View from the Press Box - Texas 3, Aeros 2

I thought the Aeros were going to send this one to overtime. They created, they buzzed, and they even worked a few passes up to the point.

But Tyler Beskorowany played a tremendous period and hockey game, sending the Aeros to back-to-back regulation losses for just the second time this season.

I thought the Aeros were OK in the first, and even though the shots favored the Stars, the Aeros won that period. Different story in the second.

Three huge, egregious mistakes cost the Aeros any chance of winning the middle frame. Cody Almond scored a pretty short-handed goal to give the Aeros their second lead of the game, but the last four minutes of the period were so horrific that ... that ... well, I will let Torchetti tell you how it went.

"We gave up one goal (the first one) behind the net; we had the puck twice right there. On the second goal, we were in the neutral zone, we went for a home run play,which we never do. Then on the third one, it's another neutral zone play, we needed to pull up there, but we didn't, and that made it a 3-on-2 off the shot and we lost our coverage. Just details, and it cost us two points tonight."

That pretty much sums it up right there.

Another point I would like to make is that the Aeros just keep playing worse the longer this injury saga lasts with the mother team.

Torchetti will not use that as an excuse; he just says that the players getting those minutes need to play better mentally. Well, they don't, and it gets to the point where Torchetti says, "OK, no more free ice."

I guess we'll see come Monday, but who can you afford to sit when Taffe, Wellman, Peters, Ortmeyer and Palmer are all more than 1,000 miles away?

Cody Almond's Shortie In Photos

The Aeros may have lost 3-2 tonight, but Cody Almond got them a short 2-1 lead at 16:06 of the second period on a sick short-handed goal. And as luck has it -- trust me, it was luck -- I have the photos of the goal.

I've got to go now, they're trying to pull the Toyota Center wi-fi on us, so look for more Bikini Contest photos later, and Heather should be writing a story on the game which will be posted later, as well.

Part One Of The Bikini Contest

Yes, tonight was the Miss Aeros Bikini Night Contest. And here are the photos from the first round of the contest. As Heather mentioned on Twitter, there was a "wardrobe malfunction" and I did get a photo of it. But I'm a gentlemen and I won't post it, despite the urging of Heather.

FYI: Check out the third photo and see if you can figure out what Chilly's looking at.

I'll post the photos of the winner, and of Cody Almond's sick second period short-handed goal later tonight.

Rampage goalie gets down en route to 4-2 win

I know many of you do not have Twitter, so I am going to share this on our blog. The AHL is full of great characters, and we have several good ones on the Aeros (Matt Kassian, for example) ... But Jacob Markstrom  might be an instant celebrity thanks to this video from San Antonio's 4-2 win over Texas on Sunday.

Watch, enjoy and be sure to give him the business on 12/26 when the Rampage visit next Monday.

Aeros Do The Patriotic Things And Lose To The Americans

The Aeros saw an awful lot of this tonight, Matt Hackett, back turned to the bench, with the Americans celebrating a goal.

The good news tonight:  the Aeros didn't lose another game in the shutout.  

The bad news:  the Aeros lost 6-3 to the Rochester Americans, the team with the worst road record in the AHL.  And if not for a burst of scoring in the first five minutes of the third period, the score would have been much, much worse.

There's not much positive to say about this game.  Matt Hackett surrendered five goals on just 18 shots, including two first period goals while facing just six shots.  The problem wasn't entirely Hackett's as his defense was, for most of his two periods in the game, non-existent.  

More than anything, this game seemed to indicate, though not stated by John Torchetti afterwards, that the rash of injuries in Minnesota, which in turn is taking Aero after Aero away from Houston, is really just messing with the team.  Jed Ortmeyer and Chad Rau are the latest guys to catch a flight up to the big club -- this time, I believe, they had to fly to Vancouver to meet up with Mike Yeo and the guys.  Cody Almond came back down, and Aaron Lee was brought in from Rio Grande Valley to fill out the roster.

But just because there are guys injured in Minnesota doesn't mean that the Aeros should just be expecting to get free minutes on the ice because nobody else on the team is available -- every healthy player suited up and played for the Aeros tonight.  Torchetti made it clear that he's not happy with some of the things he saw on ice, and he was clear that there will be some roster changes forthcoming.

"You're getting free ice," Torchetti said.  "And some guys need to get some nights off.  That's going to be the bottom line after this next game.  It doesn't matter how many guys are called up.  We'll call up some guys from the other leagues that want to play hockey every night.  Some of these guys are getting free ice."

The Aeros did score first, taking the early 1-0 lead, but less than a minute later, the Americans tied it up.  Then Rochester scored just before the end of the first period to make it 2-1.  They scored 46 seconds into the second period, then made it 4-1 eight minutes later.  And by the time the Aeros skated out for the third period, with Darcy Kuemper taking over goalie duties with the Aeros down 5-1, it really just didn't matter.

Sure the Aeros showed some life in the third and made it look halfway respectable, but in the end, respectable doesn't cut it.  

The Aeros return to action on Wednesday night when they host the Texas Stars at 7:05.  And for the interested, Wednesday night is also the Miss Aeros Bikini Contest, so come out for that if not for the hockey.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

That was the Aeros first regulation loss since losing in Toronto on December 3rd.  And it was their first regulation loss at Toyota Center since losing to Abbotsford 5-3 on November 10.  The loss also breaks a six game streak of earning a point.

With the loss the Aeros dropped into second place with a record of 16-5-2-7 (41 points).  The Barons grabbed a point in their shootout loss to Charlotte, so they're now 20-7-0-2 (42 points).

Facing A Face-Off

So kids, have you ever wondered what's it like to be part of a face-off? Well, since the Aeros are losing 3-1 midway through the second to the Rochester Americans, and since there doesn't really appear to be much worth talking about in the game, here's a few photos from the first period of Carson McMillan taking a face-off.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One

The Aeros made it to the shootout tonight. Again. They lost in the shootout. Again. Final score 3-2 with the Barons getting the two points. The Aeros are tied for first (points wise) with the Barons, both having 41 points, though the Barons get first place because of a better winning percentage.

Aeros are 0-7 in the shootout this season. The record for consecutive shootout losses, courtesy of the AHL, is 0-8 by the 2008-09 Iowa Chops who finished the season 1-10 in the shootout for the season.

The Aeros return to Toyota Center to take on the Rochester Americans at 5:05.

Post Win Glow and Quotes

Ahhh.... everything is better in life when your team plays well and gets a decisive victory over a rival like the Stars. Your problems are a little smaller, your hair looks a little better, you feel a little smarter. It's been a tough week at Casa Conduct, so I appreciated this game tonight more than I expected to.

Mainly because I really thought the Aeros were in trouble this weekend. Luckily, they benefited from a week of practice time together and a little bit of rest and healing up and they were more cohesive than I can remember them being in a while. It helped that the Stars played into their hands and let the Aeros dictate the pace (except for those 12 minutes in the second that Andrew mentioned where the Aeros DIDN'T dictate the pace).

And how nice to see Ortmeyer back. Can we sign him to a "until you retire" deal? I think Torchetti would agree; as Andrew mentioned, he said a lot of really nice things about Orts and DiSalvatore after the game that I'll share a little later.

And Hackett... boy was he a confident one tonight. Entertaining to watch him be so loose. Reminds me of the couple of games after Khudobin was traded. Just had this extra kick in his game that's both sexy and terrifying. Shades of Brusty. That's pure compliment.

Didn't love Medvec's misplaced, post-whistle chippiness as he played forward, but thankfully the ref was calling almost nothing tonight (bless you!), so it didn't come back to bite him. Careful...

How freaking sick was that Rau goal?! Nasty nasty nasty. He deked 3 defenders and the goalie practically to Pasadena on that thing. It was a master class in absolutely taking over a moment in a game and just shoving it right up their noses.

And then Kassian with a laser right over Besko's blocker side. Nice shot, and no reaction from Besko to stick an elbow up or something. Guess he though Kass couldn't aim. Wrong-orowany, big guy.

Finally, yay for all the teddy bear tossing fans. Damn, that's so much fun. I pleaded with the ice crew to just leave the bears and let them pile up for a bit so we could enjoy the spectacle but I didn't win that argument. I guess the game has to go on. Fiiiine.

Before I forget, Wednesday's game is the Bikini/Miss Aeros/Whatever game, so if you're into that sort of thing, come see the tall blonde one win, like the tall blonde one always does. My favorite part is the always insightful interview portion of the evening.

"What do you like best about Houston Aeros hockey?"

"ALL THESE AWESOME FANS!!!! WOOO!!!!"

Oy.

Anyway, here are those quotes I promised from the always wonderful Coach Torchetti.

On Matt Kassian's goal streak:

"He's got to understand that he's got to be able to play. I mean, tough guys have to play in the NHL; they just can't play 3 minutes or 2 minutes. They have to be effective on the walls, they have to forecheck, they have to chip pucks deep, and that's what we're trying to get him to understand now. It's time for him to really be a 2-way player and be a tough guy, too... He's playing a lot of minutes, and he deserves it because he's working his butt off."


On Jed Ortmeyer:

"He's everything that a Houston Aero is. Character, he's a leader, he's physical. He does every little job possible and never says a word. Low maintenance, high character and just a great player to teach. And that's what he brings every night and that's what all these young guys should learn to be like, just like him."


On Jon DiSalvatore and his lack of scoring, but still playing as well as ever (after trying to figure out who "Jon" was that Andrew was asking about. "I don't know him as Jon, I know him as Sal"):


"Sal is what Orts is but he's got a C on his shirt. He's not worried about points. He knows that we need him to be a real strong defensive player, and he plays the system to a T, and that's all you can ask of your captain.


I know I probably take away points because I want him to play more defensively and, he doesn't have to worry about points. We know what he does on and off the ice. He's unbelievable in the locker room, and he keeps that locker room real straight.

And he keeps everybody understanding that, you know what, it's a privilege to play here. You don't just show up and win a hockey game. You have to play hard every night. We're trying to build our team towards the playoffs. So we want to play that type of hockey every night. That's the commitment that we get and you can tell it's because of our leaders."


That's it folks. The boys are leaving bright and early for OKC tomorrow, then back to Houston for Sunday afternoon's game vs. Rochester. Haven't seen those guys much, so it will be fun to get a gander at the Amerks.

View from the Press Box - Aeros 4, Texas 1

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later, but the Aeros finally beat the Texas Stars at home. Save for a bad 12 minute stretch in the second period, the Aeros controlled the game and probably could have scored two or three more goals. What stood out to me tonight was Jed Ortmeyer in his first game after missing six. He played well and helped set up Genoway's Teddy Bear goal. I thought Jeff Taffe recovered from a pedestrian first period. I really hope he turns things up a notch in the next few weeks. Broda's one-timer goal to make it 3-0 was a beaut, and you have to give credit to Justin Fontaine for threading the needle with that pass. The Texas defense has to knock that out of the way, but I am not going to lie ... I am glad they didn't. Hackett was one bad bounce from getting a shutout in his first game back. That goal by Fraser, I thought he had all the way. Just wasn't meant to be ... he seemed a little overly confident, but I guess he very well should be after his showing in the NHL last week. Glad to see him playing well (again) ... Things that won't show up on the scoresheet are all the shots Jon DiSalvatore and Ortmeyer blocked tonight. Jon was as solid defensively as I can remember, and he has really played above and beyond where he was last season. Sure, the points aren't there right now, but right now, Torchetti is asking him to play more defense, and he is doing that. Torchetti has some real nice quotes about he and Ortmeyer, and I hope Heather shares those with you on here later. In closing, I have to say the Aeros are real interesting this year. With all that is going on, it is so hard to beleive that for the next day or so, they will be the top team in the AHL. And if they can somehow figure out how to beat OKC tomorrow, they could stay that way for a bit. Oh, and to whoever hit me with the teddy bear tonight after Genoway's goal ... thank you. I am going to keep it tonight, and take it home to my two-year old. She will give it to someone who really needs it this holiday season. I tried to take one of hers and bring it to the game, but Ellie would not let me. She could not decide which of her "friends" to part with. It sure was fun having that conversation before I left.

Goalie of the Week

As you know, Darcy Kuemper was named the AHL Goalie of the Week for last week, after going 2-0-0-2. So here he is tonight, with Aeros president David Burke, being presented with his award. Congrats, Darcy.