Veilleux signs with Tampa Bay

Stephane Veilleux signs with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He's reunited with Wes Walz (Asst Coach).

Lightning Sign Veilleux Tampa, FL -- (Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Lightning signed forward Stephane Veilleux on Tuesday. Per club policy, terms were not disclosed.

Welcome back to the South and good luck Steph!

(Update from Ms.C via Russo: Contract is a 1 year, $750k deal.)

Aeros Schedule Grid

The AHL gave the team's PR reps a nugget to release for themselves today.
Scott Henninger with the Aeros says the team's schedule grid is as follows.

Per Aeros.com:

The 2009-10 regular season will begin on Oct. 2. The Aeros complete schedule will be announced later this summer. Houston is slated to host 28 games within the West Division, 11 against the North Division and one versus the East Division. The Aeros opponents and number of home games are as follows (Houston plays each team an equal number of times on the road):

West Division
Texas Stars – six games
San Antonio Rampage – six games
Chicago Wolves – four games
Milwaukee Admirals – four games
Peoria Rivermen – four games
Rockford IceHogs – four games

North Division
Grand Rapids Griffins – three games
Abbotsford Heat – two games
Lake Erie Monsters – two games
Manitoba Moose – two games
Hamilton Bulldogs – one game
Toronto Marlies – one game

East Division
Syracuse Crunch – one game

Division Alignment Released

No real surprises here; Syracuse moves to the East, Abbotsford, as expected, joins the Canadian teams in the North, and Iowa is suspended for the year.

I think due to the economy and other factors, you won't see the Aeros playing a ton of games east of Cleveland. Could be wrong, but this division fits well and I anticipate the Aeros playing 24 of their games against San Antonio and Austin this year.

The schedule grid will be announced later this week, I am sure. (UPDATE - Well check that ... some teams are already announcing which teams they will be playing and how many times, so I guess we'll get that grid sooner ... )

(from the AHL)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2009

---

AHL ANNOUNCES DIVISION ALIGNMENT FOR 2009-10
29 teams set to compete in league’s 74th season

---

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced that the league’s Board of Governors has approved the following conference and division alignment for the AHL’s 2009-10 season (NHL affiliates in parentheses):

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)
Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)
Lowell Devils (NJ)
Manchester Monarchs (LA)
Portland Pirates (BUF)
Providence Bruins (BOS)
Springfield Falcons (EDM)
Worcester Sharks (SJ)

East Division
Adirondack Phantoms (PHI)
Albany River Rats (CAR)
Binghamton Senators (OTT)
Hershey Bears (WSH)
Norfolk Admirals (TB)
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)

Western Conference
North Division
Abbotsford Heat (CGY)
Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)
Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL)
Lake Erie Monsters (COL)
Manitoba Moose (VAN)
Rochester Americans (FLA)
Toronto Marlies (TOR)

West Division
Chicago Wolves (ATL)
Houston Aeros (MIN)
Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)
Peoria Rivermen (STL)
Rockford IceHogs (CHI)
San Antonio Rampage (PHX)
Texas Stars (DAL)

The 2009-10 regular season will begin on Oct. 2. The complete schedule will be announced later this summer.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 84 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and for the eighth year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2008-09.

Freddie Chabot has a new gig

This is great news for Chabot fan.
According to inews 880 AM (an insanely reliable source), Freddie Chabot (who played several stints for the Aeros from 1996-2001) is the new goaltending consultant for the Edmonton Oilers.

And yes, he will have his work cut out for him.

In my opinion, the Aeros should have retired his number (along with that of Mark Freer's) a long time ago. They both hold team records that will never be broken.

Retiring his number now would mean nothing, I'm afraid, because very few people know either one of them or how special they were to the franchise once upon a time.

But I digress ...

Big Love

Here's Mitch Love's final blog entry for this past season, wrapping up the playoffs and thanking everyone. Nice stuff. Thanks to Su Ring for initiating the blog and to Mitch for carrying through with it all season.

I don't think I'm alone in wishing to see him back in Houston this fall, but of course, as a free agent, he's got his pick of places.

Locke Departs for Big Apple

The New York Rangers announced that they have signed Corey Locke to a contract. There are no details to the agreement other than a Rangers release that they have signed Locke.

Locke was one of the Aeros major scorers and contributors last season, and like the other big scorers, he was a free agent. I have yet to see anything regarding the contract status of Krys Kolanos, Jesse Schultz, or Matt Beaudoin who were the team's other big scoring contributors.

Hey Dallas! Have You Been Paying Attention To Phoenix?

I hope the Dallas Stars fans have been paying attention to what's been going on with the Phoenix Coyotes, because Tom Hicks is having some severe financial problems with the Texas Rangers, and there's nothing to indicate that, come hockey season, this won't be happening with the Stars.

Specifically, and stealing from my summary over at my ClownVision Chronicles blog, it goes like this. According to Yahoo! Sports the Rangers recently borrowed $15 million from MLB to meet payroll obligations.

Now, unlike with the NHL and the Phoenix Coyotes, MLB isn't claiming that this loan of money is allowing it to take control of the team. It is assumed that should the team attempt to add payroll come the trading deadline, that MLB will have a say in whether that happens -- kind of like what happened when MLB was running the Montreal Expos.

There's been some major financial problems with the Rangers and Stars for Tom Hicks this year, and the problems have been so serious that owner Hicks has announced that he's selling a controlling interest in the Rangers and is willing to part with an ownership interest in the Stars. And earlier this year, Hicks purposefully defaulted on loans for money that was used to purchase the Rangers and the Dallas Stars.

This could all mean nothing when it comes to the Stars. The Yahoo! post seems to imply that the Rangers will soon be sold, which would probably give Hicks the money needed to handle affairs with the Stars. But if not, is it possible that there could be another repeat of Phoenix in Dallas with the NHL loaning Hicks money to keep the Stars afloat and the NHL attempting to take control of the franchise?

It's too early to know the answer to this question. But for those of you interested in the well-being of the Stars, keep a close eye on the state of the Texas Rangers. The sicker the Rangers, then possibly the sicker the Stars.

OKC set to join AHL in 2010-11

After 17 seasons in Oklahoma City, the CHL Blazers are no more.

This has been long rumored, but now it's official.
The city is in negotiations to have AHL hockey there for the 2010-11 season.

Potential suitors include the dormant AHL franchise owned by the Edmonton Oilers.

If this proves true, this would mean four teams separated by no more than 350 miles in what would be a very schedule friendly southwest part of the west division.

Personally, I hope they keep the same name and colors and the fans are among the very best in the CHL, for what it's worth.

This will be an interesting story to follow in the days and months ahead.

New goalie in the works?

I think Barry Brust and Anton Khudobin are going to be No. 1 and No. 2 (not necessarily in that order) in Houston next year.

I also think the Wild, as has been reported all over the place, are going to trade Josh Harding for something. And I think they are going to sign another No. 2 meaning Brust and/or Khudobin will only plan in Minnesota when Niklas Backstrom and the new No. 2 get hurt.

But, in the meantime, I think they should check out this guy. He's got a nice French accent, doesn't curse too much and covers the posts REALLY well. As well as I have ever seen.

Ward Sticks With Nashville

Congratulations to former Aero Joel Ward who, today, inked a 2-year, $3 million deal with the Nashville Predators.