Aeros vs Iowa 4/2 -- Photos

Let's start with some pre-game warm up shots. Here's a face we've not seen for a while, Barry Brust.
Due to call-ups and injury, we have the new face (one that has Ms C dreaming) of Rejean Beauchemin.
From the comments - On one side of Rejean's mask is guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine/Audio Slave/Nightwatchman etc and on the other side there (I don't have a good shot of that side) appears to be a tribute to a fellow hockey player Todd Davison who succumbed to cancer on 12/2/06. YouTube video of the Todd Davison story.


An old face is back, without a cage and just a little bit of bruising still visible, Mitch Love.
Unfortunately Barry Brust, coming back from a month long injury without the benefit of even a full team practice, had some rust and timing issues. Here the expression on Paul Alber's face says it all as the Chops score a soft goal 5-hole on their 2nd or 3rd shot of the night.
Mitch Love decides to tempt the nasal Gods with a pugilistic exhibition against one of the longest names in the AHL, Charlie Kronschnabel. His name goes from bicep to bicep on his jersey.
Barry had trouble all night with bouncing pucks and making clean saves. Clearly his timing was off and that was understandable, even if it was frustrating to watch.
A stunned Brandon Rogers has a look of disbelief as Barry had a bouncer "short hop" over the glove in the 2nd period. These things happen from time to time but the timing was awful.
Tomas Mojzis got the Aeros on the board in the 2nd period.
Jason Ryznar has a great chance in front as the shot gets in on J. P. Lavasseur. Ryz never seems to get the credit he should. He does a great job on the checking line and I think he has good enough hands to move up. In any case he does a great job in things that don't always get mentioned or show up on a stat sheet.
For the Tony Hrkac crowd, crank up the circus music as this was one pretty goal to tie the game at 2.
Unfortunately Benoit Pouliot takes a high sticking penalty not long after and Marco Rosa clears a puck into the stands taking a DOG penalty and giving Iowa a 5 on 3 chance that pays off as Brust never saw this one coming from Brian Salcido, through the screen.
At the end of the 2nd period (still down one man) Barry loses his mind and takes a poke at Iowa's Adrian Veideman. Fortunately Iowa's Brennan Evans drank from the same water and took a double minor for an attempted spear on Danny Irmen.
The Aeros were able to tie the game for a second time on this beautiful goal by Marco Rosa.
Unfortunately the Chops got the go-ahead goal and followed it with an empty netter to give the Aeros a 5-3 loss.
All Photos:Fred Trask

Aeros v. Peoria - 4/3 - Swinging the lead pipe

So, Khudobin is back with the team, but sits on the bench while Hottie McBeauchemin lets a couple of softies in early to put the team behind, and then Stoner banks one off his skate past the toe of H-Mac into his own net to put the Aeros down 3-1. Khudobin was sitting WHY?

Oh yeah, and Kolanos is up with the Wild and sits in the press box while the Wild shut Calgary out 4-0. You needed him WHY, Riser? Good luck charm? Radiant personality? Hmph.

And that power play that's second in the league? The one that converted on only 1 of 8 PP opportunities, including two 3-on-5 chances? Is the rest of the league really that bad on the PP?

So forgive me if I feel like some asshole has taken my knees out right before the playoffs and the only words I can find are "WHYYYYY? WHYYYYY?"

Am I being melodramatic? Bah. Admit it. You're pissed, too.

But as the much more level-headed Andrew points out in his Chronicle article, most of the rest of the West got the job done for the Aeros pushing their magic number down to 2. I guess the hockey gods find ways of leveling the field. Suppose they can win ANY of the 4 games left in the season? Never mind. It's still at 4. And I'm still pissed.

To their credit, the shots were 28 to 19 in favor of the Aeros, so they were getting the puck on Legace, but there was too little puck possession, too much dump and chase, WAY too many turnovers, but ultimately 3 mistakes around the crease were the difference between a 1-0 Aeros win and the 3-1 disappointment we got instead.

Dear Aeros: Letters to the team in response to Thursday's suck-minus performance

Dear Riser,

Please don't come to Houston and bring all your brass friends when we're in a critical stretch. The boys lose their ever loving minds when they know you're in the barn and now's just not the time. Or be a little more ninja-stealth next time.

Also, your big club is done. D.O.N.E. Stop taking our players. They weren't good enough for you when we could afford to be without them. Don't make like they're good enough to save you now, or that you haven't gotten a sufficient look at them. Malarkey. Let one team in this organization have a fighting chance.

Sincerely,
Ms.C

Dear KC & staff,

What was up with those line combinations? The boys looked half the time like they'd never met each other; they didn't have a clue what their linemates were doing; there was no chemistry whatsoever. I imagine you were trying to spark something there, but yeesh. No mas.

To wit, Madsen on the fourth line with Jay and Mitch is just ... it's just... just awful. Please stop it.

Respectfully,
Ms.C

Dear Brusty,

Oh sweet mercy, how nice it was to have your puck playing, poke checking, player whacking self back on the ice. I've missed you so much.

Now look, we're both goalies here so we can be honest with each other, right? Dude, you were Mr. Delayed Reaction last night. Gotta chug those Red Bulls or whatever and get moving out there. We'll chalk it up to rust. But please don't think that was good enough.

The glove hand got going, though (show off). And the insane poke check attempt... ahhh... I know it didn't work exactly like you planned, but it's one of my favorite guilty pleasures when you pull crazy ass moves like that. It's like eating one of those Monte Cristo sandwiches. It's messy and you shouldn't do it and it may cause a heart attack but it's just slap-yer-mama delicious.

Your comrade in big, swinging sticks,
Ms.C

Dear Rejean,

I got you a t-shirt. ;)

Most sincerely,
Ms.C

Dear Benny,

The brass is in the house and that's what you give 'em? Ya just gotta protect that puck better. And where was the hitting and toughness and ferocity you've shown over the last couple of months?

Lookit -- I know it sucks that KK got called up and you didn't, but this team needs you to hunker down and focus and bring the noise. Be a pro, Ben. Play like the NHLer you think you should be. Use your teammates. Don't be a cowboy. You're better than this.

Cheering you on but ready to throw you under the bus if you keep playing like last night,
Ms.C

Dear Equipment Fellas,

Thanks for putting the boys in the darks. That was really nice.

Take care,
Ms.C

Dear Tony,

Sorry I doubted you. That goal last night was sick sick sick. I can only imagine the cred you have with your team back home as they watch you take this challenge on and succeed.

Keep it up,
Ms.C

Dear Brennan Evans,

Spearing (attempt)? Ha ha! Next time you cost your team 4 minutes in the box, you might actually want to connect with your victim, tough guy.

FU,
Ms.C

Dear Nolan,



Yours in puck stoppage,
Ms.C

Oh damn, I just remembered I was given license to drop all the f-bombs I wanted in my post-game and I dropped nary a one.

But if last night's "level of compete," as KC says, continues through the weekend, I'll make up for it. Hockey scouts and sailors will blush. Chuck Norris will cry. Don Cherry will wear a t-shirt and jeans. You don't want that on your doorstep, boys.

Goalie? Goalie? Who Wants To Play Goalie?

Just to update Ms. Conduct's post from below, Anton Khodobin has officially been recalled to Minnesota on an emergency basis because of Niklas Backstrom's lower body injury. However, as Russo says over at his rants, both Backstrom and Josh Harding skated for the Wild in practice today, so he's expecting Backstrom to play tonight. Khudobin will not suit up, but he won't be returning any time soon. Russo expects Khudobin to stick around with the Wild until after this weekend.

To replace Khudobin on the roster, the Aeros signed someone with some actual experience, Rejean Beauchamp from ECHL Idaho, who the team signed to a PTO. Beauchamp's record for the season is 16-11-3 in 31 games with a 2.66 GAA and .895 save percentage.

What is up in the air is who will be going for the Aeros tonight. Schaefer, who played hurt on Sunday, tried to play hurt on Tuesday but had to leave the game early due to that injury. Barry Brust has been out due to injury, but the last time I talked to him and Kevin Constantine, they were hoping to have him back on Monday, but seeing as how Khudobin played on Tuesday, either Brust didn't get medical clearance or Constantine didn't see the need to rush things. But nothing against Beauchamp, I'm hoping Brust is healthy tonight.

So I guess we'll find out that answer to this riddle tonight. But I'm telling you, this game tonight has a good chance of really going to the dogs.

Alright, who PO'd the goalie gods?

So, I'm scouring AHL goalie news for my other gig and start piecing some bits of news together. I've seen no confirmation from the teams or leagues, so I'll just tell you what I've read and you can draw your own conclusions.

First, it seems Idaho Steelheads goalie Rejean Beauchemin has been summoned to Houston (last paragraph on the page). (Update: And we have lift off on this part of the story.)

And over on the Florida Everblades side, Angela Busch of the Naples Daily News is reporting that Khudobin has yet again been recalled to Minnesota due to Nik Backstrom's aching back.

From Russo this afternoon:

Anton Khudobin was recalled again on emergency conditions because of the tweak in Nik Backstrom’s lower body. But he flew in last night, and Backstrom and Josh Harding both practiced today, meaning everything seems OK with Backstrom.
However, I’d suspect Khudobin will stay here through the weekend now just in case Backstrom aggravates anything.

Busch's article only mentions Brust being injured in Houston, but unless Schaefer has made a miracle recovery, we know he is dinged up as well. Does this mean Beauchemin is the starter tonight? He's got about 22 AHL games in his 4 years of playing professional hockey, the rest are ECHL.

The good news is that he's very good looking. Well done, Assistant GM Troy Ward! Thanks to the Idaho Steelheads for the photo.

So... I guess I'm not getting the call to bring my gear tonight, huh? Damn.