Spurgeon Returns

Per NHL.com comes a note that the Wild have reassigned Jared Spurgeon to the Aeros as of today.

Welcome to the Spotlight

Here's my latest story in the Houston Press. Like I said below, the focus is on Matt Hackett, his request to play again yesterday despite having sucked on Saturday, and his development as a player. There's also a brief summary of the weekend.

So what are you waiting for, go read it already.

Give Me The Puck, Damn It

Okay, Matt Hackett didn't really say that to Mike Yeo on Sunday afternoon. We don't know really know what the two said. We just know what they told us they said. But what we know is this: Yeo was going to start Josh Tordjman today. He told Hackett a couple of hours before the game, when they were at Toyota Center. And Hackett asked to play instead. And Yeo said fine, go for it.

It could be argued that Yeo, no matter what, should have gone with Tordjman in this game with the San Antonio Rampage. There's some validity to that argument since Tordjman has a lot of AHL experience, so he probably offered up the better chance for the win. But Yeo was after something else. He wanted to see what his young goalie was capable of. Whether he had that fire.
I think we saw the answer, a 3-1 win that saw Hackett play an excellent game.

I didn't see Saturday's 4-0 disaster at San Antonio -- I was watching the NFL Playoffs, and from what I understand, is you tried AHL Live you couldn't see it either -- so I don't really know how bad the kid, or the team as a whole, looked. But they held their own against San Antonio today, and Hackett did a hell of a job against one of the best teams in the league.

So, here are the bullet points.

1. Yeo says it is not his practice to let a player dictate his lineup, and he's not going to make it a practice. But there are circumstances when you let Hackett do what he did. Today was one of them.

"It’s quite the story," Yeo said. "We’re a development league, right? But we’re also here to win hockey games. I was going to play Josh today, and after talking with Matt, he wanted it. Badly. He said, I’m ready for this. I want the game. This is something that I’ve talked to him about, and we’ve talked to him about. The next step for him is, he’s got to show that he wants that. That’s he the guy. That he’s the man, take the wheel. I want to see some fight."

[SNIP]

"If he wants it that bad, I’m going to see what you’ve got then. I’m going to give you that opportunity, and he responded the right way. I was pretty impressed."

2. For those wondering, things like this happened with Kevin Constantine, as well. I can remember talking to Constantine in his office after Nolan Schaefer or Barry Brust had had a bad game, or several bad games, and asking who would go at goal the next day, and he would say one guy, then come game time, out would skate the other guy. And KC would say after the game that they talked and he saw that they wanted to get back out there and set things right.

3. I know that there will be injuries, and people moving up and down from Minnesota. I know that different guys will join the team and depart, etc., but...

I really like the way the lines shape up right now. I think that Peters/Ortmeyer/Gillies line is doing a great job of getting things started with just the right sense of energy and urgency. And I'm also liking the Rau/Earl/Daoust line. Earl's been playing some really good hockey for several weeks, but Daoust has suddenly started to come life.

4. We talked to Daoust after the game, and he attributed part of his early season slump to bad luck: "I’ve been working hard, and all of that," he said. "The puck didn’t bounce for me since the beginning of the year."

But Daoust attributed his turnaround to something besides the puck finally bouncing the right way. Yeo's got him paired up with Rau, and Daoust likes the pairing. He said they were paired a lot last season and they work well together.

5. Was that really Max Noreau almost getting into a fight at the end of the first period? Seriously, I can't remember the last time I saw Noreau close to a fight. That's not a knock against Max, it's just not his game. The framing's a bit off, or I would post a photo of it, but the best part of the near fight was Max jawing it out with Nolan Yonkman who as just towering over him.

6. The Lake Erie goalie didn't hang out in his corner when I was down there on Friday. But Matt Climie was sitting in his corner on Sunday. He was supposed to be taking notes, as he had a clipboard and paper and pin, but the guy was having fun, talking to the guards and arena personnel. People were handing pucks for him to sign, and he was doing that. And there were these kids behind us shouting about how they wanted to see blood and kill them -- the standard hockey stuff -- and he was just laughing away.

Once again, while the results do matter, it's all just a game, and it's all about having fun.

7. One of the guards asked him when he was going to play in Houston again, and Climie reminded him that his last time out, he got raked over the coals by the Aeros, so he wasn't eager to repeat the experience.

8. I'm kind of sick of the Rampage. So I guess it's kind of nice that these two teams won't face each other again until mid-March.

9. I'll have a story in the Press sometime on Monday with a focus on Hackett. So please look for it. I'll try and post it, but I'm facing a possible root canal on Monday morning, so I might have other things to worry about.

1/9/11 -- Aeros v. Rampage -- Some Photos and Notes

I don't have a lot of time at the moment -- I've got real work stuff to handle -- so I'll try to throw up some quotes and notes later today. As it is, all that really needs to be known is that San Antonio got the 1-0 lead in the first, but Kris Fredheim tied it about 30 seconds later.

Jean-Michel Daoust got the game winner later in the third, and Colton Gillies got an empty-netter to seal the 3-1 win. Matt Hackett, after getting pulled early last night for allowing four goals, was solid tonight in the win.

The really interesting thing to note is that Hackett wasn't supposed to start tonight. Mike Yeo was going to start Josh Tordjman, but Hackett came to Yeo a couple of hours before the game and said that he really wanted to go tonight, so Yeo let him go. I think that worked out rather well.

The three stars were 3. Fredheim, 2. Hackett, and 1. Daoust.

Now for some photos.

There's nothing special, gamewise, about this photo with Carson McMillan in a face-off. I just like it.


This is Fredheim's goal in the first. If you click on the photo, you should be able to see the puck right at the top of Ortmeyer's stick and behind Montoya.

This is Daoust's game-winner.

Matt Kassian congratulates Hackett after a great game.

And the star of the game, Jean-Michel Daoust.

1/7/11 -- Aeros v. Lake Erie -- Rookie Shutout Edition

Well, was this a fun night of hockey, or what? The Aeros got the 3-0 win over the Lake Erie Monsters in what, to me, was their best game of this season. The Aeros dominated in every phase of this game, whether it was on offense -- they outshot Lake Erie 41-25, defense, goaltending, hitting, penalty kill, you name it.

So let's just take this in list form.

1. The game's number one star was rookie goalie Matt Hackett, who got the first shutout of his AHL career. He had really good vision tonight, and he seemed to see the puck no matter where it was at.

2. "It’s unbelievable," Hackett said of the game. "I didn’t know it was going to come, and the boys played great and kept the shots to the outside, and I saw everything. It’s exciting, and I had a couple of buddies in the stands, so it’s special."

Here's Hackett making a save in the first period.

3. Hackett attributed his play to the guys making great plays in front of him, but also for working with him in practice. He also noted that Bob Mason, the Wild goalie has been in town this week, and he's been giving Hackett some attention.

4. Mike Yeo thought this was the best game played by Hackett this season, and he agreed that Mason played an important role in that.

"It’s probably not a coincidence," Yeo said. "We’ve had a week off. He’s a young guy. The details of his game probably weren’t as big, and he’s been able to work on some things this week. We’ve had [Bob Mason] our goalie coach from Minnesota, has been here this week and been able to work with him. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s able to play like that."

5. The third star of the game was Jean-Michel Daoust who scored on a penalty shot in the first period. I've missed some games this year, but this was one of the few times this season that I've seen Daoust was that pest he specialized in playing last season.

For instance, Daoust was able to get his penalty shot because he was on a breakaway. He was on a breakaway because he was in the penalty box for boarding. He leaped out of the box as the penalty time expired and was in great position for the breakaway.

(If you'll click on this picture, you'll see that Daoust has this little, playful smile on his face, as he prepares to head to the box, almost as if this is all part of a grand plan.)

And here is Mr. Daoust on his approach for the penalty shot.

6. A big key to the game for Yeo, and as I discovered when checking my camera, for myself down low, was the play of Warren Peters and his line, featuring Peters, Jed Ortmeyer, and Colton Gillies. If there was hit being made, or if the goalie's view was being blocked, then it seemed to always be the doing of these guys.

Peters on a first period face-off.

And here is Mr. Peters getting in the way of Lake Erie's Jason Bacashihua.

7. I'm sorry that I don't have a photo of Chad Rau's goal in the second period. It was a thing of beauty. He got a great pass from Robbie Earl -- who seemed to be everywhere tonight (he was the number two star for his goal and assist) -- and then Rau just made a few moves with his stick and the puck and the goalie didn't stand a chance.

8. As Andrew mentioned below, and I noted on twitter, Anton Khudobin was not available for tonight's game as he was called up to Minnesota late in the day. Because of the timing, there was no way to get Josh Tordjman to Houston in time to back up Hackett. That's when the panic and the phone calls started. And by panic and phone calls, I mean panic and phone calls.

9. The Aeros eventually found a former college and pro goalie in town, David Weninger. Of course, Weninger hadn't played pro hockey since 2000.

10. Here's the story as told by Mike Yeo:

"Believe it or not, the call-up happened so quickly that we didn’t have a chance, and exhausted all other opportunities. I actually called my son’s coach, who, he played Division One hockey, and I knew that he played pretty decent men’s league hockey here in town, and I asked him, listen if all else fails I may need a goalie.

"He said, I know a guy who played college, and I believe he was drafted. He calls back and says it turns out you actually coached this guy. So I actually played with him briefly, and coached him [at Wilkes-Barre Scranton]. Needless to say, probably neither of us look the same as we did back then. He was great. He was cheering the guys on."

11. Tordjman will be available in San Antonio for Saturday's game, as well as the game in Houston on Sunday. After the game, Yeo was leaning toward starting Hackett on Saturday, and he noted that the thought had briefly crossed his mind of letting Hackett start on Sunday as well. But I have a feeling that that is all based on how things go tomorrow night.

12. With the win, the Aeros are 20-17-1-2 on the season (43 points). They're in sixth place in the West, two points behind fifth place Chicago and three points behind fourth place Texas.

13. And then there's this from the Aeros' crackerjack media staff. Daoust's penalty shot was 26th penalty shot in the AHL this season. But it was only the eighth one that was successful. It was also the second successful penalty shot of the night, as Michael Swift of Albany was successful on his penalty shot against Charlotte's Justin Pogge.

Aeros Defeat Lake Erie -- Some Photos

It takes some time for me to transcribe, so before I did that and wrote up a little game story, I thought I would post some photos from the game. I spent the first period down by the Lake Erie goal. And I hate that damn little hole they give the photogs to shoot through because if you're above three feet tall it's almost impossible to get a nice angle, so I found myself shooting the plastic a lot, which seems to dull the picture.

(Remember, I'm no Mr. Fred.)

Kassian comes on strong behind the net. I thought he had a strong, physical first period. He got banged up in the second, and though I saw him on the ice in the third, he appeared to be limping quite a bit after the game.

Colton Gillies was banging guys into the boards throughout the first period. This is just before one such play.

Jean-Michel Daoust skating past the goalie as his penalty shot goes into the net.

Matt Hackett talked after the game about having great vision all night and his guys keeping his view of the puck clear. I like the kind of mini-wall look of this photo. And when I was shooting, I thought I had it all leveled out when shooting down to the other end. I guess I've got to work on that.

Coach Yeo thought it was one of his team's better over-all games all year, but he didn't think they were at their best in the first, and he didn't think they started playing their best hockey until about midway through the second period.

View from the Pressbox - Hackett shines in stellar win

Oh boy if I had time to do the research! When was the last time you saw a penalty shot and an Aeros shutout in a game at Toyota Center. Oh, wait ... I don't have to do any research at all. The answer is never.

From start to finish, the Aeros were the better team tonight and Hackett kept the Aeros alive when they got into some penalty trouble in the first half of the game. JM Daoust was clutch with a big penalty shot, and Chad Rau scored a very pretty goal after taking a nice feed from Robbie Earl. Hard to complain about anything tonight, so I won't.

Yeo said that was the best he's seen Hackett, and that tonight's shutout was not exactly a coincidence. Wild goalie coach Bob Mason has been in town all week to work with the goalies, and the timing could not have been better. With Anton on the way up, and Josh Tordjman coming in, the Aeros are going to need Hackett to step things up a bit, at least short term.

My players of the game are Hackett, obviously, Robbie Earl, who again was tremendous ... and maybe the best overall line tonight was Peters, Ortmeyer and Gillies. Just tons and tons and tons of energy out of those three, and two of those guys teamed up with Earl on the power play goal.

John will have more later with comments from Yeo and Hackett, but for now, I hope you enjoy the picture of the post game congratulations for Hackett.

Aeros' most exciting finishes - Volume III

Up until now, we have talked about some honorable mentions and playoff games that were right up there with the most exciting finishes of all time.

This week, we have been looking at games in which the Aeros trailed late and pulled off your basic miracle to get one or two points. Now, we have arrived at the Top 5 games, in my opinion, of all time. These are home games, and today, we'll look at two of them.

I kind of lied Tuesday (due to circumstance beyond my control), so I am going to do three today and finish up with the last two tomorrow to get everyone ready for the rematch with Lake Erie. Your Aeros, by the way, are 0-2 this year against the Monsters.

The fifth most exciting comeback of all time: Aeros 3, Chicago Wolves 2

January 29, 2005 - Toyota Center

Down 2-0, won 3-2

This was a lockout year game, and the Aeros had probably their best collection of talent since the Calder Cup team. Brent Burns, Mikko Koivu, Josh Harding, Stephane Veilleux ... etc. Earlier in the year, Harding was knocked out with a concussion when he got run by Jeff Taffe, who currently plays for the Rockford IceHogs. This game featured Harding's first game back, and he quickly allowed goals on the first two shots he saw. After that, he was lights out and kept the Wolves off the board to stage the comeback. Christoph Brandner started things for the Aeros with less than a minute left in the second period, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard tied the game just 40 seconds into the third period. Those goals got the crowd of more than 9,500 people on its feet. Just when it looked like the Aeros were headed for overtime, Brent Burns took a pass from Bouchard and banked a shot off Kari Lehtonen from a sharp angle for the game winner. Harding stopped the last 17 shots he saw, and Burns' goal was an absolute beauty. The Aeros ended up playing the Wolves that year in the playoffs. After a split in the first two games in Rosemont, the Wolves came here and Lehtonen absolutely shut the door. The Wolves won the series in five games.

The fourth most exciting comeback of all time: Aeros 4, KC Blades 3

March 11, 2001 - Compaq Center

Ahead 3-1, down 4-3, won 5-4 in regulation

I remember this game VERY clearly. My then-girlfriend Dana (now my wife of eight years) was down from Milwaukee, getting to know me as a hockey fan. She had watched hockey in college, but was not overly convinced that this IHL stuff was really all that exciting. The small crowd looked really small in the Compaq Center, and I told her just to watch ... anything can happen. Well, the Aeros raced out to a 3-1 lead early in the third period on goals by Scott Hollis, Bobby Reynolds and Shawn Carter. Looked like the game was clearly in hand, until the Blades got three straight goals by Josh Holden, Greg Hawgood and Steve Kariya to take a 4-3 lead. Time was winding down and it the result looked clear until Greg Pankewicz by accident (he was trying to pass to Reynolds, when the shot rolled off his stick and went five-hole) tied the game with 2:34 to go, setting up a wonderful finish. With 29.7 ticks left, Brett Harkins, who for several years tortured the Aeros as a member of the Cleveland Lumberjacks, snapped a shot by Corey Schwab for the game-winner.

The third most exciting comeback of all time: Aeros 4, Milwaukee Admirals 3 (SO)

March 12, 1999 - Compaq Center

Down 3-1, won 4-3 (SO)

I have to start this one with a confession. Of all the games on the list this week, this is the only one where I literally got up and left only to come back for the shootout. The star player in this game, David Oliver, literally scored two goals while I was walking up the stairs and then in the concourse. In this game, the beloved Cam Stewart put the Aeros ahead 1-0 early in the first period, and that was all Kay Whitmore would allow until Oliver took over. The Admirals tied the game on a goal by Richard Lintner on a play that was set up (by a different) Petr Sykora. With about two minutes left in the game, Oliver was denied on a clear breakaway and had a real good chance to put the rebound in the net. That is when I got up and left (hey, I had a hot date or something!) I heard the fans scream when Oliver made it 3-2 at 18:15. As I worked my way over to the escalator, the crowd went nuts again when Oliver tied it with just 29.7 seconds left in the game. I did not go back to my seats. I went to the closest seats and watched Oliver and Jeff Christian score in the shootout. Manny Fernandez stopped four of the five shots he saw in the tie-breaker and recorded the win.

Ortmeyer Officially Assigned to Houston

For those of you wondering, Jed Ortmeyer officially cleared waivers and was signed to a contract by the Minnesota Wild. The Wild, in turn, assigned him to the Aeros.

A Slight Disgression From Hockey

I hope you'll excuse this digression, but...as most of you are aware, I cover other sports. And as most of you are probably aware, my first love is baseball. Today was the day the Baseball Hall of Fame selections were announced, and my all-time favorite Houston Astro, Jeff Bagwell, was on the ballot for the first time.

In my humble opinion, Bagwell is the great player to have ever won the Astros uniform. Better than Craig Biggio. Better than Nolan Ryan. Better than Joe Morgan, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Cesar Cedeno, etc. And his numbers are those of a Hall of Famer -- trust me, do the research and you'll discover he's up there with Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Fox, and Albert Pujols. So he should be an easy vote. And lots of great baseball writers, and members of the Hall of Fame voting group, like Peter Gammons, agree.

But there's this very loud group who feels, though they can't prove it and have no real reason for thinking it, that Jeff Bagwell used steroids, and is thus unworthy of a vote. So today, in the mothership, I went after the logic being applied by these people to Bagwell.

And while Bagwell didn't make the Hall of Fame, my piece went national and here, you can read about it being discussed in the same breath as the writing of some nationally respected writers with the New York Times and U.S.A. Today.

So excuse the baseball digression. I just wanted to share some of my writing, and show off that I do, indeed, have a serious side. I hope you'll read it.

Now back to the hockey