The headline says it all. Scott Kaiser, my former colleague who had a passion for covering the Aeros when it was his job from 1999-2002, is dead at the age of 49.
Attached are two articles from the Katy newspaper (this one might make you cry) that give some details. He lived in Katy with his wife, and he had a daughter from a previous marriage.
Scott was very popular with most of the players on the team when he covered the Aeros. He was the beat writer arguably the three craziest years the team ever had. Three head coaches, two leagues, and several soap operas that will make you laugh, cry and wonder aloud of that could really happen in professional hockey.
Upon learning of his death, I got the word out to Dave Barr -- who in three years Scott covered the team -- was an assistant coach, head coach and general manager. In other words, he got to know Scott pretty well. I sent an e-mail to Dave and he wrote back right away with some kind words. He will be missed by everyone he worked with. That much is clear.
Like many people that met him, I learned a lot from Scott about how to cover hockey ... Like what matters, what doesn't and how to describe the turning point in a period, game or playoff series. In my opinion, it is the best job as a sports writer you can have.
I know I am very fortunate to have known him, and in a completely serious way, I am glad that he decided to leave the beat in the late summer of 2002. He went on to do better things, and he even wrote a book, which was a dream of his. But he left an opportunity for me to do the one thing that brings me more joy than anything else I do professionally.
For that, I cannot thank him enough, and there is no way I possibly could.
I talked for a bit with Aeros GM Jim Mill before last Saturday's game. I know this is a bit delayed, but I've been busy with other matters. However, though some of this might be a bit dated because of news with the Wild lately, I still thought I would post. So...
As you know, this is Mill's first season as a team executive, instead of as a league executive. So I wanted to know what it was like watching a team that's he helped assemble as the season opens.
"It’s incredibly exhilarating," he said. "It’s exciting and it’s a totally different kind of pressure. That’s for sure. I went from the pressure of making sure everything goes just okay…and knowing that the referees don’t screw up or anything, to wanting to win every time."
But while he wants the team to win everytime, he was clear that building a team doesn't happen overnight, and as such, the Aeros are still a work in progress.
"We’re similar to what is happening in Minnesota where there’s some new systems and some new philosophy to some degree," he said. "The guys are trying to adjust. Specifically at the American League level, if you’re asking me or any other GM or assistant GM, scout wide or anybody else, they’re going to tell you that for that first month, you’re pretty much going to stay in flux. You’re trying to adjust to putting a bunch of new players together. That does take time. And that’s what we’re doing right now. "
Now I know that some of you are going to complain about that and believe that the team should be at top form right now. But that's just not how it works with the Aeros, especially in the now-three years that I've been covering the team. Kevin Constantine has stated over the years that he is never sure of what he's going to get from his team until a month or so into the season. And Constantine struggled throughout last season trying to figure out a team that wasn't as strong defensively as he was used to but which featured an offensive element he also wasn't used to. And the Aeros last season were a team that didn't really gell and come together until the playoffs got going. So don't go into a panic right now if the team doesn't look cohesive. Give Constantine some time to work his magic.
I spoke to Mill about some Aeros alum who are currently up in Minnesota. Mill credited John Scott with being the spark behind the Wild's open night come from behind victory. "He was pretty good wasn’t he?" Mill said. "It was opening night in Minnesota and he changed the game. You can’t say he won the game, but he changed it, and he gave us the opportunity to win that game. He changed the momentum by doing what he did. That was great. He was the difference maker."
Then there's the enigma known as Benoit Pouliot. During the playoffs last season, I made a habit of attending the morning skate, and Pouliot was always the first guy out and always one of the last guys off of the ice. So I know he works hard, and you can see the guy has talent. But he just hasn't been able to make that talent work to his advantage.
"I wish I knew the answer to that one," Mill answered when asked about getting Pouliot to play to his skill level. "Guys develop at different rates, and he’s obviously incredibly talented and skilled. He’s got great size and he skates and he shoots, everything that you want. Some guys take a little bit longer to figure out how to put all of the tools together to use properly."
But as was evident by some of Wild coach Todd Richards' comments about Pouliot last week, the team does appear to be losing some patience with Pouliot. Mill is just not at that point. Yet.
"Guys do develop at different pace. We hope that a guy like that, with all of that talent and skill and ability, figures it out and puts it all together."
Then there's Cal Clutterbuck, the hard-hitting wing who graced the Aeros with his presence for the 2007-2008 season. Clutterbuck, who was called up after only two games last season, quickly made his presence known in Minnesota, and he's become a fan, and management favorite.
"I thought he would be a great guy in the National Hockey League," Mill said. "He uses speed. He does great things by using his body and keeping it simple. He skates well. He takes the body. He does all of the little things that you want. He keeps that intensity level up, and he creates things because of how aggressive he is. It’s not a big surprise at all [his success]."
Of course, Clutterbuck is currently on the injured reserve after spraining his ankle on Saturday night in San Jose. And as anybody who remembered Erik Reitz's struggle to recover from his high ankle sprain back in 2007-2008, you know that that's an injury that doesn't heal quickly. But if the Wild are to have any success this season, then the timing of Clutterbuck's return might be the most important element of all.
It appears the Aeros have sent another guy packing to some place where he can get playing time. This time it's Brandon Buck who is headed to the Everblades.
He is on an AHL/ECHL contract and I don't believe he ever dressed for the Aeros.
According to the mighty tweet of Michael Russo, Andy Hilbert and Nathan Smith are on their way to join the Wild in place of the injured Cal Clutterbuck and Petr Sykora.
Welcome to the first installment of T3I.info's View from the Pressbox.
The credential around John's neck is about the size of the moon, and I look like I have not slept in about three weeks. But overall appearances be damned, we bring you our take on the weekend, especially Saturday's 2-1 win over the Texas Stars. (I mean really, this is the random screen shot provided by You Tube. There is NO need to adjust your computer.)
Still no word on which Aeros will be called up as a result of the Wild being unable to stay healthy just three or four games into the season.
We want to know what you thought of the first two home games of the season. Did you like what you saw on the ice? What did you think of the game presentation by the Aeros crew?
Enjoy the video, and I promise (next time) to shave, sleep and try to at least dress a lot less like a homeless person.
Just a follow-up to my post below. Michael Russo has tweeted that Clutterbuck's injury is to his ankle, and that it appears to be serious. Sykora suffered an injury to his groin. Andrew and I were kind of tossing this around after the game, and my first inclination was that Craig Weller and Andy Hilbert would be the two guys called up to the Wild. My thinking with Hilbert is based on my opinion that he would not have agreed to the two-way contract if he did not get some kind of assurance that he was going to be one of the first guys recalled to the Wild.
Andrew was thinking Weller and Colton Gillies, though my thinking is that Gillies is still unable to play because of the broken nose. And Heather read somewhere while we were talking that Danny Irmen could be in the mix.
Who knows? I haven't really gotten a handle on all of the new players yet, nor have I gotten a handle on the team. I've only seen three of the four games, and one of those games I watched on the internet. Also, I'm not really sure of what Todd Richards is looking for with the Wild.
The Aeros and Stars battled tonight, in front of 5736 at the Toyota Center, and just as Friday’s game between the two was close, so was this one. So close, in fact, that the game went to a shootout before Jon DiSalvatore hit the lone goal for either team, giving the Aeros the 2-1 victory and increasing their record to 2-2-0-0 (4 points).
Tonight’s game belonged to the newbies, especially the fourth line which featured Peter Zingoni anchoring the wings of Cody Almond and Carson McMillan. While several of the lines featured some energy, and while DiSalvatore and Nathan Smith -- two more newbies -- had several opportunities to get scores, it was Zingoni who scored the one Aeros regulation goal, virtually shoving the puck past former Aero playoff hero Matt Climie to put the Aeros up 1-0 at the 17:26 mark of the first.
“It was a great forecheck from my linemates Cody Almond and [Carson] McMillan,” Zingoni said. “They stayed hard on the puck and got the puck to the net. [McMillan] gave me a nice little pass crossing…[Climie] made a nice initial save, and I just kind of buried my head and just kept working on it.”
The Stars tied the game at 5:11 of the second when Brad Lukowich’s shot hit off of one of Anton Khudobin’s defenders and deflected past him. But after that, Climie and Khudobin kept the offenses in check even though the Aeros had several good chances in overtime to get the score. Smith was working Climie so hard at about the 2:34 of OT that it looked like the two were going to come blows, but alas, the Aeros were unable to get the score.
Texas went first, and Khudobin easily stopped Kevin DeVergilio’s attempt. In fact, he easily stopped all of the Texas attempts, and if not for DiSalvatore getting it past Climie on the Aeros first shootout attempt, this game might still be underway.
Khudobin said after the game that the shootout was one of the best parts of his game when he was in Russia, but that it has suffered here. Tonight, however, he was solid. “I was sure I was going to stop the pucks [in the shootouts],” Khudobin said. “I was focusing on the pucks.”
The Aeros, as with last week, lost the first game of a weekend series, but came back to the win the second. And head coach Kevin Constantine noted how tough that was this weekend against the Stars.
“They’re a good team,” he said. “They’re on the road playing, and they haven’t lost a game in regulation out of four. They don’t give you much room. Getting pucks to the net is hard. We’ve got to give them some credit. They’re a very good team.”
As for his team’s play tonight, Constantine noted that they were more consistent tonight, and that while they might not have had the intensity at the start of Friday’s game, neither did they sink to the depths to which they sunk on Friday.
The Aeros will return to action next weekend when they take on the San Antonio Rampage for two games at Toyota Center on Friday and Saturday.
SOME MISCEALLANEOUS GAME NOTES:
The Aeros are still, at this point, a team in flux. The lineup for tonight’s game had some big changes, and Constantine and his staff are still trying to find the right mix of players. GM Jim Mill noted during the game that the Aeros are carrying a big roster, but that several players had been released. And Constantine told us after the game that the roster would be thinned come next week.
“We purposely held guys around longer than normal just to be real thorough in evaluation of who we want to play and who should make the team,” he said. “There’s a negative to that as it’s kind of hard to become a team and work with individual guys. The positive of that is that your decisions are better.”
Released before the game were right wing Simon Ferguson, left wing Gregg Johnson, and right wing Matt Fornataro. Mill noted with Ferguson that this really had nothing to do with his play, but just that there are a lot of veterans on the team, and that they did not foresee the Wild sending Craig Weller and Andy Hilbert down to the team. Mill stated that he liked Ferguson and that Ferguson would be one of the first guys he contacts should their be an opening on the roster.
What I don’t think either Mill or Constantine intended was that the team would be losing players to Minnesota. However, during tonight’s game in San Jose, the Wild, according to tweets from reporter Michael Russo, lost John Scott, Cal Clutterbuck, and Petr Sykora to injuries. The severity of the injuries isn’t yet known, though while Scott had returned to the bench, Clutterbuck and Sykora had not.
********************* Once again, I was impressed by the play of the rookies. Chad Rau had a nice game on Friday, and Almond and McMillan were nice surprises. They were hitting, they were attacking the net, and they brought an energy to the game that was kind of like what Clutterbuck used to do, and kind of like the Love/Ryznar/Kassian line last season.
Peter Zingoni, the veteran who played with them, was impressed.
“We did a great job, and I give a lot of credit to them,” he said. “It’s their first pro game. They did an awesome job….It was a lot of fun playing with them….they gave a good impression for the coach and the staff.”
And just as Rau got his first professional point on Friday, McMillan got his first professional point tonight when he assisted on Zingoni’s score. Also, note, that the score sheet is wrong. Almond, not Nathan Smith, was on the ice with Zingoni and McMillan when Zingoni scored. Zingoni even credited Almond, and Almond could easily be seen behind Zingoni on the replay.
Also, my apologies to McMillan. I believe that on the little video discussion with myself and Andrew that I said Corey McMillian instead of Carson. That was a stupid mistake on my part.
***************** I’ve got a problem, again, with the people who decided on the three stars. I’ve got no problem with Zingoni’s star, though I would have made him the third star. Matt Climie was a deserving star, but I would have made him two instead of three -- he did stop 30 of 31 game shots and four of the five shootout shots. And though Jon DiSalvatore did a nice job to get the shootout goal, I fail to understand how Khudobin, who stopped 23 of 24 game shots and all five that he faced in the shootout, could not have been given his proper recognition.
***************** As for our video to play us out tonight, I just can’t think of anything better than “Under Pressure” from Queen and David Bowie as a little salute to the excellent goaltending from Climie and Khudobin.
Much MUCH better showing by both teams tonight in the 2-1 shootout win for the Aeros. While Houston generally outshot the Stars the whole game, there were only brief stretches where the game actually felt lopsided.
Both goalies put on a clinic, turning away plenty of tough attempts, including in the eventual shootout. There were few "easy" shots in the shootout, and Khudobin in particular was absolutely oozing confidence the entire game.
And he knew he'd done something special with the final shot of the shootout, and his fist pumping celebration looked like this:
You might have gathered from our Twitter feed tonight that I was impressed with Cody Almond. He was a fantastic surprise. You hear guys are good in junior, but until you see them at the next level, it's tough to put much stock in that, but he was terrific in his first pro game tonight. Fantastic hockey sense, big time hustle, strong on the boards... great stuff.
Daoust is a little spitfire, too, though maybe a little too much fire (or is it too much spit?) tonight with an inopportune unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the tied game.
Personally, I feel better tonight. Last night's game left me unsettled. I wasn't happy with the goaltending. I wasn't happy with the "too little too late" compete level. It reminded me of frustrating teams of the past and I really came out of pre-season thinking they were a much better team than that.
And I just flat out hate being wrong.
But tonight I feel less off base with my general expectations for the team. Khudobin only made me wonder where the nearest defibrillator was one time, and in an hairy game like this one was, that's pretty good. His rebound control was greatly improved and he was calm and confident the whole way.
Moreover, he was just working his can off, which was a nice thing to see.
Okay, that's it from me. Video from John and Andrew, as well as write-ups are coming!
I'm going to take a little time tonight to talk to GM Jim Mill on the record. I really want to focus on some of the guys who are up with the Wild right now, like Cal Clutterbuck, John Scott, and Benoit Pouliot, but I thought I would offer a reward to the readers. Send me questions. I'll pick one I like and ask him. One caveat: Jim Mill is the general manager, and he works on the hockey side, not the business side, so leave T3I and our problems out of it. Give me a hockey question regarding personnel, style of play, stupid penalties, etc. And as I said, I'll take my favorite of the questions and ask Jim.
I find it hard to write about the kind of game that was played tonight. The Aeros came out hard, and fast, and physical. They took the 1-0 lead after Clayton Stoner fired in the puck from the blue line at 17:29 of the first. They left their intensity in the locker room for the second and most of the third periods, but trailing 3-1 late in the third, the Aeros still found a way to make it interesting before losing 3-2 in front of 8514 fans inside of Toyota Center.
There’s just not much to say.
Stoner put the fault on the entire team, saying that “we were turning over pucks at the blue line going into their zone and just giving up odd man rushes the other way. Then break downs in our own zones. I think pretty much we just handed them everything they got.”
In many ways, he is correct. But without the play of Texas Stars goalie Brent Krahn, Texas loses this game. The Aeros won the shot battle 35-20. They outshot Texas 12-4 in the first period. They hit Krahn with a six-man rush late in the third. And he made the stops, especially when it counted.
Still, the Aeros could have, should have won this game. But despite the massive off season roster turnover, this Aeros team played like year’s team. Consistently inconsistent. They came out strong, trailed off, then came back at the end.
“We’re a mature group,” Stoner said. “A lot of older guys. If we’re down a goal or two we can always come back.”
But head coach Kevin Constantine doesn’t want to hear comparisons to last year.
“There’s a lot of newness here,” he said. “New management, new players, getting used to things. It’s so much change, our style of play, you would think we would be fairly similar to last year once we all adjust to how we’re going to play. I would summarize the game with saying we had a good start. We had a lot of energy. We had a good first period. We had an average second period with a little too many turnovers. And didn’t manage the puck very good, and let them back into the game because of that.”
The Aeros and Stars go at it again tomorrow night, 7:35, at Toyota Center. And the Aeros will attempt to even up their record at 2-2. Something which Stoner thinks is possible. “I think we need to come out with a bit of an edge,” he said. “We can’t be happy with the way we handed them the game. We’ve just got to come out with an attitude and play like we deserve to win.”
MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES:
I’ve got to admit to a little disappointment from tonight’s game. After reading the comments here over the summer, I was convinced that Matt Beaudoin was the second coming of Gretzky and Crosby. Instead, all I saw tonight was the Beaudoin I saw during much of the regular season last year -- nothing. He’s a good guy. He was good in the locker room. He was very good in the playoffs. But you guys have got to get over him already. Mitch Love and Tony Hrkac played as important, or bigger, roles with this team last year than Beaudoin, and I can’t understand the adulation that has been coming his way.
Though, on the plus side, this did give me and Heather a fun way to waste time during the game as we were making “Matt Beaudoin is so great, how great is he?” jokes throughout the game.
******************* The Aeros have really got to let those of us sitting on press row pick the stars of the game. There’s just no justification for Texas goalie Brent Krahn not being the number one star of the game. Hell, he wasn’t even a star. I often asked myself this same question last year: are they watching the same game that I am?
I also think that they ought to turn over game scoring duties to those of us on press row. Heather, Andrew, GM Jim Mill, and myself all correctly identified Clayton Stoner as being the one to score the first period goal as soon as it happened, and verified it by way of replay -- thanks Jamie Spencer for that as, if I remember right, we didn’t always have replays on Friday games last year. But the stat crew gave it to right wing Jean-Michel Daoust. That mistake was corrected during the first intermission.
****************** The Aeros do not have a captain this year. They are using a system of rotating Alternate Captains, which is shared by the veterans, and will rotate among those who are not having to sit out during a particular game due to the Veteran Rule. Tonight's Alternates were Clayton Stoner, Brandon Rogers, and Ryan Lannon.
****************** I was impressed by rookie Chad Rau. He got the team’s second goal, late in third period, and he always seemed to be around the puck for the whole night. And Clayton Stoner was again delivering some quality hits during the game.
And I was impressed by P.A. guy Steve Vidal for correctly pronouncing new goalie Wade Dubielewicz’s name throughout the night. I think I would have nightmares every night if I had to pronounce it on a regular basis.
****************** And finally, before I go, it’s time to play DJ. So I thought I would bust out this little beauty from The Pretenders. First, because it gives me a chance to watch Chrissie Hynde. Second, because it’s a good song. Third, because the first line is the “reason we’re here” which allows me to remind you that, despite everything that’s happened, we here at T3I are here to give you the best game coverage possible. And fourth, as my dedication to Mitch Love who is off in Peoria this year (also, though he probably won't like it, it's also for Mr. Fred).
So here’s The Pretenders with the “Message of Love.”
The headline says it all.
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