*cough cough* Welcome back *cough* Sully

Just got the word that Patrick O'Sullivan cleared waivers and will report to the Aeros in time for this weekend's set against the Grand Rapids Griffins. In his last regular season game for the Aeros, he recorded three assists in a 5-3 win at Iowa on April 16, 2006. Dan Ellis was the goalie that night for Iowa. Ha. Dan Ellis. In O'Sullivan's last-ever game as an Aero, he scored both goals in a shameful 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals. In all that, year, O'Sullivan scored 52 goals (regular season and playoffs) to set the franchise record in that category.

Obviously the big elephant in the room is "So what is he going to do here now?" At 11 a.m. he got official word that no other team in the NHL wants him. And the Wild, already devoid of scoring and offensive creativity (unless you count Clutterbuck, who needs all that just TO score) have said some pretty mean (but true) things about him in recent weeks. I don't see him headed back up that way unless the Wild trade a bunch of players by the deadline and need bodies to play out the year.

I can pretty much see three possible scenarios playing out.

A) He plays for a bit and maybe signs to play in Europe or Russia.

B) He plays well in enough in Houston to get a call-up or two to Minnesota (This would be the best case scenario for Aeros fans.)

C) He spends the rest of the season in Houston (a la Mattias Weinhandl a couple of years ago) and parlays that into another shot with another team next year, or goes to Europe and makes good money tearing up the Swiss A League.

I have to be honest, although there is no way he wants to be here, I am kind of looking forward to how this plays out. No matter what, there are a few young players on the team that will watch how he handles this demotion. I'd like to think Sully is thinking about his future, and will do his best to make this work.

Corey Lock and Krys Kolanos were the last two players the Aeros had that were as good, offensively, as O'Sullivan.

We'll see what happens, eh?

Tordjman vs. Chicago

Two quick points I want to make about the news that Matt Hackett getting called up to the Wild for their game tomorrow.

First, it could not come at a worse time. Matt's confidence is sky-high and the Aeros have a favorable schedule in the short term. It would have been nice to parlay that success into a few more wins, possibly.

I can see why the Wild want to reward Hackett, and there is also a chance that Anton does so poorly that they'll need to take him out of the game. The Wild definitely need the fourth best goalie in the system.

So, Tordjman will make his first start of the season for the Aeros tomorrow night. He played well in relief in the disaster of a game last weekend against the Rampage. He's had recent success (albeit moderate) against the Wolves, too.

In the last two seasons, he's played against the Wolves eight times. He's got four wins, three losses and a no-decision in relief. In his last start against them, he stopped all 25 shots in a 1-0 shutout last April 3. He's only allowed them to score more than three on him once - and the Wolves have always had good offensive power.

Also, speaking of the Wolves, they have really turned things around since a slow start. After starting 6-11-1-0, they ripped the Aeros 5-2 on Nov. 20, and that started a nice run of 16-7-1-2. That mark may sound impressive, but they have ripped off most of those wins from a very weak North Division. They've played those teams 15 times since Thanksgiving, going 11-3-1. And one of those losses include a 10-8 loss to Grand Rapids in December.

The Wolves are weak defensively (allow 3.39 goals per game), and if the Aeros can grab a quick lead and get to three goals, they could grab a much-needed win against their long-time foe.

Aeros' most exciting finishes - Championship Version

And now, after a week's delay, we've arrived at the two most exciting, last-minute comebacks in Aeros history. There were more than 1,000 games to look through as I replayed them all in my mind's eye. Thankfully, I will never forget the winner and the runner up just happened a few weeks ago.

The second most exciting comeback of all time: Aeros 4, San Antonio 3

January 1, 2011 - Toyota Center

Down 3-2, won 4-3 in regulation

Tying the game has not been a problem for the Aeros over the years. Statistically, it's bound to happen every now and then when you've got the extra attacker on the ice. Lord knows it has happened to the Aeros a time or two. (Remember Game 5 against Manitoba? Two goal lead with time winding down, and the Moose get two VERY late goals before Hrkac wins it in OT?) I had a feeling the Aeros were going to tie this game, and I told John and Heather just that about 30 game seconds before it actually happened. With Hackett on the bench in the game that the PA announcer announced him as Anton Khudobin, the Aeros made it 3-3 on a goal by Chad Rau. He scored with 55 seconds left, and what do the Aeros do? They keep bringing it, and they catch Al Montoya napping a little bit as Jed Ortmeyer steals the puck and sends it to Warren Peters for a quick shot. He puts it in the back of the net, and the crowd of 10,552 goes nuts. Two goals in the last minute to win it, not just tie it, and to do it in front of that big crowd was just great. Second-best comeback and finish of all time, in my book.

The MOST exciting comeback of all time: Aeros 4, Grand Rapids 3, Shootout

March 6, 1998 - Compaq Center

Down 3-1, won 4-3 in a shootout.

I was an intern with the Aeros in 1997-98. My first memory of that job was visiting with my boss, Todd Sharrock, who how holds a similar position for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Freddie Chabot walks in the door. He asks Todd how the team was shaping up, and Todd looked at him with a big grin and said, "You're going to love it. We got some guns to put in front of you this year." What he meant by that is this. They year before, Freddie was unbelievable. MVP of the league, but the Aeros could not score for shit, and they were knocked out the playoffs by the Long Beach Ice Dogs. But for 97-98, they got Brian Wiseman, Ken McRae, David Oliver and others to pack a punch.

Fast forward to March, and the Aeros are one of the league's best teams. They ran their record up to about 21 games over .500 before they hit a bit of a slump. They went a pedestrian 7-9-3 over the next six weeks and played an awful game in Utah the Wednesday night before this game. In the first 10 minutes, the Griffins scored three times against Ryan Bach. Travis Richards made it 1-0, then former Wild player Shane Hnidy made it 2-1 after a power play goal by Wiseman tied it up. Richards scored again and Dave Tippett yanked Bach and put in Christian Soucy, who has just been called up from the Austin IceBats. The comeback was on, and Soucy made his impressive debut with the team by stopping all 18 shots in regulation the rest of the way.

With time winding down, Oliver made it 3-2 win a goal at 18:11 of the third. Then, with less than 15 seconds left and the goalie on the bench, the Aeros kept the pressure up. Cam Stewart found Wiseman open between the hash marks, and Wiseman tied the game at 19:59. Less than one second actually remained on the clock, and again, because of IHL rules, they went straight to the shootout. The Aeros lit up Patrick Lalime like a Christmas tree and won the game.

I asked Yeo after one of the games last week if he remembered this game. He thought for a second, and I think he did say he remembered. "That was one thing about those two teams, we never felt like we were out of a game. Ever," said Yeo.

That game got the team back on the right track that year. They won five in a row after that, nine of 10 overall and finished with a 12-3-3 run that got them home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Even though they were bumped out of the first round by Milwaukee that year, that season set the stage for a remarkable encore. The 1998-99 team was just an incredible team to watch. Maybe it all started with that 4-3 shootout win where the Aeros tied the game with less than one second left on the clock. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

Just putting this out there ...

I have heard this a dozen times recently: "Man, this team is fun to watch. They have a solid blueline, they work hard and they're right in the middle of the playoff race. Much better than last year's team."

Today, with a tough three in three looming, I e-mailed some good folks in Springfield for a copy of the standings on this day (Jan. 13) last year.

Here are some things I thought I should pass along to you:

* This year, on Jan. 13, the Aeros are 22-18-1-2.

* Last year, on Jan. 13, the Aeros were 19-15-6-1.

* This year's team has played 43 games, has earned 47 points and is in fifth place.

* Last year's team played 41 games, earned 45 points and was in fourth place.

* Both teams would be playoff bound if the playoffs started in January

* Last year's team was 11-9-3-0 at home at this point.

* This year's team is 11-6-1-0 at home at this point.

Now the really good stuff:

* At this point last year, the Aeros averaged 2.63 goals per game

* This year, they are averaging just 2.60 goals per game.

* At this point last year, the Aeros gave up just 2.54 goals per game.

* This year, the Aeros are giving up 2.74 goals per game.

So, basically, they are worse offensively, defensively and they have more regulation losses. BUT, this year, they have more wins and they are a better home team this time around.

There is not much, statistically, to separate the two teams. One thing I must point out is the schedule to this point. Last year's team really, really blew it in December when they had one of the most favorable schedules in the league. This year, they get literally the worst schedule of the 30 teams and they are right there in it.

If they are still in 4th or 5th place come March 1, they are in. They just need to hang in there for the next six weeks and stay right where they are.

(And click on the image below to get to know Patrick O'Sullivan. If he clears waivers and actually reports to Houston, you will have fun watching this guy when he has the puck.)

As The Goalies Turn

This is interesting, and probably something to watch because, per Russo, the only healthy Wild goalie at the moment is Anton Khudobin. Neither Backstrom or Theodore are practicing, and it's just Khudobin and the strength coach.

The Wild don't play again until tomorrow night, so it's possible that Theodore will be healthy enough to play, but this is the Wild, so it's just as possible that the Aeros are currently turning over every rock in the Chicago area so they'll have a backup goalie for Hackett tomorrow night should Tordjman be called to backup Khudobin, or vice versa.

PER HEATHER: Tordjman's on an AHL-only deal. So if anybody goes up, it's Hackett. But hey, I said vise versa, right?

Aeros make bacon in Rockford

After losing and losing and losing to a not very impressive Rockford Icehogs team, the Aeros finally pulled it all together and played a really solid, determined 60 minutes of hockey to win 4-2 tonight.

Falk got the opening goal with a shot from the point that beat Rockford goalie Richards through a ton of traffic. But the see-saw started quickly as Colonel Klinkhammer put one past Hackett just a minute and a half later.

The Aeros went up 2-1 with 3 minutes left in the first on a power play goal by Warren Peters. Earl got the assist and continued a 5 game  point streak.

I wish this were football so I could see time of possession because shots on goal don't seem to convey possession very well. The Aeros controlled the puck for long stretches, kept the pressure up, and really didn't give Rockford much time to hammer away at the Aeros end. Not to say Hackett wasn't busy. He came up big several times on difficult saves through traffic and one rather dangerous breakaway in his 27 stops.

The second goal against, in fact, was no fault of his as it was caused by a turnover early in the 3rd by Prosser, who just made a no-look pass up the boards right on to the eager blades of Taffe and Potulny.

Prosser made up for it later though, by setting up the game winning goal on a great feed to Palmer and then Rau, who put the Aeros up 3-2 about 7 minutes into the third. The boys battled through some 5 on 3 time to hold the lead and really kept quality chances low until Ortmeyer was able to set the puck loose from the Aeros zone with an empty net and Peters passed up to Gillies who put it on the target.

That was a 3 point night for Mr. Peters, who I don't think I've ever seen smile, but he sure makes me smile. :)

And with that, the Aeros are in 5th place, in playoff position and.... well, we'll see if the current positive trends continue and they can hold or maybe even improve on that placement. Still a lot of hockey left.

Max Noreau: All-Star

I mentioned this earlier today on Twitter, but for all those of you who don't follow our twitter feed -- how dare you -- the news is that defenseman Max Noreau was named to the AHL All Star game.

This is the second year in a row that Noreau's made the all star team. And once again, he's more than deserving. He's the team second-leading scorer (7-16=23) behind Robbie Earl. He's tied for second among AHL defenseman with five power play goals, and he's second among AHL defenseman with 116 shots on goal.

So let's all say congrats to Noreau the next time we see him.

And well done. Well done indeed.

So Much For Home Ice Advantage

Am I the only person who has a problem with the new promotion the Aeros are running? In case you haven't seen it, the Aeros are running a special promotion for Detroit Red Wings fans for this weekend. If you buy tickets for the games this weekend, specifically if you buy a ticket for Saturday's game -- both featuring the Aeros hosting the Grand Rapids Griffins -- then after the game, you get to attend a meet and greet with the Griffins.

And wait, it gets better. They're selling $17 tickets in the Griffins attack zone -- I love how, on the flyer they call it the "lower end zone (Griffins shoot twice)." Like Red Wings fans don't actually know anything about hockey. So not only are they insulting Aeros fans by making a specific attempt to award Griffins fans, but they're insulting Griffins fans at the same time by treating them like idiots who don't understand hockey terminology.

I'm all for better attendance. I'm all for getting new fans into Toyota Center because it brings a great energy to the building. But putting together ticket packages that deliberately attempt to bring in fans to cheer against your team is just, I don't know, wrong. Especially when you're stacking them in an area directly behind your goalie.

Is anybody over at the Aeros marketing department doing any thinking? I've got an idea, why don't they just go ahead and move the games to Grand Rapids? I'm sure they would get a whole lot more Red Wings fans, but I somehow seriously doubt that Grand Rapids would be putting together a meet and greet package for Aeros fans.

Spurgeon Returns

Per NHL.com comes a note that the Wild have reassigned Jared Spurgeon to the Aeros as of today.

Welcome to the Spotlight

Here's my latest story in the Houston Press. Like I said below, the focus is on Matt Hackett, his request to play again yesterday despite having sucked on Saturday, and his development as a player. There's also a brief summary of the weekend.

So what are you waiting for, go read it already.