Couple of Well-Deserved Stick Taps for Brust, DiSalvatore

Overall it was a very good weekend for the Aeros, who earned four points against the best and worst teams in the AHL. After Friday's win at San Antonio, the Aeros got a goal five seconds into OT to beat the Abbotsford Heat. You can read more about that game below.

But a couple of former Aeros, two very popular former players were in the news over the weekend, so we'd be remiss by not mentioning that.

Brust lines up for a save against the Milwaukee Admirals

Barry Brust, who helped man the pipes between 2007 and 2010, set an AHL record this weekend. He set the new mark for the longest shutout streak against the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday night.

Before James Wright ended it later in the game, Brust went 268 minutes and 17 seconds without allowing a goal. That surpassed the previous AHL record of 249:51, established by Hockey Hall of Famer Johnny Bower with the Cleveland Barons in 1957.

I talked to Barry after the game in Houston on Sunday, and asked him how long he knew he was going to get the start against the Rampage. The Heat have three goalies, and Brust has gone several weeks between starts. Brust said he knew for awhile, but things could change. That helped him prepare for all the hoopla that led up to his most recent start.

I also asked him what was going through his mind as the second ticked off leading up to the record. He just told me that he did whatever he could do to keep from looking at the clock. He was excited, happy, thankful and relieved when it finally made it to the 19th minute without allowing a goal.

Here is more about the record from The AHL:

Brust, who finished Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win with 26 saves, is now 5-0-0 on the season with a 0.59 goals-against average and a .978 save percentage, stopping 131 of 134 shots overall. The 29-year-old native of Swan River, Man., is 101-71-9 in 196 career AHL games, and was a member of the Binghamton Senators’ Calder Cup championship team in 2010-11. 

In setting a record that stood for nearly 55 years, Bower – a three-time AHL MVP and three-time Calder Cup champion in his career – helped Cleveland to a 2-2 tie with the Buffalo Bisons on Nov. 27, 1957, before shutting out the Hershey Bears (Nov. 30), Springfield Indians (Dec. 1) and Hershey again (Dec. 5). His streak was ended by Buffalo’s Lou Jankowski on Dec. 7.

(Aside from Ms.C: Wild horses couldn't have kept me from that game, so InGoal Magazine asked me to write a little something up afterward. Since I was the only reporter there, here's the exclusive with Brusty and Coach Ward after the game.)

Also over the weekend, former Aeros captain Jon DiSalvatore recorded his 500th career AHL point on Sunday in the Heshey Bears' win over the Toronto Marlies. DiSalvatore captained the Aeros to the 2011 Calder Cup finals and is now the fourth leading active player in the AHL. More amazingly, he's play for 10 different coaches in each of his 10 AHL seasons, and I think that is a record that will never be broken. That is just mind-boggling for someone who has been in the league for so long.

Jon, as many of you know, was a stand-up guy and always answered the tough questions ... win or lose. He had a rough plus-minus year during his first year in Houston, but he rebounded with back-to-back seasons with a career-high 28 goals. And he was money during the 2011 playoffs and scored one of the biggest goals in franchise history during Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against Hamilton.

DiSalvatore wins the West Finals vs. Hamilton in 2011

I was really hoping there'd be enough cash to persuade him to stay another year or so, but he got a great deal from the Yankees of the AHL. Here is some more about Jon from The AHL:

DiSalvatore, a 2000 draft pick by the San Jose Sharks, is in his 10th professional season and first with the Bears. 

He has totaled 209 goals and 291 assists in 696 career games with Hershey, Houston, the Lowell Devils, San Antonio, Peoria, the Worcester Sharks and the Cleveland Barons, reaching the 20-goal plateau in each of his first nine campaigns. 

DiSalvatore captained the Houston Aeros to the Calder Cup Finals in 2010-11, and made his first AHL All-Star Classic appearance in 2012. 

DiSalvatore ranks fourth among active AHL players in career scoring, behind Toronto's Keith Aucoin (794 points), Chicago's Darren Haydar(736) and Providence's Trent Whitfield (583).

Aeros Stretch Winning Streak to ... two!

OK, I will save the sarcasm about the Aeros season-high tying two game winning streak. They have won three of four overall, and are playing much better defensively with players getting healthy and Matt Hackett getting all the playing time in goal.

Two of the wins are against the Rampage, the AHL's worst teams by points, including Friday's 2-1 win. Justin Fontaine scored the game winner on the power play late in the third period to get the two points. Fontaine is the team's player of the month so far with 12 points.

Since that 7-5 win on kids day in the Alamo City, the Aeros have not allowed more than two goals in the three games. Their scoring is down, too, and goals are going to be even harder to come by on Sunday when the Heat come to town with the league's best defense.

Like Heather reported yesterday, Kuemper will be back as the back-up Sunday, but it's Hack's net for the short term with no three games in three nights for a couple of weeks.

Photo by Darren Abate/pressphotointl.com

The Heat are the first of three great teams the Aeros will host on the homestand, as Oklahoma City comes to town next week for a pair of games at Toyota Center. The NHL lockout has afforded us to see a lot of decent talent so far this year, and OKC is loaded with NHL players. The Aeros are 2-1 against OKC this year, and you'd have to think we'll see more high scoring games next weekend.

The other bit of drama this weekend is former Aeros goalie Barry Brust COULD get the start with an AHL record on the line. He's about a period away from recording the league's longest shutout streak. Personally, I think the Heat will start him tonight against San Antonio, but maybe not. The Heat got a shutout Friday night at Texas, and they may ride the hot hand saving Brust for Sunday against the Aeros.

I think most of us are kind of hoping for the latter. And if you're the Aeros, I think you want a crack at trying to break up that streak. Either way, be sure to check the box scores tonight to see if Brust gets the call in San Antonio.

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

This is, I think, the hardest post to write that I've ever done here. The interviews were hard to transcribe, listening to the inflections in the voices of Mike Yeo and Jon DiSalvatore, the emotion, the passion, the disappointment, the feeling that they had just let down not only themselves, but the fans, especially the fans.

This isn't how the Aeros wanted this season to end. Not losing game six on home ice after having a 2-1 lead in the third period. Not losing a game on a desperation play by a Binghamton defender coming from nowhere to block a Patrick O'Sullivan shot that appeared to be a sure goal with about 50 seconds left that would have sent the game to overtime. Not after they finally got their power play working. Not after they left everything they had out there on the ice.

In the end, the Aeros just couldn't go any further. All of the game sevens. All of the physical play. The injuries. In the end, it was just too much. Especially with a 19-year-old rookie goalie named Robin Lehner playing out of his mind.

The better team won last night. The Senators getting the 3-2 win to win the Calder Cup in front of 10,000-plus screaming Aeros fans. So, for one last time, lets get to the notes, quotes and observations from game six.

1. First, here's the link to my game story in the Press. I know you're sick and tired of my pushing this, but this will be the last time for awhile. I don't know what the status of Aeros coverage in the Press will be for next season, but they've indulged me for four seasons, so go over one last time this year, read the story, leave some comments. Let them know you care (and damn, what do you know, people from Binghamton are already bitching about it though I say nothing but good things about the team).

2. Despite the Aeros loss, this was easily the best game of hockey I've seen in a long time. Perhaps it had something to do with Terry Koharski not being around, but David Banfield and Jean Hebert did an excellent job of officiating this game. They kept the scrums to a minimum. They called the penalties that needed to be called. They didn't get in the way of the flow of the game. Perhaps the league listened to Mike Yeo, perhaps they didn't. But still, nice job of officiating.

3. I think the bravest person around last night was Jon DiSalvatore. It's Mike Yeo's job to talk to us media folks, win or lose. But DiSalvatore could have said no. I don't think any of us would have objected. I think we would have all understood. But the guy's the captain. He's been the go-to guy for a comment all season. So we asked for him, and he came out, and he talked to us. You could tell it was hard. You could tell he was dying inside. Dying for himself, his teammates, the fans. But he stood there one last time and answered our questions.

There was a reason the guys elected him to be the captain. And we've seen it many times out there on the ice. But his performance after this game, standing there, facing us, after this, that's why he was the captain.

4. "If I can say right now, thank you to all of the fans," DiSalvatore said at the very end. "I do want to thank them. They were tremendous. They showed up tonight, and they were great. We really appreciate that support. We’re upset that we couldn’t bring a championship, but we appreciate all of the support that they’ve given to us, and we hope that they’re back next year for sure."

5. The crowd last night was fantastic. The Aeros are a minor league team in a major league town. They battle for attention with the Astros, the Texans, and the Rockets. The Dynamo probably get more attention. They're there with the Cougars and the Owls. But despite that, they went out and won games. They demanded attention, and the fans, the city paid attention. There were over 10,000 folks inside Toyota Center last night banging their thundersticks and clanging the cowbells. I was down there in the corner in the third period, and you could feel it.

6. "It was an interesting year for me, coming back here," Mike Yeo told us. "We had some amazing, passionate fans, but I think things kind of grew as the playoffs went on. Those passionate fans, I’m really happy for them that they got awarded with a long playoff run, and I wish we could have delivered to them what I believe that they deserve as well. I think our fans are the best in the league. I also think that with the help of the media – the media was great for us throughout the playoffs, and I think that picking up – I think we picked up a lot of new fans along the way. I think people got a chance to see what it’s all about. The passion that’s out there. The energy level that’s out there. The speed and intensity of the game. And our crowds were just unbelievable. Again, I wish in front of that crowd tonight, to see how classy they were, to see them cheering on right to the very end, I wish that we could have delivered a different outcome."

7. About that outcome. What a punch in the gut. Binghamton played great hockey. But the injuries were the doom for the Aeros. Cody Almond and Jared Spurgeon were probably, along with Colton Gillies, the team's best penalty killers, and they couldn't play. Jon DiSalvatore said the special teams were a wash -- each team had two goals on the power play -- and that it was the five-on-five that did the Aeros in. And perhaps he's right. Once again, going to the injuries to the Spurgeon and Almond.

We saw way too little of Spurgeon this season. That's because he was up with the Wild way before he was supposed to be up with the Wild, and he stayed up there because of just how good he was on defense. And Cody Almond had been a key piece to making the chemistry of the first line just right, providing the grit to go with DiSalvatore and O'Sullivan.

8. One of the things that Yeo and DiSalvatore have spoken about all year is the character of this team. About how they've banded together, become a family. Maybe it's kind of a cliche. But for this team, it worked, and Yeo says that why this team went as far as it did.

"You know what, when you see a guy go out and put his own agenda aside, and do everything he can to help the guy next to him, to help you, to help his teammates, that’s when you know that guy’s a winner. That’s a guy you want to go out and do the same thing for. That’s what we have with this group. It’s a group that cared an awful lot about each other. I think that that came from each guy giving everything he could for the group. It was a very special group."

9. Jon DiSalvatore was asked what that one thing, above any other thing, would be that he remembers about this season. He didn't mention a game, or a goal. He mentioned his teammates.

"It’s always going to be the guys," he said. "It’s us in there. We go through everything together. You experience different relationships with guys. You battle, and you grind, and you challenge each other, and at the end of the day you guys are all fighting for the same thing. And you come together – you learn so much about the character of guys, and what it took for what guys to get to this level, and how guys are experiencing pro careers differently, and how we all become part of it with each other. These relationships that you build, especially going this far is – they’re a lifetime. They become lifetime friends, and warriors that you’ll just go to battle with any day."

10. In the end, Binghamton was just the better team last night. Particularly Robin Lehner. "He’s fantastic. He was fantastic," Yeo said. "Certainly in the second period we had great chances. We could have extended our lead. We couldn’t get that third goal. He’s huge. He’s a big guy. He covers an awful of lot net. He was great."

11. It was tough to see the Aeros lose last night, to lose the series. It was tough to see Binghamton celebrating on the ice while the Aeros skated in a daze, trying to grasp what had just happened. But despite all of that, I had a slight tinge of happiness. Not so much for the Senators as a team, because I don't really know that team. But I do know two of the players, Barry Brust and Corey Locke.

Barry Brust was my money quote, my go-to-guy for three years in Houston. He'd always give a great quote, win or lose, especially if he had just lost a game. He's a good guy, hell, he's a great guy. And Corey Locke was only here for one season, but that season, two years ago, he was a star. He was Mr. Dependable. The guy just had, still has, this ability to put points on the board. And while not as great a quote as Brust, he would always talk and do his best to give us what we needed.

So as tough as it was to watch the Aeros lose, to see the guys I've been covering and getting to know this year lose, I want to congratulate Brusty and Corey and their teammates.

12. Finally, it's been awhile since I've posted a video. But there's this song that's been running through my head since the game ended last night. Perhaps it's because of the way Yeo and DiSalvatore kept trying to apologize to the fans and to each other for letting everybody down. Perhaps it's because the song is used in Slap Shot, one of my favorite movies. But it just seems to fit the mood I'm in, so here's Elton John with "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word."



I'll be back later this week with my thoughts on the season and a whole bunch of thank yous.

In flight and photos from Game 2

Well, gang, the Aeros looked the other way while I sneaked into the luggage compartment of the charter flight they're taking up to Bingo. So, T3I will be with you all week, live in Binghamton, covering morning skates, games, and any other trouble I can find.

It's just Ms.C for now but John is getting in for the Friday and Saturday games and maybe Drew makes an appearance if we get lucky. I'll do my best to get you good info all week.

Credit to the Wild for stepping up for some nice travel arrangements. I saw lots of players' faces light up as they boarded the plane. In particular, one tall defenseman had the biggest reaction, even though he's spent plenty of time with the Wild flying just as swankily.

Just goes to show how much it's appreciated, but especially by the extra tall boys who would otherwise have their knees up by their noses in coach.

Anyway, without further ado, here are Chris "Beer Me" Jerina's photos of Game 2. If you want to see all of them, along with Saturday's morning skate, go here.

Okay, just ONE Brusty pic. Because... well... just look. *wolf whistle*

Awesome shot of Carson McMillan rendering his mouth guard useless

Bags doesn't get enough love here, but this is a nice shot.

Okay, back to goalies...

Oh my....

For the Locker fans...

Bunch more where these came from. In the mean time, I need a nap. Gonna be a busy week.

Easily Amused: Photos

Okay, okay, here are some real pictures, too, from Chris "I'm effing stuck in Atlanta" Jerina.

It wouldn't be right to not start out with a Brusty pic. I mean, this is The Dream after all.

Just stoppin' pucks. NBD.

This guy should always wear a beard. It works. Rawr.

The J.M. stands for "Crazy Eyes" in French.

Ortmeyer's shot on his game winner

And then the WOOOOOO!

And Ortmeyer's first goal.

More WOOOOOOO!

Anyway, many more here if you want to look through them.

See you tonight!

Brusty Rolling Along

Former Aeros goalie Barry Brust blanked the Albany AHL team last night.
Brusty has won three straight starts and four of five overall. He is 7-3 in his last 10 decisions and has really picked things up in the new year. In January, he is 4-1 with a 1.81 goals against average, and if the season ended today, the Senators would be in the playoffs thanks to the crossover rule.

Way to go Barry ... way not to go fans in Albany. Wow ... tickets sold was about 1,500 and actual butts in seats was FAR less than that. Albany is dead last in attendance and are one of SIX teams in the East that is under .500.

Check out this read by an Albany Times-Union columnist. Be sure to read the comments of the bottom, if time permits.

Ice Girls It Is, Finally

While going through the Aeros website today, for the first time in a while, I discovered something very exciting. At least to me. The auditions for the Aero Dynamics are next week, and you know how I am when it comes to the Aero Dynamics.

But there's the really exciting thing. This year, along with their standard routines in the stands, the Aero Dynamics will also be acting as Ice Girls. And if you've learned anything else from this site, it's that I've got a thing for Ice Girls. So let's just say that I'm really looking forward to this season getting underway.

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Also of note. Andrew noted that Barry Brust had just signed a contract. I thought I would also point out that former Aero goalie Nolan Schaefer will be between the pipes for the Providence Bruins this season.

I enjoyed dealing with both men, and they never treated me like the true idiot that I am. So I wish them all of the best in this upcoming AHL season. (I'm also hoping that Barry can cast aside his injury issues and prove a few people in a certain organization wrong about his skills and abilities.)

And I'd like to echo what Andrew said about Palmer Hestley. You've got no idea of how important guys like Palmer are to making our jobs easier, and Palmer was a great asset last year. Good luck, Palmer.

The First Annual T3I Awards

We've decided to do some postseason items on the team. And I volunteered to do the Aeros awards for the season just played. So after consulting with the rest of the T3I crew, here are the winners for the T3I Houston Aeros Awards.

TEAM MVP: Max Noreau. There's a reason that Noreau made the second team All-AHL Team. He's that good. He tied for second on the team in points (18 goals-34 assists=52 points). He was named to the AHL All Star team. He was the team's most consistent offensive threat, even from the blue line. And he anchored a defense that was often full of holes due to injuries in Houston and Minnesota.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Chad Rau. Cody Almond was the big name coming into the season, and he showed flashes of brilliance, between injuries, call ups to Minnesota, and inconsistent play. But Rau played in all but one game, was one of the team's leading scorers (19 goals-19 assists=38 points), and never appeared to be out of his element. He didn't make stupid mistakes.

GOALIE OF THE YEAR: Anton Khudobin. It was a tough year for Aeros goalies. There was the inconsistent defense. The almost nightly inability of the offense to score goals. The need to be perfect every night. Khudobin kept the team in contention the first part of the year. His record might only have been 14-19-4, but he was bombarded by shots every night, from nearly every angle. He was able to get four shutouts, and despite it all, allowed only 91 goals in 40 games.

DEFENSEMAN OF THE YEAR: Max Noreau. Brandon Rogers spent way too much time having to play forward. Clayton Stoner went to Minnesota and never came back. That left Noreau as the veteran of the bunch, and he ended up virtually leading the team's offensive attack -- what little there was of it -- from the blue line.

FORWARD OF THE YEAR: Jon DiSalvatore. DiSalvatore was not only the team's captain, but he was one of the team's leading scorer, finishing with 52 points after getting 21 goals, 31 assists, and a team high 11 power play goals. DiSalvatore didn't have a lot to work with as Kevin Constantine constantly shifted lines because of injuries, call-ups, and ineffectiveness. Yet DiSalvatore was always a constant.

THE SURPRISE OF THE YEAR: Jean-Michel Daoust. Neither of us press types knew anything about Daoust when he made the team -- and I admit to enjoying listening to the Toyota PA types change the pronunciation of his name from game-to-game. But damn, this guy played some hockey. He was the team's leading scorer (21 goals-34 assists=55 points), and I don't think anyone played with more effort or determination. I can't help but think that if the whole team would have played with the want of Daoust, this team would have found a way to make the playoffs.

BIGGEST LOST (PLAYER WISE): Andy Hilbert. Hilbert missed most of the season due to concussion issues. And without him, the offense just couldn't click. DiSalvatore was left alone as the team's go-to offensive option. It's hard to play the what-if game, but one can't help but wonder if things would have been different if Hilbert had been available the entire season.

WORST LUCK: Wade Dubielewicz. I can't think of one guy who had worst luck this season than Dubie. Who can forget opening night, against Manitoba, when the puck bounced high off of the glass behind the net, hit Dubie in the back, then bounced into the net for a goal. Then there was the Rockford game on January 10 that the Aeros lost 2-1 after Rockford's Mike Brennan took a shot in OT that was going to be wide of the net, very wide of the net, only it hit the knob of Dubie's stick and went into the net to win the game for Rockford.

WORST LUCK NOT INVOLVING WADE DUBIELEWICZ (TIE): Peter Zingoni and Barry Brust. Zingoni came to the team after an injury-filled 2008-09 season. He came out hot, then got injured. Nobody worked harder to get back, then he got hurt again. And he came back, and got hurt again. Then there's the strange case of Barry Brust. Andrew and Heather know more details, but the brass in Minnesota didn't seem to like him. Then he got injured in camp. He got stuck in purgatory in Florida, and when he got his chance in Houston, he got injured -- first an ugly leg slash, then injuring his foot again.

WACKIEST MOMENTS (TIE): A puck hits Dubie on the back and bounces into the goal. A puck hits the knob of Dubie's stick and bounces into the goal -- a shot that would have gone way wide. But the true wackiest moment was any game in which Dubielewicz was sitting on the bench. If you didn't see Coach Dubie on the bench during a game, then you missed out. He banged the boards. He shouted out instructions at the goalies, and the players. He encouraged his teammates. I think he got a bigger workout on the bench than he did when playing.

(That said, and as an aside, Wade was a very good guy to deal with in the locker room for us. He never shied away from answering questions. He always spoke his mind. He never threw anybody under the bus.)

WACKIEST MOMENT NOT INVOLVING WADE DUBIELEWICZ: It was tough watching Barry Brust suffer that leg slash against Peoria. But without it, there would have never been that moment when Jeff Crawford came skating out to goal as the first intermission came to a close. We didn't know the condition of Brust at the moment, so the entire press row thought that Crawford was going to have to play the rest of the game. What made the moment was watching all of the scouts on press row, and there were still a lot of scouts following the team on February 3rd, and they were scrambling through every sheet of paper on the tables trying to get any scrap of info on Crawford.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT: With the scouts scrambling to find out info on Crawford, the Peoria coach agreed to give the Aeros a few extra minutes, and as the clock ticked to zero, Barry Brust, who had suffered a deep slash of his thigh in the first period. He got about 30 stitches during the intermission, did a few butterflies to show he was capable of making the blocks and making the moves, then skated out to the ice and got the win, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he saw that night.

BEST ARENA ADDITION: Let's hear for the brass up in Minnesota for getting replays for every game played at Toyota Center, no matter when the game was played. In the past, we've been stuck with replays just on Friday and Saturday. But this year, we had them every game. So thank you.

WORST NON-TEAM DEVELOPMENT: For some reason, the number of Lady Dynamics dropped, and dropped, throughout the season. And I liked watching the Lady Dynamics. But I want to give my thanks to those young ladies who stuck it out for the whole season. Thank you.

BEST READERS: This is for the readers of T3I. Thanks for sticking with us all season. I apologize for not being around as much as last season, but hopefully the T3I supplied you with all of the information about the team that you needed, and wanted. Thanks for reading. We appreciate it.

BIGGEST T3I LOSS: Fred, we missed you this season. It wasn't the same without you around. I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help out.

Caption Contest Winner

There were some good ones (see the comments), but this took the cake.



(Unfortunately, no actual cake was had in the making of this LOL.)

Our winner is anonymous, so the grand prize of a beer on me (not literally, unless... oh, never mind) at the Maple Leaf Pub will go in my belly instead. Too bad, sucka!!!

Thanks for playing though, and thanks to everyone for their great suggestions. Also, thanks to Brusty, who is always a great sport, for letting us have some fun with him. Rock on.

Brust to undergo foot surgery

Hang on while I get some tissues...

*sigh*

So, it appears we've seen the last of Barry Brust with the Aeros this season. That stubborn foot pretended to be fixed, and it got him through 31 games this season between Houston and Florida, but it wasn't all better and started bugging him again recently.

And now, says Brusty, it's surgery time. They've told him he'll be out 6 weeks, which means he could possibly catch some playoff action in Florida if everyone's game for it. And who wouldn't be game for Brusty?

Anyway, so it sounds like they'll be doing the surgery in the next week or so here in Houston, so hopefully we'll still see* him around the halls before the final horn on this season blows. <---spot the subliminal message

Of course, we wish him a successful and speedy recovery, some good drugs, and may that foot never utter a peep of discontent for the rest of his playing days.

*And by "see" of course, I mean "stare lustily at"

Photo by Fred "another guy we really miss" Trask

2/25/10 -- Aeros v. Manitoba -- We Need Some Help Edition

I'm short on time, so straight to the talking points from tonight's 3-2 loss to Manitoba.

Barry Brust took the loss on himself.

"I think the onus is on me. I’ve got to come up with a save. The second goal, they got a big break and hit our d-man’s stick and went right down the ice. The third goal, I thought I had it, but obviously I didn’t. That’s up to me. I’ve got to buckle down and be better."

But buckle down and be better is something that can be said of the entire team. It wasn't just Brust who lost focus after the tying goals. Those goals didn't just happen in isolation. It's been a season long problem that the team has to find a way to address.

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And speaking of season long problems, the injury bug hit again. Max Noreau took a shot off of his right ankle. He came back out to play, but I saw it after the game, and it was swollen. They're going to x-ray it tomorrow, and he's hoping that it's not broken -- if it is, you can probably kiss what playoff chances the team has left has nil.

As for why he came back out -- he scored the team's final goal -- he said that it was because they checked the ankle, and said that it couldn't get any worse if he played on it. The hockey boot keeps everything kind of tight. But we should know more tomorrow.

Constantine is hoping that Brandon Rogers can return this weekend, but he's suffering from a concussion, so the team isn't going to rush anything.

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And for those of you who weren't following on Twitter -- shame on you -- the rumor is that the Aeros might be getting some help next week. The guys up in Milwaukee who handle the Admirals Short Shifts blog tweeted during the game that Tony Hrkac has signed a contract and is returning to the team next week. That will definitely increase the team speed from slow to even slower. Hrkac was a great presence on the team last season -- especially during the playoffs when the team was battling through tough playoff series after tough playoff series, and he showed that he still had some gas left in the tank. Hopefully, he can help the guys keep their focus on their games after they score a goal.

We checked with the Aeros, and all that we could get was a no comment.

The Aeros play in Texas on Friday, then host the Stars on Saturday night. With a record of 28-25-6-1 (63 points), they definitely need to get two wins this weekend.

And though I know I've played this song already this season, I thought it was apropos of the night. So here's The Beatles with "Help."

Risk/Reward in Goaltending

Okay, so let's talk about goaltending, shall we?

Being a goalie is just a heaping shitload of fun. You get to deny those bastards their goals, you get to make heroic saves, chicks dig you beyond reason (personally, I'm constantly getting hit with flying bras). It's the best position in all of sports.

Until you f**k up.

You can do your job perfectly, with flair, even go above and beyond with some slick break-out passes to your cherry-picking forwards, but the mistakes are what go on the scoreboard. Saves are just a number that pile up in the background--ephemeral and fleeting. But goals against? Those go down in bold print. And they can sully your whole night if you don't hang on to some perspective.

So, as much fun as goaltending is, a night like this, where you own the loss--where you fall on the sword as rightly Brusty did in his comments after the game--these are the nights that eat at you. You know you played well... except for... this, this, and this.

But here's the thing: I look at goalies a lot like I do investments. For every potential risk a goalie takes, there's an equivalent potential reward.

You have your goalies who don't play the puck much other than to cool it down behind the net or maybe a little pass up in the zone. Low risk, low reward.

You have, at the other end of the spectrum, your Brustys, Turcos, Thomases, who love to play the puck and 98% of the time, do so with a positive effect, at least pushing the play out to the blue line. At best, as Brusty did many times tonight, breaking the team out either into the neutral zone or all the way into offensive zone.

And then there's that 2% instance where, like tonight, he got caught behind the net with an opponent on either side and couldn't clear the puck but also couldn't free himself up to get back to the net. Oops. Goal.

High risk, high reward.

It took me Barry's entire first season in Houston for me to understand. I would tear my hair out. In fact, I got so riled about it, my husband gave that wandering goalie move a name, "The Heather."

Mr. C: "Ohhh, Brust is pulling a Heather."
Ms. C: "Shut up. Dammit, get back in your net, Brusty!"

But then I started to understand the position more and appreciate the advantages (and thrills) of wandering goalies. As a fan, it's either an acceptable risk and the entertainment value and potential reward of that style of goaltending is worth a couple of forehead slappers each season, or it's not and you'd rather the defensemen do the puck handling and the goalie keep his ass in the blue paint.

I don't think it's any secret, I don't so much lean to that "high risk" end of the spectrum as I take it some place quiet, get it liquored up, and have my way with it. I love it.

But that doesn't mean I look at this game tonight and think, "Ah well, Brusty gets a pass because he's that's his style." Nope. Because the other goals weren't so hot either, either by Brusty or the team as a whole. Clearly when goals against are coming immediately after goals for, and it's as predictable as it was tonight, there's a chink in the mental armor.

I don't know who KC will play Friday against Texas. He does tend to show faith in Barry to bounce back from bad games, and doesn't seem to have much faith in Dubie.

It's been a tough year for the big guy, but dominant goaltending is the only thing that's gonna get this team up the standings. Apologies to Mr. Hrkac (whose name, I'm happy to realize just now, I can still spell without thinking) as I'm sure his arrival will also help, but it won't be enough on its own.

Focus is what the Aeros need right now. They need it from themselves. They need it from their goaltender. They need it from the coaches. Hell, they need it from the Zamboni drivers and the ice girls and the pretzel sellers. Not to go all "clap to save Tinkerbell" but man, every point they don't get, the closer we are to "good night, drive home safe, see you next year, enjoy the golf."

But no pressure, boys. What are you gripping you sticks so hard for? ;)

Well That Sucked -- The Weekend In Review

That was a pretty pitiful weekend of hockey, if you ask my opinion. The Aeros, with a chance to gain some ground in the playoff hunt, found themselves playing not only some uninspired hockey, but some stupid hockey.

There were numerous defensive breakdowns throughout the entire weekend, and if not for Barry Brust's play in goal, there's no telling how bad the losses would have been. And twice over the weekend the Aeros gave up short-handed goals. I see the stats, and I know the Aeros are supposed to have a good power play, but when's the last time we've seen a power play goal from this team at Toyota Center?

Kevin Constantine defended the team's offense tonight, saying that while the team wasn't scoring, it was getting good chances, and that all that you can ask is for a team to get good chances. The problem, as I saw it, however, was that the right players weren't getting the good chances. Some of today's best chances came from Brandon Rogers. I like Rogers a lot, but he's not the guy who should be having the best scoring chances.

And I know the played three games in three days and that they were tired. But I hate that excuse. The Chicago Wolves were playing their third game in three days tonight, all on the road, and they were missing some of their best players. But that didn't get to them. And not to go off on a rant, but I'll tell you what's hard and tiring. Try being so damn desperate work that you have to take a temp job that demands you work 11 hours a day, five days a week, and wants you to work weekends -- and where they make you ask permission to go to the doctor if you're having problems with your hearing because you didn't request that time back last month before the job started. That's hard. That's tiring.

I'm going on too long about something that has nothing to do with the game. I'm just disappointed, and I know that I didn't see the team play on the ice like they're capable of playing.

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One further note: Peter Zingoni was reinjured in Friday night's loss. I saw him Saturday before the game, and he wasn't in the best of spirits, and I can't help but feel for the guy. He was just trying to make a play on offense, trying to get off on a breakaway, and he went to hit a guy in front of him, and just like that he was hurt. You can just see not only how pained he is by the injury, but how pained he is by not being able to play.

He missed most of last season with an injury, and he came to Houston hoping to prove that that season was a fluke. He got off to a really hot start, and teamed up with rookies Cody Almond and Carson McMillan, he looked to be having a break out year. Then he hurt his knee, and he's been in-and-out, mostly out, for the season.

That's it. Thanks, as always, for reading us here at T3I. We do appreciate it.

Bend but don't break: Aeros 1, Grand Rapids 0

It was Texas Lottery night at the Aeros game. I missed the intermissions so I have no idea if someone won a million bucks or whatever, but I do know that 55 seconds into the extra session tonight, the nearly 7000 fans in attendance tonight saw 20 guys who looked like they'd just won a million bucks.

Kevin Constantine called it playoff style hockey and said the team has to be able to play these tight games. Well, play they did. It looked like another team out there compared to the night before with odd man rush after odd man rush beating both goalies down mentally and physically in the 7-2 loss to the very same Grand Rapids Griffins.

Mainly the defensive play was the big improvement. Fewer turnovers, incredible, crisp work around the net, getting sticks in the right places, clearing rebounds, etc. But improved goaltending was the other side of the coin.

Constantine said the decision to play Brust again after being "average" last night was a tough one. But he said he went that route because he deserved the chance to redeem himself, and great athletes will do that.... after a lousy, er, "average" appearance, they have that bounce-back-ability.

He made 22 saves en route to his first shut out of the season, and showed yet again why he's one of the better "back against the wall" goalies in the league. He was seeing the puck well, great lateral movement and positioning, challenged shooters. Just great stuff.

I found this on the floor outside the visitors' locker room tonight:

But like I mentioned in my post on Ms.C this morning, as much as it undermines your confidence as a goalie to see your team floundering from the get-go, it instills that much more confidence when you see them clicking well from the start. And it goes full circle. A confident goalie means the team doesn't feel like they need to overcompensate for them, so they just do their jobs.

It wasn't a perfect game for sure, but the penalty kill was very good, which it needed to be due to a few lapses in discipline. The power play, on the other hand, was pretty weak. The Griffins are excellent at shutting down advances into their end, clogging up the neutral zone, and just making life difficult, and that applied to the power play and pretty much the rest of the game.

By my estimation (and keep in mind, I was at the other end of the rink the whole time), seems like probably half the shots on goal for the Aeros were just gritty work around the net trying to jam a rebound in, not from necessarily spending a whole lot of TIME in the Griffin's end.

And that's exactly how Daoust's OT game winner went in. Just one of those go-stand-in-the-dirty-area-and-pray kinda goals, off a shot from Noreau that scrambled around a bit and finally punched in. That was Daoust's 17th goal of the season, third game winner, and Noreau's 41st point of the season.

That also makes Noreau the #2 scorer on the team, one point ahead of DiSalvatore. Pretty impressive for a d-man. You have to start wondering when he gets a sniff up in Minnesota, right?

Anyway, the Weebles wobbled but they didn't fall down, and in an 80 game season, that's just kinda how it has to be sometimes. Great story of redemption tonight.

John's off having a well-deserved bender, so I'll be your DJ tonight. How about a little Zombie action:

2/12/10: Aeros vs. Griffins: Well, That Sucked Edition

Sorry, I've got no comforting words after this one. The final score might have been 7-2, but trust me, it wasn't that close. Barry Brust didn't appear to have his best game tonight, but then again, his defense didn't appear to have its best game either as both he and Wade Dubielewicz, who played the last part of the third period, were both hit repeatedly by odd-man rushes and breakaways.

Kevin Constantine wasn't in the best of moods afterwards. He was disappointed by his team's non-thinking on the ice. He was very displeased about how the team played a chance at a potential 5-3 power play into being on the penalty kill. The defense wasn't good. The offense didn't take advantage of their chances. There's just nothing good to say.

Peter Zingoni left the game in the first with a lower body injury. Constantine played only three centers in the second period, then he moved Brandon Rogers up front in the third.

The Aeros needed this win tonight -- they just about need a win every time they play. And they looked awful. Not sure of what else there is to say. So I'm out going to wrap it up. Let's hope tomorrow night leaves us with a better result.

Apologies, again, for the short post. I've got to get up at 5:00 a.m. for the temp job -- I'm should get about 65 hours this week and I have decided that sleep is overrated. Hopefully Heather or Andrew can add some more words of wisdom than I'm capable of at the moment.

State of the Union, Aeros Style

Big big BIG week of games coming up for the Aeros. A very beatable Grand Rapids Friday and Saturday, and a tougher Chicago on Sunday, and then a mid-western swing of the Aeros closest competitors.

The Aeros have lost Cody Almond to the Wild, but the en fuego 20-year-old will get his first NHL start against Atlanta tonight. Pretty exciting for the kid!

In return, the Aeros get Robbie Earl back, who played well for MN but had cleared waivers and his time was running out to come down before having to clear again. Further, coach Todd Richards said his play had "slipped" lately, so that seems to be why Almond is getting a cuppa joe in his stead.

It also appears that they're keeping Khudobin up and letting Josh Harding's bum hip rest up, which means the Aeros will be relying on Dubielewicz and Brust through this 3-in-3 weekend home stand.

Also, Brandon Buck was sent down... got a hat trick for Florida... and has been recalled again. Maybe Bucky should get a sniff of a scoring line if the scoring lines aren't getting it done? Kid's got some goods!

Presumably, unless something odd happens, I would expect the dominoes to fall the other way come Sunday night when the Olympic break starts for the NHL.

Almond and Khudobin will head back to Houston and... well... *sigh* Brusty goes back to the muggy, bug-infested swamp. I mean... to Florida... which I'm sure is lovely. Even though he's the winningest goalie on the roster.

But yeah, send that one down.

*big sigh*

Let's just enjoy the weekend, shall we? Yes.

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Here some media to get your blood pumping for this weekend's games.

First up is John's article for the Press, all about the rotten egg Brusty's season has been thanks to injuries and a crowded roster.

Then, here's the video from last night's segment on ABC 13 on Mr. Crawford's wild ride last week as the Aeros emergency back-up goalie.



Finally, here's an article from AHL prez David Andrews that touches on the franchise shuffling that's going on in the AHL.

So far, Edmonton is resurrecting their franchise in OKC and the Albany River Rats (Carolina's AHL team) is moving to Charlotte (which has a trickle down effect in the ECHL, too, as they'll replace the popular Checkers franchise there).

There's a lot more coming down the pipe and it's intensely interesting (at least to me) to watch it all shake out. Anaheim still needs an affiliate -- Springfield needs an NHL team. Texas still needs a franchise -- Iowa HAS a franchise. Seems like some natural fits here, but I'm probably missing something as to why it's not that easy.

It makes my head hurt to try and puzzle it all out, so I'll wait patiently on the edge of my seat while people who know more do the figuring...

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I think that's it. Goalies tonight and tomorrow are McCollum and Larsson. Just so you can practice telling them they suck before you go. ;)

Nie to start for Aeros in Milwaukee tonight

Well, Josh Harding's injury finally opened a door for Barry Brust to stick with the Aeros for a spell, but it looks like his homecoming will entail riding the pine, at least for tonight (though I'd guess tomorrow night, too).

The laceration on his leg from Wednesday, which required 30-some stitches, is just too sore for him play. As such, the team has signed a PTO with Ryan Nie, who has played 21 games this season for the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings, earning a 2.80 GAA and .91 save percentage in that time.

He's even faced Brust in the ECHL this season and ended up winning the game off a 9-round shootout in which only 1 goal was allowed of the 18 shots. Awwww. Git out. That's a tough one.

T3I has confirmed that Nie will get the start tonight, and Andrew will be on a little later with more info, so stay tuned.

As an added note, Max Noreau's x-rays came up negative, so while he won't be with the team this weekend, he also won't be out for 6-8 weeks healing a broken arm. That would have been a devastating blow to this team, so drink your milk, kids, and keep those bones strong.

About Last Night

Real quick, before I get in trouble...

Here's the mothership post on last night's game, with lots of quotes from Brusty, Jeff Crawford, and Kevin Constantine.

As to Peoria's Bryce Lampman. Sources tell me that he suffered a mild concussion, ten stitches in his eyebrow, and some stitches in his lip.

Later.

The first cut is the deepest

Well, gang, that was a pretty wild game, but I'm sure I'll forget half of it because, well, Brusty was in net and that kinda gives me amnesia about everything else that happened.

I'm just gonna go random-style hitting the high/lowlights for me. I watched the whole game from the corners, by Brusty's net (because as usual, who knows how long we've got him? Must soak it all in. And also, press row was one seat short... or possibly had one scout too many and I figured I'd "sacrifice" and let John and Andrew have the seats... haha).

But that means I didn't see any of the goals for except on replay and had a pretty distorted perspective of most of the offensive play.

I do know that Falk getting a goal was kind of a big deal, right? And in fact, I thought he had quite a good game defensively as well, as did most of the rest of the team. It seemed like most of the failed efforts were happening in the neutral zone, but the boys were great around their own net, as Brusty's near-shutout can attest.

Not to say Brusty didn't play an incredible game, particularly through such challenging circumstances as, well, a giant gash in his leg from a skate.

He got cut with about 5 minutes left in the first period, and was clearly injured. I could tell it was something around the knee, but he kept looking at the outside of his knee and normally if you do something internally to your knee, you don't need to keep making visual inspections. So I wondered if he might have gotten sliced.

Now, think about the mental focus required to play knowing your leg has a big, bleeding gash in it. Not that he had a choice, considering his back-up (no offense, Mr. Crawford) and frankly, Brusty has something to prove with every game he plays in the AHL. I think he proved it tonight.



Though I gotta tell ya, I've never quite been quite as "OMG" as when I walked out of the visitor's tunnel tonight at the start of the second to see back-up goalie Jeff Crawford skating around the net... or quite so relieved to see Brusty finally skating toward the net (amid quite a buzz in the crowd).

I was really just like, "What now?" And actually even started thinking about what other goalies I knew were in the building for the Houston Hockey Series game and whoever else might be there. Weird.

I saw Crawford outside the locker room after the game and really wanted to stop him and say, "Man, you lived so many beer league goalie dreams tonight." I think he knows it though. Just to even open the gate for an AHL team, much less get out there in front of the net for the start of a period and almost get to play? Amazing.

KC made it sound like the plan is to get a local guy to back up again when they head to Milwaukee this weekend, rather than calling up someone the team knows, like Brett Jaeger in CHL Texas. Not sure I agree with that call given the extent of Brusty's cut (30 stitches! OMG!). I know Brusty's in a situation where he really would have to probably have his leg cut off completely before he'd leave a game, but still. Having someone who COULD play a reasonably good pro game sounds better than beer league goalies.

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Also, I wanna give props to Danny Irmen for being in on 3 of the prettiest goals of the season. He had another one tonight. His role in them isn't always super pretty, but he's right there with them on the pretty plays, setting up, going hard to the net. Great stuff!

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It was tough to watch that Gillies hit and ensuing human damage up close tonight. Apparently Gillies was hurt on the play, too, but he'll have plenty of time to heal up while he serves whatever suspension the league hands down.

It looked like the guy he hit is going to be okay, but it's always terrifying to see a player in a motionless heap on the ice like he was. Poor EMT was eating his dinner, too. Somewhere some french fries go wasted.

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Okay, I've gotten about 6 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. I'm gonna go play dead for a few hours.

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).