And This Means What...

UPDATE - 


Aeros GM Jim Mill confirmed this morning that Josh Harding is injured, forcing the recall of Hackett from the Aeros. 

The timing could not have been better for Hackett. 


I know he is busting his ass out there, but at least during one part of every game, it looks like he wants to pick up one of his teammates, spin them over his head and thrown them headfirst into the short wall. 


We'll keep you posted if we find out more ... 

We were all puzzled this morning when we noticed a report from a Colorado paper that the Aeros had called up a ECHL goalie named Robby Nolan from the Colorado Eagles.  Puzzled since the Aeros had yet to announce anything, since Matt Hackett and Darcy Kuemper were both supposedly healthy, and since both Wild goalies were supposedly healthy.


Things have yet to be totally have been clarified, but because Wild beat writer Michael Russo is reporting that the Wild have recalled Matt Hackett even though Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding are healthy and both of them skated at practice yesterday.  So make of it what you will. because Harding tweaked something in practice yesterday.

So long and thanks for all the savegasms; Broda and Zingoni gone

News out of Minnesota this morning is that Nik Backstrom and Jose Theodore are both healthy, so whirling dervish Anton Khudobin is headed back to Houston. If you throw out the one lousy game where he just wasn't up to NHL speed yet, he was nearly perfect, allowing only 1 goal in his last 2 starts.

What's more, Wild fans (and the rest of the NHL) got to see what a unique goalie he is and have a few little heart attacks along the way. Always fun to "share" our guys with the rest of the world and show what they can do. Plus he made a week or two of show dough, so dinner's on Dimples, bitches.

But of course, this means Josh Tordjman is headed back to the Condors in Cali. *sigh* Oh well. Better to have loved and lost, right? At least the Aeros know they're in good hands when the inevitable late season goalie injuries hit either here or in Minnesota, where they're actually getting their shit together and making a playoff push.

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Adding to this transaction news is that Joel Broda has been assigned to Bakersfield along with Tordjman, and Peter Zingoni has signed to play in the German Elite League. I can't find anything on which team, but, well, it ain't the Aeros, so...

Welcome to Hockey Season, AHL style

Aeros start camp today with testing and physicals in the morning and then hitting the ice at 3 p.m. I find it interesting that they're on the ice today, as it seems like most camps don't hit the ice until day 2.

But I like it. This team needs a jump start and I'm guessing the guys won't mind it either. Maybe helps to knock some nerves back to just rip that bandaid off and get out there with the guys you're competing against for a job.

The first round of Wild cuts came last week, sending down LW Brandon Buck, RW Jarod Palmer, RW Joel Broda, RW Jean-Michel Daoust and G Josh Tordjman to join the tryouts on the training camp roster in Houston.

But today, the big cuts come as the team whittles down to the crew that will mostly be together until the end of training camp and into Finland.

Before we get to those names, though, an update on the goaltending situation: Apparently, Khudobin is not the shoo-in we first thought he would be. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher has not committed to making Anton the #2 and has made noises like he might pick up a free agent with more NHL experience to back up Backstrom.

That's disappointing for Anton, though. I would guess his latter-half inconsistency last season is a good chunk of where their reservations are coming from, and rightly so. He let in too many untimely goals in the AHL and you just can't do that in the NHL or you're the next Vesa Toskala (which, BTW, is a name Fletcher threw out there, along with Jose Theodore. Wouldn't THAT be fun?)

We'll keep you posted on that front as the Wild continues to evaluate and make decisions between the pipes.

Okay, here's your list of guys who are having a crappy day today:

F
Robbie Earl*
Petr Kalus*
Warren Peters*
Jon DiSalvatore*
Colton Gillies (who Russo reports is "pumped")
Cody Almond
Chad Rau
Carson McMillan

D
Tyler Cuma
Max Noreau
Nate Prosser
Jared Spurgeon
Jamie Fraser

G
Matt Hackett

*These guys are on waivers for the purposes of being sent down. Will know tomorrow if they've cleared.

A few who have managed to hang on for at least a bit longer are Kassian, Wellman (though I think he's going to stick out of camp), Bagnall, Falk, and Scandella. These guys might get a sweet first class trip to Finland at the end of the week even if they don't make the final roster, so congrats to them.

Anyway, welcome to Houston, fellas. It's not that bad. Flip-flops in the winter, yo! It's gonna be great. Just ask Colton!

(Thanks to Russo and his killer tweeting and blog today for the updates.)

State of the Union, Aeros Style

Big big BIG week of games coming up for the Aeros. A very beatable Grand Rapids Friday and Saturday, and a tougher Chicago on Sunday, and then a mid-western swing of the Aeros closest competitors.

The Aeros have lost Cody Almond to the Wild, but the en fuego 20-year-old will get his first NHL start against Atlanta tonight. Pretty exciting for the kid!

In return, the Aeros get Robbie Earl back, who played well for MN but had cleared waivers and his time was running out to come down before having to clear again. Further, coach Todd Richards said his play had "slipped" lately, so that seems to be why Almond is getting a cuppa joe in his stead.

It also appears that they're keeping Khudobin up and letting Josh Harding's bum hip rest up, which means the Aeros will be relying on Dubielewicz and Brust through this 3-in-3 weekend home stand.

Also, Brandon Buck was sent down... got a hat trick for Florida... and has been recalled again. Maybe Bucky should get a sniff of a scoring line if the scoring lines aren't getting it done? Kid's got some goods!

Presumably, unless something odd happens, I would expect the dominoes to fall the other way come Sunday night when the Olympic break starts for the NHL.

Almond and Khudobin will head back to Houston and... well... *sigh* Brusty goes back to the muggy, bug-infested swamp. I mean... to Florida... which I'm sure is lovely. Even though he's the winningest goalie on the roster.

But yeah, send that one down.

*big sigh*

Let's just enjoy the weekend, shall we? Yes.

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Here some media to get your blood pumping for this weekend's games.

First up is John's article for the Press, all about the rotten egg Brusty's season has been thanks to injuries and a crowded roster.

Then, here's the video from last night's segment on ABC 13 on Mr. Crawford's wild ride last week as the Aeros emergency back-up goalie.



Finally, here's an article from AHL prez David Andrews that touches on the franchise shuffling that's going on in the AHL.

So far, Edmonton is resurrecting their franchise in OKC and the Albany River Rats (Carolina's AHL team) is moving to Charlotte (which has a trickle down effect in the ECHL, too, as they'll replace the popular Checkers franchise there).

There's a lot more coming down the pipe and it's intensely interesting (at least to me) to watch it all shake out. Anaheim still needs an affiliate -- Springfield needs an NHL team. Texas still needs a franchise -- Iowa HAS a franchise. Seems like some natural fits here, but I'm probably missing something as to why it's not that easy.

It makes my head hurt to try and puzzle it all out, so I'll wait patiently on the edge of my seat while people who know more do the figuring...

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I think that's it. Goalies tonight and tomorrow are McCollum and Larsson. Just so you can practice telling them they suck before you go. ;)

Dubie up, Brusty up, and photos from Chicago

Busy day in Aeros land, particularly for the Goalie Express, which is filling the skies with rainbows of puck-stopping delight in a couple different directions today.

It starts at the top with the Wild's Niklas Backstrom having a stiff back. He's been shut down to rest it up for a few days, which means Harding needs a back-up for the Wild games tonight and Saturday.

Dubielewicz got the call over Khudobin this time. Russo seems to have been told by the Wild that this was because Khudobin is the starter for the Aeros in Milwaukee tonight. Problem with that is that the Aeros don't play in Milwuakee until tomorrow night. But maybe that's what they meant. Sure.

Anyway, now Anton needs a backup, and according to sources, this time Brusty gets the call instead of a proximity call-up like they did in Abbotsford. And as one person suggested to me, Barry did completely kick butt in Milwaukee last time he was with the team. Maybe he gets the start?

But eventually Khudobin's going to have to get a chance to sort himself out, so my prediction is that he gets the start. These are some biiiiig games this weekend though, so who know what KC's thinking will be. Personally, I'd play Brusty, but I think that goes without saying, nevermind the multiple interpretations. ;)

The other part of this, on the Wild end, is that Harding's also playing through a hip injury, and was in visible discomfort at times last night against the Red Wings. I've found that my physical world revolves around my hips and knees as a goalie, so continuing to play on hurting hips is not going to help them heal.

So it wouldn't surprise me if somehow Dubie gets some playing time before Backstrom has recovered. And I'm sure it would be pretty special for him if it came tonight, since he played for the University of Denver during his college career.

Ahhh, I do love me some goalie activity, especially when it's the upward-bound kind!

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Okay, enough of that and moving on to the fabulous, witty, and talented Chris Jerina's photos from last night's whoopin' in Chicago. Here's the full photo set, but I picked a few out below that I particularly liked.

Aeros lost 5-2 and it sounded like they just couldn't get it together. I only listened to the game (as opposed to watching it) after they went down 2-0. This team just doesn't come back from that.

First up, it's Red Anton and Green Anton

Okay, not really. Dubie is still wearing Anton's old mask (green). I think we need to start a friendly wagering pool as to when he'll finally wear a mask of his own.

Look who's back! Peter Zingoni! He's been out forevah!

Cody Almond interrupting the passing lane

JM Daoust tries to put Chris Chelios into retirement for good. Great facial expressions here.

Brandon Rogers launches the puck with his teammates on their feet behind him.

And just as a little goaliephile extra, this was Atlanta Thrasher Kari Lehtonen's second game back after being out all season and, I believe a good chunk of last season, with a couple of back surgeries. His first game during this rehab stint with the Wolves was shaky but it sounds like he's finding his rhythm now. Lucky Aeros!

Chris got some great pictures of him, but I'll just post a couple since he's not ours. They're just pretty to look at.



I don't know much about Lehtonen, but he must have the most, um, colorful pads in the league. They're so loud, it doesn't even matter that his Wolves gear clashes pretty badly. All you see is pads. My theory is that the Aeros were mesmerized by them.

ALL PHOTOS by Chris Jerina

Thanks again to Chris for getting these great shots of the boys on the road. And our apologies for sticking you with another crappy game.

Updates from around the Aeros Universe

First off, a little update on Barry Brust who is being held hostage in the ECHL. Not that I have an opinion.

If you haven't been following my blog, just go here and get an eyeful of The Man, The Myth, The Legend thanks to our friend Bethani in Everblades Country, as well as updates on how he's faring.

Now, some might tell you he's down on a rehab/conditioning assignment, but by the time your goals against average is the best in the league and you've been awarded ECHL Goalie of the Week... call. me. crazy..... but I think it's safe to say you're healthy and well-conditioned.

And super handsome. But that's not the point.

The Blades are on a huge winning streak with Barry between the pipes. It's really been a remarkable turnaround for a team that wallowed in mediocrity and defensive "WTF?" the first half of the season.

Photo by Bethani Shilladay

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Second, the Aeros' own Max Noreau won AHL Player of the Week thanks to his 7 points in the 2-game series against Abbotsford over the weekend and league-leading scoring for a defenseman. Here's the release from the Aeros.

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Finally, here's a fun little story about temporary Aero, Andy Neilson, the emergency back-up goalie who practiced and kept the goalie spot on the bench warm in Abbotsford this weekend.

And Meanwhile...Over At The Mothership

Per Andrew's post below, here's a status update on the team that I did for the mothership, with a little added extra discussion on the goalie situation.

More roster shuffles today (Updated): Earl, Khudobin, Brust up, Smith down

Nathan Smith is being returned to the Aeros, and in his place, Robbie Earl is being called up.

Also, Anton Khudobin is being called up, as Josh Harding has the flu.

Which means we're a goalie short in Houston. And that means... Jailbreak for Brusty, bitches! Yeah!

Er, that is, "sources have confirmed that Barry Brust has been recalled to the Aeros." Um yeah, that's what I meant, boss.

BrustyWatch 2009: Well worth the wait

I'm not gonna make any bones about wearing my reporter hat here. I'm just a huge fan of Brusty's and seeing him play all of about 4 times in the last 10 months has really sucked.

I know it's sucked for him. It's just godawful being injured and worse having to sit on the sidelines while your team makes an epic playoff run. And then getting re-injured. Twice. Augh.

But it also sucked for those of us who love to watch him play. His aggressive style is shared by few other goalies at the elite levels of the game, so when one comes along who can play that way and be successful at it, AND they play for your team, you have to savor every heart-stopping moment of it.

Tonight,though, Brusty was back and in fine form 5000* miles away in Southern Florida for the Everblades, and his performance met every expectation and exceeded others.



It was just a balls out game, from the time he shoved his first screen in the back to move him out of his way, all the way to the monster diving poke check and slick glove save to win the shootout.

I'll be really candid here and say that I actually got a little choked up on that poke. You just knew at that point that he had this shootout in hand and they were going to win it. I mean, he dove to the ice and poked that thing clear to center ice. It was some seriously gutsy goaltending. And with a big fist pump, the Blades skated off with a 4-3 win.

First two goals against were scored 5 on 3 as the Blades were having some discipline problems. There was even a third 5 on 3 but it was shorter and they held them off that time. Hopefully if he's in net tomorrow, they'll play a little tighter game and he won't have to turn away 34 shots like he did tonight.

But... if you're sending a guy off to test his foot, knock the rust off, and get back into game shape, I guess nothing is better than trial by fire. En fuego, bitches!

Brusty said after that the foot felt "great" so that's excellent news, and may that continue to be the case.

Of course, this is all well and good for the Everblades fans. Selfishly, of course, I'd rather this be happening here in Houston. But clearly, the Aeros have one too many goalies, so who knows how it will all shake out. I would make some predictions but they'd just be wrong.

I'll add links to local media coverage here when it's available, and a little bird told me we may even have some photos coming. Actually, I might put all that follow-up stuff in a new post. Check back!

For now, here's some fantastic quotes in the Naples News write-up. Says he felt awkward, but it didn't come across watching.

Oh yeah, the Aeros won something like 32-0 against Lake Erie tonight. More on that later. Helluva night of hockey, gang.

* Real Feel Miles, not actual miles

Barry Brust en route to ECHL Florida (With Updates)

Barry Brust has been with the Aeros for awhile, so he is like family. He's a good goalie on the ice and an even better person off it.

His foot injury last year was devastating at the time as it forced the Aeros into a rotating goalie situation to close out the regular season. The team barely made the playoffs, but a 10-10 showing got them to the Western Conference finals on the back of Anton Khudobin.

Nolan Schaefer was hurt, too, and even Khudobin could not finish the playoffs healthy.

To make matters worse, Barry hurt he same foot during training camp this year and has not played a minute. That will change Friday night at Germain Arena in Florida where he will take the ice for the first of two ECHL games with an alligator on his sweater.

(Growing up in Canada, you just know that is what all the boys brag about .... wearing an alligator on your uni.)

Seriously, though ... Barry needs minutes and this will give him a chance to test the foot and get into some sort of a rhythm. Before Christmas last year, he was on fire ... and that is the kind of netminder Barry can be at the AHL level. But in order to get there, he will need to see some shots, and this is the perfect chance for him to get that.

Barring the unforeseen, he will play Saturday in the second of back-to-back games against the Toledo Walleye. (Yes, I know ... it will be the gators vs. the fish in the all-marine affair. Anyone hungry?)

T3I will stay on top of Barry (not literally) and we'll post links to the game sheets and stories from the local newspapers.

Update: Here's a link to the Everblades beat writer's blog. Also, he'll be tweeting the games this weekend, so you can follow his Twitter here.

Another Update: I spoke with Aeros GM Jim Mill this afternoon. This is a rehab move to get Brust some solid playing time. Something more than practice. He needs game action to shake off the rust and to test his foot.

Khudobin back; Jaeger out

As some of you have mentioned in the comments, the Wild have returned Anton Khudobin to the Aeros. I'd be very surprised if he didn't start tomorrow night against the Manitoba Meese.

Also, it took a day longer than I expected, but the CHL and AHL transactions show that Brett Jaeger, who was filling in for Anton, has been returned to his Texas Brahmas. (Jaeger photo courtesy of Robert Keith of Texas Brahmas Insider)

Neither goaltender got game minutes during his respective call-up, but it's always good to get that time with a higher league, practice against faster, better shooters, and get a sense of where you stand and what you need to work on. So good for them, but I'm sure both fan bases are ready to get their starting goalies back in the fold and on the ice.

And the Goalie Express just keeps flying....

(Updated again!) Game Day Update: Goalie Movement

One of the guys may have something to add to this, but I thought I'd throw out there that the Texas Stars will have Magnificent Matt Climie back in the fold today. He's up with Dallas the last few days to cover for Marty Turco, who was out with the flu, but they released him, presumably so that he can play against Houston today.

Given that the Stars are on the third day of a 3-in-3 and Dallas doesn't play today, it makes an awful lot of sense. He'll be well rested and ready to get some game action after just backing up starter Alex Auld for a few days.

Also, though it hasn't been reported on the AHL transactions sheet, Pointstreak (the stats machine for the Central Hockey League) indicates that Brett Jaeger was returned to the Texas Brahmas yesterday. UPDATE: Though the scoresheet is showing Jaeger is still with the team, so who knows what's up. UPDATE to the UPDATE: The Brahmas activated him to let him "serve" his one game suspension for the spearing incident in his last game with them. If I heard correctly, Constantine told Joe O'Donnell it could be another week, maybe longer, before Harding is ready to play again, so it looks like it's Dubielewicz and Jaeger for a while.

I personally haven't heard what's going on... whether Khudobin has been reassigned to Houston or if they're bringing a different back-up in. Last I heard, it was looking like sometime this week that Josh Harding would be ready to practice again. The Wild don't play until Thursday and today is an off day for the big club, so... could be a number of scenarios.


Certainly, apart from one incredible period on Tuesday, when Dubielewicz and the boys held off Hamilton during all that penalty killing, Dubie hasn't impressed, so getting Khudobin back would be a real boon.

Still, apart from their fresh goalie in Climie, the Stars should be a bit tired today, while the Aeros traveled back from Michigan yesterday and should be a little bit fresher and hopefully pretty motivated after a two losses.

Updated (6:55 p.m): Khudobin up, Zingoni out, Almond out a while.

The Aeros starting goalie Tuesday night against Hamilton will be .... Wade Dubielewicz. Why not go with the guy that just shut out one of the top offenses in minor league hockey? Well, Anton (and how could you not love this picture?) is on his way to St. Paul. Josh Harding is nursing a lower body injury, so it looks like Anton will backup Backstrom in Chicago.

Update: Sources say Brett Jaeger of the Texas Brahmas got the call, though it could be interesting, as he was booted from his game Saturday for spearing and might face a suspension. Not sure if a) he will be suspended or b) suspensions carry over leagues. We know they don't in baseball, thank you Manny Ramirez. Update to the update: Suspensions don't carry across leagues, so Jaeger's fine to dress for the Aeros.

Also, we noticed that Peter Kalus did not play in either game against the Rampage. He was just a healthy scratch Saturday, and Kevin Constantine said the team played one of its best games of the year. Because of that, they wanted to go with the same lineup for the rematch.

Kalus is definitely back in the lineup Tuesday against Hamilton.

I also wanted to report that the Aeros will be without gritty winger Pete Zingoni for at least the next home game and Cody Almond for several weeks, as he sustained a broken wrist. Zingoni's injury is as yet undisclosed, so that will be something to investigate either before or after the matchup against Hamilton.

The Bulldogs are the only team without a regulation defeat. They are good and already 2-0 on their three-game tour de Texas. To me a huge storyline tomorrow will be to see how Dubielewicz responds to Anton being called up.

He was supposed to be the No. 3 guy in the system, but has been outplayed so far by Khudobin. Dubielewicz has been good in his last two outings, so here's to hoping he takes the high road and responds like a pro.

Based on what I know about him so far, I don't expect anything else.