Aeros Camp Roster Moves

The Aeros roster is loaded. Loaded with guys who are just here for camp. Loaded with guys who'd normally be on the roster once the season started. Loaded with guys waiting for the lockout to end. That means there are too many guys in camp, and when there are too many guys in camp, people get cut, so...

So...assigned to Orlando (ECHL)...

D Kyle Medvec
F. Josh Caron
F Nick Petersen
D Sean Lorenz
D Corbin Baldwin
C Ryan Ginand
F Rob Mignardi

Reassigned to Regina (WHL)...

D Colton Jobke

Released from tryout/Reporting To...

F Eric Lampe/Las Vegas (ECHL)
D Mike Montgomery/Allen (CHL)
F Ryley Grantham/Allen (CHL)
F Brennan Vargas/Allen (CHL)

Aeros blasted in preseason opener, lose 7-2 at Texas

Before we get to the bad news, please check out this link to Heather's Houston Chronicle story. I'm pretty sure this is her first official story as the Aeros beat writer. The article is about Mikael Granlund and how the Aeros should benefit from his presence during any extended NHL lockout.

Nice job Heather; we look forward to many more great stories from you at Chron.com and in print.

Texas 7, Aeros 2 (from the Cedar Park Center)
The only take I have from the first preseason game last night is that the Aeros allowed an AHL team-record seven goals in their loss to the Texas Stars. And that's bad.

For many years, Aeros fans got a steady diet of San Antonio only in the preseason, and I have to say it is nice to see the team able to mix it up a bit with the close proximity of now Texas and Oklahoma City.

But last night, even for a preseason game, it was a forgettable performance. Many coaches will tell you its a chance to see where you're at in terms of special teams and line combinations (and fitness levels, too). Based on all the twitter chatter I saw, the penalty kill was absolute atrocious.

But again, it is only the preseason; these games don't count and don't read too much into the final score. Right now there are just too many bodies in camp, so the coaches have to play somebody. Even the folks over in Cedar Park know not to read too much into last night's blasting.

• For more details, here is the Aeros side of the story. 
• Also, read here to get the Texas Stars take. 
• Here is more information from the 100 Degree hockey blog. 
• And here is a link to the Chronicle's recap of the game. 

Torch and Bagnall From Day One at SLICE

After a weekend spent at the Xcel Energy Center, the Aeros held their first workouts at SLICE today. It's going to be a bit of a different looking team for Aeros fans. Several fan favorites are gone -- Jon DiSalvator, Jed Ortmeyer, Warren Peters -- and there are a bunch of exciting looking youngsters just waiting to play their first games in Aeros colors.

And while the talent on the team looks incredible, it might not pay to get attached to some of these guys since they'll be playing in St. Paul as soon as the NHL owners fire Gary Bettman and bring in a non-idiot commissioner and players come together on a new labor deal and the lockout is lifted.

As for now, John Torchetti likes his team: "I like our mix. I think it’s going to be a good mix here."

Torchetti should have some fun with this roster, and he's promising that the fans are going to like what they see once the young guys have become adjusted to the speed of the game at this level and have gotten used to the team's system. And he's also promising that he's going to let players like Mikael Grunland have a little fun out on the ice.

"He sees the ice incredibly well. He’s very poised," Torchetti said about Granlund. "One thing I think you’ll notice about our team, we’ll be more of a puck possession team. He’s going to hold onto it. And once everybody understands the system, and it slows down, we’re going to be more puck possession. We’ll be more poised with the puck. We’re not going to force plays."

Drew Bagnall says the team is incredibly deep, talent-wise. But that means there are a bunch of guys who would normally be seeing lots of playing time who aren't going to be seeing playing time, at least at this level, but if everybody buys in, then watch out because this team is going to be something special.

"We’re going to have just an abundance of skill here," he said today. "We have guys that without a doubt should be on the majority of NHL clubs in the league playing for us here in Houston. Obviously it’s great for us as a team, but it also creates a situation where you have guys that are American league players, have been in the past, or should be right now, if there was an NHL, that won’t be able to be in the lineup each and every night. So the problem then starts to lie in coming together as a team, and not putting yourself ahead of it. You have to understand you might not get to play in every situation. You might not be on the power play, but you’re still part of the team, and you do whatever you can to play as a team."

It looks as if Bagnall will be taking on the old-man daddy role on the team this season, that role held on this team in years past by DiSalvatore and Ortmeyer. It's a role he's held before, he said, and he also believes that some of the others having moved on is good for some of the younger guys because their progression into leadership roles has been blocked.

"That’s kind of the situation we’re in this year," he said. "I’ve been in leadership roles in this organization and in the past when I was with Manchester. There’s no secret that we’re young, but we also have guys who have kind of not had to step into those roles because of the age that we had. We had Warren Peters and [Jed] Ortmeyer and Jon DiSalvatore, Jeff Taffe. Those guys are in place to try to build those leadership qualities in the younger guys. And they’ve had that time to kind of soak it up from those guys, and now it’s time to use it. They’ll step and come to the forefront. We’ve had guys who have played four seasons in this league, and I think they’re ready for this opportunity."

And Torchetti agrees, saying that he expects guys like Chad Rau, Carson McMillan, and Jarod Palmer to move into the team leadership roles.

But the Aeros aren't the only team that is going to benefit from the lockout. There are lots of teams in the AHL with an influx of NHL talent on their rosters, like the Oklahoma City Barons.

"It’s probably going to the best hockey in a lot of years ever in the American league," Torchetti said. "I’m on my 29th year coaching, and this is the strongest I’ve seen this league. It’s going to be a lot of fun hockey, especially for the fans to come out and see what a group that we have."

So there you have it, from the first day at SLICE.

A Quick Chat With Mikael Granlund

Thanks to the NHL lockout, there are a bunch of guys who just showed up in Sugar Land today who would normally not have come anywhere near the place. One of those guys is Mikael Granlund from Finland. So we took the chance to chat with Granlund for a bit earlier this afternoon at SLICE.

He's close to fulfilling a dream, the dream of playing in the NHL, which has been his dream since he was a kid. And he's really looking forward to playing some actual hockey in a competitive situation tomorrow night, even if the competitive situation is merely an exhibition game.

"It’s always been a dream since I was a kid to play here in North American, and maybe someday in the NHL. I am so excited," he said. "Now I’m here and just waiting for games.

He thinks his biggest challenge will basically be dealing with the smaller ice surface here in North America: "That’s maybe the biggest thing. You don’t have that much time and space on the ice. But still, it’s the same game and everything’s the same."

But basically, all that he's got to do, he believes, is just his play his game.

And in a short amount of time, we'll see just how easily he makes the adjustments. 

Aeros officially announce training camp roster

Here is the presser from J Fish over at the Aeros.
Hockey season is officially upon us.

Should be an interesting year to say the least!

per Aeros.com ...

HOUSTON AEROS ANNOUNCE TRAINING CAMP ROSTER

Aeros Host Opening Night on Saturday, October 13^th

Houston, TX – Houston Aeros General Manager Jim Mill announced on Friday the Training Camp roster for the 2012-13 season.

The Aeros kick-off training camp at Xcel Energy Center on Friday, Sept. 28, with the first on-ice session of the season. The training camp roster is composed of four goalies, 13 defensemen and 20 forwards. In all, 14 Minnesota Wild draft picks are on the roster, including four first-round picks and five second-round picks.

The roster consists of the following players:

Forwards: Joel Broda, Brett Bulmer, Josh Caron, Charlie Coyle, Kris Foucault, Justin Fontaine, Ryan Ginand, Mikael Granlund, Ryley Grantham, Eric Lampe, Johan Larsson, David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, Rob Mignardi, Jarod Palmer, Nick Petersen, Zack Phillips, Chad Rau, Brennan Vargas, Jason Zucker.

Defense: Drew Bagnall, Corbin Baldwin, Jonas Brodin, Brian Connelly, Tyler Cuma, Kris Fredheim, Chay Genoway, Colton Jobke, Steven Kampfer, Sean Lorenz, Kyle Medvec, Mike Montgomery, Marco Scandella.

Goalies: Mike Brodeur, John Curry, Matt Hackett, Darcy Kuemper

The team will spend three days of training camp at Xcel Energy Center from Friday, Sept. 28-Sunday, Sept. 30. There will be two open scrimmages: on Saturday, Sept. 29 from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 30 from 10 a.m.-11:15 a.m. The scrimmages are free and open to the public.

Aeros staff and players will depart for Houston following Sunday’s session. The team will hit the ice at the Sugar Land Ice & Sports Center in suburban Houston for the first time on Tuesday, Oct. 2. Houston opens its preseason slate in Cedar Park, TX with the Texas Stars on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 7:00 p.m. (CT). The Aeros will also play a pair of preseason games in Oklahoma City on Friday, Oct. 5 and Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7:00 p.m. (CT) at the Cox Convention Center. For all practices in Houston, local media may contact the Aeros Media Relations department to arrange attendance to practice. All practices at Sugar Land Ice & Sports Center are open to the public.

The Aeros will play 76 regular-season games this season. The home portion of the schedule commences on Saturday, October 13, at 7:05 p.m. with the Charlotte Checkers at Toyota Center. The game will commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the first Aeros game played by the World Hockey Association (WHA) team in 1972.

Aeros season tickets start as low as $9 per seat and may be purchased online at Aeros.com by placing a $100 deposit. Once your order is processed, an Aeros ticket representative will contact you to choose your exact seat location, as well as discuss the payment options. Information on season tickets and mini-plans is also available on the team website at www.aeros.com.  Groups of 15 or more receive a discount on all tickets, to book your group outing to an Aeros game please call 713-974-PUCK (7825).

Training Camp Opens

Training camp, at least the super fun on-ice portion, opens today in St. Paul. We haven't been sent the roster yet (er, there's this, though it doesn't have all the invites), but our hero Kevin Falness did a great series of interviews and I managed to pick up a few others that we didn't know about.

UPDATE: Here's the final camp roster: http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=642267


They'll practice and scrimmage (scrimmages will be broadcast on Wild.com if you want to watch) through Sunday and then apparently are all driving down to Houston, with an overnight in Kansas City, future home of the Aeros (I'm kidding, settle down), for the Houston portion of the camp to start on Tuesday.

Kind of a bummer to not be able to head out to SLICE and soak it all in, but it sounds like everyone is pretty stoked to get to start things up there and have all the good NHL-level facilities and resources available to them. And the information should be flowing pretty steadily out of Minnesota, so follow the usual suspects on Twitter and on Wild.com if you wish.

HI HOCKEY!

Cha Cha Cha (Good) Changes!

Even though I won't realize the finality of giving up the Aeros beat until opening night, I am still happy with my decision to resign from the Aeros beat for the Houston Chronicle.

I have followed this iteration of this franchise since its inception in 1994, and I have missed no fewer than 10 home games since 1996.

In short, it's almost like a divorce, and I don't know what I am going to do when we're finally separated.

Having said all that, I am still going to keep involved, and this site - with our *cough* MILLIONS of followers, will stay up to date. John and I are going to cover the games just like we always have, and we are still trying to work it out so we get a credential for a "staff photographer."

But what about Heather, you say? Well ... it's no secret because she already told all of her Twitter and Facebook friends, but SHE IS GOING TO TAKE OVER THE CHRONICLE AEROS BEAT!

That's right, Heather, er Ms. Conduct, is going to be the team's fifth Houston Chronicle beat writer when she officially takes over very soon.

Since 2009, she has been a very reliable and talented backup as I've had to deal with the birth of two children, one of which had two open hear surgeries, and all the baseball games my son is now a part of on the weekends.

And we can't forget about all the times she stepped up and filled in when I was called away to Chicago following the merger of Continental and United.

In short, it's been great having her in my pocket, and now it's her beat. She will do a great job, and even though the team does not get a whole heck of a lot of coverage, the Chronicle has always staffed every home game.

It's hard to give up something that has been a big part of my life for more than 10 years. But knowing that someone so capable and passionate will be taking over makes it that much more of a joy to have been a part of.

Congrats, Heather ... and Godspeed!

Hockey's coming! Hockey's coming!

As Andrew wrote previously, the Aeros will hold a few days of camp in Minnesota, just to give those hockey-hungry Wild fans a little love. Then they head to Houston, have a handful of (out of town) pre-season games, and a week of practice before the season begins in earnest.

Unlike most seasons, there will be no waiting for the top players to come down from Minnesota while a bunch of other guys basically get a try-out. What you see is what you get... at least once you get to see them. Personally, that week of practice between the pre-season games and regular season are the ones I'd head to. That's when they're gearing up for the real deal, testing line combos, etc. Gimme gimme.

Anyway, here's the schedule, which starts in Minnesota (and based on Twitter, sounds like guys are already convening on the Xcel Energy Center):



Is anybody else anxious enough for the season to drive to Austin on a week night for the first pre-season game? Thinking my travel mojo is better saved up for games that matter, but it's tempting. I'm dying to see something besides Stanley Cup reruns and rec league.

Pre-camp Update

Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts ... you know the rest.

I sure am disappointed that the NHL and players association could not come to an agreement before the lockout. I think many of you who are also big NHL fans agree with me. I have a feeling this is going to be another long, drawn-out process, and my personal opinion is that we won't see NHL hockey until right around Dec. 1.

This is not my original thought, but I certainly do agree that the owners are losing the PR battle this time around. Gary Bettman has come across as very cold and completely unbelievable. It is kind of sad what has happened to the NHL in the last decade based on how great it was in the 1990s.

Too bad this generation of players will be remembered more for two lockouts and getting dropped ESPN.

If there is anything good to come out of the lockout its that Aeros fans will get to see NHL-caliber talent at Toyota Center. This is a great article about the responsibility that John Torchetti will have here in Houston. Great read.

For those of you who don't already know, the Aeros will have a three-day camp in St. Paul starting on the 28th, and they will play up to three exhibition games against Texas and OKC. All of them will be on the road, and when the Aeros send out their first release on training camp and the preseason schedule, I will certainly pass that information along to you.

During the last lockout, the Aeros also shared an affiliation with the Wild and Dallas Stars. And because of that, Aeros fans got to watch Mike Smith, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikko Koivu.

I think it is safe to say that those guys have grown up to be great or really good NHLers, but their time in Houston was just so-so. I remember that year a lot of the future stars - including Koivu - played "not to get hurt," and I think the team suffered because of it.

I would expect some of that to a certain extent, but there will be much better talent on the ice at Toyota Center this time around.

Also in closing, I wanted to mention that I will no longer cover the Aeros for the Houston Chronicle. As I continue to chase the dream of being the world's finest PR guru, I have less and less time to share with the sports world and my lovely family. I have a new job, having left United/Continental after 14 wonderful years.

That being said, I will still be at the rink - I just won't be there for every single game. I plan lots of good things for The Third Intermission this year. I covered more than 400 home games since 2002, and I could not be more proud of the work I did for the Chronicle. Even as the coverage diminished, I made sure every game - both home and road - at least got a recap.

It remains to be seen as to who will take my place, but I will help them with anything they need to ensure a smooth transition. I'd be lying if I said I won't miss seeing my name above all the Aeros stories. It was both a thrill and a dream come true to put my mark on the history of the team and to work with great coaches like Todd McLellan, Rob Daum, Kevin Constantine, Mike Yeo and John Torchetti.

Off all the freelance gigs I've ever had, this was and will always be my favorite. Now, I get to spend more time with my wife and three kids and making this site even better. It already is the best non-team affiliated blog of any Western Conference team.

Let's keep it going, eh?

Wild Assigns Players to Aeros Roster

Apparently I'm no longer on the Aeros PR email list, but since Heather and Andrew are on vacation, and since I still got the info, here's a list of re-signings the Wild just made, and a list of players they just assigned to the Aeros roster as the NHL gets ready for the lockout.

Re-signed by the Wild and assigned to the Aeros are:

1. C David McIntyre
2. RW Carson McMillan
3. RW Jarod Palmer

And also assigned by the Wild to the Aeros roster are:

1. D Drew Bagnall
2. C Joel Broda
3. D Jonas Brodin
4. RW Brett Bulmer
5. D Josh Caron
6. D Brian Connelly
7. RW Charlie Coyle
8. D Tyler Cuma
9. RW Justin Fontaine
10. LW Kris Foucault
11. D Chay Genoway
12. C Mikael Granlund
13. G Matt Hackett
14. D Colton Jobke
15. D Steven Kampfer
16. G Darcy Kuemper
17. LW Johan Larsson
18. D Kyle Medvec
19. C Zack Philips
20. C Chad Rau
21. D. Marco Scandella
22. LW Jason Zucker