especially in that second period, when I thought our game was going in the wrong direction, I thought those guys did a great job of going out and resetting the mind and the focus of what we’re trying to do," Yeo said of that line. "I thought that they really did a great job of setting a physical tone out there. When you do that against any team, it wears on you. It certainly can get in their head, and that’s got to be part of our mentality and part of our game plan. We’re a team where if we’re doing things the right way then we should take the game over in the third period, and those guys had a lot to do with that."

10. Good game from Anton Khudobin tonight as he stopped 31 of 32 shots. He obviously read Heather's letter from earlier in the week, and he took her advice to heart. Yeo told us that he saw in Khudobin's play in practice this week that Khudobin was really focused, and when you see that from him in you practice, you let him go out and play.

11. The third goal came from Jarod Palmer. That was his first goal since Heather cursed him earlier in the season when she spoke about his leading the team in scoring. And the fourth and final goal was an empty netter from Max Noreau. Noreau had another two point night as he also assisted on O'Sullivan's second power play goal. And while Noreau has been putting up points those points have come by way of assists as this was Noreau's first goal since November 26.

12. The two point game was Noreau's team leading 10th multi-point game of the season.

13. The Aeros own the Stars this season. They're now 7-1-0-0 against Texas this season, including 5-0-0-0 at Toyota Center. The Aeros have also garnered points in nine consecutive home games. and they have a power play goal in five of their last six games.

14. Jon DiSalvator's assist on Patrick O'Sullivan's first goal was DiSalvatore's 400th career point.

15. The Aeros scored three goals in the third period while taking 15 third period shots. Yeo has wanted them controlling the third period all season, and this is probably what he was talking about in terms of dominating.

16. With the win, the Aeros are 29-19-1-3 (62 points) on the season. And despite their fantastic play since Christmas, they're still locked in a tie for first place. Milwaukee has the better record due to fewer games played at 27-13-2-6. Then comes San Antonio at 30-18-2-0 and Peoria at 29-17-2-2. Then the Aeros. Oklahoma City is in fifth, one point back at 27-18-2-5 (61 points). Texas is in sixth at 26-16-3-5 (58 points), and Chicago is in seventh place at 25-22-2-4 (56 points).

That's right, there are only six points separating teams one through seven in the AHL's West Division.

17. As to that chemistry thing O'Sullivan was talking about, well...O'Sullivan and DiSalvatore might have to work without Cody Almond for awhile as he's been recalled to the Wild with Justin Falk for Saturday's game with Phoenix.

1/21/11 -- Aeros v. Stars -- Say Hello To Second Place Edition

Okay, technically, the Aeros are in fourth place, not second place, as we head into Saturday's game with Lake Erie. But screw the technicalities because the Aeros, with 54 points, have the same number of points as Oklahoma City. And both Houston and Oklahoma are one point behind Peoria and Milwaukee who are tied for first with 55 points.

Alas, if you break down by percentages and games won, the Aeros are in fourth behind Peoria, Milwaukee, and Oklahoma City, in that order. But damn, in mid-December, who would have thought the Aeros would be in this position?

Anybody? Anybody?

So the Aeros got the 3-1 win over the Texas Stars tonight as they continued on an incredible hot streak that has seen the team earn a point in six straight games while winning five of the last six. Now lets look at a few items, in numerical fashion, shall we?

1. The Aeros didn't get off to the best of starts. And they were only in the game because of the play of Matt Hackett which, itself, has just seemed to elevate lately. He stopped 30 of 31 shots in the game, and he nearly stopped the one shot he let in.

2. I was down in Hackett's corner with the camera when that goal from Michael Neal snuck in at 9:41 of the first. I'll try to post some photos later -- they're only so-so for what it's worth -- and I thought he was sitting on the puck and couldn't understand why the light went on. The Aeros seemed a bit perplexed, too. But in one of the one photos, the puck, which I thought he had stopped, is sitting in the back of the net.

3. That Texas goal, however, seemed to light a fire under the Aeros, and it's probably safe to say they dominated the game after that.

4. "I didn’t think that our start was very good," Mike Yeo told us after the game. "I don’t think, whether it was the layoff or how this week went, I don’t think we approached the game as well [as we should have]…and I think [Hackett] did a great of keeping us in it.

"Obviously, I think the turning point was Hack, but also the shift that DiSalvatore, Wellman, and O’Sullivan had," he continued. "Talking about, we want to get to the offensive zone and play our game, and those guys did that. And not only did they do that, but they scored a goal."

5. I asked Yeo about Patrick O'Sullivan's play since joining the Aeros after his demotion. The team's play has been improved since he joined the team, and Jon DiSalvatore has clearly benefited from having a guy like O'Sullivan to pair up with.

To me, the thing about guys like O'Sullivan is that you're never sure of what you're going to get. He's been in the NHL for awhile, and you don't know what his attitude is going to be like. Is he going to pout? Is he going to try and prove a point? How does he rub off on his teammates? I think we've been seeing the answer.

6. "I’ve been very impressed with his commitment to how we want to play the game," Yeo said of O'Sullivan. "There’s five instances tonight where he came back in our d-zone and tracked and broke up plays that might have been…for anyone who wants to say he’s not a good defensive player, he made several good defensive plays for us tonight."

7. That first goal was scored by Casey Wellman who had an impressive night, with the goal and a second period assist -- he lacked only the first to earn the Gordie Howe hat trick on the night when Gordie Howe was in the arena.

8. The second Aeros goal on the night was scored by Robbie Earl at 5:05 of the second period. Up at the press table, it appeared that Max Noreau took one of his standard 100-mph shots from the blue line that rebounded off of Texas goalie Richard Bachman staight to Earl who did not miss the open net. However, the scoring gave the first assist to Casey Wellman, and the second assist to Noreau, so maybe Wellman tipped the puck somewhere along the line.

9. Speaking of Robbie Earl, tonight was another impressive night from him. It's my thinking that while he's been having an all-around good season, he's really elevated his game the past month or so. So I asked Yeo about this, and Yeo said there had been a definite change since the Christmas break.

10. "I think he was getting a little bit worn down, not that he wasn’t good, but I wouldn’t say that he was as good," Yeo said. "I think his game has gone to another level. Coming out of Christmas he was focused. He came into the office and said what do I need to do, what do I need to do to take another step and be a leader on this team? He’s done it. He’s been a great leader for us going out and his work ethic has been phenomenal, first and foremost. And when the work ethic is there, the skill is going to follow."

11. Now for some bad news. The team's next three games are on the road. And Mr. Ferraro, down below, predicted that the Aeros would win two of the three, specifically, the games in Cleveland and Syracuse. That's a bad omen as, has been pointed out to me by a few people with the Aeros, whenever Andrew picks the team to win, they lose. So let's hope that Andrew's streak is broke and the team really does as he predicts.

12. I guess the Aeros have a new policy toward replays. Once again they didn't replay the video of a visiting team goal. This might not matter so much to those of you in the stands, but it is rather irritating to those of on press row as we want to see what happens on a goal. (Yes, I was down in the corner, but I didn't see a replay).

13. Okay, this is going to sound nuts, but...late in the third period, there was a play down by the Texas goal. I just happened to look up at the video board as action the turned back toward the Aeros goal at the other end. And I could swear that, for a brief second, I saw what appeared to be a still photo of cleavage, rather, cleavage covered by a black "Hooters" tank top. And by cleavage, I mean just the cleavage, no face, etc. Having worked in TV, I think I know what happened, the director hit the wrong button when switching between cameras and went to a still they had keyed up somewhere.

That said, I didn't get a photo of it, and neither Heather nor Andrew saw it, so I can't help but think that I imagined the whole thing. For the sake of my sanity, did anybody see anything like this on the video boards late in the game?