Aeros At The Quarter Mark Of The Season

I've got a new blog post up over at the mothership on the Aeros at the quarter mark of the season. However, unless people actually start reading the hockey posts over at the mothership, there might not be many more posts at the mothership because the numbers are awful. I don't care if you leave a comment, but click on the link because that lets them know you're reading. I really don't want to go back to writing stupid top 10 lists.

Tim Stapleton nets NHL contract thanks to strong start in San Antonio

No one, save for the Rampage, is sad to see this news.

Tim Stapleton is a great AHL player and has been snatched up by the Atlanta Thrashers organization.
He was on a AHL-only deal with the Rampage, who will have a hard time finding someone to replace this talent.

They are still, by far, the best team in our division.

By the way, I think the Thrashers might be the only team in the NHL that draws fewer fans than their AHL affiliate.

Farewell (for now) Brock McBride

Every now and again, we get surprised with something.
As Craig Biggio used to say over and over and over about baseball ... "that's hockey."

To me, the best part about getting to cover the team, is the surprises that pop up every now and again.
I am a pretty emotional dude, and yes, there have been times when I've teared up during a great comeback or when the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Anton after that playoff win two years ago.

To me, the first big surprise of the season is how well Brock McBride filled in during his month-long stint with the Aeros. He was sent back to Elmira and played in Sunday's 6-2 loss to Florida (link includes some decent pics of Brock in the game), but while in Houston, filling in for Zingoni and all the other guys that have been called up, he notched six points (three goals, three assists) in 16 games.

The 5'10" f0rward played for St. Lawrence University and, more recently, in the AHL with Syracuse and Hartford.

I was impressed with his tenacity and overall offensive awareness. That goal he score in Friday's loss to San Antonio was a beaut .... He held his own up here, and I wish him nothing but the best.

I think he will be back in the AHL before too long, but I don't know that we'll see him again in Houston. With how well he played for the Aeros, he may get snatched up before his services are needed here.

RIP Enrico Pallazzo

In honor of all of the horrible national anthems we have to stand for every season, and in celebration of the late Leslie Nielsen...

11/27/10 -- Aeros v. Milwaukee -- The Shoot-Out Torpedo

Sorry this is late -- I've been having to transcribe Rice football postgame quotes and write that story. And I'm tired, so don't expect a lot, but...

The Aeros 2-1 shootout win tonight against the Milwaukee Admirals was much, much better than last night's 5-3 loss to San Antonio. The effort and urgency was clearly there from early on, it's just that the Aeros ran into a tough goalie on a hot streak in Milwaukee's Mark Dekanich -- the guy was only allowing about 1.68 goals per game, so the Aeros getting a goal in regulation play was something of which to be proud. And to top it off, the regulation goal was from Jared Spurgeon who went five-hole on a really pretty shot. Then after Casey Wellman made a Corey Locke-esque type shot in the first round of the shootout, it was Spurgeon who again came up big to score in the last round.

And Yeo was much, much happier about his team's effort tonight.

The Aeros are off until Thursday's kiddie matinee against Rockford. Their record is 11-9-1-2 for 25 points after 23 games, and they're tied, points-wise, with Milwaukee for fourth place, though Milwaukee has the better win percentage.

1. I'm liking the defense combo of Max Noreau and Jared Spurgeon. They don't make for the tallest or biggest duo on the ice, but the effort's there every night, and they're going to hit. Plus those two are turning into quite the offensive tandem.

2. Spurgeon got off a pretty shot in the third period to put the Aeros up 1-0. Milwaukee disputed the goal, but it was clear to us in the press box that it went five hole then hit off the cross bar and behind the blue line before bouncing out. As for the goal, Spurgeon said it was just a by-product of the team attacking the net and he was just trying to get a rebound for either Casey Wellman or Brandon Buck to handle.

3. "In all honesty it was just putting pucks on net," Spurgeon said afterwards. "We’d been throwing them to the net all night, and we were getting opportunities. We had a three-on-two there coming on the rush, and I was just trying to get a rebound for the other guys. It just happened to go in. Good things happen when you put it on the net."

4. As I said, Yeo was much happier with his team tonight. He realizes that there are going to be losses and mistakes made. What he cares about is the team's actions when the losses and mistakes are being made.

5. "If we a lose game, it’s going to be fine," Yeo told us. "Tonight for example, if we lost that game, it’s okay because the intentions of what we were trying to do was pretty clear that everybody was all in. The work ethic was there, and guys were committed to playing the system in the way that we want to play it. In each and every game we’re going to make mistakes. I make mistakes, and everybody’s going to. At the same time, it’s evident when a guy’s going out there and doing what he can for the team. And that was clearly the case tonight. The guys were all in for each other, and the result was positive."

6. Things are looking up for the Aeros health wise. Chad Rau is waiting only medical clearance to return to action. Tyler Cuma and Peter Zingoni have received medical clearance and are getting back into game shape. Marco Scandella is suffering a lower body injury, but Yeo doesn't think he'll be out for long.

7. I normally don't say nice things about the National Anthem singers, but I thought tonight's anthem was exceptional. Of course, the singer was one of our regular readers, but that has nothing to do with it. She was very good. I wish they were all that good.

8. Some strange goings-on before the game. Apparently, the Toyota Center computer system crashed, especially their system that allowed them process the ticketing. Toyota Center requested the Aeros delay the start of the game for 15 minutes as a result. While the Aeros were willing to work with Toyota Center re this -- though not to the tune of 15 minutes -- the Admirals said no and demanded the game start on time.

9. That's why scratches weren't announced since it wasn't known until it was time for the lineups to be announced as to when the game would start. That's also why the Aeros hit the ice before Milwaukee -- everybody was messed up on the timing.

10. The Aeros do not play again until Thursday. Yeo plans to use this time for practice. He feels some of the recent problems the team has been having is due to a lack of practice time due to the scheduling.

11. Tonight's video has absolutely nothing to do with the game, or with any theme arising from the game. It's just I'm an Elvis Costello fan and he's got a new album out called National Ransom and the video is of him performing the title song on Letterman. And if you know someone who's a music fan, then I think this album would be a great Christmas gift.

View from the Press Box - Aeros dropped by San Antonio; chance for redemption tonight

With some teams, it can be difficult to tell whether or not "A Game mode" is being applied. The Aeros are not one of those teams. When they are on, they look on. When they are off, they don't look on.

Last night, they did not appear to be on, but they found the net first with a 5-on-3 goal. It has already been mentioned that the Aeros gave up the lead really quick, later tied the game with another 5-on-3 goal and then faltered going away.

One commenter mentioned that they were lamenting Yeo's frankness when it comes to expressing his disappointment in the team. I am OK with it, and from my perspective it helps me to better understand the team. The team is capable of so much more, so when they come out flat and get drilled when the game was there for the taking, he should be able to talk about disappointment.

Tonight, the Aeros get a chance to make things even on the homestand against a Milwaukee Admirals team that shut out Texas Friday. Dekanich will be tough to dent tonight, so I think we'll see a very low-scoring game. It did not work this way last night, but whoever scores first, I think, will hold on and get the "W."

Another thing needs to be mentioned. Aeros captain Jon DiSalvtore's play of late has picked up. He has seven points in his last eight games and seems to be creating more and more around the net. He got hot last December, so fans can only hope he just got an early start this year. He's about a .60 point per game for his career, and has been very streaky thus far in an Aeros uniform. But now with the power play statistically better, he should start racking up a few more points.

And one other thin I wanted to talk about ... It has been great chatting with Mike Yeo after each game. I aways get a good sense of how he feels about the team. He doesn't mince words when it comes to expressing disappointment or favor (when that is warranted), and I never have to worry about wondering what he thinks "needs fixing," so to speak.

With Todd McLellan, who was great a motivating his players with psycology, he rarely said anything negative about the team. He was great about breaking down the key play or the turning point in the game.

With Rob Daum, I always got a great quote (most of which I could not use in the paper) and he was always quick to tell me that he thought I interpreted something the wrong way. He never said "you are wrong" but he would say, in his words, "I disagree and here is why." And he always thought I was misquoting him. Maybe that is why he wanted to make sure I understood everything. His two teams were very schizophrenic, and without his help, I don't know that I would have done even an adequate job covering the team.

Kevin Constantine was a good teacher with the media. I think there were times when I would miss deadline because KC would take the time to explain why this was that and why he did it that way. Sometimes coaches hate it when you use hindsight or second guess, even when your intentions are good. Kevin would answer those questions and do so without hesitation. I learned more about the game during his three years that I did at any other time. He did not give the best quotes (meaning the most damning or funny), but he could be humorous at times.

And with Mike, like I said, I just get a good sense of what he is thinking as the team's leader when I leave the rink.

If he can figure out how to get his team to play a little more consistently, he just might be able to sneak this squad into the playoffs.

11/26/10 -- Aeros v. Rampage -- San Antonio Bulls Over The Aeros

I should write up the game tonight, a 5-3 Aeros loss to the San Antonio Rampage. But I just don't feel like putting in the effort. Kind of like the Aeros tonight, as they really didn't seem to give a damn about putting any effort into the game.

Think I'm being harsh? Well how about this from Mike Yeo: "I was very disappointed in the game. I’m very disappointed with the way we started, and the lack of urgency in our play. We talked about it in the morning about what a great opportunity it was, a great challenge playing against a first place team, and I thought right from the start we were making soft plays. There was no desperation in our game. We were losing every loose puck and battle – every one on one battle. And ultimately we got what we deserved tonight."

And trust me, there's more where that came from. But frankly, my sense of urgency for getting this written is kind of on the same level as the team starting the game. So let's just say the Aeros got the 1-0 lead. Quickly gave it up. They let the Rampage take the 2-1 lead in the second, tied it again, then quickly surrendered the lead. Yeah, it was just one of those nights.

A few quick points:

1. Both of the Aeros goals came on the power play. When's the last time the Aeros only goals in a game came off the power play?

2. Instrumental in both goals was the game's third star, Max Noreau. Noreau set up Casey Wellman for the first goal, then Noreau got the second goal on one of his patented laser shots, of which we've seen far too few of this season.

3. "One of the biggest keys is we’re shooting the puck a lot now," Noreau said of the power play. "We’re not looking for the pretty play all of the time now. It doesn’t have to be a tap-in goal. It could be a point shot with guys in front of the net shot. I’m thinking that’s our bread and butter so far, so just keeping doing that. When teams see that we’re shooting the puck a lot, we’ll try the pretty plays."

4. Mike Yeo wasn't happy with the power play. Then again, Yeo wasn't happy, rightfully, with much in tonight's game.

5. Yeo's not throwing the goalies under the bus. He put some of the problems that Hackett tonight on the play of the defensemen, especially those plays which found Hackett trying to field the puck and getting plays started.

6. "I’m not going to sit here and say Hack played great, that’s for sure," Yeo said. "Probably I think what we’re doing for right now is a game where we don’t play great, but a goalie wins a game for us. But having said that, a lot of the stuff that was happening, especially as far as playing the puck, was on the defensemen more than him. We have a plan for how we’re supposed to retrieve plucks, and that plan wasn’t executed too well. It’s a matter of going back and communicating with your goaltender and wanting the puck is ultimately what it comes down too."

7. What this game was missing tonight was Mitch Love. Or a Mitch Love type player. The team was down and not exerting much effort. The crowd was down, stuffed with too much turkey. This was the type of game that, when Love was here, sensing the lack of energy amongst the team and crowd, that Love would go out and get some action started that would ignite the team and the crowd.

8. Cal Clutterbuck was also good in this role in his one season with the Aeros. Clutterbuck had an ability to level a hit that would get the crowd and the team engaged in the game.

9. No video tonight. This game didn't deserve one.

Flattening their laurels: Aeros 3, Rampage 5

When I was a kid, I thought "laurels" were another term for butt cheeks when I heard the term "resting on your laurels." In fact, even long since knowing the etymology of the phrase, I still get a mental picture of someone resting on their ass when I hear it.

Whatever mental picture it conjures, Coach Yeo is pretty cheesed about the pattern of laurel-resting he's seeing from this Aeros team. They put together a string of success and then they stink for a few games. And then they hit bottom and pick themselves up and succeed again.

Tonight, there was a loud hissing sound in the building (we thought maybe they were preparing to drop the big board at center ice on Terry Koharski so he'd quit calling so many penalties and let the game have some flow -- Love you, Jeff Smith! *mwah*). But I'm hoping now that it was the sound of the Aeros hitting bottom in this game, because this was not a fun game to watch.

From top to bottom, any cohesiveness ended with Wellman's early goal (beauty, BTW) and I felt like Hackett didn't have his head together in nets.

I was particularly frustrated by his weak puck movement. I know I have a high standard there, but I'm of the opinion that puck playing for a goalie can be so dangerous that if you aren't pretty damn good at it, you should take the safe option.

Yeo put some of that back on the team tonight though, saying there's a prescribed way defensemen are supposed to deal with that stuff and it wasn't happening. So... I kinda take that back, Hack, but kinda not, too. I dunno.

The team very kindly gives us Time On Ice stats now and I'm looking at them tonight and wondering if Scandella is hurt. I need to get into Russo's habit of counting the bench every so often, but Scandella only had two shifts in the second period and none in the third. Unusual.

Also, Kassian was reassigned to Houston after the Wild game today, so hopefully we'll see him tomorrow. Having him back might inject some much-needed energy and hustle.

Anyway, another disappointing night, but the beautiful thing is that they get a chance to do better tomorrow. And talking to Max Noreau after the game, he feels sure they're going to bring it tomorrow night. I wish I shared his conviction.

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Bonus reading: Here's a funny story worth reading if you love old school hockey stories.

Turkey Trotters: Roster moves and Sully's Back (sorta)

Several Aeros players are going to have some solid vacations this summer thanks to the air miles they're racking up going back and forth to Minnesota and elsewhere.

In the last couple of days, the Wild have sent Casey Wellman back to Houston (#7 in case you forgot) and called up Matt Kassian and Justin Falk.

The Wild play the Flyers tonight, so Kassian isn't particularly a surprise. Never hurts to have some extra muscle against those guys. Falk is up as an injury replacement, if needed, according to Russo.

Might also interest folks who haven't heard that the Wild picked up Patrick O'Sullivan off waivers from Carolina yesterday. If you've been around a few years, you remember what a stud Sully was for the Aeros in 05-06 as a rookie with 93 points. Since then, however, his career hasn't really lived up to expectations.

The current plan is for him to start with the Wild, which he will do tonight as #19, but certainly he seems to be looked at as a temporary fix for the loss of Guillaume Latendresse to hip and sports hernia surgery.

There's always a chance he could get waived down to Houston if things don't work out up there or the needs change. He's on a 2-way deal and would only have to pass through waivers.

Tonight, the Aeros are in Cedar Park and sit two spots ahead of the Stars, but the Stars have 4 games in hand. So it's important for the Aeros to keep the pedal to the floor on this team, particularly while ubergoalie Brent Krahn is out with an undisclosed lower body injury.

Then they're back home Friday and Saturday vs. San Antonio and Milwaukee respectively.

If we don't post again before tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'll be giving a word of thanks for the Aeros being out of the basement. So much more fun to cover a happy team! Heck, it's just a lot more fun to watch a happy team.

Anyway, be well and safe travels to anybody hitting the roads.

Aeros bury the Stars 4-2

Raise your hand if you watched the first 58 minutes of tonight's game and thought, "Ugh. No way we get outta here with a win."

My hand is up. It was a tough game to watch most of the way. Kludgey first goal from Anton, who woke up and was very good the rest of the way. Texas' goalie, Beskorowany, was making his AHL debut and looked nervous at times, but at 6'5" is simply so big, it was just difficult to score on him.

Credit to Andrew, he called the game winner by Jarod Palmer with a minute and a half to spare. Palmer found a little open space just outside the mass of bodies in front of the crease, Spurgeon got it on his stick and boom. Bob's your uncle. That sucker was rattling the water bottle.

With John out of town, you're not getting a big mess of quotes, but I'll give you the gist of Yeo's post-game chat with us. He was really pleased with how the team responded to adversity. Tough travel schedule with 3 games in 48 hours is a grind of the highest order.

You don't want to make excuses about that kind of thing, but they're humans and it does have an effect. After a long stretch of Texas hammering away in the Aeros, maybe you noticed Khudobin just stay on one knee for as long as the play was safely away from him.

I was worried he was hurt at first and then I put on my goalie brain and realized, the dude is bound to have some seriously tired legs and even without tired legs, that was a tough stretch. Okay kid, catch your breath.

Yeo gave Anton a lot of credit tonight for standing on his head when the team wasn't up to the task. And that favor was paid back, in particular a great save by Spurgeon as the puck danced on the goal line behind Khudobin.

We talked to Palmer, too, who said the team is really playing for each other and helping each other out and everyone is taking their turns pulling the load. Said the attitude in the room is really positive and chemistry continues to build.

We're pretending I didn't ask him how surprised he is to be at the top of the scoring chart for the Aeros. But it suffices to say he's "very surprised" to be there but gave all the credit to his linemates who create great chances for him. I'm guessing most every guy in the top 10 scorers on the team would say the same and it wouldn't be the usual hockey player cliche speak. It really does seem to be a lot of teamwork that makes the goals happen.

And all superstitiousness aside, the pressure at the top isn't that heavy because the top scorers all only have a point or two between them. This team scores by committee and whether it's DiSalvatore or Noreau or Palmer or whoever at the top, it's not particularly relevant in the grand scheme of things. It will likely change in a game or two anyway.

But for a rookie from whom we didn't really know what to expect, what a nice surprise!

Speaking of nice surprises, Yeo said Kassian has been one for him. He said he didn't know much about him when the season started but he had nothing but good things to say tonight. He added that the fight fired the boys up as much as Anton's great play did, and that guys all feel a little bigger when he's in the line-up (which he always is, and that's not something most enforcers can say... I think he's a lot more than that to this team now).

I kinda feel bad that Warren Peters didn't get a star tonight, so I'm throwing him the honorary 4th star. He's really become the hub around which a lot of good things happen on the ice and probably doesn't get enough outright credit for it. But it's not going unnoticed.

There's probably more to say, but dude, I'm dog tired. :)