More With Jon DiSalvatore

As promised on Tuesday, I have some more stuff from my interview with Jon DiSalvatore which I didn't use. So, for Thanksgiving, I'm sharing here.

The hockey season is a long one. Games start at the first of October, and if you're in the playoffs, you can go into June. Then there are camps and practices starting in August and September. You're constantly having to train and workout, and at some point, you've got to find a way to mentally unwind from the season just past. Especially if that season ended in a Game Six loss of the Calder Cup Finals on your home ice.

And according to DiSalvatore, he's still feeling the bumps and bruises of last season, both physical and mental: "Even now though, we’re still feeling some of the aches and pains from playoffs. We’re trying to overcome some of that as we get going here. You never actually forget it because you’re body’s telling you that you were there just a few months ago. It’s definitely a feeling that I would love to repeat with this group of guys. It’s all here, but we have a ways to go yet."

As much as last year meant, DiSalvatore knows that it's not a thing that can be repeated because there's just no way to repeat the chemistry that team had. It was special. Not that this team doesn't have chemistry, or won't get the chemistry.

"Obviously we have a large core group of guys who have come back," he says. "There’s a tremendous amount of buy-in from a large number of guys we have back here already. The coaching staff is bringing the same feel, with some new energy. They’ve been great. They’re winners as well. They’ve been very successful as coaches before. They’re bringing the same kind of emotion and attitude towards what we’re trying to achieve. Now it’s just a matter of us all jelling. Again, it’s got to be a new foundation. We try to keep those same principles, we’re a hard-working, character team. We want to have teams in their own zone.

"We need to build that identity. Even though we have a lot of guys that still want to do it, when you have a few guys who have never played that way before, it takes some time for that all to jell. Yeah, we’re off to a good start, but there’s still a lot that our team needs to do to become that team that can go the distance in the playoffs."

There's also the matter of DiSalvatore being on his third coach in three years as an Aero. I specifically asked about the adjustment from Mike Yeo to John Torchetti, because being around the team last year, it was obvious how much Yeo fought for his guys and how much those guys for fought him.

"Of course they’re different," he told me. "They’re two different human beings. But they’re both great. There’s a really good feeling. Torch brings a really good attitude, really positive – not that Yeosie was ever negative, Yeosie was tremendously positive. They both have a really good – we call them player’s coaches. They both have a really good pulse on the team, they know how to relate to their players. They care about their players. And that’s what this coaching staff is bringing to this team, and that’s what the guys last year brought to the group we had last year. It’s the same, but it’s different in the sense that it’s good because they’re bringing the right kind of approach to the team that we need to be a winning team."

And here's the point that surprised me the most. The AHL made a big deal about reducing the season to 74 76 games from 80 games. It would cut travel costs. It would mean no more four games in five nights. It would be better for the players and mean much fewer midweek games. But so far, early in the season, DiSalvatore doesn't exactly like the new scheduling format. He thinks it might work, but right now, not so much.

"You can look at that schedule and see where it’s a little bit different," he says. "You get rid of the four-in-fives, but you have a lot of three-in-threes. You end up having to get on planes a little bit more actually because you can’t go up and bang out four teams up in the Chicago-area like maybe we did in the past. Maybe it’s a little more rest and practice – there’s going to be pros-and-cons to it, but we’ll just see how it plays out at the end.

"Houston always seems to start out with a lot of games early, and we’ve gone three-in-three, three-in-three, and that’s fine, so right now I can’t really tell you that there’s all that much difference."

That's it. Happy Thanksgiving everybody, and I hope to see you all the game versus the Texas Stars tomorrow night.

Jon DiSalvatore: The Heart of the Aeros

The Aeros media gurus asked us at T3I to assist them this year with providing material to the AHL.com "On The Beat" feature. And I was tasked with the first story. So...here's the link to the just posted story on Jon DiSalvatore, the captain of the Aeros. I hope you'll go over and give it a read.

And just a note, I got a lot of material from DiSalvatore that I didn't use in the story (and they didn't use my favorite photo) including his thoughts on the new scheduling, so I'll try to throw those up on your favorite website on Thursday as kind of a Thanksgiving stuffer.

Aeros Lose 1-0 To Heat In The Shootout

Both Houston and Abbotsford were playing the third game of a three-in-three weekend tonight. It didn't show early on though late in the game it really looked as if some f the Aeros were really dragging on the ice.

But neither team could score as both goalies, Matt Hackett for Houston and Leland Irving for Abbotsford pitched shutouts through 65 minutes. Hackett was able to stop three of the four shootout shots he saw, but the fourth one, from Dustin Sylvester got past him, and none of the Aeros could get any of their shots -- some of them being really weak attempts -- could get past Irving.

"Shootouts, right now they're affecting us a little bit," head coach John Torchetti said after the game. "We're not productive on it. We'll address and keep working on it. We can't hide it down in the basement because it's costing us points right now. We have to understand that and keep working on it."

They constantly had what appeared to be some excellent scoring chances on Irving throughout the night, but they just couldn't shove the puck past him. Torchetti wasn't as thrilled with that part of their game, saying that though there were some good shots, they didn't do a good enough of job of creating good rebound opportunities.

Torchetti also wasn't pleased with the power play's work tonight, but then again, this is the Aeros, and problems with the power play seem to be part of the Aeros DNA.

The Aeros were able to get four of a possible six points this weekend, getting points in each game. But it seems kind of hollow in that the Aeros could've won all three games, or so it seems.

And is it just me, or is there a bit of deja vu with these shootout/overtime problems. It seems like the Aeros suffer through this every season.

After tonight, the Aeros are tied points-wise with Oklahoma City for second place in the AHL West Division, and they have the third most points of any team in the AHL, with a record of 10-3-1-4 (25 points). They're off until Friday when they host the Texas Stars at Toyota Center at 7:35.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTE:

Krys Kolanos did not play for the Heat tonight, though he was in the building. We're not sure if there's an injury issue, but I do remember hearing earlier this season that the Heat were trying to be careful with how they use him because he's been recovering from an injury that nearly kept him out for two seasons.

Pictures from the weekend

Pictures! Courtesy of Chris "Midwest" Jerina. Ahhhh, so nice to have photos again! You can see his favorite shots from around the AHL at http://ahlinphotos.com.

DiSalvatore/Penner/Bachman/whoever score on a rebound off the boards behind the net.

Helluva shot of Hackett making that sick save Friday night. Wow.

Kassian wails on Godard

Rau rips a beauty past Bachman

Kass and Wathier jaw at each other on the bench. Funny.

Taffe puts one through Bachman Friday night

Stars get their shorthanded goal and the teddy bears rain down.

Wellman picks a corner over Bachman's blocker side

Thanks again, Chris! Was fun having you here this weekend! (Donkey!)

Roadtrip Recap: A nifty win at the CPC

I don't do a lot of road trips with the Aeros, but boy did I choose a good one. With Chris Jerina in town, we made the trek to Cedar Park and even though I have bags you could run away from home with under my eyes today, it was well worth it.

The early goal by McMillan was a little fluky and when the Stars answered with that shorthanded goal and the Aeros started to look a little rattled, I thought, "Uh oh."

But just a few nice plays by your teammates can calm a team down and boost the confidence, and the Aeros got that from Jed Ortmeyer and Dennis Endras. Ortmeyer set up some beautiful chances on goal and was just completely clutch. And Endras made huge save after save at really critical times that could have put the Stars up 2-1 very easily.

But by the end of the period, the Aeros had settled into a nice rhythm. The Stars led for shots, but the Aeros led for goals and from there, it was the kind of hockey we all saw in through the playoffs last year. Just wave after wave of badassery.

And by the third period, Stars goalie Bachman was on the bench and Beskorowany was in, but never looked comfortable. Understandably so, too.

I like how this team looks going into today's game, and even as ugly as that last game against Abbotsford was, Coach Torchetti feels the same. Even though I felt the Aeros were on their heels from the word go in that game, he felt like without the penalties, that game would have looked very different.

And while there were a couple of penalties he didn't like last night in Texas, he felt better about the team's discipline.

"Everything we discussed last night, we did a lot better tonight," Torchetti said. "We wanted to be hard to play against and I think we did that tonight."

I thought it was interesting that he had Endras play the middle game of the 3 in 3 rather than sticking him with the stinky third game like the back-up usually gets saddled with.

Whether it was to yank Hackett's chain a little after Friday's Jeckyll and Hyde performance or to reward Endras for his good play that's so far gone unrewarded by the Aeros playing poorly in front of him, I couldn't get Torchetti to say. But he did have high praise for his tenders.

"You know what, our goaltending, they're both hardworking guys. Endras has worked hard in practice... for someone to sit there for almost a week and not play, that's a great performance by him. He's a really hard worker, and his teammates know that and they want to play hard for him."

I asked him if he thought Endras stole the game at times. If the Aeros hadn't been able to rack up 5 goals, Endras' performance was unquestionably star-worthy. In fact, the one goal against was on that breakaway and he had to sprawl so thoroughly to make that save, there was no way he could have gotten back for the rebound. His defense needed to be a little sharper there and clear that out or play a little goalie themselves.

"Again, that's his work ethic in practice. He's willing to take shots after, and... that's our goaltending! Our goaltending, it's frustrates our team because it's tough to score in practice. So, that's what makes you better. I've been on a lot of teams with some good goalies and it makes your players want to work harder to try and score goals."

That's all! I'll throw up some of Jerina's pics and then see you all this afternoon.

Aeros rip Stars, bus home to face Abbotsford Sunday

Dammit! I said the Aeros were going to win 5-3 tonight. Well, that certainly wasn't the case and Dennis Endras kept the Stars out of the net most of the night en route to a decisive Aeros win at Cedar Park Center.

While I did not see much of the game, it sounds like after than nasty shorthanded goal by Vincour, they really dominated the game.

A 5-1 win just one night after lollygagging through a 3-2 OT loss sure does make one at least a bit more hopeful against the red-hot Heat. They, by the way, destroyed OKC Saturday night.

Mike Lundin did not make the trip, but I guess could play Sunday against the Heat. So that makes he and Matt Hackett really rested for the big game today. Both teams will be playing its third game in three days, and this is the biggest game of the season so far for both teams.

Wellman, Penner and Rau each with a goal and an assist, and DiSalvatore just chipped in with two more points against the Stars. He just murders that team ... I know there is a note out there about how many points he has against the Stars, but I just can't think of it right now.

(Really, REALLY long day so far)

The Aeros were only shorthanded four times, and did not allow a power play goal against the league's top PP. They did, however, give up another shorthander. That, to me, is the only bad blemish on what otherwise was a real solid night.

Oh and can you really believe that the Wild, at this very moment, are the top team in the NHL? Guess what? I can ... I believe in Mike Yeo and what he is doing. I am sure they won't be the No. 1 seed come April, but he is going to get every last ounce out of the players he has.

We've all seen that first hand, huh?

Aeros Lose to Stars 3-2 in OT

So that was disappointing. Not just the Aeros losing 3-2 to the Stars in OT, but the way the Aeros played the game. It was like, at times, they were skating in mud, playing sluggish and just a bit slow and out of synch.

The only reason the Aeros weren't blown out tonight was the play of Matt Hackett who stopped 32 of 35 shots, including one incredible stop late in the second period that had the crowd on their feet shouting "Hackett, Hackett, Hackett!"

The Aeros tied the game at :50 into the second on a pretty shot by Chad Rau, and Jeff Taffe gave them the lead at :34 into the third period. But that was about it on the offensive zone.

The thing that killed the Aeros the most tonight was the same thing that's been killing them all season. Stupid play. Stupid penalties. Stupidity. Head coach John Torchetti is getting tired of it, and he's searching for solutions to the problem.

"I don’t know how to spell discipline anymore," he said after the game. "You try to explain it so many times with this team. But we don’t want to listen to it. I don’t know anything except we’re averaging six penalties a night still.

"I’ve tried everything. I’m going to have to start sitting guys out for the first penalty they take. Discipline. They’re taking penalties that aren’t even near the net. Taking penalties two hundred feet from the net. You’re not going to win hockey games. You won’t last in the playoffs." (emphasis mine)

Still the Aeros are 9-3-1-3 on the season, so that's a plus. Jon DiSalvatore was able to play, and Casey Wellman made it back from Minnesota to get in the lineup, too.

The Aeros play the Stars again tomorrow night before facing Troy Ward, Luke Strand, Krys Kolanos, and the Abbotsford Heat at the Toyota Center on Sunday at 5:00.

Game Day Update

The Texas Stars will get on the bus bound for Toyota Center here shortly...In the meantime, there is some Aeros news to report. The Wild did assign Casey Wellman back to the Aeros. Not sure if this is a virtual assignment or a real one, but I am guessing it's the latter since they had to do that in order to get Mike Lundin off injured reserve.

Speaking of which, Russo's blog in MSP reported that Lundin has accepted a rehab assignment and will play for the Aeros this weekend. He'll probably play both home games ... no chance he'll do the three in three this weekend. The revolving hospital door up north keeps on spinning though. Just to make Aeros fans nervous, Jared Spurgeon and Dany Heatley did not practice for the Wild today. Both could be injured, just taking a day off or sick. Who knows at this point?

Also, if I were a bettin' man, I'd lay down a few bones that Jon DiSalvatore will be good enough to go tonight against Texas. The Aeros need him right now, especially against a Stars team that allows a ton of goals per game.

Update! Here is a link to a preview of the game from Stars' perspective....

Oh, and one housekeeping note here. We love all your comments, and we don't like to censor. We love compliments and criticism both equally. How can you get better if no one disagrees with you and dialogue dries up? But ... we are not going to publish comments when we are called names. If you call us a name and tell us WHY you are calling us a name. Well, we'd be more than happy to print that. But if you just call us a name, that is not going to fly.

Our readers want entertainment, and insults without explanation are not entertaining.

Home and Home with Texas weekend

One of the reasons we started and maintain this excellent blog is to inform, opine and manage your expectations. We want you to know what your team is doing, how we feel they're going about it and what you can expect week in and week out.

So, with that, pretty much the best you can hope for this weekend is probably three of a possible six points against the Texas Stars and Abbotsford Heat.

The Aeros are going to play first a team with arguably the worst defense/goaltending in the league followed by the team with the best goalie (Leland Irving) and hottest player in the league right now (Krys Kolanos). A three-point weekend without Warren Peters, Nate Prosser, Kris Fredheim and Casey Wellman, in my opinion, would be just gravy. And there is a fair chance that Jon DiSalvatore won't play with a lower body injury. He is a game-time decision for Friday, and I doubt, either way, he makes the trip to Cedar Park on Saturday.

Two weeks ago, the Aeros were the best (statistically) team in the AHL. They fell back a bit after two bad, bad home losses to Toronto and Abbotsford. Maybe they should outlaw the singing of "Oh, Canada" before the games, but health certainly would help at this time.

Proposed new logo for Minnesota Wild

The Wild keep getting concussed and some of their key players are being outplayed by Aeros call-ups. I am not overly confident that the Aeros will get back the roster they had when they were off to that great start. We'll have to see how things shake out.

If there is any good news out there, it's the schedule. There are six games left this month and five of them are against two defensively-challenged teams. In the one "tough" game against Abbotsford, the Aeros have home ice and have a better 3-in-3 schedule to deal with (less travel).

Torchetti sounded like he was ready to go off on a few guys after the game last week. And that was BEFORE he lost Wellman and Fredheim. He basically said selfish play and the lack of team defense was starting to be an issue. I think the goaltending has lacked as well, but they are certainly not the reason for all the turnovers and odd-mans coming AT them.

Players are human, though. They see the revolving hospital doors just outside the Xcel Energy Center and opportunities present themselves. Now, with four key players on recall to the NHL and several other players in still in Houston who did not get the call, it will be more interesting to see how the team responds.

First, your coach says you're not playing good defense.
Then two other players get called up ahead of you...
How do you respond to that ego check?

I guess we'll see Friday night at Toyota Center.

WARNING! Meaningless predictions to follow

Friday - @Aeros 1, Stars 4
Saturday - Aeros 5, @Stars 3
Sunday - Heat 3, @Aeros 2 (OT)
Three of a possible six points

Wellman Back To Wild

That was quick...Casey Wellman re-recalled to the Minnesota Wild where he joins Warren Peters, Nate Prosser, and Kris Fredheim. And with the way the Wild players are getting injured, I think we should send some bubble wrap to Minnesota on the plane with Wellman to give the players more protection.