Observations From The Morning Skate -- The Sultry Edition

Went over to the Aeros morning skate at Toyota Center again today and watched a bit and took some notes. I also talked to Kevin Constantine and J.P. Testwuide, but I'll get to that in a moment. First, some notes.

Your definite scratches for this game are Jesse Schultz -- who Constantine says isn't close to returning -- Barry Brust, Nolan Schaefer, Dane Crowley, and John Adams. Paul Albers was once again skating with the guys in practice, and once again he looked to be fine with me. Constantine said they were going to make a decision regarding his availability for tonight sometime after the skate was finished.

Towards the end of practice, Max Noreau lined up from the point and sent slap shot after slap shot toward Khudobin. It looked like they were working on getting Khudobin to make more glove saves on those shots as Noreau appeared to be aiming directly at Anton and less at the net. And early on, it looked like the skaters were trying some different approaches with shooting the puck, it especially looked like they were working on elevating the puck.

And for as much criticism as we give him, Benoit Pouliot appeared to really be working hard. He was the first one out on the ice. He spent about five minutes alone practicing his shooting -- and if he would just shoot the puck during the game like he does in practice he would be fine -- and he was one of the last ones off, along with Justin Falk and Marco Scandella.

And seeing as how Milwaukee was bitching about the officiating Tuesday night, I'm guessing they're going to be in a lousy mood tonight as Francois St. Laurent, who worked as the ref on Tuesday night, is back for tonight. It can be argued that this will work in Milwaukee's favor as maybe St. Laurent will turn around and put the Admirals on a five-on-three power play late in the game.

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Kevin Constantine got around to reviewing the game tape of Game Three, and despite the win, he wasn't entirely happy.

"For us,"he said. "We had an okay first, and a really bad second – for most of the second the bad was our shifts were too long and we didn’t play very simple and we played a lot of one-on-one hockey instead of a team game. Then a really good recovery and we played a simpler third and only gave up three chances."

The primary thing he didn't like about Tuesday night was the sloppiness of the play, to which he primarily attributed the ice conditions. "I think the game was maybe a little sloppy," he said. "I think that the heat in the building...[was] a little sweatier with hotter sultry feeling to the rink here [as opposed to Milwaukee], I think both teams created some fatigue. It created a little less swiftness of play. So the game was a little bit sloppier than maybe the games in Milwaukee were."

And as some of you are aware, Milwaukee was rather upset about the officiating in Game Three. And I asked Constantine about those complaints, and about whether the Aeros took it as a slight that the Admirals seem to feel that the Aeros wouldn't have won the game without the assistance of the referees.

"I think Milwaukee was upset mostly in the fact that we scored a five-on-three goal to win the game, the winning goal," he said. "Then teams want to question whether the referee should have put them down two guys. It’s not very relative to us. We always have a focus that’s way more on how we’re playing.

"All I know is Milwaukee won our division. They’re very good. They’ve outplayed us the last two games in a row, even though on the scoreboard each team’s earned a win. The territory and the scoring chances have slightly favored them. We’ve got a lot of respect for how good they are. And we have to play really well to beat them."

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I also took a little time after practice to chat briefly with J.P. Testwuide, a rookie who joined the Aeros in time to get in some playing time in the season-ending series with San Antonio. Testwuide was signed to the team as a defenseman, but since he played some forward in college, he was asked to work there, as well, and he's now getting significant playing time as a forward in the playoffs.

"I didn’t really know what to expect," he said. "The coaches just told me to come out here and work hard. They didn’t know if they were going to be playing me at forward or dee, so I’ve just had to make adjustments to get into the lineup."

But since he's played them both, the adjustments haven't been that difficult, and he finds that his experience as a defenseman is helping him to play forward in Constantine's system. "It’s definitely tough," he said about the switch. "You have to pay attention to your details. You have to be really defensive minded. That kind of plays into my game because playing dee so much, I like to come back to the net and make simple plays and get the puck out. So I hope I’m just contributing in a good way."

And it seems, like with so many other people, he's become attached to Houston, or at least the organization. "It’s a great group of guys," he says. "Everybody’s so nice. Everybody down here in Houston is unbelievable. I’ve got nothing but nice things to say about people in this organization."

So that it's for now. I'll be back with my look inside the numbers as game time draws closer.

Western Conference Finals

One half of the Western Conference finals match-up is now set as the Manitoba Moose swept the Grand Rapids Griffins in round 2 last night.

So, either Milwaukee or Houston will face the Moose, who have the AHL Goaltender of the Year Cory Schneider between the pipes and the highest payroll in the AHL.

No sweat.

San Antonio Staying Put

I still cannot believe there is still a possibility that NHL hockey could soon be played in Hamilton, Ontario.

To get to the point, any possible move by the Coyotes should not affect AHL hockey in Texas next year. All three teams should still be playing down here, but the Hamilton Bulldogs would surely go away.

My lasting memory of Hamilton, other than watching the Aeros lose Game 6 in the '03 Finals, will be giving my last bit of french fries to one of the scores of homeless folks that line your walk from just about anywhere in that city to Copps Coliseum. I had to go back to work after the Aeros lost Game 6. I am sure Mr. Fred, who was there for Game 7, has better memories.

The arena is a sad reminder of where people used to think would make a great place to watch professional sports, and now there is a possibility that hockey will move from Glendale, AZ, to steeltown, Ontario.

I still don't think this will happen, but Hamilton is no NHL town.
But, obviously, neither is Phoenix.

Congrats to Jason Deitsch!

The former Aero and his Texas Brahmas won the CHL Championship over the Colorado Eagles tonight, with Deitsch leading scoring for the team. Jason had a hat trick in the 6-2 win and was named MVP.

Always great to see a Texas team take home a big trophy, baby.

Round 2, Game #3 -- Aeros vs. Milwaukee -- Photos -- Part 2

Here you can see how the Aeros really protected Anton and clogged the area in front of the net. This shot was deflected by Khudobin and cleared by the defense.
This one was the 2nd big stop of Cal O'Reilly when he got in alone on Khudobin for the 2nd time on the night. He was so close to getting it through Anton had to look around behind him to be sure it wasn't in the net.

Great reaction from Beaudoin on his goal.

And the group hug.

Corey Locke wraps up the scoring on the night for the Aeros.

This was an ugly scene from the Ads. The game was over, all of the Ads had left the ice except for Cody Franson who had to get in some whining. He stopped and clapped at referee Francois St. Laurent. All I can say is this maneuver will do nothing to help you with the officials, it'll do nothing to change the way they call the game and makes you look like an asshat. There were no plays involving officials in the closing minutes of the game. The game was not that poorly officiated. I'm sensing a little "tick tock" if you know what I mean. You'd be better served to take it to the house and dedicate yourself to showing your displeasure on the scoreboard in game 4. You're lucky St. Laurent didn't take action as you obviously were trying to show up the officiating.
All Photos:Fred Trask

Meanwhile...Over At the Houston Press

Just wanted to let everybody know that the Houston Press actually wanted a game story for last night's game instead of just the usual weekly wrap-up, and I'll probably be doing another game story for them of Game Four. So go over and give this post a read -- it's nothing new that you haven't read here though -- and let them see you see like the posts.

Round 2,Game 3: Aeros vs. Milwaukee -- It's Business Time

It would not be fair to the Houston Aeros to say that this third game with the Milwaukee Admirals was do-or-die. But while a loss wouldn’t kill the team’s playoff chances, a win would go a far way towards advancing their goal of winning the Calder Cup. So leave it to Krys Kolanos to softly flip the puck past Milwaukee goalie Drew MacIntyre at 5:41 of the first to put the Aeros up 1-0.

Because if there’s one lesson that has been learned from watching the Aeros in the playoffs this season, it’s this: after tonight, the team is 5-1 when scoring the first goal. And the team’s now 4-0 when leading after the first period. So if the Aeros grab the early lead, the Aeros are going to win the game.

Still, with all of that, the Aeros were fighting to win the game until at 5:14 of the third, Max Noreau fired a shot on the power play that grazed Matt Beaudoin’s pads and snuck past MacIntyre to put the Aeros up 2-1 with a little under 15 minutes of action to go.

“My job is stay in front,” Beaudoin said. “That’s been my role since I’ve been here. I’ve been fortunate enough a couple of times to have it hit my pads and it goes in. I’m just trying to get the goalie’s eyes out of the way. And the puck just went off my pads and it went right in.”

But even with the 2-1 lead, the Aeros couldn’t relax.

“You stop breathing,” Beaudoin said. “It’s like we’re up 2-1 and now you can’t make any mistakes. At 1-1 you kind of like trying to take a chance here and there. But at 2-1 you’re on your heels a little bit, even though you don’t want to be.”

But then Corey Locke got free on a breakaway, bringing John Lammers with him. And using Lammers to draw the attention of MacIntyre, Locke buried the puck at 18:09 of the third to put the game out of the reach. And just like that, the Aeros were up two games to one in this best of seven series.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:

With Nolan Schaefer and Barry Brust pretty much out for the rest of the playoffs, the Aeros are going to have to rely on Anton Khudobin. And Anton’s play has been scary at times, what with the rebounds and his penchant for soft goals. But it needs to be stated that in the playoffs, Khudobin has faced two of the hottest teams in the AHL, the Peoria Rivermen and the Milwaukee Admirals. And in those 10 games, he’s played a total of 586 out of 612 minutes. And he’s faced 265 shots while stopping 242 of the shots.

“I feel good, you know,” Khudobin said after the 3-1 win. “We won. But the series is not over yet. So we just won the second game. But we still have to win two more. I feel good. Everybody played good.”

And the guys did play good in front of Khudobin. They didn’t make stupid mistakes. They didn’t get killed by stupid penalties. They put Milwaukee on the defense. And this recipe is the key for the Aeros. Khudobin’s not yet a Nolan Schaefer who can play a perfect game night after night without superb defensive help. But Khudobin will deliver a solid performance, and he appears to be gaining confidence with the more games the team wins. So maybe all of the worries about Khudobin that the fans had coming into the playoffs were a bit exaggerated.

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The word coming from Milwaukee after the game was that they lost the game due to the officiating. And yes, the officiating was a little questionable in the third period, but…I hate when teams blame losses on the officiating. A good team should always be able to overcome the obstacles placed in their paths.

The Aeros didn’t just let all of their three-game weekends be the cause of a bad season. They found a way to fight through the idiotic scheduling and it arguably made them a better team – take Game Three against Peoria which saw Peoria actually reach Houston before the Aeros because of weather and travel problems. Teams not used to the travel might have had trouble with that game, but the Aeros just came out and played hockey.

So let the Admirals bitch about the officiating. But if they can’t handle the adversity of a five-on-three penalty kill, then maybe they don’t deserve to be a playoff winning team.

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Kevin Constantine wasn’t totally pleased with his team after the game. His goal before the game was for the guys to worry less about how Milwaukee played the game and to concentrate more on their own game.

“I thought in the third we did some things that were good,” Constantine said. “We didn’t try to do things that weren’t available. Sometimes you get so excited and want to be a factor in the game that you try to do too much. In the second I thought we got too much into one-on-one play and tried to do more than was available. In the third, we just made the plays that were there, but kept it simple when we needed to. That was part of what we were trying to get to. So the answer would probably no in the second but yes in the third.”

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And in honor of Flight of the Conchords performing in Houston later tonight, and in honor of the Aeros getting business done in Game Three, here’s Bret and Jemaine performing “Business Time.”

Round 2, Game #3 -- Aeros vs. Milwaukee -- Photos

We'll start with the Krys Kolanos goal. He had the whole net to look at as the puck came off of MacIntyre right to him.

Here you can see the puck (circled) is in and between the legs of Robbie Earl.Some celebration, Kolanos style.

A huge hit on Ryan Jones by Justin Falk. The stick between the legs of Jones is his own.

Some Clayton Stoner, with playoff beard for Ms Conduct and her fans.

Late in the 1st period Anton Khudobin had a huge stop on a Cal O'Reilly break away.

Another Anton Khudobin stop in the 2nd period.

And the look from Anton as he talks to the crowd as the #1 star.

More Photos tonight.

All Photos:Fred Trask

View From the Press Box -- Game 3

Houston Aeros coach Kevin Constantine said after this morning's skate that he wanted his team to focus less on what Milwaukee was doing, and to focus more about getting back to their style of play and back into the Aeros system. After tonight's game, he said it was a bit of a mixed bag, and that they played Milwaukee's game in the second period.

But when it mattered most, the Aeros played their style of hockey, getting two goals in the third period to get the 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals before a crowd of 3047 inside of Toyota Center. With the win, the Aeros have the 2-1 advantage in the best of seven series.

The thing I noticed most from the press box was that when the Aeros pressed the Admirals, they had control of the game. That might not show in the shot totals, or in the number of goals, but for most of the first and third periods, the Aeros pressed, and the Admirals were forced to react to the Aeros instead of the Aeros reacting to the Admirals.

And did I nail this win, or what? My keys to the game for the Aeros were to score first. To score on a power play, to have the lead after the first period, and to prevent the Admirals from scoring on a power play. And the Aeros did all of that.

Who knows what will happen come Thursday night. There's never any real way of determining, as far I can tell, which Aeros team will show up to play from period to period, much less from game to game. But just like in the series with Peoria, and so far with Milwaukee, if the Aeros are the ones on the attack, they're the ones who are going to win the game.

The three stars of the game were 3) Milwaukee's Ryan Jones, who refused to come out after the game to acknowledge his star; 2) Matt Beaudoin who got the game-winning goal when a Max Noreau shot from between the circles nicked his pads, and 1) Anton Khudobin who made several impressive stops of Milwaukee shots while stopping 27 of Milwaukee's 28 shots.

I'll be back more later, including quotes from Constantine, Beaudoin, and Khudobin.

Observations From The Morning Skate

I took you on a look into the numbers in the post below. But I thought I would share some of the info I got from this morning's skate.

As Heather already posted, Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer are pretty much being counted out for the playoffs. I was a bit surprised to hear that from Kevin Constantine, as Schaefer has supposedly been on the brink of returning to action since the San Antonio series to end the season. But Constantine said that the rehab for his lower body injury isn't progressing as planned, and that no one is more frustrated by this than Schaefer. Barry Brust is battling a broken foot, and he's pretty much out for the length of the playoffs, but if something should happen, he's the closest one to a full recovery.

So that pretty much means that the Aeros will be going with Anton Khudobin for the rest of the playoffs. Constantine says he pulled Khudobin on Saturday night to basically give him a rest, and because he just had this feeling that the team wasn't going to pull off one of its comebacks.

"Anton had played pretty good, and he’d made some great saves early to keep us in the game," Constantine said. "It wasn’t a thing of Anton being bad, it was a thing of, well, he’s played every game for us, let’s give him a breather and let him come back."

Jesse Schultz, meanwhile, is skating, but not with the team. He's able to get on the ice and move around a bit, but he can't place too much pressure on the ankle and he obviously has difficulties with the sudden movements a hockey player has to make on his ankle. I didn't see Schultz while I was at Toyota Center this morning, so I couldn't check with him, but Constantine implied that it would pretty much take a miracle for Schultz to make it back for this series.

"He’s trying to work his way back," Constantine said of Schultz. "You never say never, but we just don’t feel at this point that he’s close to making his way back."

I can't really say much about Paul Albers's injury. I saw him on the ice with the rest of the team this morning, and he appeared to be fully participating in all of the drills. If he was in any kind of pain, it didn't show. Of course, he could end up being a game time decision.

The rookies, J.P. Testwuide and Marco Scandella, are getting playing time because of Albers injury. Testwuide had been working with the forwards in practice, so when Albers was injured, Constantine thought of putting him in at his natural position, but chose to stick with him at forward for because he brings a little added size up front and put Scandella in at Albers spot instead.

Constantine thinks the key to tonight's game is the team worrying less about what Milwaukee's doing, and concentrating more on making their plays. He was happy with their play last Thursday, but much less so with Saturday's play. So I look for the team to play more like Game One when they seemed more concerned with pressing the action and forcing Milwaukee to react to them, than like they were on Saturday, when they seemed to be more reactive to what was happening.

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I also took a little time to talk to the newest Aeros goalie, Matt Climie. Climie says that he is "ready, and I’m just waiting for the opportunity to go in and prove myself." He knows that his job at the moment is to sit on the bench and stay prepared for sudden action, and he says he's got a game plan for dealing with that.

"I just try to keep loose," he says. "I don’t place a lot of emphasis on preparing mentally. Where as a lot of guys spend two hours visualizing and thinking about making saves. I just try to stay loose and have fun with it. And then when there’s a chance to go in the net, I focus and regroup quickly because you get thrown in there, and it doesn’t take long to focus. I just try to make the saves."

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And for those of you who Kevin Constantine talking about the flipper play between periods on Saturday night, I got an explanation. And it's just as it sounds. One of the guys at the far end of the ice flips the puck high in the air toward the other side in hopes that one his teammates will be able to get under the puck and take it in for the goal.