2/3/10 -- Aeros v. Rivermen -- A Few Quick Notes

Some quick notes from tonight's game because...I lost my quotes when I sent my story to the mothership and I don't feel like re-transcribing and I really need to get to bed.

The Aeros got the 4-1 win in a must-win game, but it could prove to be very costly. Max Noreau blocked a shot with his left forearm in the second period, and he did not return. He'll be getting X-rays on Thursday. He will not be traveling with the team to Milwaukee on Thursday morning, but he hopes to be able to join the team if the X-rays come out okay. However, if he got a break, he'll probably be out 4-6 weeks.

Jon DiSalvatore missed the game because he was sick. He might travel to Milwaukee. Or might not. Kevin Constantine told us after the game that he has no idea of who'll be on the plane. Colton Gillies is probably facing a suspension. And I saw him come out of the trainer's room, but I don't know the extent of his injury.

Speaking of injuries, the Aeros got lucky with Barry Brust. It looked from the press box like he hurt his right foot, but he got slashed on his thigh right above his right knee. It was really deep and nasty, and he took about 25-30 stitches before he could get back out on the ice. As it was, he needed more work on it after the game. Constantine said that the ref and the Peoria coach gave him an extra two minutes when they didn't have to so that Brust could get back out on the ice.

Jeff Crawford got the call from Troy Ward at about 1:30 asking if he could suit and back up Barry Brust. Crawford said this was a once in a lifetime thing, and that he didn't know that Brust was going to come back out for the second period. His goalie experience has come during Aeros practice where he has filled in at goal when Dubielewicz and Khudobin have been sick or injured. Brust said that, after the season's he had, there was no way he was coming out of the game. And Constantine gave Brust the credit for the win, saying that this was one of those games that was dependent on the goalie to win.

Constantine does not yet know what the team is going to do about a backup goalie in Milwaukee. There's a chance that either Dubielewicz or Khudobin will rejoin the team. If not, Constantine said they would make some calls and check around on who is available in the Milwaukee area. I would suggest they give Tony Hrkac a call and see if he has any recommendations. He also does not yet know what will happen with the forwards, and whether he'll need to find someone along the way.

I have not heard anything further on the condition of Bryce Lampman.

(And please check the mothership tomorrow for quotes from Crawford, Brust, and Constantine).

UPDATED And You Need A Scorecard Because...

UDPATE: Barry Brust hurt his right foot -- yes, that foot -- midway through the first. He's not moving too good, but he made it through the first period. For second period warmups, Constantine sent Crawford out to goal, which sent all of the scouts in the press box scrambling for info on Crawford. Right before they were going to drop the puck, Constantine sent Brust back out to goal, but Brust still moving slowly and doesn't appear to have much lateral movement.

UPDATE: Further info. We've been told that Crawford is an assistant equipment guy for the Aeros who plays goal in practice when Dubielewicz and Khudobin are sick or injured.

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Barry Brust is in town and is starting tonight. Jeff Crawford -- who signed a PTO today -- is backing him up. Anton Khudobin joined Wade Dubielewicz with the Wild today and they are expected to suit up for the Wild on Friday night due to Niklas Backstrom's illness and Josh Harding's hip.

Brusty back to Houston

This is no big shock.

With Backstrom sick and Harding playing hurt, it looks like Dubielewicz is going to stay with the Wild for the time being.

Anton will probably get the start tonight, and the Naples Daily News reports here that Barry Brust is coming back to Houston to be the backup.

Anticipate Brust staying with the team through Saturday and getting at least one start. The Aeros play three games in four nights, starting tonight against the Rivermen.

Probably two options here:

If Anton starts and plays well (win or lose) tonight, expect him to go Friday at Milwaukee. If he gets lit up and reverts to December Anton, then Barry could get the call Friday.

Or, go with Barry tonight and tell Anton that he is going back-to-back on the road this weekend.

That is the route I would go with the Aeros in the middle of a lot of games. Peoria will be out for destruction, as they lost all three games last weekend, including Saturday's 5-4 SO loss to the eros (a game in which they led 4-0.)

I don't think it would be a good idea to start Anton with the way the Aeros have played when extremely tired this year. They fight fatigue well (try, try and give-a-damn), but they don't play/execute very well ... and they CLEARLY ran out of gas in the third period in Monday's 3-1 win over Abbotsford.

Your thoughts?

How the Aeros won last night, with an assist from Continental Airlines

Over at the Houston Press, John Royal has the story on how the Aeros won last night, with an assist from Continental Airlines.

Aeros Wade Dubielewicz is a Travellin' Man

2/1/10 -- Aeros v. Heat

Sorry, I've got almost zero time -- these 11 hour work days on the temp job are wiping me out.

Anyway, just a few notes. Wade Dubielewicz is probably on his way up to Dallas tomorrow to back up Josh Harding because of illness to Niklas Backstrom. At least that seemed to be the gist that came from Andrew's discussions with the Minnesota goalie coach, who was in attendance.

The star of the night, for the Aeros, was probably Continental Airlines. Dubielewicz flew from San Jose to Houston on Sunday in first class because that was the only seat available on the plane, and that allowed him to get some sleep.

The Aeros got the 3-1 win over Abbotsford in a game that Kevin Constantine said wasn't close to perfect, but which saw them play good hockey for 40 minutes and then be bailed out by Dubielewicz as they were outshot 14-1 in the third. But a win is a win for this team, especially since, with only 30 games left, they don't have many chances left.

Both Dubielewicz and Constantine stressed afterwards that the team needs to have a 10-game segment soon where they go 7-3 or 8-2. Constantine said the team is generally 5-4-1 or 6-4 or 5-5 on their 10 game segments, and that this would be good enough for the playoffs in most divisions. But in the West, it's barely good enough for fifth place.

I'll have more in the mothership tomorrow -- hopefully Andrew or Heather will link the story to the blog as the temp job people kind of frown on the whole blogging on company time thing. And I'm sure Andrew will follow this with some more notes of his own. I'm sorry if I let you down, I know I usually give out lot more detailed stories, but I really need to get some sleep.

Hopefully, I'll see you on Wednesday as the Aeros take on Peoria at Toyota Center.

Pics from the Miracle and (grumble) roster moves

Updates first: Dubielewicz has been sent down to Houston, which means Brusty has also been sent back to ECHL Florida. And the Aeros have recalled Brandon Buck from Florida. Guess I'm a Blades fan again. Awesome. *sigh*

Here's kind of a funny account of the game last night from a blogger in Peoria.

And here's the photos, all courtesy of Chris "Leadfoot" Jerina:

Disco Dobby

Here's a cool series of shots showing the 5th goal that was inches from happening, which Chris and Andrew both mentioned, and rookie Carson McMillan saved.

You can see the puck start on top of Anton's leg...

Then it falls off. Uh oh. Reach back Anton. REACH!


Never mind, Anton. Mac Attack's got this...

Clear it, Falker. Clear it!

Phew!

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The uprising begins...


Photos like this are why people think goalies are crazy. Noreau winds up a bomb.


I hate when some asshole skater sprays me in the face with snow, but man, it makes an awfully cool picture.

Anyway, thanks again to Chris for these fantastic shots. Here's the rest of them for your perusal.

The good, the bad and the ugly

I am still stunned at what transpired Saturday night in Peoria.
The Rivermen, however, ought to be used to it. Especially when the Aeros are in town.
Twice last season, the Aeros rallied from three-goal deficits in Peoria and got four points in two games that should have been losses.

But those games pale in comparison to what was accomplished in Peoria.
Unlike last year's miracles (and there was a third! the team did it IN Bridgeport last year, only to lose in a shootout) the Aeros only scored ONE power play goal during the rally and did not pull their goalie to score with the extra attacker.

As Chris Jerina said in one of his comments, the Aeros were inches away from being down 5-0. But they plugged away until they got the two points. I am not going to say they didn't deserve them, either. Any team that comes back from 4-0, and does it in the third period (on the road) deserves all the credit they can get for the comeback.

Ms. Conduct? I will thank you on the team's behalf for the scoring dust, or whatever you had sent to their sticks.

No matter what you think of this team's chances of the postseason (and they are not good at this point), you can't say they don't try, work or care. The bottom line this year, is that the Aeros play in the toughest division in the AHL, and the opposing teams just might be better in the end.

Speaking of playoffs....

I ran some numbers to show just how dire the Aeros situation is.
If the season ended today, Texas, Rockford, Milwaukee and Chicago would be heading to the playoffs, and deservedly so. Those are the best four teams in the West, hands down.

If all seven teams in the West continue playing at their current pace, the same four teams qualify come April. Barring any major surge or collapse, here is how it all shakes out in the end.

Texas 104 points
Chicago 98 points
Milwaukee 98 points
Rockford 94 points
Peoria 89 points
Houston 87 points
San Antonio 82 points

Again, this does not factor any collapse or surge. This is just simple math used taking into consideration how many points the team has this morning and what they will end up if they keep playing at their respective points percentage.

Honestly, with how good the West is vs. how bad the North is (save for Rochester and Hamilton), I don't see any of the top four teams not being able to hold on. Defensively, the Aeros are better than Peoria (and they have better goaltending) so if any team were to steal the last spot away from Rockford, it just might be the Aeros.

Just for shites and giggles, if the AHL did the playoffs like they should (Top 8 from each conference) the Aeros would be the 7-seed if the playoffs ended today. I am not saying that would hold up either, but, again, with how weak the North is 3-7, I think the Aeros would be a playoffs team.

Here is how the seedings would look if the AHL did a Top 8 from each conference:

1 Hamilton vs. 8 Manitoba
2 Texas vs. 7 Houston
3 Rockford vs. 6 Rochester
4 Milwaukee vs. 5 Chicago


How about that for crazy travel? Kidding. The AHL has a good point when it wants to keep the playoff battles intra-division to hold down on travel costs. But I am more for "fair" vs. "dollars" when it comes to playoffs, especially when just about every team loses money in the playoffs anyway.

Your thoughts?

Um. What, now? (Aeros 5, Peoria 4 SO)

I'll just drop this and let it soak in for a bit:

The Aeros were down 4-0 with 13 minutes left in the game against Peoria tonight.

And they still won.

I know. I know. It's a lot to take in, but sometimes you gotta hit this stuff like ripping off a band-aid.

Trust me, it's even more shocking when you've sat through the first completely futile 47 minutes of play. When you've watched ONE Peoria player, Derek Armstrong, who had all of 8 goals on the season, rack up FOUR goals in one game. A natural hat trick +1. (He also got the lone goal in the shootout. So make that 5 on the night.)

Armstrong might as well change his sweater to 30 because he's got Anton's number.

Anyway, so, here we are 7 minutes into the third and I've said during the second intermission to Chris Jerina, who was shooting the game, that he might as well shoot Anton's end because "it's not like the Aeros are going to score." After all, Khudobin appeared to be coming apart at the seams, earning 4 minutes of PIM (2 for roughing and 2 for delay of game--he played the puck outside the trapezoid) during the second period.

I guess I forgot about Anton's remarkable aptitude for regrouping and letting go of a bad game or a bad period.

But I'm pretty sure the comeback, starting with a power play goal from DiSalvatore 7 minutes into the period, wasn't something I forgot. It's something this team just hasn't done.

It still didn't feel like an uprising, though, until Rau potted his goal 3 minutes later and then DiSalvatore threw a propane tank on the fire by putting the score within 1 less than 1 minute later.

At this point, you figure Ben Bishop is officially strug-gl-ing and feeling some quicksand under his skates. Clearly Peroria had made the classic mistake of thinking they'd sealed this thing up.

And then BOOM, Noreau ties it up from the low slot, just beating a dropping Bishop.

Photo by Chris Jerina

From there, it was just tight play, back and forth, which kept up through regulation and the overtime period, until the teams were forced into a shootout.

As a testament to Khudobin's bounce-back-ability, he was terrific in the shootout. He let the first one in (Armstrong's), but stoned the next four shooters (none easy attempts) to get his first win since he shut Hamilton out on November 25th, 2009. When you have to add the YEAR, you know it's been a long time. That's two months of no wins, my friends. The Aeros surely have one SERIOUSLY relieved goalie on their hands tonight.

That is one helluva monkey to shed. And it was fun to watch the boys swarm him after the winning save. This was a big deal for him and they all knew it.

So, the Aeros win it 5-4, take home two points from an otherwise-brutal swing through the midwest. But they did it the absolute hardest way possible. Surprised? Yeah, me neither.

Update: Nice job by the Rivermen crew to get a highlights video up so quickly.



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I can't wrap this up without mentioning the fight between Cody Almond and Danny Richmond in the first period. It was, in my opinion, the fight of the year. Both guys were toe-to-toe (unlike Yonkman who wanted to fight with his back to Kassian in Milwaukee Friday night), and just throwing bombs.

Almond won decisively, but took a few good licks himself and just kep throwing. Both guys were just studs, but Cody showed that he's not one to be trifled with. It was the best fight I've seen in a long time. And Richmond is no cream puff, BTW. He's got 128 minutes of PIM so far this season.

I'm already high on Cody but I just got higher. That hockey sense, that offensive ability (more is coming, I promise), AND that toughness? He's a special player. Look out for this one.

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More photos tomorrow from Killer Jerina. Enjoy this win, folks. It was as unlikely, miraculous, and NEEDED a win as I can remember that wasn't a Game 7.

More pics from last night and some fairy dust

I guess the photographer should get to name his own photos, but I don't think Chris will mind if I call this one "Attack of the Neck Beard."

You gotta be pretty foxy to pull off that much fur. Dare I say, no problem for Brusty. Welcome back, big guy.

Goal.

This one is just cool. Irms stalking...

And here's one of many shots of the Aeros not scoring.
For more, see the full photo set.

All photos by Chris "Killer" Jerina

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Finally, because desperate times require some divine intervention, the Goalie Angel is back with some goal scoring dust for the boys and their gear. Shh. It's almost nap time.

Aeros shut out 2-0 by Admirals

I only half-watched and half listened to the game but the boys over at ASS have a good recap, including the dish on why Kevin Constantine pulled Khudobin and put in Brust for a total of 3 minutes at the start of a power play during the third period.

You have to give it to KC for creativity. Not very nice to do to a cold goalie, but it was no harm, no foul.

There are pictures there, too, but I'm sure we'll have more to share later that are more Aeros-oriented.

Here's Andrew's article in the Chron for the Aeros side of things.

The Aeros need to get some wins here. Hell, they need to just score some goals and give their goalies some support. Maybe the Goalie Fairy will come by tomorrow in Peoria and sprinkle some goal scoring dust on their sticks. (Leave a back door open, equipment guys.)

What do you guys think? This team is drifting, nay rocketing, out of playoff contention. Do they make it in the end? And what do you think the team needs to lift them up and get over the hump?

The trade deadline is coming up, which is when moves will have to happen if they're going to happen at all. Gonna be interesting to see if rookie GM Jim Mill will find some moves to make that could improve the Aeros chances.