Round 3, Game #5: Aeros vs. Moose -- Some Quick Thoughts

Wow. Wow. Wow.

After Monday night's loss, I never thought the Aeros would be returning to Winnipeg. Never.

So wow.

Andrew will post our View From the Press Box in a bit -- those get delayed because of other items we have to get done. So I just thought I would post some quick things.

First, for those who missed it...the Aeros won 4-3 in double overtime. That the Aeros won the game to send this series back to Winnipeg is one thing. That the Aeros won this game in double overtime is another. And then there's the fact that the Aeros had a 3-1 lead with 21 seconds left in the game and had to win the thing in double overtime.

Major props tonight go to Tony Hrkac. Another impressive outing with two goals -- including the game winner -- to lift his playoff point total to 14 points. Nice work from Robbie Earl who set Hrkac up for both of his goals. Matt Climie, except for about 30 seconds in the third period, was impressive, especially for someone's who barely played the past month or so.

So we'll have much more later, but just wanted to get this up. Game Six, believe it or not, is a reality, and it will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Monday night.

Manitoba feeling it too ...

Per a Winnipeg Free Press story this afternoon:

"...based on this morning skate at Toyota Center, the Moose will be without forward Alexandre Bolduc, who was scratched from Game 4 with an unspecified injury.

With Bolduc, Pierre-Cedric Labrie and apparently Tommy Maxwell in sick bay, Manitoba will bring forward Matt Pope from the reserved list into a third straight playoff series in progress this spring.

Pope, who will go straight to the top line with Jason Krog and Jason Jaffray, has two goals and four points in five playoff games."

And The New GM Is...

It's official. The new GM of the Minnesota Wild is Chuck Fletcher.

That is all.

Observations From The Morning Skate -- Quick Notes Edition

By now you've heard the big news for today. And as Luke Strand told me, it's that Matt Climie is starting in goal tonight. I spoke to Kevin Constantine during the skate, and the decision had not yet been made -- he and the staff wanted to wait until after Nolan Schaefer and Climie skated to make a decision.

As for Anton Khudobin, Constantine said that he's got a lower body injury. He got the injury during the third period on Wednesday night. During a time out of the third, Khudobin informed the trainers that he was hurt, then he skated back out to the net. The trainers checked him out at the end of the third period, and told Constantine that he could not play. "So we had no choice but to play Schaefer," Constantine said.

I don't really have much else for you. There was some off-the-record talk about players' beards. I did overhear Constantine talking to Manitoba's radio guy for an interview to be played during the game, and Constantine basically said he's not sure of what to expect from Climie.

The obvious scratches for tonight are Dane Crowley, Barry Brust, and Anton Khudobin. Paul Albers, Jesse Schultz, Marco Scandella, Jason Ryznar, and Carson McMillan all skated with the rest of the guys in the skate. Krys Kolanos did not skate, but I've rarely seen him out on the ice at the morning skate, so that doesn't mean anything.

A quick inside the numbers give us some basics. Only two teams in AHL history have ever come from 0-3 to win a series: Rochester in 1960 and Adirondack in 1989. But the Aeros are 3-0 this post-season when facing elimination. All-time, the Aeros are 7-5 in Calder Cup play when facing elimination. And in Game Fives, Houston is 7-10 all-time and 4-5 in Calder Cup action.

Corey Locke leagues the AHL is Calder Cup scoring with 20 points (11-9). Matt Beaudoin is second with 16 points (7-9=16).

The Moose/Cory Schneider have allowed just eight third period goals in 14 games, but the Aeros are responsible for five of the eight. The Aeros have 23 third period goals in the playoffs, compared to just 24 goals combined in all of the first, second, and overtime periods. The Aeros are outscoring their opponents 23-14 in the third period.

The big key again will be the first goal. The Aeros are 8-2 when scoring first, and they are 6-0 when leading after the first.

So what happens tonight? That's a damn good question. I think if the Aeros can get the first goal and if they can give Matt Climie some time to settle in after that first goal, then they might be okay, and they might be able to get back to Winnipeg for a Game Six. But frankly, the odds aren't in the favor of the Aeros. But if there's one thing we've learned this season, it's to never count out the Aeros (still, you have to wonder about just how many goalie injuries this team can take).

My bold prediction: the first team to score wins.

Updated -- Matt Climie to start tonight for Aeros

Our own John Royal was at the Morning Skate this morning and got word that Matt Climie will start in goal tonight for the Aeros in Game 5. Read here for more on this on chron.com. Also, the Winnipeg Sun picked up the news and has their take on Climie, the mystery goalie.

Here is the quote from Aeros assistant coach Luke Strand:

["We feel throughout the playoffs, (Climie's) play is at the highest of our group of goalies. Since the end of March, Nolan (Schaefer) had only faced very limited time in any type of game scenario leaving him maybe just a bit off of his timing. Matt is a talented goalie that we are hoping continues to be as sharp as a starter as he has been in his time of relief this playoff run."]

Here is a look at the Aeros goaltending situation for the last six weeks or so:

1) Nolan Schaefer - backup tonight
2) Barry Brust - Out, Lower Body Injury
3) Anton Khudobin - Out, Lower Body Injury
4) Sebastien Centomo - Released after backing up late in regular season
5) Rejean Beauchemin - Released late in regular season
6) Matt Climie - Assigned by Dallas earlier this playoffs, and will start tonight

Now tell me the last time you saw a team use six goalies in a month-plus and make it to the semis.

Incredible

Justin Falk Feature

Falker is from Snowflake, Manitoba, which is close to Winnipeg.
The Winnipeg Sun did a feature on the Aeros d-man that was in their paper this morning.

Here is a quote from Constantine from the story:

["He's a bit of a slow starter," said Constantine. "His personality is really good, but it's a little laid back and people like that take a little time to get comfortable.

"He started a little slow and tentative and then he gained confidence. It's kind of how the playoffs have been for him. I really believe he is a tremendous prospect. He's big and he's athletic. As long as they're patient enough to let due course happen, he'll be a good NHL player."]

Round 3, Game #4 -- Aeros vs. Moose -- Photos -- Part 2

I realized I'd not given you a shot of Carson McMillan yet.

Some Marco Rosa.

A swooping Danny Irmen.

Bryan Lundbohm and ex-Aero Mark Cullen

A calm Cory Schneider is about to catch the puck.

Matt Beaudoin rushes up the ice.

Greg Rallo lifts the stick of Matt Kassian.

Cory Schneider with some leather larceny.

Mitch Love is cross-checked by Nolan Baumgartner.

Mitch Love is given a ride along the Aeros bench by Guillaume Desbiens.
Krys Kolanos gets off one of his terrific shots on Cory Schneider. Often times these find their way through, under the arm of the netminder.

Cory Schneider takes some refreshment during a stoppage in play.

All Photos:Fred Trask

Wild GM announcement tomorrow

The Minnesota Wild will be announcing their new General Manager tomorrow at 4 p.m. Central in Minnesota.

Russo is saying (from the beach in Honolulu, the poor dear) that his sources inform him that the new chief will be Penguins' assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher.

We'll keep you posted on what the trickle-down effect of this hiring will be. New honchos usually want their own people around them, so we'll see if there's turnover at the top of the Aeros food chain at Tom Lynn's position.

Game 4 Media Round-up

For starters, here's a nice little feature on the delicious Matt Beaudoin from theAHL.com.

From Houston:

• Andrew's Chronicle piece
• For continuity's sake, John's Press piece again
• And my PHN write-up

From Winnipeg:

• Bolduc may still be out on Friday according to the Winnipeg Sun
• The game report from the Sun, in which Coach Arniel says his team "flat out stunk"
• The Winnipeg Freep's game report

And finally if you have too much time on your hands, here's the replay of the live chat on the Freep's site last night. There's some pretty funny stuff. Interesting to see what opposing fans are thinking during a game.

My favorite line: Khudobin, his Russian nickname translates to "Tsar of Rebounds"

Round 3, Game #4: Meanwhile, Over At The Mothership

Here's my Houston Press write-up of last night's game. So, as always, go give it a read. I think it captures the spirit of last night's game.

And if any of you are wondering about my focus on Tony Hrkac after last night's game instead of Matt Beaudoin who had a game for the ages, there are three reasons, kind of. First, I talked to Hrkac after yesterday's morning skate, and I thought it made a nice bookend to get to him afterwards and follow-up on what we had talked about earlier in the day. Second, I wasn't around for much of the Matt Beaudoin interview, so I didn't really have the quotes from him. Third, Hrkac is just a few months younger than I am, so an old guy out there keeping up with the kids, especially an old guy who hadn't played in four seasons, just fascinates me.

But make no mistake, the deserved number one star of last night's game was Matt Beaudoin, and I hope the Aeros/Wild are doing something to get this guy locked into a contract for next season.