The quotes that stood out to me after Sunday's 2-1 OT loss came from Kevin Constantine and Wade Dubielewicz. KC was asked about the injuries and he said it was the team's "low point of the year" in that regard. Lots of regulars out of the lineup, and it could be that way for the forseeable future.
The other great quote was from Doobie (has anyone else pointed out that the Aeros goalie's nicknames are Doobie and Dobby?) He said that Mike Brennan's OT goal was a one-in-300 proposition. From where I was sitting, that sucker was going three feet wide. But when you have a major problem playing 4-on-4 hockey, those kinds of things are going to happen to you.
Right now the Aeros are a bad 4-on-4 team. That needs to be fixed and fast, because playing with six regulars out of the lineup this week could produce more OT games, especially on the road.
Another troubling trend is the Aeros' home record to this point. They are 11-9-3-0 at Toyota Center. Technically, that puts them over .500 at home, but really, they are 11-12. When someone asks you who won the game, you can't say, "The Aeros did."
The West Division is a grind right now, and Milwaukee is now the overall points leader in the division. In less than three months, they have erased a 15 point deficit to rise to the top. And there are a lot of team right behind them because the Texas Stars have only played well against the Aeros since about Dec. 9 (2-1 against the Aeros, 1-8 against the field).
The Aeros start a stretch Wednesday that will have them on the road for seven of eight. When they get back from Peoria on Jan. 30, they'll have played one more road game than at home. There will be 31 games left on the slate to close out there, and if they survive the next three weeks, they'll be in a good spot to get into the playoffs.
Milwaukee has the best schedule the rest of the way and should be able to lock up one of the four spots. Texas, I have to believe, will right the ship soon, and will be the other team to get it. As for the other two spots, who knows? The West is very tight from top to bottom and even San Antonio, a team that lost 11 in a row (and 16 of 19!!) at one point, is still very, very much a part of the playoff picture.
The team will be in survival mode this week, the last three games before the All-Star break. Then, just maybe, they'll get a few guys back when the team makes their cross-continent trek over to Abbotsford.
If the Aeros can steal three points against the IceHogs and Marlies this week, a moral victory will be acceptable. After that, though, the clock will be ticking.
Here’s the deal. I’m tired. I’m temporarily working, and it’s a schedule that involves me waking up at five everyday. I’ve got a cold. I’m cranky. So I’m not much up for writing one of my long rambling fill in every single blank that happened during the game post.
So you’ll get this.
The Aeros lost to the Rockford IceHogs 2-1 in overtime. Yes, the Aeros losing in overtime. Shocking. I know. The Aeros one goal came at 4:28 when Jean-Michel Daoust knocked in the rebound of a Chad Rau shot to make it 1-0.
“All I remember was that it was a shot on net,” Daoust said. “And then there was a rebound on my blade and I just put it in.”
The Aeros kept that lead until 3:57 of the second when Rockford’s Kyle Greentree took the cross-ice pass from Akim Aliu and buried the puck past Wade Dubielewicz. And the score stayed tie at one until 2:12 of the overtime when Mike Brennan fired a shot that was going wide of the net, but was deflected in for the goal when it hit Dubielewicz’s stick to give Rockford the win.
“It’s unbelievable,” Dubielewicz said. ‘I thought I was going to be able to break the overtime bug. I don’t think I’ve lost one yet to now, but that’s unbelievable.”
Following the loss, the Aeros record dropped to 19-15-6-1 (45 points). The good news is that they’re now in fourth place in the West Division. The shocking news is that Milwaukee is now in first at 22-12-1-5 (50 points). Texas has dropped into second with a record of 21-13-2-4 (48 points), and Rockford is now in third place at 21-18-2-2 (46 points).
The Aeros return to action on Wednesday night when they play the first of two in Rockford. They’ll play in Rockford on Friday night, then host Toronto on Saturday night.
A MISCELLANEOUS NOTE:
The Aeros are a really banged up squad right now. Kevin Constantine says it the low point for the team this year. They’re not yet sure of how badly injured Jaime Sifers is. Ryan Lannon is also out from an injury in Friday’s game. Brandon Rogers suffered back spasms after Friday’s game. Constantine believes that Rogers might be able to return on Wednesday. It’s slightly possible that Andy Hilbert will be able to return, but Constantine didn’t seem confident regarding that prognosis. There’s no timetable on Peter Zingoni’s return. Carson McMillan has two games remaining on his suspension.
But today’s roster listed Barry Brust with the defensemen and forwards, and not the goalies. So maybe Constantine can use him to help out. Of course, Brust is in Florida with the Everblades at the moment, so that might be kind of hard to pull off.
To help handle the injuries, the Aeros brought up left win Trent Campbell from South Carolina of the ECHL. He earlier played for the AHL Worcester Sharks this season. And they also brought up defenseman Ross Rouleau from Texas of the CHL.
Less than 20 minutes after watching his team dispatch of the Rockford IceHogs, Kevin Constantine kind of hinted that either the IceHogs or the Aeros would make the playoffs ... probably not both.
To be sure, he did not say that directly, but when asked about the importance of taking the most points in this four-game mid-season series, he answered with this:
"Both teams have been dead even for about two weeks in the standings. Always hovering one, two, three, four games over five hundred. Somewhere in that range. They’re both good teams. They both might make the playoffs, but maybe only one of the two teams will make the playoffs of the two. So it’s kind of just a mini-playoff series."
Talking about the playoffs, at least that specifically, is usually not something a head coach will bring up in early January. He kind of left it open-ended, but I kind of laughed when I realized that he was thinking the same thing I was. The West division is as close now as it has been since the second week of the season. The Stars lost its lead on the division to Milwaukee last night and only nine points separate first place from last place. It is quite possible that all seven teams in the division finish with 40 wins; that means three decent hockey teams are going to be golfing at the end of 80 games.
The point of this post is to reiterate just how important this stretch of four games against Rockford is to both teams. The Aeros have the edge so far, getting the first two points, and they have the advantage tonight in regards to the schedule. The IceHogs will be playing their fourth in five today after Saturday's 2-1 loss against the Rampage.
Wade Dubielewicz won his eighth game in net Friday, and too, admitted that both teams were treating this stretch of games against Rockford with a little more intensity.
“That is what we are talking about, I guarantee you that is what they are taking about," said Dubielewicz. "Not that we expect it, but a four game sweep either way would be detrimental to either team. Tonight we got game one, and we are happy about that.
"That is the team that we are chasing, and now we are going to re-group, go out there Sunday and try to take Game 2. We’ll take a look at the tape of the game from (Friday) find the holes in our game and find a way to give a better 60-minute effort."
Ah, the full 60-minute effort. Something that has escaped this team for much of the year. They have shown the ability to blow two- and three-goal leads and they have stolen points when they didn't deserve them.
Matt Kassian, one of the best talkers on the team, was great Friday. He talked about his annual goal and he, too, mentioned this four-game mini series against the IceHogs.
"It really is just like a little playoff series, and you don’t even want to give them one point," said Kassian. "Every game is a like a four-point game, so if you can come out on top with three or four wins in this series, then it’s really going to help us out and get us into a good spot."
As for what happens in today's game, that remains to be seen. I expect the Aeros, knowing what's at stake by their own admission Friday, to come out and throttle the IceHogs while they are down.
Anything less, though, that a complete and cerebral effort, will be a disappointment. Rockford would love to take full advtange and even the four-game mini series.
I didn't so much feel like Matt was going to score tonight as I felt like Corey Crawford was going to have a shitty night. But I figured, I'll throw the prediction out because we might not see a goalie struggle like this for some time to come and what more likely time for Kassian to finally bend the twine?
Not sure why I knew Crawford was vulnerable, but boy did I nail that precognition. But I just had a feeling, watching him in warm-ups, that he wasn't all there, wasn't sharp. And whaddaya know, it was Toskala-esque the way every bad bounce went in on the guy. You could see it in his body language in the third period. He looked frustrated and I think he would have stopped the Kalus breakaway if the prior unlucky bounces hadn't gotten in his head a little bit.
Meanwhile, the exact opposite was happening to Dubielewicz at the other end. That was one of the luckiest goaltending performances I've ever seen. And I appreciated reading his comments after the game wherein he basically said as much, and acknowledged that the shot count was high like that because he was a rebound machine.
But I understand, that's just how it goes sometimes. Some nights every bounce goes against you and some nights, it's all posts and whiffs and good defense. I thought only the third goal, basically in garbage time, was a bad one for Dubie.
What else could the stick figure be tonight than big Matt Kassian finally getting his goal. I did not cry, however, but I did whack John in the arm. He gets that a lot. Sorry John.
Anyway, another fun game by the boys. Really nice to see these chances going in and it must be really gratifying for the work to be paying off on the scoresheet.
The Houston Aeros defeated the Rockford IceHogs 5-3 tonight before 4504 people inside of Toyota Center. This wasn’t just a normal hockey game. It wasn’t even a normal hockey game for the Houston Aeros. Any game that sees Matt Kassian score a goal can’t be called a normal game. But perhaps the most surreal thing about this game was just how dominating Rockford was through the first two periods.
The Aeros got the early lead at 10:57 of the first when Jamie Fraser scored a goal (his first of the season) on a shot that appeared to bounce off of two Rockford players before getting past IceHog goalie Corey Crawford. Rockford’s Jack Skille tied the game at 9:20 of the second when he got his stick on Brian Connelly’s shot at deflected the puck past Wade Dubielewicz for the score.
Rockford dominated the second period. They got off 21 shots, but were only able to get one goal. Yet it appeared that the Aeros were going to be lucky to leave the ice for the second intermission with the score tied 1-1. But at 17:34, Jean-Michel Daoust fired the puck toward the Rockford goal. The puck hit off of somebody -- there was a dispute as to who it hit - and was deflected past Crawford once again to make it 2-1 as the period ended.
And surviving that second period seemed to power the Aeros the rest of the way as they took control in the third.
“I think, as a group, it was a big step for us, that third period,” Dubielewicz said. “We came out and really took it to the next level.”
That next level included out-shooting Rockford and seeing Jon DiSalvatore knock in the rebound of a Cody Almond shot at 9:58 to make it 3-2, then saw Petr Kalus on a breakaway that brought back memories of Krys Kolanos to make it 4-2 at 12:00, then the moment that Aeros fans had been waiting for all year with Matt Kassian getting a goal on one of those strange shots that bounced over the back of Crawford then rolled into the net at 15:16 to make it 5-2.
Rockford got a goal with 37 seconds left to make it 5-3, but by then, there was just nothing they could do as the Aeros were just solidly in command.
The win moved the Aeros into a three-team tie for third place in the West Division. Texas (21-11-2-4) is on top with 48 points. Milwaukee (20-12-1-5) is in second with 46 points. Peoria (20-13-1-3), Houston (19-15-5-1) and Rockford (20-17-2-2) are all tied with 44 points. And when the Aeros next play, on Sunday afternoon, they will be facing the IceHogs again.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:
This was a night of firsts. Jamie Fraser got his first goal of the season with his first period goal. But the talk of the night, in the stands, the bench, and the locker room, was Matt Kassian getting his first goal of the season -- and his first since February 8, 2008 when he scored the final goal in a 6-3 win at Chicago.
“Guys were pretty jacked on the bench about that goal,” Kevin Constantine told us after the game. And Kassian was still jacked after the game.
“It was probably the prettiest goal of my life…or not,” Kassian said. “It helps the team out, and anytime you can chip in it’s good, and it’s a great feeling to kind of get that in there. And finally to have one go in when you have so many chances and so many bounces that just haven’t gone your way to kind of get a lucky one to get the first one -- it’s a pretty good feeling. I’m definitely happy about that.”
Constantine told us that this goal has been coming because he thinks that Kassian is on the best stretch of offensive-oriented hockey since he’s been with the team.
“I think over the last 10 games, if you looked at maybe eight games, he’s actually had a quite a few scoring chances over the last eight games,” Constantine said. “If you looked at any segment of eight games since he’s been here, I’d bet the last eight, he’s had the most, been part of the offense more than he ever has since he’s been here.”
******************* The second period was a tough one for the Aeros, and it was surviving the second that helped power the Aeros through the third. Wade Dubielewicz had his problems through the night -- he wasn’t exactly what one would call steady -- but he was able to hold Rockford to just one goal during that second period barrage.
“I had 20 shots, but I don’t know…at least eight or 10 of them were because I was kicking them straight back out,” he said. “As a goalie, it was just one of those nights where everything that hit me hit me really solid, and nothing stuck to me. But as a group, we were doing a good job of winning those battles 15 feet in front of the net. I made the first save and they were doing a good job of clearing that second puck out.”
One thing that Dubielewicz had to face in the second was a penalty kill shot by Jack Skille after a penalty by Nathan Smith.
“That guy made a good move, and he made a good play. I forced him to put it up high, and he put it up too high…” Dubielewicz said. “I didn’t get a piece of it. I forced him to go high at least, and he missed the spot. I got a little lucky there. I got a few breaks tonight, and you need some breaks to be good sometimes.”
Kassian said it was a matter of the Aeros holding together and not breaking during the barrage.
“They obviously came out in the second period with a lot more fire than we did. They definitely outplayed us in the second period. So really for us it was about a bend and don’t break….“ he said. “But we didn’t break. We did bend a little bit, but that’s okay, and we were able to kind of reset and refocus, and we know our second period wasn’t the best, and we knew that in the second intermission and we just all kind of came together and pulled it out like we needed to in the third.”
**************** Robbie Earl and Clayton Stoner are in Minnesota. The team brought Brandon Buck back up from Florida. Still, the one thing couldn’t afford was injuries. Which is probably why the team got hit by injuries to Jaime Sifers and Ryan Lannon during the game -- injuries which kept them from returning. Constantine had moved Brandon Rogers up to forward for the game, so he was luckily able to shift him back to the defenseman position.
We talked to Constantine about the injuries afterward, but he said he still didn’t know what their injuries were other than upper body injuries. He thought that Sifers had injured his shoulder -- ala Colt McCoy -- but he was told after that the game that it wasn’t the shoulder.
J.P. Testwuide was a healthy scratch, and Rogers can be moved back to defense, so the team can play with a full compliment of defensemen. But with the injuries to Andy Hilbert and Peter Zingoni and the suspension of Carson McMillan, the Aeros are not only short on forwards -- something they have been all season it seems -- but they’re actually short of a full squad of healthy players. So it should be interesting to see what happens on Saturday.
**************** I don’t know if it was discussed on the radio, but Barry Brust was not on tonight’s roster, so I can only assume that means that he’s on his way back to Florida. I’m sure that that’s something Heather and/or Andrew can discuss with a little more authority later.
**************** I thought tonight’s game was kind of surreal, what with a penalty shot and first goals by Fraser and Kassian. So continuing with my Beatles theme, I went looking for a kind of surreal song. Thus I give you “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”
Aeros forward Carson McMillan was suspended for his hit on Texas' Mathieu Tousignant in Wednesday's game. Tousignant was bloodied up pretty good by the Aeros' winger, but I am kind of surprised at a four-game suspension (I was guessing two).
But I can't say it didn't look bad, because it did. McMillan will miss the Aeros' four-game series against Rockford and will be eligible to return when the Aeros host Toronto on 1/16.
(Update @ 3 p.m. -- It appears that the Aeros have called up Brandon Buck from ECHL Florida. Whether or not this is directly related to the McMillan suspension, I don't know. The answer is "probably," but we'll find out tonight after the game at Toyota Center.)
Here is the release from the league:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 8, 2010
AHL ANNOUNCES SUSPENSION SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Houston Aeros right wing Carson McMillan has been suspended for four (4) games as a result of his actions in a game at Texas on Jan. 6.
McMillan was assessed a match penalty under AHL Rule 21.1 for attempt to injure an opponent.
McMillan will miss Houston’s games tonight (Jan. 8) and Jan. 10 vs. Rockford, and Jan. 13 and Jan. 15 at Rockford.
Per Andrew's post below, here's a status update on the team that I did for the mothership, with a little added extra discussion on the goalie situation.
The Red Wings' 2-1 win over the Kings last night featured a good win by a young goalie (Jimmy Howard) and it got me thinking about Josh Harding (pictured here stopping a shot by Bill Thomas) and his career with the Aeros and now the Minnesota Wild.
I know there are many of you that hate the Red Wings, so I am sure you are filled with delight to look at the standings and see them out the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
Howard, the young goalie that has stolen the Red Wings' starting job away from two-time Stanley Cup winner Chris Osgood. He was unbelievable Thursday night and he single-handedly stole two points away from the L.A. Kings.
Jimmy Howard is 6-3-1 in his last ten games with a 1.89 GAA and a .943 save percentage.
Jimmy Howard was never particularly great for the Grand Rapids Griffins, and he was definitely below average against the Aeros in five all time games. As a Wings fan myself, I never really saw him taking over for the Red Wings like he has. He played four years in the minors while the Red Wings were always trying to use duct tape in goal to get them to a Stanley Cup.
It appears that his time in the minors was well spent, as he has kept the Red Wings in the playoff hunt, despite that team having up to eight regulars out of the lineup this season. I kind of compare him to Harding (four years in the minors, etc.), except Howard's organization and a series of unfortunate circumstance, isn't directly responsible for ruining his career.
To be fair, Harding (who was a very good AHL goalie) has not made the most of his opportunities for the Wild ... But I don't think he's been allowed much of a groove to prove himself. Harding is a better goalie than his numbers indicate ... but when you don't play, you can't get better. And now it's kind of funny (ironic) that they can't trade him for a bag of pucks, and they sure as heck can't risk sending him down to get some playing time.
Back to Howard. Again, his performances against the Aeros looked more like Chris Beckford-Tseu than Kari Lehtonen.
His lifetime GAA against Houston is 3.67, and his saves percentage is .866. He won two games (2-1-1 and one no decision) against the Aeros, but one of them (Jan. 6, 2006 at Toyota Center) he allowed five goals and only got the win when the Aeros played their worst third period in the history of the franchise. They allowed five goals, blowing a four-goal lead.
Now to a question for our readers. Which of the three Aeros goalies do you think will be the next to get a start in the NHL? Dubielewicz has the most experience. Brusty had some time with the Kings a few years ago, and Anton, despite his recent implosion and nine-game losing streak, is still No. 3 on the depth chart.
Bad stat of the day: The Aeros have points in four straight games, but they have blown two-goals leads in three of them that went down as overtime losses. I cannot recall a time when the Aeros have blown three two-goal leads in a four-game span.
Good stat of the day: The Aeros have points in four straight games and nine of 12 overall to stay right in the thick of the playoffs race. The Aeros 40th game is tomorrow, and they have a favorable schedule this weekend against the IceHogs, who will have to play in San Antonio Saturday. The Aeros have just the two home games.
And to close this up, here is a video of an amazing goal by Derek Jeter, who now, apparently, plays for the New York Islanders:
The news is that Robbie Earl is on his way back to Minnesota, which means that Brandon Rogers might be on his way back to center. But that's not the truly interesting part. As Wild beat writer Michael Russo attempts to explain, Earl's playing for the Wild tonight could, or could not, depending on the conditions under which he plays, mean that he might, or might not, depending on the alignment of Venus and Mars, have to clear waivers to return to Houston.
The quotes that stood out to me after Sunday's 2-1 OT loss came from Kevin Constantine and Wade Dubielewicz. KC was asked about the injuries and he said it was the team's "low point of the year" in that regard. Lots of regulars out of the lineup, and it could be that way for the forseeable future.
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