Aeros v. Rockford 3/27 - Photos Part 2

Antti Niemi makes a huge save with the right pad on a Jesse Schultz shot, late in the third period.
Both net minders made huge saves in the 13 round shootout. Here you see Anton Khudobin making a pad save on Tim Brent.

Antti Niemi stops Morten Madsen

Khudobin shuts down Pascal Pelletier

Krys Kolanos tries some kind of weird drag move that doesn't work out well.

Benoit Pouliot snaps one in.

Since Pouliot was successful coach put him right back out there. He tried snapping a shot from further out but Niemi was able to get a pad on it.

Anton was able to squeeze this shot between the pad and arm.

Marco Rosa got in too deep and Niemi got his blocker on it.

Krys Kolanos snaps this one past Niemi.

The Aeros needed a goal to stay alive here and Corey Locke tried the same move he used 5 nights before against Peoria. He had Niemi down but he couldn't get the shot up enough to have the same result. Rockford wins 3-2.

I couldn't decide on which one of these Niemi shots I liked better so you get both. This was as he waited ot be announced as the #1 star of the game. You can see he's a fan of Assassin's Creed.

All Photos:Fred Trask

Khudobin and Kolanos Go Wild (WITH UPDATES)

This is a really quick post, but for those who haven't heard the news...

Anton Khudobin and Krys Kolanos were called up to the Wild today. To replace Khodobin, Jeff Henderson was signed to an Amateur Tryout Contract. I'll see what I can dig up -- hopefully Andrew or Heather or Fred know more info.

UPDATE:

Sorry about that Fred, I didn't see your update below.

EVEN FURTHER UPDATE:

Niklas Backstrom is suffering from "lower body soreness" according to Russo, so Khudobin has been called up on an emergency basis. Harding is starting, and supposedly, Backstrom is suiting up and can play if needed.

And the Wild have several injuries on the foward front, so the Kolanos move makes some sense, especially if they're hoping for some offense. And Russo says that Kolanos is suiting up tonight and should play.

As to our newest emergency goalie Jeff Henderson...the best that I can find is, like Fred said in the comment, that he is a backup goalie for the University of Wisconsin who doesn't appear to have gotten any playing time. Then again, I caught the end of Constantine's interview with Joe O'Donnell right before the game started, and Constantine said that at this point of the season, the team didn't really have many options for players and were just looking for someone who could make the arena in time. But you would think that maybe they would have asked Tony Hrkac about grabbing one of his players for an amateur tryout :-)

Now Schaefer has missed the past several games due to a lower body injury, but Constantine had made it clear on Friday night that Schaefer could play if needed, but that he hadn't seen the need to make him push through an injury when Khudobin was available. He also said they were hoping that Barry Brust would be cleared to play come Monday.

Aeros vs. Rockford 3/29 -- Game Time Change

Here's a brief programming note for all of you Aeros fans who were planning to listen to today's game on the radio or through AHL Live. The game time has been changed from 5:05 to 5:30 to accommodate the Rockford IceHogs who have been a bit delayed in getting back from San Antonio.

This would normally be good news for the Aeros since they might actually be more rested. But this is the Aeros we're talking about.

---

This just in -- Anton Khudobin and Krys Kolanos were called up to the Wild and are unavailable for the Aeros tonight. Don't even get me started on the emergency netminder the Aeros were forced to sign.
-- Fred Trask

A Brief Chat With The Aeros Man Of The Year

Houston Aeros defenseman Brandon Rogers was named last Thursday as the Houston Aeros Man of the Year by the AHL. This makes Rogers one of the 29 finalists in competition for the AHL’s Man of the Year Award, known as the Yanick Durpee Memorial Award.

Rogers was nominated for the award by the Aeros PR staff. I asked them what it was that set Rogers apart from the rest of the guys on the team, and their response was that all of the guys on the team are great when it comes to going to the schools and hospitals and visiting with people, but Rogers was always that one guy who willingly did more than was expected.

Rogers himself was pleased to have received the honor, but a bit surprised. “It’s a nice honor,” he said after Friday’s game. “I didn’t even know that I was getting it, to be honest with you. One of the guys, coming to the rink today, congratulated me on it, and I said for what? I didn’t even know.”

Rogers doesn’t see the team’s humanitarian outreach as a duty. It’s something that he enjoys. Not only because of the people that he gets to meet, but because of the perspective on life that it provides.

“I get a lot of enjoyment out of it,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity for us to meet some people, some kids, people of all ages, really, that are in some unfortunate situations. It really puts things in perspective. For us to take some time out of our day to put a smile on a face or to help out any way we can is the least that we can do in the position that we’re in.”

And he doesn’t really see himself as putting out extra effort to make himself available. “It’s really not too much to ask for anyone to do it,” he says.

Now I see myself as a bit of a neutral observer here as I’m not around these guys all of the time like the staff is, but to me, all of the Aeros seem to be a great bunch of guys who are always great with the fans and always appear to be willing to go out and make appearances. And to me, they all seem to want to do everything possible to be a part of the Houston community.

So though Rogers might not think he’s doing anything out of the ordinary to set himself apart from his teammates, with the efforts the rest of the team put into their off-ice activities, he must really be doing a little extra something.

Down the Stretch - Rockford (3/29/09)

The rest of the field is only getting closer as the Aeros continue their weekend road sputter in Rockford today. With the exception of the Milwaukee game, the Aeros have not played three good periods in awhile. And it looks like the Milwaukee win has been cheapened by the way the Admirals look right now. They are in their worst slump since the start of the season.

Rockford is flying up from San Antonio today after losing there last night. The Aeros are playing four games in five days, but so are the IceHogs. I give the Aeros the edge is the scheduling deparment, but the IceHogs are going to take this game 4-2.

--Aeroscribe

Aeros v Peoria 3/28/09 - Is this another lost weekend?

Luke Strand told Joe O'Donnell that the coaches impressed upon the team to get out of the gate strong last night against Peoria--don't have another weak first period like they had Friday against Rockford.

Well, they did that, alright. The first 33 seconds of the game contained a veritable food chain of fights, starting with Jesse Schultz against Cam Paddock, which the larger Paddock controlled. Then on the next face-off, Mitch Love and Curtis Fraser dueled in a decision I'd give to Love (rather brazen given his relatively fresh nose surgery). Then the big boys, Matt Kassian and Jeff Cowan went to town and Kass completely schooled Cowan with some monster hits and total control of the fight. Wow.

After all that dust settled and the bursting-at-the-seams penalty boxes were emptied, Pouliot was first to beat Manny Legace off a feed up the ice from Albers to Kolanos, who fed it to Pouliot in the slot.

Then with 1:14 left in the first, Hrkac nabbed the puck from Peoria's Drazenovic, passed it up to Irmen who got Legace to go down before passing across the low slot to Earl who had open net in front of him. That was a beauty and Hrkac's first point with the Aeros.

But it wouldn't last. I'll be honest right here and say that I left to go to dinner about 5 minutes into the second period, but even in that short time, it was clear that a different Aeros had emerged from the locker room. Full of turnovers and chaos, they were just bad. They only got 10 shots in the last two periods, compared to 21 for Peoria.

Mojzis (interference) and Pouliot (tripping) both went to the box about a minute apart and both each got an early release from the bin in the form of Peoria power play goals by Regier and Stastny.

Stastny got another near the end of the second and then Talbot potted a fourth goal midway through the third. Thanks to consecutive roughing and slashing penalties by Mojzis (again) and Rogers, the Aeros spent 4 straight minutes on the PK in the third.

Khudobin was pulled with about three minutes left to try and even it up. But it just resulted in an empty netter by Porter.

San Antonio did the Aeros a big favor by beating Rockford last night, but the Aeros are now tied with Peoria for the second spot in the division. Fortunately, they have two games in hand on Peoria, but face Rockford tonight in a game that, if the Aeros lose, could put Rockford within striking distance of the number 2 spot.

Aeros v. Rockford 3/27 - Photos Part 1

It was Lyme Disease Awareness night and it was good to see the guys support Nolan Schaefer and his wife Lisa in their fight against the disease and to educate the public (as well as doctors) about Lyme Disease. Please take a trip over to Unmask Lyme and educate yourself. You'd be wise to read the horrific story of Lisa's struggle with the disease, the horrors she went through in getting it properly diagnosed, and her struggle to cope with this terrible disease. Keep Nolan and Lisa in your prayers.

Unfortunately Nolan had a slight injury tonight and didn't get the start. Here you can see he has his entire stick wrapped in the green tape the team used to show their support. Several players kept some tape on themselves or gear throughout the game.

Here is a shot of Brandon Rogers - The Aeros finalist for the AHL Man of the Year. It would have been nice if someone from the Aeros had informed Brandon of this honor. Congratulations and good luck in your bid to win the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award Brandon

Benoit Pouliot has really turned it on since his return from the NHL. He's been very physical, hit the score sheet regularly and his play has been notably better. Great job Benoit, your hard work is definately being noticed.

Anton Khudobin had a great night. He was outstanding in the shoot out and one of the biggest reasons the Aeros were able to get a point out of this one. Here he is locked in on a shot from Rockford's Tim Hambly

This one made a funny sound when it hit his stick and I thought perhaps the stick had broken.

Antti Niemi had a big night for Rockford after an easy first period.

Here is the Albers goal reaction from Pouliot, Kolanos, Niemi and Hambly.

This is the Robbie Earl goal that put the Aeros up 2-1 in the 3rd period.

There was discussion on some of the calls made, and not made, by Nygel Pelletier in this one. Here you can see a "no call" of what I think is a pretty clear holding offense by Robbie Earl.

Literally 2 seconds later Earl was hit with a goaltender interference for this. (Forgive the focus on this one it's a crap photo but it still clearly shows there was no penalty) He was skating through the top of the crease and Niemi clearly steps up into him, obstructs him with the stick and sticks his leg out. If there was ANY penalty to call here it was on Niemi. My guess is this was a make up call for not calling the obvious hold.

Earl pleads his case, to no avail.

This was the "no call" on Schultz. It looked to me like there was a penalty to be called here but I've not watched it on TV yet to see for sure, it could have been a good no call though. In any case, Schultz showed great effort to stay with the puck and make the play here.

And here is a Tony Hrkac for the Circus Hrkac crowd.

I'll have more photos later, especially some fantastic shoot out saves.

All Photos:Fred Trask

Just A Thought

You know, I've read about teams that paint their ice pink when they have their Breast Cancer Awareness games. So this got me to thinking last night, during the Aeros Lyme Disease night, that maybe they should have painted the ice lime green. The coaches were wearing lime green shirts and ties, Krys Kolanos had a lime green stripe on his socks. The Lady Dynamics rocked the lime green, and in pregame warmups, the guys wrapped their sticks with lime green tape.

So why not go all of the way? Lime green ice.

How about it? Who's with me? Lime green ice. Right? The pink ice is becoming rather common now, but lime green, I don't think that's ever been done. Just think of the media coverage the team will get.

Down the Stretch -- Cheer for San Antonio

Ordinarily, Aeros fans don't cheer for the Rampage, but they should tonight.

San Antonio is hot, but are flying home to host Rockford tonight. Those are going to be some really tired legs, so the Aeros better find a way to get a point in Peoria this evening.

Other teams to cheer for today? Quad City over Chicago and Milwaukee over Iowa.

I have updated the "down the stretch" chart with colors to better show wins, losses and OTLs.

Also, per the request of one of our loyal employees, I added a line that shows the magic points number for the top three teams as far as clinching a playoff berth is concerned. Remember to click on the chart to see a better view of it.

At this point, if the Aeros win five of their last nine games, they are in, even if the two teams below them win out. Enjoy!

Aeros v. Rockford 3/27 - Pass the Tums

I'm gonna be lazy today, because the boys pretty much covered everything, and just go after this sucker bullet-style:

• It's official: we've reached the Tums and Advil portion of the season. The entire game last night, starting with Pouliot's shorthanded breakaway attempt on which he tried to shoot 5-hole and was denied by the left pad of Niemi, I had a headache and a stomach ache.
  
• The Hockey Gods seem to hate lime green. Got it. Won't do that again. But I hope they raised some good money for Nolan's cause.
• Dimples gets the Ms.Conduct Star of the Game. He totally should not be hanging his head about this game. He was terrific. First AHL shootout of the season and he keeps it going 13 rounds and makes some huge saves, after matching veteran Niemi save-for-save throughout regulation and OT. Chin up, kid. Keep working on that rebound control. Way to step up big when this team needed you.
• Seems like every time I say something snarky about a player during a game, they do something to shut me the eff up. That Earl goal came just minutes after Andrew told us Ryan Hamilton had gotten his 14th goal up in Toronto and I said, "And Earl's most recent goal was which number?" Ohhh, snap! He showed me. This trend, unfortunately, just encourages me to be bitchier than I already am (yeah, it's possible). But if that's what I have to do to get this team going, I'm willing.
  
• I agree with the boys that the Aeros lost this game. The ref didn't lose it for them, but he sure didn't help. That was definitely the worst called game I've seen at any level this season, perhaps ever. Calling the goalie interference on Earl was just heinous. Niemi saw Earl coming across the top of his crease, stuck his stick out like a giant hook around Earl's waist, and let Earl's momentum take him down. Shenanigans!!! Dude. If you don't SEE the infraction happen, don't assume it did. (I'm totally stealing Niemi's move.)
• Next Thursday, I'm bringing french fry money.