A Little Love From A Colleague

One of my colleagues at the Press has a little post up about why he, as a non-hockey fan who rarely goes to the games, will miss the Aeros. He says a few nice things about the Aeros fans. I thought you might enjoy reading it. So here it is.

Aeros Lose Game, And Lose Another Goalie

Have you ever seen the movie Spinal Tap? It's a comedy classic from 1984 about a fictional British heavy metal band that starred Christopher Guest and Rob Reiner. I bring it up because, as those of you have seen the movie know, the band has a bit of bad luck with drummers. One drummer dies from a gardening accident. Another dies from choking on somebody else's vomit. Then there's the guy who just spontaneously combusts during a concert.

M*A*S*H - Suicide is NOT painless if you don't do it right. 

Why bring this up? Because it dawned on me while Jeff Deslauriers was writhing in pain during the second period. The Aeros are the Spinal Tap of goalies. Don't believe it, ask Deslauriers who was in for Cody Reichard who was injured during a game last week. Or ask Reichard who replaced an injured John Curry. What about Mike Brodeur replacing the injured Joe Fallon who replaced the injured Darcy Kuemper or Brodeur who replaced an injured Hackett in the playoffs.

Remember Jeff Crawford, an equipment assistant skating out in uniform to take Barry Brust's place after Brust's leg was slashed during a game? Remember Anton Khudobin skating in the playoffs because Nolan Schaefer and Brust were injured, then the Aeros having to bring in Matt Climie during the end of a playoff run because Khudobin was injured?

If you're a goalie, you want to come to Houston because you're definitely going to play. But if you're a goalie, you've got to want to avoid the Aeros because you're going to get injured during game action. So good luck to Mike Condon. And good luck to Josh Harding who, according to reports, will be making two rehab starts for the Aeros next weekend to close out the season.

As for the rest of the Aeros, they lost 4-1 to the Oklahoma City Barons, a team just below the Aeros in the standings who the Aeros are fighting for a playoff spot and in seeding. This game should have featured some playoff intensity. But it didn't.

"That was a tough one for us to swallow," John Torchetti said after the game. "I’ve got to maybe get us a little more fired up. I didn’t think we really had to get too energized for this game, but we really certainly didn’t play up to our potential. Our physicality was lacking tonight. We didn’t win any battles, and that was the difference."

At one point during the third period the Aeros were being outshot 30-12. A hockey team's not going to win many games when it's being outshot 30-12.

"I think that they’re 7-2-2 in their last 11 games," Torchetti said of the Barons. "And that’s not them chasing, that’s them gelling at the right time. They seem to be getting parts and add-ons in the right areas. We’re coming out of a game with nothing. We didn’t give up nothing tonight. You have to give something up, you have to give up something as a hockey player to win a hockey game. You just can’t show up and come out like it’s a Sunday school dance."

With the loss the Aeros drop to 7th place in the Western Conference playoff standings, behind OKC and Rochester. The magic number should still be 10 points.

They're back in action tomorrow night against San Antonio, so come see them before they're relocated.

And for you Spinal Tap fans, here's the history of the drummers.

The Des Moines Aeros? Really?

If you would've asked me about the lease talks/relocation last week, I would've said it was 80/20 in favor of the Aeros leaving. After yesterday's news, I'm putting it at 95/5 in favor of the Aeros leaving.

I've got a story up over at the Press taking a look at yesterday's news, including reactions from Des Moines. The good news is basically this: there is no lease in Houston, but there's also no lease in Des Moines, and Des Moines officials are throwing out the same kind of smack the Toyota Center's been sending out, ie, they don't really need the Aeros because they're making a pretty good profit off of concerts and by hosting a NBA D-League team and a team in one of the 15,000 arena football leagues.

There's also this, maybe Russo's story wasn't so much a final announcement, but was actually more a shot across the bow meant to get Toyota Center's attention, to let them know the Aeros are serious and they're tried of screwing around, and telling Toyota Center to make a legitimate offer already.

So give it a read. And don't forget, there is a game tonight.

A huge week starts now

Lost in yesterday's free for all rumor mill were the actual Houston Aeros. The players that take the ice, entertain us and provide services for the Minnesota Wild when they need players.

Tonight, those guys will start the last three regular season home games, and they'll host the red-hot OKC Barons at Toyota Center. After tonight, the Aeros will welcome the San Antonio Rampage Thursday and Saturday. Then, the team will take a week off before closing out the regular season with three road games in three nights in three different cities.

Aeros host the Barons tonight at Toyota Center (7:05)

But first things first - tonight they host a red-hot Barons team that some how did not die with their Big 4 went to the NHL after the lockout ended. Everybody, including me, left them for dead, and now they are just two points behind the Aeros with a game in hand.

Huge game for both teams. If the Aeros win, they'll have a four-point cushion. Lose, and the Barons will have the tie-breaker both in terms of winning percentage and ROW (regulation and overtime wins). The Aeros' magic number to clinch a playoff berth for the 16th time in 19 seasons is 10. That number goes down by two every time the Aeros win. It also goes down by two every time the team currently in ninth loses.

Based on that, Aeros fans are really pulling for the Peoria Rivermen tonight, who host the Rockford Icehogs at Carver Arena.

Tonight is a playoff game, and both teams will go hard for 60 minutes and hope for the two-point reward. These last three regular season games will be fun to watch; this is the time of year where the intensity is up and the proverbial emotions run high.

John Torchetti will have the boys ready for tonight. How will they execute under pressure?

Here is some more news on the Barons via the Houston Aeros press office:


The Oklahoma City Barons –

When the NHL lockout ended, Oklahoma City lost six of the team’s top sevens scorers to the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. In all Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Taylor Hall, Teemu Hartikainen, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Magnus Paajarvi are all gone. The team is 17-12-3-2 since their departure. Despite not playing for the Barons since Jan. 5, Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz remain among the AHL leaders in points. Eberle had 51, while Schultz, a defenseman, collected 48. Eberle led the league with 25 goals until Providence’s Jamie Tardif surpassed him in late February. Schultz had 30 AHL assists, which remains among the highest in the league.

Mark Arcobello is the team’s active leading scorer with 20 goals and 41 assists for 61 points in 67 games played. He is followed by rookie Toni Rajala, who has 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points in 39 games played. He has five assists and eight points in his last seven games played. Left wing Teemu Hartikainen is third on the team in scoring, scoring 14 goals and toaling 35 points in 44 games played. Forward Philippe Cornet has four points in in his last seven games. Cornet is fourth overall in team scoring with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points in 39 games played. Since joining the team in late January, Jonathan Cheecoo has 26 points in 29 games with the Barons this season. The veteran winger has three points in his last seven games played. Defenseman Martin Marincin is sixth on the team with 25 points in 64 games played. Center Josh Green has 23 points in 47 games played this season.

Oklahoma City features goalies Yann Danis and Niko Hovinen in net.  Danis is 22-14-5 with a 2.79 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. Fellow goalie Niko Hovinen is 4-3-2 with a 3.26 g.a.a. and a .884 save percentage. At 6-foot-7, he is one of the tallest goalies in pro hockey.

The Barons rank first in the AHL on the power play converting 61 out of 286 chances (21.3 %). As far the penalty kill goes, Oklahoma City sits 30 out of 30 teams, stopping 219 of 283 attempts (78.1 %). The Barons rank 20th out of 30 teams in penalty minutes, averaging just 14.9 minutes a game. Oklahoma City is averaging 3.16 goals per game, while allowing 3.17 goals per game.

Is it time to celebrate the life of ... the Houston Aeros (1994-2013)?

We've come to expect a lot of things as Aeros fans over the years.

• When the team wins its division, it's wins the league (1999, 2003)
• There will be injuries. Massive amounts of injuries
• The ice is bad most of the year
• Gordie Howe will make an appearance or two
• Once every five years or so, kazoos will make an appearance during the National Anthem
• When Mike Russo tweets or blogs about something, it's true

So when word leaked out this morning/last night that the Aeros were moving to Des Moines (via Mike Russo), it is now officially time to say your good-byes to the Aeros as the primary affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.

The red guy is the Aeros fan. There are just a few of us
in Houston, but we'll miss our team. 

The Aeros', as we know them today, 19-year run in Houston is very likely over. There are still many questions that will get answered as we move into the summer. Will the name stay? What will happen to the team records, etc? But for now, for the first time in nearly two decades, die-hard hockey fans will have to go elsewhere to get their fix.

Aeros GM Jim Mill told The Houston Press last week that the Wild and Toyota Center were still talking, but Russo reports today that building and Wild could not agree on terms of a new lease.

And here is a story on the Chronicle from today about the latest installment of rumor and innuendo.

The Des Moines Register now has a story about today's info as well. Are the two buildings now being played against each other? Absolutely, is my opinion.

If true, it's a business decision that both organizations feel will be better for their respective bottom lines. It's hard not to be OK with that because we all, on a personal level, deal with money issues every day.

You ALWAYS want what is best for you and your family, and more money is always better than less money. No one can argue that.

This does not mean that Houston won't have hockey ever again, but, if these reports do pan out, it does mean that the Wild are moving the Aeros to Iowa beginning next season. I hold out hope that a new team will come along in the next few years. This is too good a market to be without puck.

But right now, there is no place to play. It's been reported over and over than the Toyota Center is the only place in the Metro area that is financially viable for hockey. And that is true ... the places that are big enough need multi-million dollar investments to get them hockey ready.

I covered more than 500 games for the Houston Chronicle and watched another 300 or so as a fan. The Aeros have been a big part of my life since I was a senior in high school and they have been like therapy for me. It's been so great being a part of their run, and I will miss them considerably.

When the Wild bought the team a few years ago, I figured this day would eventually come. But I always thought there'd be another affiliation ready to go in Houston. And who knows? That could still be the case.

That, like I always say, is a story for a different day. Right now, it is time to celebrate 19 years of great fun, good people and very good hockey. There are still six regular season game on the slate, and the Aeros are right in the middle of a playoff race.

And don't forget about the front office people, who no doubt are having a meeting this morning to talk about all the rumors. I have been there as part of a merger with United and Continental a few years ago. Speculation sucks, and being in the dark is much worse when your livelihood is at stake.

Most of those people work insane hours, and many more do it for less than what they should be paid. Think of them and say a prayer that they'll have something lined up sooner rather than later.

I still think the Aeros have a shot of making some noise this postseason, and in a way, I am glad the cat is out of the bag so people can get a few more chances to say their good-byes. Let's hope this team goes a few rounds and makes some noise in the 2013 Calder Cub Playoffs.

Aeros Bite Bulldogs, Take 2-0 Win

The Aeros won their third straight game, taking a 2-0 victory from the Hamilton Bulldogs in a game that, despite the low score, the Aeros seemed to control throughout.

Dan DaSilva scored the only goal the Aeros needed tonight at 8:41 of the first period when, despite falling to the ice, he was still able to get his stick on the puck and deflect it into the net. The Bulldogs appeared to tie it up eight minutes later when the puck slid behind Jeff Deslauriers, making his first start as a Aero, and skated along the blue line. It was originally ruled a goal, but after a lengthy replay review, the goal was waived off, and the Aeros were never again threatened. Nick Petersen scored the second, and final, goal at 12:50 of the third period.

Houston Aeros Photo - Morris Molina

Hamilton tried to muscle their way through the Aeros, and lots of players went to the boards or to the ice. But the Aeros, for the most part, didn't bite, and the Bulldog bullying tactics didn't get to the Aeros.

The biggest fear coming into the game was that the Aeros would see the Bulldogs, sitting in last place in the conference and out of the playoff hunt, and take the day off, would then fall into a trap of a team that had defeated the Texas Stars on Saturday night.

"Those are the games that we have to understand the checking mentality," head coach John Torchetti said. "We have to be able to play a 5-1 game, or a 2-0 game. That’s the mentality. It’s a hard game."

Deslauriers didn't have much action in the first two periods, facing a total of only 10 shots. But he got hit with 12 shots in the third, and didn't allow any into the net, impressive for a goalie with not much action this season, and one adjusting to the temperature inside the building.

"That experience, it carries you a long way," Torchetti said of Deslauriers. "What I really like about our team is we’re a team that’s become very accountable to each other. Deslauriers is one of the top players of the game. He gets the award for best player, and he says you know 'what a great job the D did, you did a great job boxing out. You let me see shots. I’ll do a better job on my rebounds.' That’s when I know we got the right people with character in our room. And that’s what it’s all about night in and night out. That’s speaks volumes. It’s his first game and he’s talking like that to his teammates. He’s letting them know he’s accountable, too. That’s really big."

We asked Zack Phillips after the game what happened with the team between last Tuesday's lost and Thursday's win, and he was bluntly honest, saying that the team thought it would be easy coming back to play on home ice, and that they needed a little wake-up call. It appears that the team has indeed gotten that wake-up call, and let's just hope they don't fall asleep again.

The Aeros return to action on Wednesday night when they play the first of their three remaining regular season home games. The playoffs are looking more and more like a certainty, though the team has yet to clinch a playoff spot. They're in fifth in the conference standings with 82 points, tied with Rochester though I believe, should the two teams tie in points at the end of the season that Rochester would get the higher seeding due to more wins.

The AHL won't update it's playoff primer until tomorrow morning. Before today's game, the Aeros magic number to clinch a playoff spot was 12. My math shows that that number is now 9 points, but I'm not the playoff scenario calculator that is my colleague Andrew Ferraro, so I could be off by a point or two.

Aeros Dominate Wolves, Take 5-2 Win

The good guys went out and demolished the Chicago Wolves 5-2 tonight bringing up the following the question: where in the hell have these guys been the past week or so?

It was actually a close game after the first period, with the score tied 1-1. But the Aeros broke it wide open in the second, scoring four goals and chasing Chicago starter Matt Climie midway into the second period after the fourth goal. Two of the four second period goals came from Jason Zucker, including a breakaway at the 19:34 point of the period.

Zucker beats Cannata to close out the 2nd - Morris Molina

The prettiest goal of the game was the one that saw Matt Climie pulled. Dan DaSilva faked out Climie, pulling him out of the net and leaving it wide open. DaSilva then completed probably the slowest wraparound in the recorded history of hockey, but so badly had he faked out Climie that DaSilva was still able to stick the puck in the net before anybody could get to him.

You can watch that goal below ... I chose the angle where you could actually see Climie fall asleep, wake up, say in his mind "I got this," and then allow the goal, only to shrug it off. Beaut.

"We’re battling," head coach John Torchetti said after the game when asked about the difference in the team the past two nights. "We’re getting some big goals. Some of our guys are getting comfortable out there. And our D’s doing a good job getting the puck out and defending."

Not all of the news was good for the Aeros as the Toyota Center goalie curse stuck again as Cody Reichard left midway through the third period with a "lower leg" injury. He was stretching his leg during stoppages throughout most of the third period before coming out of the game, and he's probably day-to-day. New acquisition Jeff Deslauriers came out and stopped the Wolves as they tried to get back into the game, but Torchetti told us after the game that he feared Deslauriers was going to be knocked out when he was nearly hit in the head by an errant shot while on the bench.

As for Zucker, who has stormed back to life the past two games, Torchetti says it's merely the fact that Zucker is once again settling into the team and returning to the work ethic that he'd displayed so early in the season.

"Back to his work effort," Torchetti said. "You saw it last night in that overtime game. He battled for that lose puck, then he battles again."



Zucker's taking his time with the Aeros in good stride, acknowledging that he's still got a lot of learn to about hockey, and he can think of no better place to learn.

"It’s huge," Zucker says of his time in Houston. "I’ve really cherished all of the time I’ve had down here under Coach Torchetti and all of the other guys. Like I said at the beginning of the year, there’s a lot of guys in that room I can learn from. And being down here definitely is not hurting me at all. It’s really helping me out."

PLAYOFF NOTES

The Aeros moved up to fifth place in the Western Conference playoff standings with 80 points. They're three points behind Charlotte for the fourth spot. The Barons and Americans are in sixth and seventh place, both with 78 points, then Chicago, Milwaukee, and Rockford are grouped together with 75 points with Abbotsford and Lake Erie in 11th and 12th with 72 points.

The wins the past two nights have aided the Aeros in their quest for a playoff spot, and with four more games left on this homestand, the Aeros are in a good position to solidify a playoff spot. With the win and a few other scores that went in their favor, the Aeros magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to 12. It goes down by two every time the Aeros win a game. It goes down by two more each time the 9th place team loses in regulation.

Last night was good, as it went from 16 to 12. The Aeros are idle today, so fans are cheering for both Charlotte and Peoria to win their games against 9th place Milwaukee and Rockford.

UPDATE - In a side note that does not matter, Dave McIntyre's goal got waived off due to being offside. He was BARELY onside, as this picture shows the puck is across the line and the right skate is still on the blueline. Tough for the linesman as I had to watch this 50 times in slow mo to finally see it.

Thoughts On Relocation, Playoffs, And Trades

First things first, I've got a story up at the mothership dealing with the Aeros and relocation. Things are still up in the air -- negotiations are ongoing, but there's nothing solid -- and I throw in a few of the scenarios that have been making their way down to us. Sorry there's nothing definitive, but hopefully you'll give it a read, and hopefully you'll let the commenter there know that hockey's not a niche sport.

I also spoke with GM Jim Mill for a bit yesterday regarding relocation (see the story), the playoffs, the recent trades, and the team in general. 

Regarding the trade of Matt Hackett and Johan Larsson to Buffalo and Darcy Kuemper being called up to the Wild as the backup, Mill says it's all about winning hockey games.

" Unfortunately you have to make moves to get better," he said. "You have assets. You develop assets to win hockey games, and there’s lots of ways to win."

One of the Wild's ways of winning is improving the team, and they used what they had to get better by trading assets that other teams required: "At the end of the day, deals are done because certain players are wanted," Mill said.

The new goalie in town is Jeff Deslauriers who has spent a lot of time in the AHL (probably best remembered around here for his time with Oklahoma City). Mill called him a quality/professional goaltender. That said, the Aeros should probably try to score as many goals as possible because it's doubtful that any goalie will be able to constantly shut down teams the way Hackett and Kuemper were able to shut down teams.

As for making the playoffs, Mill said it's easy. The team just has to continue winning hockey games. 

"That’s why you play 76 games," he said. "They’ve been a top team through 76 games."

 

So let's see how things shake out tonight when the Aeros host the Wolves. As of now, the Aeros are in sixth place with 78 points. But they're just six points ahead of Abbotsford who are sitting in 11th place. 

Aeros Come From The Dead to Defeat San Antonio 3-2 (OT)

Sometimes all that it takes is a shot to a face. Or a shot off of the face. Or more specifically, San Antonio's Scott Timmins trying to clear the puck from the goal, knocking it off of Chad Rau's face, and the puck bouncing into the net to get the Aeros going.

It took awhile, but at :42 seconds into the third period, the Aeros were finally on the board thanks to Mr. Timmins and the Aeros, which had been dead once for the entire game, once again, were back in the action and looking alive for the first time in a week. Then Jason Zucker took things into his own hands, scoring late in the third period, and then hitting the game winner in OT to snap the Aeros out of their funk and put them back in the win column for the first time in five games.

John Torchetti was a very relieved man after the game, and talked about the character of the team. He also noted, once again, that the team was shorthanded and that some guys were having to work extra shifts.

Photo by Morris Molina - Houston Aeros

The effort was there in the third period for the Aeros tonight. An effort, and some urgency. Neither of which has been seen in awhile. But it needs to be noted that the Aeros outshot the Rampage 43-17, and still had to go into overtime to get the win.

The scratches were John Curry, Drew Bagnall, Kris Freidheim, Kris Foucault, Jarod Palmer, and Ryley Grantham.

The team returns to play tomorrow night against Chicago. So until then.

Crucial weekend starts tonight vs. San Antonio

Oh what a fun time this is to be a hockey fan. I wish there was less to worry about and more to look forward to, but that is a different story for a different day ...

Tonight, the Aeros continue their homestand with the first of three games this weekend. The San Antonio Rampage visit for the first of their last three visits to Toyota Center. Lately, the Rampage have gotten the better of play against the Aeros, but both rosters have changed so much since the last time these two teams met, it's hard to say what to expect.

Both teams are coming off simultaneous ass-kickings from Tuesday night. So both better be ready to counter the other one's response.

The Aeros have slipped from fifth to seventh during their four game winless streak and for the first time since January, they're in danger of being on the wrong side of the playoff picture.

With two big injuries in Minnesota to Matt Cullen and Dany Heatley, the Aeros lost Mikael Granlund to recall, and Johan Larsson and Matt Hackett were traded to Buffalo. That means that Darcy Kuemper was recalled, too leaving newly-acquired Jeff Deslauriers and Cody Reichard to man the pipes.

I hate to say it, but I don't like the Aeros chances tonight. They have to find a way to win two of the next three against the Rampage, Chicago and Hamilton. Two of those teams are not going to the playoffs and have to be treated as must-wins.

After the 3-2 loss to Grand Rapids last Friday, Aeros head coach John Torchetti did quite a bit of screaming. He said he did none of that after Tuesday's beatdown, but admitted he thought the team played poorly because maybe some of them were jealous that Larsson got called up.

That statement troubles me to no end, and I have to say ... I hope the great veterans the Aeros have left can lead the Aeros out of this mess.

We shall see.