Say What?

Late in the third period tonight, there was a little dust-up between the Griffins Joakim Andersson and Tyler Cuma. And that leads to what has to be one of my favorite photos ever as Cuma tells Andersson to speak a little louder.

Aeros Lose In Shoot Out To Griffins

The Aeros have got this whole come-from-behind-in-the-third-period thing down to a science. They did it on all three games of this weekend's three-in-three, but got the win only once, on Saturday night.

Tonight, down 1-0 to the Griffins late in the third, they tied the game and sent it to OT. Then they were on the power play at the end of the OT, and couldn't score. And despite have some fantastic shot opportunities in the shoot out, they couldn't get the puck into the net while Matt Hackett was beat twice, giving the Griffins the 2-1 (SO) win.

Both teams were playing the final game of a three-in-three, and it showed. But Hackett played a hell of a game, keeping the Aeros in the action while the Aeros had numerous opportunities to score but had difficult times getting the puck in the net.

And getting the puck in the net is probably going to be a bit of a problem for the Aeros for the foreseeable future seeing as how the team's top goal scorers are injured. John Torchetti says the guys are just going to have the play the system and get used to tight games.

By the way, there is no timetable for the return of Mikael Granlund, though Torchetti did say that the injury wasn't as bad as they feared.

An injured Jason Zucker limps off of the ice at the end of overtime.

Zack Phillips misses just wide in the shootout.

Matt Hackett with a shootout stop.

Justin Fontaine tries to go five hole but the shot is stopped.

And here is the shoot out game winner for the Griffins.

Fight, Fight, Fight

A few words on the Aeros 5-1 win over the Texas Stars will come later. But first...

Drew Bagnall clobbered Antoine Roussel in the first period. And the fight was just in front of me, so...

Aeros Honor Jon DiSalvatore

The Aeros did a really classy thing tonight, honoring Jon DiSalvatore for his play with the team. He was awarded an aluminum hockey stick, modeled after his own stick, down to the curves, engraved with his name and celebrating his scoring 20-plus goals for nine straight AHL seasons. He was also honored with a crystal puck, and with the game puck from the game where he became the Aeros all-time leading scorer (AHL seasons only).

 We here at T3I get the honor of dealing with DiSalvatore on a nightly basis, and he truly is a good and classy person, as a player, a teammate, the team captain, and in his off-ice activities. So we're offering our congratulations, as well. And below are some photos from the pregame ceremony (featured in the photos are Joe O'Donnell, team president David Burke, GM Jim Mill, DiSalvatore, and his wife and children).

And The Winner Is: The Bikini Contest Part Two

So here are the pictures from the second intermission, in which Miss Aero was crowned. Personally, I'm in lust with the young lady in the first photo, and I could swear that I remember her from last year's contest (yep, that's her on the far left of photo one). The winner is crowned in photo four, and poses with Chilly and the former Miss Aero in the final photo.

And what do you know? Heather was wrong. The winner wasn't a tall, leggy blonde.

Cody Almond's Shortie In Photos

The Aeros may have lost 3-2 tonight, but Cody Almond got them a short 2-1 lead at 16:06 of the second period on a sick short-handed goal. And as luck has it -- trust me, it was luck -- I have the photos of the goal.

I've got to go now, they're trying to pull the Toyota Center wi-fi on us, so look for more Bikini Contest photos later, and Heather should be writing a story on the game which will be posted later, as well.

Part One Of The Bikini Contest

Yes, tonight was the Miss Aeros Bikini Night Contest. And here are the photos from the first round of the contest. As Heather mentioned on Twitter, there was a "wardrobe malfunction" and I did get a photo of it. But I'm a gentlemen and I won't post it, despite the urging of Heather.

FYI: Check out the third photo and see if you can figure out what Chilly's looking at.

I'll post the photos of the winner, and of Cody Almond's sick second period short-handed goal later tonight.

Facing A Face-Off

So kids, have you ever wondered what's it like to be part of a face-off? Well, since the Aeros are losing 3-1 midway through the second to the Rochester Americans, and since there doesn't really appear to be much worth talking about in the game, here's a few photos from the first period of Carson McMillan taking a face-off.

Goalie of the Week

As you know, Darcy Kuemper was named the AHL Goalie of the Week for last week, after going 2-0-0-2. So here he is tonight, with Aeros president David Burke, being presented with his award. Congrats, Darcy.

Teddy Bears On Ice

We're in the middle of the game, Aeros up 3-1 with 8:11 left in the second. But I thought you might want to see some teddy bears on the ice, courtesy of Chay Genoway's power play goal in the first period.

Photos from the 1-0 Win over San Antonio

There was only one goal scored in tonight's 1-0 Aeros win. And that goal was the seventh of the season for Justin Fontaine. (Quick note: the Aeros last won 1-0 on February 13, 2010, a 1-0 overtime win over Grand Rapids).

I thought you would like some photos. I had the camera on Jon DiSalvatore, so what you get is him moving in for a rebound should there be one, his reaction to the goal, then two photos of Fontaine skating for the bench to be congratulated by those guys there.

Some Game Photos

I haven't done much with the photos this season, but I went down and took a few this afternoon and I thought I would share. So...

This first picture is of Tyler Cuma pushing the puck up the ice. Coach John Torchetti wasn't too happy with the D play today. He wants them pushing the puck up the ice. He wasn't happy with what they were doing with the puck, though. He doesn't want them acting as shooters. He wants them to put the puck on the net and let what happens happen. A d-man shooting the puck for a goal goes high, and he doesn't want the puck going high. He wants the rebound.


Here's a shot of Matt Kassian trying to get to some clear space on the ice.


Here is the result of one of the teams's scoring attempts in the second period. Which means there was no goal scored on this play.


This is Joey Martin, one of the new kids who has arrived in the past week or so due to the injuries in both Houston and Minnesota. Torchetti singled him out during our post-game presser and was very, very complimentary.


And here's Carson McMillan, one of the walking wounded who has just returned to play.