The Hockey News came out with their AHL team rankings today and the Aeros did not fare well in the eyes of their AHL expert.
To Patrick's credit, I suspect this was written prior to all the business going down with Theodore being signed and Khudobin coming back to Houston once the Wild return from Finland.
I think Khudobin/Hackett is a stronger tandem than Hackett/Tordjman, but it's true that a lot does rest on this and it's not so big a difference as to negate his point. The Wild didn't exactly open the wallet to get the Aeros some top notch offensive help, so it will have to come from within.
And seeing how bad the Wild are thus far, I wouldn't be surprised to see them give some chances to guys down here who are playing well.
What do you think of the ranking? Fair or foul? How jacked for the season does that get you? :)
Showing posts with label pre-season. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pre-season. Show all posts
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
And then there were 26
 |
| Trying to fix the ice Friday night |
Pelletier isn't a surprise since Jose Theodore is headed to Houston for the week. Wish there was more to say about the other guys but... they never even got a chance to show their stuff for coaches and fans. Stinks for them.
Getting close to a final roster, folks. Games start mattering in a week!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Camp Schedule and other stuffs (with a p.m. update)
Dudes! It's HOCKEY SEASON! YAYYYYYY!!!!!!
Just wanted to post a few nuggets for ya to keep your mouth watering:
First, the Aeros put out their training camp schedule yesterday. Don't be shy about going out and checking the guys out. It's free, it's nice and cold in the rink, and Darryl Sydor will be there!
Here's the schedule.
Do keep in mind that times may vary and what the guys are doing on the ice might not be real interesting all the time. For the last two years, I've gone the morning of the home pre-season game. First year, it was a good pre-game practice for the guys playing and then a real practice for the guys not playing. Second year, they were just screwing around, shooting on the goalies, not much structure, not much fun to watch.
Looking back, that's kinda how the seasons went, too, eh?
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NHL pre-season starts tonight and if you are fortunate enough to have the NHL Network on your television, they're showing 35 or so pre-season games for the first time ever.
I love the NHL pre-season. The games are kinda weird, but it's cool to see the AHL-bound guys try to become somewhat less AHL-bound, if'n you know what I mean.
So, here's THAT schedule.
And the Wild are apparently going to start making cuts either after the first pre-season gametonight or tomorrowWednesday or Thursday, so guys will be trickling into town shortly.
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Was picking up some breakfast this morning and listening to the NHL channel on XM and heard part of the Hockey Diaries. It follows Caps veteran Mike Knuble and up-and-comer Tyler Sloane through all of last season with audio diaries and other reporting and tons of interviews.
It's an NPR-style thing, so an unusual "tone" from how you normally hear hockey reporting, but it's really lovely, interesting, and a must-listen for any hockey fan. A real inside look at the course of a season for two players at very different points in their careers.
Check that out right here.
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OH! I remember now what I meant to add this morning:
Talked to a friend in Denmark who keeps me posted on former Aero Morten Madsen who was rather unceremoniously shown the door at the start of last season. Things are going great for him. He was named an alternate captain for his team in the Swedish Elite League, Modo Hockey and just recently scored in the season opener.
Nice to hear that a not so great ending to his time in the Wild system has turned into a really good situation for him in Sweden.
-----------------------------------------------
Won't be long until we're all back at the Toyota Center. I'm pretty excited for the season, eager to see what Coach Yeo and this bevy of prospects (for the first time in a while), will be able to do against what is going to remain a very tough division.
Just wanted to post a few nuggets for ya to keep your mouth watering:
First, the Aeros put out their training camp schedule yesterday. Don't be shy about going out and checking the guys out. It's free, it's nice and cold in the rink, and Darryl Sydor will be there!
Here's the schedule.
Do keep in mind that times may vary and what the guys are doing on the ice might not be real interesting all the time. For the last two years, I've gone the morning of the home pre-season game. First year, it was a good pre-game practice for the guys playing and then a real practice for the guys not playing. Second year, they were just screwing around, shooting on the goalies, not much structure, not much fun to watch.
Looking back, that's kinda how the seasons went, too, eh?
--------------------------
NHL pre-season starts tonight and if you are fortunate enough to have the NHL Network on your television, they're showing 35 or so pre-season games for the first time ever.
I love the NHL pre-season. The games are kinda weird, but it's cool to see the AHL-bound guys try to become somewhat less AHL-bound, if'n you know what I mean.
So, here's THAT schedule.
And the Wild are apparently going to start making cuts either after the first pre-season game
---------------------------
Was picking up some breakfast this morning and listening to the NHL channel on XM and heard part of the Hockey Diaries. It follows Caps veteran Mike Knuble and up-and-comer Tyler Sloane through all of last season with audio diaries and other reporting and tons of interviews.
It's an NPR-style thing, so an unusual "tone" from how you normally hear hockey reporting, but it's really lovely, interesting, and a must-listen for any hockey fan. A real inside look at the course of a season for two players at very different points in their careers.
Check that out right here.
----------------------------------
OH! I remember now what I meant to add this morning:
Talked to a friend in Denmark who keeps me posted on former Aero Morten Madsen who was rather unceremoniously shown the door at the start of last season. Things are going great for him. He was named an alternate captain for his team in the Swedish Elite League, Modo Hockey and just recently scored in the season opener.
Nice to hear that a not so great ending to his time in the Wild system has turned into a really good situation for him in Sweden.
-----------------------------------------------
Won't be long until we're all back at the Toyota Center. I'm pretty excited for the season, eager to see what Coach Yeo and this bevy of prospects (for the first time in a while), will be able to do against what is going to remain a very tough division.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Aeros win first pre-season game 3-2
I can't tell if it's because I've missed pro hockey so much or because it was actually a good game, but that was a good game, especially for pre-season.
Aeros opened the scoring on a goal from Noreau (okay, I'm hearing now that it was deflected by Milroy) like we've all seen a bunch of... rocket from the point. But Zingoni set up the goal with a shot down low that rebounded out. Goalie didn't even know what hit him (or actually didn't hit him) on that one.
A few fights but none that warranted more than a roughing call (though they still got fighting majors... they should come up with a Violent Hugging penalty and there would have been several of those tonight).
San Antonio evened the score up in the second with a goal by Colin Long, but the Aeros answered quickly with a goal from tryout Gregg Johnson.
I failed to tweet it, but San Antonio again tied it up in the second when Jay Henderson roofed a shot over Wade Dubielewicz, who came in for Khudobin about midway through the second.
Third period looked better, but Constantine said he preferred the first two periods. The Aeros had some strong offensive chances late in the third, but couldn't finish and the game went into overtime and then to the shootout.
Few of the shots were terribly challenging in the shootout, but both goalies were perfect until the Aeros Chad Rau put one on San Antonio goalie Timo Pielmeier (say it 10 times fast) that he had but then let slip over his pad into the goal. Oops.
A few impressions of the new guys:
Ferguson IS the new Mitch Love. He was in the middle of everything. He had this one keep at the blue line where he did a full 360 degree spin horizonally in the air as he flung the puck back into the Aeros offensive zone. I'm pretty sure he's a NINJA, and I don't just throw that term around.
Kalus still has tons of speed and had a few breakaways, but just can't get to the net with it.
Lannon is a tough SOB (he was wearing the captain's C, BTW)... in fact, I saw very few instances where guys didn't finish their checks with gusto.
I don't know how much this team is going to score but they do seem to play a tough game.
We'll see what they look like on Monday against what is expected to be a pretty darn good Texas Stars team. Andrew and I will be there to give you the Tweets and gory details.
Good night!
(BTW, I saw lots of cameras out... if anybody got a shot they particularly love, email 'em to me and we'll do a picture thread.)
Aeros opened the scoring on a goal from Noreau (okay, I'm hearing now that it was deflected by Milroy) like we've all seen a bunch of... rocket from the point. But Zingoni set up the goal with a shot down low that rebounded out. Goalie didn't even know what hit him (or actually didn't hit him) on that one.
A few fights but none that warranted more than a roughing call (though they still got fighting majors... they should come up with a Violent Hugging penalty and there would have been several of those tonight).
San Antonio evened the score up in the second with a goal by Colin Long, but the Aeros answered quickly with a goal from tryout Gregg Johnson.
I failed to tweet it, but San Antonio again tied it up in the second when Jay Henderson roofed a shot over Wade Dubielewicz, who came in for Khudobin about midway through the second.
Third period looked better, but Constantine said he preferred the first two periods. The Aeros had some strong offensive chances late in the third, but couldn't finish and the game went into overtime and then to the shootout.
Few of the shots were terribly challenging in the shootout, but both goalies were perfect until the Aeros Chad Rau put one on San Antonio goalie Timo Pielmeier (say it 10 times fast) that he had but then let slip over his pad into the goal. Oops.
A few impressions of the new guys:
Ferguson IS the new Mitch Love. He was in the middle of everything. He had this one keep at the blue line where he did a full 360 degree spin horizonally in the air as he flung the puck back into the Aeros offensive zone. I'm pretty sure he's a NINJA, and I don't just throw that term around.
Kalus still has tons of speed and had a few breakaways, but just can't get to the net with it.
Lannon is a tough SOB (he was wearing the captain's C, BTW)... in fact, I saw very few instances where guys didn't finish their checks with gusto.
I don't know how much this team is going to score but they do seem to play a tough game.
We'll see what they look like on Monday against what is expected to be a pretty darn good Texas Stars team. Andrew and I will be there to give you the Tweets and gory details.
Good night!
(BTW, I saw lots of cameras out... if anybody got a shot they particularly love, email 'em to me and we'll do a picture thread.)
Aeros Pre-Season Roster (w/ numbers)
Here's a list you can print out and bring tonight. Don't know if they'll be providing rosters at the door, but just in case... Hopefully this works. I couldn't get tables to work properly, so it's just an image. Click on the image to embiggen it and then print that. Sorry for the clunky solution. (Or I could have NOT spent all afternoon on this and just linked you here to the Aeros game roster. Very nice.)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Aeros first call-up
Jon DiSalvatore, who was reassigned to the Aeros and cleared waivers today, has already been called to Columbus to play in the Wild's pre-season game tonight.
Don't read a ton into this, because the Wild is being conservative with injured players and wanting a scarce few of the regular NHLers expending energy on road trips. So the farm hands play the road games for now.
But I'd get used to this. The Wild organization is taking an unprecedented look at what they've got in the cupboard and have signed guys they won't be afraid to use when there are injuries with the big club.
In past years, Jacques Lemaire wanted his regulars playing together most of the pre-season to help develop chemistry, so the youngsters never had much of a chance to prove themselves trustworthy. That all seems to be changing.
Don't read a ton into this, because the Wild is being conservative with injured players and wanting a scarce few of the regular NHLers expending energy on road trips. So the farm hands play the road games for now.
But I'd get used to this. The Wild organization is taking an unprecedented look at what they've got in the cupboard and have signed guys they won't be afraid to use when there are injuries with the big club.
In past years, Jacques Lemaire wanted his regulars playing together most of the pre-season to help develop chemistry, so the youngsters never had much of a chance to prove themselves trustworthy. That all seems to be changing.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Several Aeros get NHL taste tonight
A few of the boys normally in the bomber sweaters will don the Wild sweater tonight and face off against a pretty well loaded St. Louis Blues team in pre-season play.
Starting goalie will be Khudobin, and then DiSalvatore, Irmen, Kalus, Kassian, Milroy, and Smith will play forward with Falk, Fraser, and Noreau on the blue line. The rest are guys who are more likely to be in Minnesota but you can see the full roster here.
You can listen to a PONDcast with my hero Kevin Falness where he has a little chat with Kassian and Noreau and Wild coach Todd Richards right here.
Also, you can listen to the game on WCCO 830 here starting at 7 p.m.
Exciting opportunity for these guys, even though they're likely to get crushed like bugs. Great experience and a guy like Kassian might even get his first NHL fight under his belt, so that's pretty darn cool.
Starting goalie will be Khudobin, and then DiSalvatore, Irmen, Kalus, Kassian, Milroy, and Smith will play forward with Falk, Fraser, and Noreau on the blue line. The rest are guys who are more likely to be in Minnesota but you can see the full roster here.
You can listen to a PONDcast with my hero Kevin Falness where he has a little chat with Kassian and Noreau and Wild coach Todd Richards right here.
Also, you can listen to the game on WCCO 830 here starting at 7 p.m.
Exciting opportunity for these guys, even though they're likely to get crushed like bugs. Great experience and a guy like Kassian might even get his first NHL fight under his belt, so that's pretty darn cool.
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