Photos Say So Much

I've got to transcribe so I can put up a few quotes with the View From The Pressbox. Plus I've got to pack. And I'm sure Heather will post some of Chris Jerina's photos later, but I wanted to share these photos because, well...

This is the immediate aftermath of Casey Wellman scoring to put Houston up 3-2. Just look at their reactions, and just look at Robbie Earl jumping into the air as he hugs Wellman. Great stuff. Great stuff.

Aeros Win Another Thriller, Take 3-2 Series Lead

This is what it looks like in the scrum after a huge win.

When the Milwaukee Admirals took the 2-0 lead on a short-handed goal with just five seconds left in the second period, I turned to Heather and Andrew and made the following statement: it's all over. The Aeros are going to lose tonight. Then they're going to lose Sunday.

While a bit dramatic, one couldn't be blamed for thinking this, seeing as how the Aeros were losing 2-0 in a game they were absolutely dominating. They had out-shot Milwaukee 38-16. They were playing physical hockey, and they were forcing the action in the Milwaukee's zone. There's just no way they should have been trailing, except that Matt Hackett had a brain fart on the first goal and there was a huge defensive breakdown on the shortie.

But Milwaukee goalie Jeremy Smith was just light's out dominating this game, stopping anything and everything the Aeros were throwing his way. There was just no way, NO WAY, the Aeros were going to make a comeback and win this game.

NO FRIGGING WAY!

We know now how the game turned out. Robbie Earl scored on a 5x3 power play with 4:22 remaining in the game. Then Jon DiSalvatore hit Chad Rau with a beautiful pass and Rau buried the puck with 1:22 left to tie the game. Then Robbie Earl again, off a play by Casey Wellman, netted the game-winner at the 8:45 mark of the overtime.

And just like that, the Aeros got the 3-2 OT win for the second night in a row to grab the 3-2 series lead over the Admirals.

What more can be said after that? Well...

1. I think Jeremy Smith could kill his entire team and get off with justifiable homicide. He faced 53 shots in this game as the Admirals defense struggled to keep the Aeros out of the offensive zone. The Aeros weren't successful for most of the night, but the reason they weren't successful was that Smith was getting to everything.

That said, the Aeros knew they could get to him. They knew if they kept attacking he would break because he's only human. Here was the Aeros game plan as the game got late.

"He was great, again," Mike Yeo said. "He’s played – the one thing you keep saying is we can grind him down, too. If he’s going to make 50-something saves then we’re going to get to the net, and we’re going to get to the net. And we’re going to keep throwing pucks there, and eventually he’s going to get tired, too.

"He played back-to-back, and he played two hard games in a row. So hopefully we’re going to get to him as well."

And eventually, the Aeros did get to him. It took nearly the entire game, but they got to him.

2. Fifteen of the 53 shots Smith faced came off of the sticks of Robbie Earl and Chad Rau. Earl, specifically, has been attacking Smith the entire series, but he hadn't been having much success. Until tonight, when the team needed him the most.

3. Of the game-winner, Earl gave the credit for the play's success to Casey Wellman who won a face-off and started the action. Earl claims to have just been in the right place at the right time.

"Off the face-off, Wellman had it," Earl said. "I’m not sure what happened, but I know he cycled it back down to me. And I was able to get the bead on the D and was able to cut back, and then I saw a bunch of legs and I decided to pick one out, and it went in."

4. Earl's goal comes off of the rype of play that Yeo wants to see. Attacking the net. Again, and again, and again, forcing Smith to make plays. And he thought they were better at it tonight than they were in game four.

"That’s where you give the guys a lot of credit," Yeo said. "I thought last game we started to try to get a little too precise with our shots. Tonight we were just focusing on getting them to the net and creating those battles in front of the net. Those are hard plays for the goalie, and physically draining when you’re scrambling around and there’s traffic in front and guys are poking at pucks. I thought we did a nice job with that."

5. The Aeros had doubts when they went to the locker room for the second intermission. They had been following the game plan, putting the puck on net and trying to create havoc, and they were losing. But Chad Rau said they talked about this and knew what they had to do.

"Just to stick with it," he said. "We knew for the most part, besides a couple of plays, a couple of turnovers, that we were playing a good game. That’s the kind of feeling we all felt. So we knew we just had to stick with what we were doing and come out of strong."

6. And Mike Yeo noticed this, saying that a mindset that Jeremy Smith was just too perfect began to get to the team in the second period, leading to the two goals.

"That is exactly what happened," he said. "One way we can get better is, once that happened, we started to force things a little bit and we put ourselves in some tough positions. You start to force a play into the middle. And now we’re all kind of caught on the offensive side of the puck, and we’re back-checking. There was some frustration in our game where we started to take some penalties. It’s a good lesson for us. One way, certainly, we can improve. And then when they scored that second goal, we were stretching a shift and we were forcing a play. You want to do the right thing. You just have to make sure you keep your focus and go and do it the right way."

7. As you read below, Admirals coach Lane Lambert attempted to have a heated discussion with the officials in their locker room after the game. And in some ways, that was understandable as the officiating in this game, hell, this whole series, was horrendous.

For instance, I'm still trying to figure out how, where two players drop their gloves, throw numerous punches to the face that land, don't get called for fighting but instead each get four minutes for roughing. And it appeared to me, numerous times, that both goalies were mauled and mugged by guys jumping all over them and jabbing them with sticks while they were covering the puck. So while I'm sure Lambert will be getting a hefty fine from the league office, I hope that somebody with the league will do something about Ghislain Hebert and Mark Lemelin.

For what it's worth, I think Lambert might have been right regarding the interference penalty on Grant Lewis as I felt it was a fantastic acting job on the part of Casey Wellman. Still, that shouldn't have caused the Admirals squad to melt down, get called for a delay of game penalty seconds later, and have to kill a 5x3 power play.

Also, for what it's worth, I've been going down that corridor for four years, and this is the first time any coach, either the Aeros or the opposing coach, has attempted to get to the refs after a game.

8. Once Earl made that first goal, you could feel the momentum shift. Still, I was really worried and I was mentally cursing Mike Yeo as Matt Hackett stayed in the net and stayed in the net and stayed in the net as the clocked ticked down. I was down in that corner, and I saw him keep looking at the bench, waiting for the sign to rush off so the Aeros could get that extra skater out there. The irony being, of course, that they didn't need the extra skater as Hackett wasn't even halfway to the bench when Jon DiSalvatore hit Chad Rau with that perfect pass which Rau then buried in the net to tie the game.

9. The Aeros were lucky tonight. As much as they dominated the action, they needed luck to swing their way, and swing it did when they got that 5x3 power play. And when they got that chance, they capitalized.

"We needed that," Earl told us. "It’s one of those moments where you’re like, okay this is do-or-die, and we were able to capitalize. That second goal, it was an unbelievable play, and a timely goal. It was a valiant effort by everybody, and now we’re up 3-2."

10. Yes, the Aeros are now up 3-2 and they're heading back to Milwaukee. You've got to wonder if all of the action he's been facing is going to get to Smith. But the Aeros can't worry about that. They've just got to concentrate on their game.

"They’re a strong home team," Rau said. "We know that. We’re going to have our work cut out for us when we get back to Milwaukee. We’re going to have to come with an even stronger game."

11. Games six and seven will be in Milwaukee. The Aeros will fly to Chicago on Saturday morning, then bus to Milwaukee. They've got the momentum on their side. But while it looks like the Admirals might be going into meltdown mode, that can't be counted on.

I hate to keep going back to this, but I have to go back to what Jed Ortmeyer said after the last regular season game. The key to winning a series is what happens on those days between games. You can't get too high; you can't get too low. You can enjoy it, but you've also got to put it behind you and focus on what's ahead. The Aeros can't worry about Jeremy Smith or how Milwaukee responds in an elimination game. The Aeros have to concentrate on their game, on their process. They've got to control those things they can control, and they've got to work hard.

It's worked so far. Let's see if it keeps working.

(And just a reminder, T3I will be in the building for game six, and for game seven, if needed. I'll be there for both, and Andrew hopes to be there for game seven.)

Aeros Win 3-2 (OT) -- The Game Winning Goal

I'll have some quotes and a story up later -- mainly because Andrew's hogging my recorder with my Robbie Earl quotes. Needless to say, the Aeros scored two goals in the final 4:22 of regulation to send the game to OT, then won, once again, in OT.

Jeremy Smith was fantastic in net for Milwaukee until it counted. And then along with the win we had Milwaukee coach Lane Lambert showing up outside the officials locker room, pounding on the door, while we were interviewing Mike Yeo. But we'll get to that later.

Meanwhile, here's Robbie Earl scoring the game winning goal.

Aeros Lose 5-3: A Few Comments and A Favor Request

Photo: Colton Gillies comforts Matt Hackett after Milwaukee goes up 5-3

Yes, it was a bad night for the Aeros. And yes, I do kind of kill them in the Press tomorrow because they played an awful, awful game tonight. They didn't play like the team I saw in the Peoria series. Still, I don't think anything I'm going to write will be anywhere near as bad as anything as Mike Yeo going to do to them in practice.

This game, this loss, was something he could see coming from practice.

"Again, I think that guys were feeling pretty proud of themselves, getting the split up in Milwaukee, and all of sudden we’re coming home and hey, we’re a pretty good team and we’ve had a lot of success in the playoffs," Yeo told us after the game. "And somewhere along the way we forgot we’re playing a first place team. A real quality opponent who has had a lot of success on the road."

The Aeros played really good hockey for about the first half of the first period, then I'm not sure what happened, but it was like, for the most part, a different team was on the ice. And that team that played the last 50 minutes or so that really needs to be worried about because they weren't playing very good hockey.

Not everybody mind you. Once again, there aren't enough good things that can be said about Robbie Earl's game. Jared Spurgeon was on target. I thought there was good effort from the third line. Again.

But the other lines are doing nothing. It's nice to talk about the depth of this Aeros team, and about how this Aeros team can excel because they're not dependent on Patrick O'Sullivan and the first line to do everything. But damn it, at some point, the O'Sullivan/DiSalvatore/Almond line and the Earl/Wellman/Rau line have to do something because if the Aeros are going to be dependent on Colton Gillies to get all of the goals, the team's in trouble -- nothing against Gillies, but that's the checking line.

And yes, Mike Yeo is also bothered about this. He tried to change things up a bit in the third, throwing Wellman in with DiSalvatore and O'Sullivan, but that backfired because that line got burned with some bad turnovers in the third that directly led to Milwaukee goals with minutes of the Aeros pulling within a goal.

Yeo said before this series not to expect the Peoria lineup, and he put Marco Scandella in for Jeff Penner and he put Brett Bulmer in for Matt Kassian. But he also said to expect changes between games. He's not done this yet, but that might be coming.

"We’ve had good chemistry with our guys," he said. "But at the same time, I think that we’re playing a bit of a different team in the way that they defend. We have to find a way to penetrate more to the inside. A lot of the lines have had moments where they’ve gotten something done, but too many times where we’ve had too many guys on the outside. So whether that’s just a shift in their mindset, or a shift in the personnel and we try to get some different type players playing with different guys, then we’ll look at all of those options as well."

Who knows how those changes will look. Personally, I go back to Kassian, see if he can cause some havoc inside because he's become good at that. Maybe you go back to Jeff Penner over someone like Falk, but besides that, I can't think of anybody who hasn't played in the playoffs who should be playing.

Maybe you throw a Carson McMillan into the first line -- he's played on the same line with DiSalvatore and O'Sullivan during the year and he was good. Or maybe you go back to Wellman fulltime with DiSalvatore and O'Sullivan. This isn't a knock on Cody Almond who has been good, but maybe something needs to get changed with that line. I think you leave Peters/Gillies/Ortmeyer alone.

Who knows? I'm not the coach. But I think Almond, Wellman, McMillam and Jarod Palmer -- who has also played on the one through four lines throughout the season -- are the chess pieces who get shifted about the various lines.

What I come back to, though, is that nobody thought this series would be cakewalk -- I said Aeros in six, after all. I also come back to what Jed Ortmeyer told us before the playoffs. It's not so much how you handle the game. It's how you handle the day between the games. You're not going to sweep every series, and it's in the handling of the wins and the losses that matter. The Aeros didn't handle the win on Sunday very well. Maybe they'll handle the loss better.

"It’s one game at a time," Colton Gillies told us. "Yeah, we lost. We’re going to go over that tomorrow, all of the mistakes we made. We’ll fix those, and we’ll be ready for the next game."

And now my favor request. As a reminder, the Press is giving me the playoffs to save hockey coverage and show that the people in Houston really do actually care about the Aeros. So while I know you're disgusted with the loss, I do hope you'll go over tomorrow (today/Wednesday) and read my post on the game whenever it should go up -- I've got quotes there I don't have here. Otherwise, instead of Aeros stuff next year, you'll see more crap from the new designated golden boy which, instead of being about sports, which is why he's supposed to be writing, is instead about guys in lingerie killing pygmie goats in West Virginia -- yes, that was the supposed sports content for the Press yesterday.

Thanks, and until Thursday, when hopefully the result will be much better.

Aeros Lose: A Bad Night In Photos

Mike Yeo and Colton Gillies gave us some decent quotes after the game, which was good of them. So I'll have some of those later. For now, a few pictures which, I think, best define this game.

First we have the celebration after Jared Spurgeon's power play goal to put the Aeros up 1-0. I like this kid. It's a shame we're not going to see him next year, but he was too good for the Wild this past year to let him come back here next season.


This photo shows just how close the Aeros were to going up 2-0 in the first. If that happens, things might turn out different. Instead, Ryan Ellis comes from nowhere to get his stick on a puck that Jeremy Smith was not going to stop.


Here, to me, is the most amazing call of the night. This is Robbie Earl interfering with Smith. Yes, this is when Earl got called for goaltender interference. No, he doesn't do anything else. Trust me, I've been spending a lot of time lately watching the play in front of the goalie, and this is nothing compared with what Jon DiSalvatore and Warren Peters do nightly, or were doing tonight. So as bad as the missed goal was, this to me is more outrageous because at least they eventually got the goal call right.


Speaking of that goal...I don't have a good shot of it because I was down in the opposite corner by Matt Hackett. But the Aeros sure as hell reacted to as if it was a goal.

I'm not sure how many of you follow the Milwaukee Admirals on twitter, but they're damn maddening to follow because the only thing they don't tweet during a game are player bowel movements -- no, I'm not exaggerating. They tweet line shifts, passes, and icing calls. So for me, the best part of this whole thing was reading their tweets as they go ballistic that the refs were reviewing the replay. Only they weren't reviewing replay, as you can tell from Warren Peters begging them to look up at the video board as the goal was replayed. And trust me, I watched, and shot. They never looked up. And they weren't looking at any monitors or else Peters wouldn't have been going so ballistic when they weren't looking up at the video boards.


So here's the goal being allowed. From the best I could figure, this is what happened. There was a stoppage in play and the Aeros got on them about the no goal. So they did the baseball umpire thing and conferred. I think that one of the refs thought it was a goal but hadn't had time to say anything before the other called it a no goal. They talk. Then the one who said it wasn't a goal went over to the corner with a linesman and conferred with the goal judge who said that it was a goal. So he did the right thing and called it a goal. Not that it mattered because the Admirals came right back and scored.


But at least one good thing happened, the Admirals tweeters had to tweet about something other than icing calls.

Aeros 4-1 Over Peoria (WIth Some Photos)

The Aeros tonight played one of the best games I've seen the team play this season in their 4-1 game one win over Peoria. They dominated puck possession for most of the game. They were hitting. Attacking. This is the type of game that Mike Yeo wants his team playing on a consistent basis.

Before we go further, here is Heather's game story.

Heather has the quotes in her story -- I'll have some in my story in the Press tomorrow. And Andrew really hit the good points in his post below.

Yeo, Hackett, and Ortmeyer were all in agreement that the team was a bit nervous to start the game, but that once Peoria scored that goal everything just fell into place.

Once again, we witnessed a fantastic performance on the part of Robbie Earl who just continues to raise his level of play. And what a great game from the Gillies/Peters/Ortmeyer line. And Ortmeyer's second period goal was just one of those things where I turned to Heather and Andrew to ask if I just saw what I thought I saw, only they were turning to me to ask that same question.

Here are some photos from the game. First off we have a shot of Jed Ortmeyer, which I really like, and which happened by pure accident.


Here's a photo of Matt Hackett taking a brief moment to relax late in the third period.


This is the end of the game.


Here's Robbie Earl getting a moment of recognition as the second star.


And for the second game in a row, here's Warren Peters as the number one star.

Some Game 80 Photos

I took some photos, of course, but instead of game action, I've got some other items. For instance, here's one of the team fans with her sign, at the glass after the game.


This photo below is one of my favorites. I just wish it wasn't through the glass. But I think the whole arena could see Jed Ortmeyer's smile after this goal. We asked after the game, and he noted that this was part of a joke that he had with Patrick O'Sullivan. Primarily, whenever's he on a line with O'Sullivan, he gets a goal.


And here is Robbie Earl. I think we've written nice things about Robbie this season, but I don't think we've said enough about just how good he's been this year, and how much he's elevated his game. I can't believe some of the defensive plays -- when he stole a puck off another guy's puck -- I saw him make in the third period.


Here's number two star Chad Rau bumping fists with Chilly.


And here's the game's number one star, Warren Peters, getting his moment in the spotlight after the game.

This Is The Playoffs

UPDATE: Warren Peters has been reassigned to the Aeros.

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The Aeros are playing their next-to-last three-in-three of the season this weekend. And after this weekend, there are four games left in the regular season. Coming into the games, the Aeros are in second place, one point behind Milwaukee and four points ahead of third place Texas.

Now calling this weekend series the playoffs might be stretching things a bit, but according to the players I spoke with at SLICE yesterday, the playoffs is how they're viewing this weekend series with the Oklahoma City Barons. First, this is a three game series against the fourth place team in the standings -- they're just six points behind Houston. And the Aeros are telling themselves that the best way to treat this game is as if this is the first round of the playoffs. So they've got to win to advance.

"It’s pretty much a playoff series," Robbie Earl says. "It’s like a regular first round match-up against whoever we would be playing. Obviously it’s some big games coming up. We’re going to treat them as must wins, and we definitely need to capitalize on the six points at hand."

And team captain Jon DiSalvatore agreed with Earl.

"We’ve already discussed this, and we’re approaching it like it is a playoff series," he said. "I think it’s important for us. And I think we learned the last game that playoff hockey really is here, and the expectation and the coach and the mentality, everything needs to rise to another level. We’re treating this series like it’s a playoff series. We need to win, and we need to prepare for ourselves – obviously if we win this series we put ourselves in another good spot going into the final two weeks of the season. So that’s our approach. It’s a key series for us, and it’s time to raise our level to that playoff-like mentality."

Now lots of us are worried about the big break in games coming up after next week, where the Aeros are off for more than a week between games 79 and 80 while the rest of the division plays multiple games that can move them past Houston and send them out of the playoffs. But the Aeros themselves aren't worrying about that break because as far as they're concerned, if they take care of business this next week, including this weekend, they'll be getting points and as long as they get points, the pressure is on all of the other teams to keep pace. In other words, the Aeros feel that they control their own destiny.

"I think we’ve done a good job in terms of the last 35 games, or whatever it may be, to put ourselves in a position where we do control our destiny," DiSalvatore said. "Where we don’t necessarily – even though we will be watching what happens that next week because our division is going to be so tight regardless – we do have a situation where we can control our own destiny. And that’s the situation that you want to be in at all times."

And Mike Yeo doesn't want the team worrying about that break. He wants their focus on this weekend and on next week because if they focus on themselves instead of worrying about the other teams and the scheduling break, they should be fine.

"That’s exactly it," he said. "We can’t sit here with 88 points and think we’re in a playoff position right now because we’re not. We’re in a position where we might not have to win as many games as some teams, but the reality is we still have to win games. And we have to get points. And we shouldn’t be satisfied with that anyways. We should try to give ourselves the best opportunity to finish as high as we can, and put ourselves in the best position to get in the playoffs and hopefully get home ice advantage."

One of the things discussed was just how crazy tight not only this division, but this conference is, when it comes to the playoff hunt because, with the cross-over, what happens in the North affects what happens in the West. As of right now, there are 13 teams battling over the eight playoff spots -- the sixth place team in the North is only three points behind the fourth place team, but because of the cross-over rule, the North's fourth place team would currently be sitting home with Chicago crossing over.

Mike Yeo said he's never seen anything like this in his career as a coach or a player. And he uses this as another reason why the team should just concentrate on getting points because, if they get points, they take care of business.

"This is as close as I’ve probably ever been involved in a race," he said. "Quite often you’ll have two or three teams jockeying for position, maybe you’re playing for second or third, or maybe a couple of teams are playing for that final playoff position, but to have – there are so many different scenarios right now that it’s quite interesting. Again you just can’t get caught up in it because if we sit around and look at what’s going on in the [Western Conference] and then the rest of the teams within our division, we’ll drive ourselves crazy. We would be much better served to put all of our thoughts and focus on ourselves and making sure that we’re ready to go for [Friday]."

So that's the mentality of the team as they head into the series with Oklahoma City tonight. If they go out there and play hockey and do their jobs and get points, things are going to be okay. But you should also know this. I was at SLICE for practice yesterday, and the players were having fun because this is the kind of hockey that every player wants to be playing.

"I feel like it’s been like this since December," DiSalvatore said. "It’s been tight, it’s been musical chairs as far as the standings have gone. It’s fun. It’s fun knowing that every single time you go out there you’re playing for a different position in the standings. It could be scary, us putting pressure on teams that needs point right now. It’s exciting that we get the chance on a nightly basis to play for first place, and we take pride in that, and we look forward to the challenge every night."

SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

Here's a little something for you trivia buffs, courtesy of the team's unofficial historian, Andrew Ferraro. This is the first time in the history of this incarnation of the Aeros that the team has played a three-in-three at home against the same team. The Aeros have, on four other occassions that we can find, played four three-in-threes at home, but each one involved two different opponents. The Aeros are 6-6 in these games, 1-3 in game one, 2-2 in game two, and 3-1 in game three....Also, the word is that one of the four Aeros currently up in Minnesota, but eligible for the Aeros playoff roster, will be returning to the Aeros today.

View from the Press Box - Aeros win OT thriller over Admirals

It is hard to believe there are just 10 games left in the regular season.

It is also difficult to fathom that the Aeros could still, possibly, not make the playoffs. No need to go down that negative road today when you've got great things to talk about like the season Patrick O'Sullivan is having in Houston. Forget all the collapse talk when you've got Robbie Earl snapping a month-long goal drought with back-to-back games winners in crucial home games.

I had a good feeling about the game Friday for the same reason I had a real bad feeling about the last time the Aeros played in Cedar Park. One team was due to win against the other. My old friend Rob Daum used to challenge my law of averages argument. "What IS that, really," he used to ask. I'd change the subject by telling him, "Well, you're team is only as good as the starting goalie for your next game." Considering he had Tony Quesada and Miro Kopriva manning the pipes ... well, let's just say that is the end of the conversation.

Seventy down and 10 to go ... and speaking of laws of averages; the last four two-game winning streaks have been stopped with a regulation loss. If you like patterns, you can say the Aeros lose Saturday. If you like the law of averages argument, it's a win hands down.

You can spin just about anything, any way.

But I digress ...

I asked Robbie if the Aeros just wanted it more, did they perhaps will themselves to a win. "Well the game went to OT, ...I think both teams really wanted this one," he said. And I think that speaks volumes. That is how it is going to be for the last 10 games. Every mistake, every goal for and against will be under the microscope. Just as Forecheck said in a comment, "Welcome to the playoffs! "

3/4/11 -- Aeros Crunch Syracuse

That was a nice 3-1 win by the Aeros over Syracuse tonight. The team didn't play there best hockey -- Mike Yeo had to call a timeout four minutes into the second period because of the team's play -- but needing a win over a last place team while playing the first of a three-in-three, the Aeros came through big time.

So, let's get on with it.

1. Injury news first. Matt Kassian is suffering from a lower body injury and will be out several weeks according to Yeo. They're still hoping to get Drew Bagnall back next week.

"He’s a warrior, though," Yeo said of Bagnall. "As soon as he’s ready, I know he’ll be in there."

2. One of the more impressive things about the win was that because of the annual Wild injury carousel, coupled with injuries here, the Aeros had a lot of guys playing tonight who haven't put in a lot of time with the big team this year. This is something to be expected, and they're having to come in and play without a lot of practice time. So though the ice time was really limited Joel Broda and Pascal Morency tonight -- probably because Morency couldn't stay out of the penalty box whenever he stepped on the ice -- guys like Jamie Fritsch did get some ice time.

Yeo attributes the play of these guys tonight, and that they were able to fit in without looking like sore thumbs, to the system the team's playing. The regulars on the team have bought in to what Yeo is selling, and they're making sure everybody else goes with it as well. And this, according to Yeo, is what successful teams do. They get a system and everybody works with everybody to make sure the plan is implemented.

3. That leads us to Jarod Palmer, the star of the night on the line of the night. Palmer finished with two goals -- and came "just this close" to the hat trick -- playing on a line with Robbie Earl and Chad Rau. And Palmer put all of the credit for everything he did on those two guys.

"What can I say?" he said. "Pucks just seemed to bounce my way for me tonight. Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don’t, and when they go your way, you’ve got to take advantage of it and try to put one in the back of the net. I had some help by line mates. A couple of pucks ended up right on my tape right in front of the net. That wasn’t all my work. That was a lot of team effort there. It wasn’t too hard to put into the net."

4. Earl and Rau have really been clicking as a line this year, but it's always seemed to be just missing one piece. But they've been working their asses off and Palmer just seemed to make all of the difference. But Palmer said Earl and Rau did everything within their power to make his game tonight possible.

"Those guys, they help me out a lot by just talking to me," Palmer said. "Coming off the ice every shift, around the bench, they’re telling me where they wanted me, where I could have been to be in a better spot, where I could have passed the puck to get it to them in a better spot. Just small details that they mentioned to you that you’ve got to listen to and pay attention to. If your teammates are talking to, it makes everything a lot easier."

5. Yeo was excited by the play of Earl/Rau/Palmer. He thought they played an excellent defensive game to go along with what they did on the offensive end -- the other goal came from Chad Rau on the power play. He liked how Palmer was willing to get in position around the net and he thinks Earl and Rau did good work with creating open ice that made Palmer's work possible.

6. Palmer also gives a lot of credit to Yeo's system, and to the veteran leadership on the club.

"I think we have a lot of structure as far as where we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to do," he said. "It’s well known. It’s preached constantly by the leaders on the team. A lot of the guys walk the talk, and that helps a lot. A lot of leadership on this team. You’ve got Ortmeyer, DiSalvatore, O’Sullivan – just some guys, some of our leadership left – Peters up in the bigs right now – still, there’s enough here right now that we can take in some new guys and keep rolling. It’s a tough challenge."

7. Just a note of clarification: we didn't let Heather talk to Palmer because the last time she did, he went into a huge scoring funk. So being a superstitious lot, we just let her hold a tape recorder and listen.

8. Nice game by Josh Tordjman in goal tonight. He let in a first period power play goal that briefly gave Syracuse the lead, but that came off a deflection which kind of left him helpless. But I don't know if we can continue letting Heather sit with us in the press box when he plays because she's screaming and squirming and hitting and punching with worry that something's going to go wrong.

9. After tonight the Aeros record is 37-23-1-4 (79 points), and they're still in second place. Go down and look at Andrew's post for the latest on the standings and the things that still need to happen.

10. Nice stat of the night: the Aeros are now 18-1-1-0 when holding opponents to zero or one goal.

11. I noticed tonight that the Aeros are celebrating the "Roudiest" Fan Of The Game in their Hilton Hotel giveaway thing. Has this been the case all season and I've just missed the typo? My question: how did the video people at Toyota Center -- not Aeros employees -- miss a typo like this? That used to be one of my functions with the Astros and Texans, making sure no typos like that went up on the video boards. So was this a one-time only thing, or not? I know I just noticed it, but that doesn't mean it's new.

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.

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.

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?

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.

1/7/11 -- Aeros v. Lake Erie -- Rookie Shutout Edition

Well, was this a fun night of hockey, or what? The Aeros got the 3-0 win over the Lake Erie Monsters in what, to me, was their best game of this season. The Aeros dominated in every phase of this game, whether it was on offense -- they outshot Lake Erie 41-25, defense, goaltending, hitting, penalty kill, you name it.

So let's just take this in list form.

1. The game's number one star was rookie goalie Matt Hackett, who got the first shutout of his AHL career. He had really good vision tonight, and he seemed to see the puck no matter where it was at.

2. "It’s unbelievable," Hackett said of the game. "I didn’t know it was going to come, and the boys played great and kept the shots to the outside, and I saw everything. It’s exciting, and I had a couple of buddies in the stands, so it’s special."

Here's Hackett making a save in the first period.

3. Hackett attributed his play to the guys making great plays in front of him, but also for working with him in practice. He also noted that Bob Mason, the Wild goalie has been in town this week, and he's been giving Hackett some attention.

4. Mike Yeo thought this was the best game played by Hackett this season, and he agreed that Mason played an important role in that.

"It’s probably not a coincidence," Yeo said. "We’ve had a week off. He’s a young guy. The details of his game probably weren’t as big, and he’s been able to work on some things this week. We’ve had [Bob Mason] our goalie coach from Minnesota, has been here this week and been able to work with him. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s able to play like that."

5. The third star of the game was Jean-Michel Daoust who scored on a penalty shot in the first period. I've missed some games this year, but this was one of the few times this season that I've seen Daoust was that pest he specialized in playing last season.

For instance, Daoust was able to get his penalty shot because he was on a breakaway. He was on a breakaway because he was in the penalty box for boarding. He leaped out of the box as the penalty time expired and was in great position for the breakaway.

(If you'll click on this picture, you'll see that Daoust has this little, playful smile on his face, as he prepares to head to the box, almost as if this is all part of a grand plan.)

And here is Mr. Daoust on his approach for the penalty shot.

6. A big key to the game for Yeo, and as I discovered when checking my camera, for myself down low, was the play of Warren Peters and his line, featuring Peters, Jed Ortmeyer, and Colton Gillies. If there was hit being made, or if the goalie's view was being blocked, then it seemed to always be the doing of these guys.

Peters on a first period face-off.

And here is Mr. Peters getting in the way of Lake Erie's Jason Bacashihua.

7. I'm sorry that I don't have a photo of Chad Rau's goal in the second period. It was a thing of beauty. He got a great pass from Robbie Earl -- who seemed to be everywhere tonight (he was the number two star for his goal and assist) -- and then Rau just made a few moves with his stick and the puck and the goalie didn't stand a chance.

8. As Andrew mentioned below, and I noted on twitter, Anton Khudobin was not available for tonight's game as he was called up to Minnesota late in the day. Because of the timing, there was no way to get Josh Tordjman to Houston in time to back up Hackett. That's when the panic and the phone calls started. And by panic and phone calls, I mean panic and phone calls.

9. The Aeros eventually found a former college and pro goalie in town, David Weninger. Of course, Weninger hadn't played pro hockey since 2000.

10. Here's the story as told by Mike Yeo:

"Believe it or not, the call-up happened so quickly that we didn’t have a chance, and exhausted all other opportunities. I actually called my son’s coach, who, he played Division One hockey, and I knew that he played pretty decent men’s league hockey here in town, and I asked him, listen if all else fails I may need a goalie.

"He said, I know a guy who played college, and I believe he was drafted. He calls back and says it turns out you actually coached this guy. So I actually played with him briefly, and coached him [at Wilkes-Barre Scranton]. Needless to say, probably neither of us look the same as we did back then. He was great. He was cheering the guys on."

11. Tordjman will be available in San Antonio for Saturday's game, as well as the game in Houston on Sunday. After the game, Yeo was leaning toward starting Hackett on Saturday, and he noted that the thought had briefly crossed his mind of letting Hackett start on Sunday as well. But I have a feeling that that is all based on how things go tomorrow night.

12. With the win, the Aeros are 20-17-1-2 on the season (43 points). They're in sixth place in the West, two points behind fifth place Chicago and three points behind fourth place Texas.

13. And then there's this from the Aeros' crackerjack media staff. Daoust's penalty shot was 26th penalty shot in the AHL this season. But it was only the eighth one that was successful. It was also the second successful penalty shot of the night, as Michael Swift of Albany was successful on his penalty shot against Charlotte's Justin Pogge.

Sky Rats and Celebrating Robbie Earl

I dunno about you guys but I've never seen a pigeon interrupt a professional hockey game before. Pretty smart birds shacking up in an arena like that. What do you want to bet their cholesterol is off the charts, bird-wise, eating arena scraps all the time?

Anyway, I couldn't resist giving the brave little fella some stick figure love. Maybe he thought Montoya needed defensive help.

I'm just glad they stopped the game. Can you imagine parents having to console their horrified children as a puck or stick or player hits that bird and feathers go flying? Would have made a way awesomer stick figure though.

Andrew covered the game stuff below, but I've been feeling a rising sense that Robbie Earl isn't getting the credit he deserves for a lot of the good he does for this team and I want to fix that, for whatever my appreciation and approval is worth, which isn't much.

Since he was traded here, I kinda felt like Earl was destined to be a journeyman forever-on-the-bubble type of player. Never consistent enough in the AHL to prove he belongs in the show, but just good enough for them to give him a shot here and there.

But one of the things I've learned to look for when trying to assess these AHL guys is growth and the ability to evolve, change, adapt, etc. And I believe I see an impressive amount of that in Earl, particularly this season.

This season he contributes with great consistency. And by contributes, I don't always mean on the score sheet, though usually he shows up there one way or another. It's often his speed and willingness to take some heat to protect the puck that gets the Aeros traction in the offensive zone and allows them to put good chances on net.

Something I hadn't noticed before, either because it's new or because I'm looking at the goalie (ahem), is how strong behind the net he is. He's a lot like the much slower Andrew Brunette, whose office is behind the net, and where he is absolutely merciless when it comes to winning battles for the puck and then protecting the puck while he looks for a pass in front of the net.

That work is what distinguishes Brunette in the NHL. He's not the best or fastest skater, but he's money behind the net and he's made a career of it.

Earl, on the other hand, HAS the speed. But it's not enough if you're always getting into the zone with your helpers trailing 5 strides behind you and 3 defenders hanging off you. He's got to use that speed to put himself in position to create chances for his linemates. Makes sense, then, to get behind the net where space is limited and puck is sort of naturally protected on two sides and dish out in front, right?

Suddenly, you've got a multi-dimensional, multi-threat player. And that makes him pretty valuable at any level of the game, but it makes him downright scary in the AHL. As a goalie, he throws so many looks, you can't cheat and your best hope is he's going so fast, he can't get the shot off. :)

What I'm saying here is that the fact that he's still finding significant ways to improve his game says a lot about him. He could have come down here and pouted, shown up when he wanted to, etc. But he's actually improved and he's an impact player every shift and I don't see why what he's doing here wouldn't translate at the NHL level.

He may not be one of the Wild's darlings since they didn't draft him, but some other team is going to find a spot for him and when it happens, he'll be ready to stick. I hope it's a lot like Joel Ward's last season here: A launching pad for a really nice NHL career.

So, kudos to Robbie for giving a big ol' middle finger to adversity and turning it into a win for the Aeros and, I feel sure, an eventual win for his long term career.

P.S. Our friends over at Hockey Wilderness are so locked in on Robbie that they even have Team Rob shirts.

12/26/10 -- Aeros 4-Stars 3 (SO) -- Happy Boxing Day Edition

The Aeros scoreless streak stood at 158:43 coming into today's match-up with the Texas Stars. They were on a four-game losing streak, and had failed to score in their last two, including an embarrassing 5-0 loss to Hamilton in Houston right before Christmas. The team's record had dropped to 17-15-1-2 (35 points) and they were sitting in seventh place.

So things weren't exactly looking good for the Aeros as they headed into tonight's match-up with the Stars. The Stars are always a tough match-up because they've always got excellent goaltending and play decent defense while presenting a team that can score points when need be.

But the Aeros did something shocking tonight. They scored a goal 30 seconds into the game -- Warren Peters on a wraparound -- then came back from the 2-1 first period deficit to tie the game late in the second before taking the lead in the third. It looked like they were going to hold on for the win, but Francis Wathier scored for the Stars with 18.3 left in the game to tie it, and off to OT the teams were. The Aeros kept the Stars off the board in OT, then saw Robbie Earl, Chad Rau, and Cody Almond score in a seven-round shoot out to give the Aeros the 4-3 win.

The month has been a killer for the Aeros -- I'm still trying to figure out how they landed on the AHL's crap list -- and it's not close to over. They play tomorrow in San Antonio, Wednesday in Milwaukee, and Thursday in Rockford to close out the year, then host San Antonio on Saturday night. It's Andrew's theory that the Aeros need to get past New Year's Day with a better than .500 record. And as hard it is to believe -- especially after the way they played last week -- this goal is possible. They're two games above .500 right now, and they've got four left.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it is possible.

Now for some thoughts and misc items.

1. The Aeros have scored a goal in every period of a game seven times this season. Five of those games have been against the Stars.

2. Watch this trend: when the Aeros score the first goal of the game, they are 16-5-0-2.

3. Yeo says the guys are tired, and he they had four days off after the Hamilton loss. part of the reason for this was that he felt they needed the mental break because this month, with the travel, and the losing streak, and the scoreless streak, has been a huge mental grind.

4. “This month has been a grind. I will say that,” Yeo said. “This month has been a grind. But that’s where I’m hopeful, this stretch right now, four games in five nights coming out of this break, is going to be – we’re not getting off any easier here – but I do think, more than anything, it’s probably mental. And having those four days off for our guys, more than anything, has come at the right time and at least gave us the right attitude coming back to make sure we’re ready for a push.”

5. It didn't really show up in the box score, but Robbie Earl had a hell of a game tonight. Of course, being that he's an Aero, he had his share of bad luck. Several shot attempts were stopped by a goalie having a hell of a game. And he was in a great position for one shot, only to have his stick break as he was taking the shot. But he was everywhere he needed to be throughout the game, and he managed to get two assists and a goal in the shootout.

6. If you were wondering why Matt Kassian, "the boxer" on the team, didn't play on Boxing Day, well, it's because he's suffering from a lower body injury. Casey Wellman was scratched for the same reason.

7. There was a nice crowd today, but damn, they were so quiet we could hear one guy on the opposite end of the arena shouting at the team.

8. Dear Toyota Center sound crew. Could you please save that "fight, fight, fight" song for an actual fight?

9. Dear AHL, screw you. Come on, could you please explain this schedule? Nine of the team's final 12 games in 2010 are on the road, and 18 of the team's final 27 games for 2010 are on the road. I realize I took a quick vacation and that I had to cover a college basketball game, but damn, it should not be December 26 when I get around to seeing my second Aeros game of the month.

10. Since it's Boxing Day, how about we go out on a song featuring "boxer" in the title? So here's Simon and Garfunkel with "The Boxer."



And in case I forget, since I'll next see the team on New Year's Day, I want to wish everybody a Happy New Year.