Aeros v. Iowa 3/31 - What's that stuff in my lungs?

Oh, that's air! Because I'm breathing again.

Phew! It's good to get a couple of points, isn't it, winning the game-in-hand over the teams breathing down the Aeros' necks.

A few points from the 6-2 win over Iowa:

• The boys looked slow out of the gate. It seemed to take a while to get the legs going.
• Schaefer looked shaky before he left the game. Just not himself. It was valiant of him to try to play, but Dimples probably should have started and let Nolan rest that injury.
  In case you haven't noticed, the Aeros have ONE healthy goalie. I'm not even sure Schaefer is back-up worthy at the moment. I guess we'll see on Thursday.
• Atta boy to Ryznar for a rare goal on a beautiful shorthanded breakaway fed by Madsen. It was just bing-bang-boom and LeNeveu was helpless to stop it. Man, shorties are a bitch. Know how I know? Because the one Iowa scored on Dimples midway through the second period was also a bitch.
• Pouliot's short handed breakaway goal was breathtaking. It was Pou doing that voodoo that Pou does so well. Wait, I feel a song coming on:
  

Ahem... anyway...

• Noreau's power play goal was a blistering slapshot from out near the blue line. Just a "laser." It's funny, you can almost see the kind of traffic develop in front of the net that he shoots so well through. Kid's either very lucky or has a knack for seeing a hole to shoot in through the chaos. Locke and Lammers helped out on that one.
• And then Hrkac showed off that sniper's touch with his first goal since his return to professional hockey. He's looking better and better out there. Irmen and Earl set him up with some terrific passing.
• The first half of the game, your favorite ref, Nygel Pelletier, was mostly calling the Aeros for infractions. In the second half, it was the Chops turn, and again the Aeros took advantage with a goal from Locke that also earned points for Beaudoin and Mojzis.
• And finally, as the Aeros were fighting off a too-many-men penalty late in the third, the Chops risked an empty net in exchange for a two-man advantage, but Irmen put the Aeros third short-handed marker on the board with an assist from Pouliot.

Again, in a runaway game like this, why is anybody on the other team getting a star? And the second star at that. Ridiculous homerosity.

1. HOU - B. Pouliot
2. IOW - P. Wirtanen
3. HOU - M. Noreau

I think, and the AHL agrees with me, that Locke deserved a star from his two points and for breaking his career high for points.

The boys are back home tomorrow, hopefully resting up, and will get a rematch with the Chops Thursday night before hitting the road for two more days. Then it's 5 days off, 3 days of San Antonio, and then...