Welcome To The Darcy Kuemper Show

Welcome to the Darcy Kuemper Show/photo John Royal

There were many superb things about tonight's 3-0 game one playoff win over the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins. The Aeros played the best game as a team that I've seen in a long time. Marco Scandella was superb. Justin Fontaine did what Justin Fontaine does.

But nothing compares to the playoff debut of one Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper stopped all 36 shots he faced. Some of the stops were easy, but some of those stops were those that just drop your jaw, shake your head, and wonder did you just see what you just saw. He faced one barrage late in the second period when the Aeros were up only 1-0 and the Griffins were on a 4x3 power play. Kuemper just dealt with the barrage like he was sitting on his porch swatting away some lazy flies just hovering over his head, never breaking a sweat.

Head coach John Torchetti referred to Kuemper's calmness out on the ice and how that just made things easier for the team. And there was a calmness to Kuemper, a stillness. Like a concrete bunker anchored during a hurricane with the action swirling around him. 

"He keeps things calm for us," Torchetti said. "He didn’t give a lot of rebounds, which is a big plus for us and makes our job a little bit easier."
 
Kuemper just kind of shrugged off all of the attention after the game, acting as if it was just another game in the juniors instead of a professional playoff game.

"I played quite a few playoffs games in juniors, a lot of games in juniors," Kuemper said. "I just always try to touch back on those experiences, recall those memories, what went well, what didn’t, and use those to just play my game out there."

Darcy Kuemper, just one of the guys /photo John Royal

Kuemper had some help from the team playing it's best all-around game in months. Marco Scandella put the Aeros up 1-0 with a power play goal at 11:55 of the second from up over the circle. Justin Fontaine got a breakaway at 16:52 which pretty much put the game away. Then Fontaine finished the scoring with a nearly impossible angled empty netter at 18:14 of the third.

Fontaine said he got lucky on his breakaway. But despite his statements, he looked to be in control on the entire play.

"Just kind of flying up the middle, a good look," Fontaine said. "The puck wouldn’t settle down for me, kind of made a move and missed the puck, but it ended up going in. I’ll take that for sure."

Justin Fontaine gets lucky/photo John Royal

But with the way Kuemper was playing, nothing else really seemed to matter. There was this calmness to his play, a quietness to his actions, no wasted motion. He was there at all times, just where his team needed him to be, when they needed him to be there. He said he was lucky at times, but like Fontaine on his breakaway, if there was any luck involved in any of his stops, it just wasn't evident to onlookers.

"I just want to do my part, especially when I saw the guys going early there, the way they were playing, I just wanted to do my part and not let them down," Kuemper said. "Everyone had each other’s backs, and we came away with game one."

It was fun game to watch. Tense. Lots of hitting. It was playoff hockey at its finest. Here's to a few more of these before the team's run in Houston comes to its unfortunate end. And meanwhile, welcome to a new edition of the Darcy Kuemper Show, it's a wonderful, fantastic thing to witness.

The Aeros are up 1-0 in the series, and host game two on Sunday afternoon at 5:05 before heading back to Grand Rapids for the rest of the series. 

Paul Mara with a first period hit/photo John Royal

Aeros Get 1-0 Win Over Rampage

It wasn't a pretty win tonight. There wasn't a lot of graceful skating. There wasn't a lot of scoring. There weren't even a lot of shots. But pretty doesn't matter. Not when you're on the winning side of a 1-0 shutout.

Nick Petersen took care of the scoring for the Aeros, netting a goal early in the second period. That goal was all that the Aeros needed, especially with Darcy Kuemper pitching the shutout, finishing the game with 19 saves as the Aeros stopped the Rampage four-game points streak in front of 6045 fans.

"Kuemper came up big tonight," head coach John Torchetti said. "We did a good job. They had to press for a goal, so they we were going to be a little bit more aggressive and take a little more chances. I thought we did a good job. I thought some guys had some big nights. The penalty kill came through. And we just have to keep feeding off of that."

Kuemper credited his teammates with the win.

"We controlled most of the play," he said. "There were a few chances, but the team did a great job in front of me. You limit the shots to under 20 that makes my job really easy. I just tried to play my part in the win."

And Torchetti said the win came about from something he's been preaching to the team: you've got to have a checking mentality to win the game: "That’s why you have to have a checking mentality," he said. "I’ve been preaching that since game one. You’ve got to be able to win a game 5-1 or 1-0."

Now the Aeros are off for Austin and a game tomorrow with the Stars. 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

Who will play for the Aeros against the Stars is still slightly in question: Mikael Granlund missed tonight due to injury -- despite what you might have read elsewhere. And Brian Connelly was injured in the third period -- the extent of his injury wasn't known when we talked to Torchetti -- and Torchetti joked afterward that the Aeros must always have at least six injured players.
 

And This Means What...

UPDATE - 


Aeros GM Jim Mill confirmed this morning that Josh Harding is injured, forcing the recall of Hackett from the Aeros. 

The timing could not have been better for Hackett. 


I know he is busting his ass out there, but at least during one part of every game, it looks like he wants to pick up one of his teammates, spin them over his head and thrown them headfirst into the short wall. 


We'll keep you posted if we find out more ... 

We were all puzzled this morning when we noticed a report from a Colorado paper that the Aeros had called up a ECHL goalie named Robby Nolan from the Colorado Eagles.  Puzzled since the Aeros had yet to announce anything, since Matt Hackett and Darcy Kuemper were both supposedly healthy, and since both Wild goalies were supposedly healthy.


Things have yet to be totally have been clarified, but because Wild beat writer Michael Russo is reporting that the Wild have recalled Matt Hackett even though Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding are healthy and both of them skated at practice yesterday.  So make of it what you will. because Harding tweaked something in practice yesterday.

Aeros Do The Patriotic Things And Lose To The Americans

The Aeros saw an awful lot of this tonight, Matt Hackett, back turned to the bench, with the Americans celebrating a goal.

The good news tonight:  the Aeros didn't lose another game in the shutout.  

The bad news:  the Aeros lost 6-3 to the Rochester Americans, the team with the worst road record in the AHL.  And if not for a burst of scoring in the first five minutes of the third period, the score would have been much, much worse.

There's not much positive to say about this game.  Matt Hackett surrendered five goals on just 18 shots, including two first period goals while facing just six shots.  The problem wasn't entirely Hackett's as his defense was, for most of his two periods in the game, non-existent.  

More than anything, this game seemed to indicate, though not stated by John Torchetti afterwards, that the rash of injuries in Minnesota, which in turn is taking Aero after Aero away from Houston, is really just messing with the team.  Jed Ortmeyer and Chad Rau are the latest guys to catch a flight up to the big club -- this time, I believe, they had to fly to Vancouver to meet up with Mike Yeo and the guys.  Cody Almond came back down, and Aaron Lee was brought in from Rio Grande Valley to fill out the roster.

But just because there are guys injured in Minnesota doesn't mean that the Aeros should just be expecting to get free minutes on the ice because nobody else on the team is available -- every healthy player suited up and played for the Aeros tonight.  Torchetti made it clear that he's not happy with some of the things he saw on ice, and he was clear that there will be some roster changes forthcoming.

"You're getting free ice," Torchetti said.  "And some guys need to get some nights off.  That's going to be the bottom line after this next game.  It doesn't matter how many guys are called up.  We'll call up some guys from the other leagues that want to play hockey every night.  Some of these guys are getting free ice."

The Aeros did score first, taking the early 1-0 lead, but less than a minute later, the Americans tied it up.  Then Rochester scored just before the end of the first period to make it 2-1.  They scored 46 seconds into the second period, then made it 4-1 eight minutes later.  And by the time the Aeros skated out for the third period, with Darcy Kuemper taking over goalie duties with the Aeros down 5-1, it really just didn't matter.

Sure the Aeros showed some life in the third and made it look halfway respectable, but in the end, respectable doesn't cut it.  

The Aeros return to action on Wednesday night when they host the Texas Stars at 7:05.  And for the interested, Wednesday night is also the Miss Aeros Bikini Contest, so come out for that if not for the hockey.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

That was the Aeros first regulation loss since losing in Toronto on December 3rd.  And it was their first regulation loss at Toyota Center since losing to Abbotsford 5-3 on November 10.  The loss also breaks a six game streak of earning a point.

With the loss the Aeros dropped into second place with a record of 16-5-2-7 (41 points).  The Barons grabbed a point in their shootout loss to Charlotte, so they're now 20-7-0-2 (42 points).

Goalie of the Week

As you know, Darcy Kuemper was named the AHL Goalie of the Week for last week, after going 2-0-0-2. So here he is tonight, with Aeros president David Burke, being presented with his award. Congrats, Darcy.

Game Day Update - Aeros vs. Texas

I have to give John Torchetti some credit. The Wild organization is in the middle of its worst-ever rash of injuries, and the new coach never seems bothered about all the talent that is missing from the lineup.

Part of me thinks he's frustrated beyond belief, and he just doesn't want to say anything. But another part of me thinks he really is calm about the whole ordeal because he's got real good goaltending at his disposal.

The Minnesota Hospitals keep dropping like flies, and it looks like the Aeros are going to lose at least one more forward today before their game against the Texas Stars.

This kind of reminds me a little bit of what happened to the Ottawa and Binghamton Senators last year. Early in the season, a lot of guys got hurt and they kept getting hurt. Bingo never really had it's full roster until the playoffs, and we all say what happened when they had everyone together.

That was a scary-good playoff team.

And now, with the Aeros 11 games over .500 and with a ton of overtime/SO loss points, they have some breathing room. If Kuemper keeps playing as well as he has, the Aeros can win games 2-1 (or keep losing in the shootout). So long as the defense and goaltending keep getting better, the Aeros will have a fighter's chance while the work around the recall of Warren Peters, Casey Wellman, Cody Almond and the injured Jarod Palmer, Jed Ortmeyer and Dave McIntyre.

While I don't have much of a feel for the game tonight, I do think Saturday is an automatic loss at OKC. Sunday could go either way with both teams playing a third game in three days. Rochester has several players on recall to the NHL, and they are not very good away from home.

Back to tonight ... the last-place Stars are 2-0 against the Aeros at Toyota Center. But they are without Bachman, their clear-cut No. 1 goalie. Tyler Beskorowany has played the last five games for Texas, and he is 3-2 with all three wins coming against first-place teams (Charlotte and OKC).

For some reason, I think the law of averages play out here, and the Aeros get a win. I think they lose Saturday and pick up a at least a point on Sunday. I have no idea why I am this optimistic with all the regulars out of the lineup, but over the last several weeks, they just keep finding a way to get points.

Why should this weekend be any different?

View from the Press Box - Kuemper records first pro shutout

Wow ... are you tired?

That is one of the questions Torchetti asked us after that game.

For the record, he said he was tired ... and I can see why.

The Aeros worked their (you know whats) off Friday, and earned two points in the every-so-tough Western conference. OKC just keeps on winning, so the Aeros needed every one of Kuemper's saves just to get out of the building with a win.

Even though they only scored one goal, I thought the offence was much better than it was the day before. I counted two posts and three REALLY good saves by Jacob Markstrom. Friday just might be the first of many good battles between those two over the next couple of years. That kid is really good, too.

Players blocked shots, and when they didn't Kuemper get the scrambly plays from making too big a difference. The Rampage has to be frustrated. They played about 100 times better than they did Tuesday and still got no so soup.

After losing 6-1 Tuesday, you knew San Antonio would come out flying. They did, and the Aeros survived the first period and won because of Kuemper and a pretty Justin Fontaine power play goal.

The Aeros get some much needed rest before Peoria visits on Sunday. That game will be a real test. The Rivermen loaded up on a bunch of high scoring vets and really haven't done anything with that talent. It will be interesting to see where their give-a-damn is after a 3-1 loss tonight in OKC.

Peoria is slumping big time right now, and they should be way better than they are. Will nice to finally be able to see them up close in the team's first meeting since last year's playoffs.

Enjoy the weekend, folks ... we'll talk more on Sunday.

The Aeros At The One-Third Mark

Let's give them something to cheer about.

After today's 2-1 shootout loss to the Oklahoma City Barons, the Aeros have now played 1/3rd of the season. While they're tied with the Barons with 35 points for first place (record with 14-4-2-5), it's probably safe to safe that nobody's entirely happy with the team's play, especially at home.

So after today's game, we asked John Torchetti about the team at the 25-game point, the play of Darcy Kuemper, having a roster full of new guys, etc.

On the play of the defensemen;

"You know what," he said. "Bottom-line is, our defensemen need to get the puck to the net. Our defenseman have got to do a better job breaking out. It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup now. You’re in the American Hockey League. You want to get to the National Hockey League. You’ve got to be disciplined. You’ve got to come and be consistent every night, and that’s the difference in winning and losing. It cost us a point tonight."

[SNIP]

"All of it. Their D were just trying to shoot to get rebounds. Our D was trying to score. We don’t need to score from the point. Your job is to get the puck to the net. When you’re trying to score that means you’re going high, and that’s not going to work."

As for the state of the team as of game 25.

"I don’t know what it is, yet. I’d probably get a little better idea, but I don’t know if we’ve had the same lineup, twice. I know our team cares. I know it competes. I know it’s got good character. I know it wants to get better every day. And it’s our job to make sure we push them to that so that they’re ready to go to the NHL. And I hope they understand that that’s the main purpose behind our coaching staff.

"We don’t like to give up points to anybody. These are points that might decide home ice to whatever round it is because you know you’re going to be playing top teams you’re going to be playing them, and they’ll [OKC] be one of the top teams."

On the play of Darcy Kuemper, who joined the team on the last road trip.

"He’s going to be a lot of fun to watch. We’re very spoiled here with our goaltending, I can tell you that. Very, very happy. He works hard, though. He comes to work in practice. He wants to start in every game, and that’s what you want. He doesn’t like to be scored on. He’s got all of the characteristics of [Matt Hackett]. He’s a bigger goalie. He takes up a lot of the net, but he’s really detailed. His movement’s good, and he’s in position for the second shot. I thought he was the difference in the game for us, to get a point tonight."

It's easy to be disappointed with the team. But I tend to agree with something else Torchetti said. The team is getting points. They might not get two points every night, but one point is better than no points, and of 25 games, there are only four games in which the Aeros have failed to get a point.

There are improvements that need to be made. Some of the play probably needs to be tightened up. Then again, the Wild, as seemingly happens every year, are full of injuries which have necessitated call-up after call-up after call-up from Houston. And the Aeros themselves are suffering injuries to key players. Jed Ortmeyer's suffering from a lower body injury, but his return appears to be more imminent than the return of David McIntyre who is suffering from an upper body injury.

So that's 25 games down, and 69 51 more to go.

A bushel full of roster moves

So, 4 things we know are official:

Warren Peters and Nate Prosser are headed back to the Aeros. In exchange, Casey Wellman and Dave McIntyre are headed up to the Wild. In fact, McIntyre is making his NHL debut tonight in Minnesota, so that's pretty exciting. And it's on Versus if you want to tune in.

It's a little bit of a blow offensively to lose both those guys and only get Peters back (nothing against Peters, of course, but that's 2 forwards who score a lot gone and one who scores a lot (at least lately) back). But it's fantastic to get Prosser back on the blue line.

What's unofficial at the moment, but the clues all seem to be there, is that Dennis Endras, Aeros #2 goalie, may be headed over to play in Finland, while Adorable Darcy Kuemper is headed to the Aeros. Allegedly.

You can click the links above and draw your own conclusions. The Wild/Aeros are expected to release something tomorrow.

That said, Kuemper's been tearing it up in the ECHL with a league-leading 1.74 GAA and 0.941 save percentage in 8 games. And he was just seconds away from his first pro shutout last night, but his team gave up a couple of penalties and the Condors put one past him.

So if this turns out to be true, the Aeros are getting a very good goalie in Kuemper. Even better than when he was here late in the season two years ago. And the organization appears committed to his development, so the legitimate competition between Kuemper and Hackett should drive them both pretty hard.

I'm just glad I never had to do a "Free Kuemps" stick figure drawing to actually get him to Houston. 

HI HOCKEY!!!

I went to bed last night with that feeling in my chest that I got as a little kid on Christmas Eve. That "slightly too excited to sleep, but also know if I go to sleep, tomorrow will happen sooner" feeling.

Luckily I'm old and fall asleep easier than I did when I was 7 years old. But I did wake up at 6:30 this morning and wished I hadn't so I wouldn't have to wait for all the fun parts of the day. Why couldn't they play at 11 this morning?

Anyway, I went and checked out practice yesterday morning. It was fun watching guys take pictures with fans as they exited the ice, and the guys seemed to enjoy it, too.

Also, Mike Hoffman is enormous. (And crush-worthy, ladies.) Also, hide your pizza from him. Dude is a Hoover.



Per the team, there are 26 players on the opening night roster. With 14 forwards and 9 defensemen, I'd expect to see two or three of those guys move to the ECHL soon. The ice seemed pretty crowded at practice yesterday.

Also, the team is carrying 3 goalies still. Hackett had his own net while Endras and Kuemper shared a net, so the team has a tough decision to make.

Endras has fairly high level pro experience in the German league and in international competition, so he's a good safety net in case something happens to one of the Minnesota goalies (as it often seems to do).

But Keumper is everything you want in a young goalie and I think he's shown he can hold his own in this league. While he'd learn a lot in a lower league, frankly, I'd just straight up be a sad panda if I didn't get to see him play this season. Y'all know me. Big heart for my goalies. It's hard to be objective.

Maybe I can find out more about what's going on there today.
----------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the Wild played their first game last night and won handily in a 4-2 decision over the Columbus BJs. Funny thing is that they looked just like our Aeros did last year, but with NHLers executing on Yeo's strategy. Works out pretty well, apparently. Congrats to Mike and the whole team for kicking off the season the right way.

I know it's a dream come true for Yeo, but also for a bunch of former Aeros like Marco Scandella, who scored a nice goal, and Brett Bulmer, who made his NHL debut at a mere 19 years of age.

----------------------------------------------------

Finally, I've taken a new gig this season contributing to the new Backhand Shelf blog on theScore.ca. My friend, Justin Bourne, is editing the site and doing most of the writing, so you know it's good. He's very knowledgeable and very funny and told me, "Just do your thing. Write about goalies, hot boys, whatever you want. Oh, and here's some money for it."

LemmethinkaboutitYES.

So, my regular feature, Tea with Ms. Conduct, runs every other Sunday with a few other things thrown in irregularly. (If you don't get the tea reference, you need to rent the cheesy hockey classic Youngblood ASAP.)

If you're a hockey fan in general, I think you'll enjoy the blog. Lots of writing from Justin and from several other writers with a variety of backgrounds and interests. Tons of humor and great knowledge.

Anyway, here's my first piece, hot off the press: http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2011/10/09/tea-with-ms-conduct-the-bunny-conundrum/

-----------------------------------

And with that... see you tonight! Welcome back to Houston, hockey! (Or is it Welcome back to hockey, Houston!?)

Aeros Lose Again, The Baby's In Black Edition

The Aeros lost to Rockford tonight by a score of 3-1. That's nothing new. Nothing about this loss was new. The god awful first period. Yep, we've seen that before. The shoddy defense. Yep. The power play that turns into a short-handed goal? Yep.

I went down to the locker room after the game. I've got quotes from Kevin and Jon DiSalvatore. But really, there's no need to transcribe them because there's nothing new. DiSalvatore's upset about the first period. The team's better than this. The guy's care. They haven't given up. But just plug in a quote from him or any other player from one of the losses this season, and it will fit in. Same thing from Kevin.

It all kind of reminds me of a Beatles song -- yeah, shocking. "Baby's In Black" has a lyric that goes "Baby's In Black/And I'm feeling blue/Oh, what should I do?"



That's what it's like in the locker room. Heads are down. The silence is deafening. Guys just sit there, wondering what to do, feeling blue.

The season's over. Sure, there are still three games left. But the season's over. It's almost, looking around, like they can't believe it. Like this shouldn't have happened. That they're better.

That's it. I don't know what else to say.

TWO MISCELLANEOUS NOTES:

The grandparents were in the house tonight, the grandparents being Chuck Fletcher and Jim Mill. And I don't think they were happy by what they saw. They were here looking for someone to take back to Minnesota with them. I don't know if they found anybody. When asked, Constantine said that having the brass around sometimes gets in to the heads of the guys and they think too much and don't just play. This is sometimes known as the Doug Riseborough effect as the guys always played like crap when he was around.

*********
Kevin said the goal that came when Darcy Kuepmer got knocked over was a goal, to him and to the guys on the bench, and it was a goal without a doubt. In case any of you were wondering.

The Kid Speaks, And Other Things

That's a nice post from Heather, below. I thought I would share some of the quotes from after the game, and discuss some other matters.

So it was Darcy Kuemper's first win on the AHL level. And of course, we talked to him.

"It’s a great feeling," he said about getting the win. "I didn’t even know if I would get any playing time when I got called up, and I go in and get my first win. It’s an amazing feeling. I’m on cloud nine."

The kid really does look young. But he held his composure pretty good, especially considering that Colton Gillies and Justin Falk were playing around with him and trying to make him break.

And a positive for him, last night, probably, was just his general ignorance of the league, especially his general ignorance of Chicago. Sure, he saw them, and faced them, on Wednesday, but he just doesn't realize how good they're supposed to be.

"I haven’t seen them [Chicago] play until now, but I heard they’re a good team and have a lot of offense," he said. "I’m not nervous, but in the third period I really realized that I can play at this level. I really calmed down and just played my game. I knew when we got that second one -- to go up 4-2, get the two goal lead -- I knew we were going to win it."

He knew that his play wasn't perfect, and there were some things that he wanted to set right, like that second Chicago goal which came off of a rebound he didn't handle properly. But unlike some young kids, and lots of veterans, he didn't let that goal get into his head.

"I would have liked to have that rebound back," he said, "but it came through traffic, and I was just like ‘you know what, we still have the lead here, we’re in good shape. I just need to play my game and stick with it, and we’ll still get the win.’”

He also gave credit to teammate and fellow goalie Wade Dubielewicz. If you ever watch the Aeros bench on a night when Dubielewicz isn't playing, and you'll note that he's the most vocal coach that you'll ever meet. He's always shouting and encouraging everybody and making suggestions. And during the timeouts last night, he was always confering with Kuemper.

"He’s been great," Kuemper said of Dubielewicz. "I owe him so much. Since the moment I got here he took me under his wing. He taught me a lot about the league, and he keeps teaching me. He’s really helped to calm me down and feel at home."

***************
If you thought the team was playing harder last night than they have recently, then you're right. Kevin Constantine noted afterwards that part of that had to do with protecting Kuemper. But he also noted that a lot of guys figured out that they're now playing for next year, i.e., contracts. And scouts are in the building, so they should probably be trying to impress.

***************
Speaking of next year, Heather noted that there will be a lot of roster turnover. And Andrew will probably deal with this later, like after the season. But for those who are curious, the following players are under a Wild/Aeros contract for next season:

Colton Gillies,
Marco Scandella,
Max Noreau,
Carson McMillan,
Justin Falk, and
Cody Almond.

The following are restricted free agents:

Anton Khudobin,
Jamie Fraser,
Robbie Earl,
Danny Irmen,
Petr Kalus, and
Matt Kassian.

The rest of the roster will be unrestricted free agents, are here on AHL contracts.

So take from that what you will.

Avoiding the sweep: Aeros 4, Wolves 3

I guess one of us should write something about last night. I know how hard it is to write about this team when there's no "future" so I can't imagine how hard it is to get up for games as a player.

Obviously, as Constantine spoke to us about last night, there are still scouts coming to the games and a large portion of the team has next year's contract to play for, or will be trying to make it to the Wild. And of course personal pride of effort to play for.

As he said (and this struck me because I've learned this personally from playing goal), you're gonna go home after a game either feeling good that you did your best and gave an honest effort, or you're gonna go home feeling like poo because you didn't. There's not a lot of middle ground there and by his estimation, the team was a little embarrassed by Wednesday's 4-0 drubbing.

So, another enjoyable, but meaningless game in the books. Nice to avoid a season series sweep by the dominating Wolves, but thanks to several of their ringers for being out with injuries. No question that helped muffle the Wolves offense.

Of course, I'm still trippin' on the new goalie love for Darcy Kuemper, and wrote some more about it for one of my other gigs over at InGoal Magazine.

It was a real joy to speak with him after the game. He was about to go supernova, he was so excited, and it really epitomizes why I love covering this level of hockey.

BTW, the Wild are swapping Dubielewicz for Khudobin today as they are headed for a couple of games in Canada. So, Anton will be back with the Aeros for a few days.

-------------------

What's with the oddball refs lately? The guy last night, who is the son of NHL ref Kerry Fraser, really made me miss the low-interference of Jeff Smith. Long discussions after several plays and lots of penalties really affected the flow of the game IMO.

Honestly, the whole game felt a bit odd, but perhaps that's because the guys were playing with purpose like they haven't for a while. It was revealing watching the Kings vs. Canucks Thursday night because, between the Aeros and Wild, I've been mostly watching hockey from teams who have no playoff interests. There's a definite difference.

----------------------

Only two more, gang. Unless you plan to get to Austin tonight or San Antonio for Game #80 on April 11th. But April 10 will be the last time we see this team. As I mentioned, we went through the roster during a break last night and there are lots of UFAs and guys with AHL contracts on this roster, so it will look very different next year.

What I would love to see is the occasional guy come back. I know other teams do this, but the Aeros haven't for a while. I suppose it's a testament to Kevin Constantine and his staff that so many guys play well and the Wild/Aeros simply aren't willing to shell out for their increased market value.

I think Daoust is a guy they should try to get back. And Rau seems like a good fit, too. But we'll talk more about the changing state of the Aeros roster after the season. Andrew will probably have some good stuff there later on.

Meanwhile, Happy Easter, if you celebrate it. Otherwise, enjoy 75% off chocolate at your local CVS or Walgreens on Monday! See you Tuesday when Rockford, who clinched a playoff spot last night, comes to town.

3/31/10 -- Aeros v. Wolves -- Everybody Hurts

After being absent recently because of other, somewhat more pressing mothership duties -- I was off covering the NCAA Regional Finals (aka the Sweet 16 and Elite 8) -- I returned to Toyota Center for last night's Aeros game versus the Chicago Wolves. And let's just say that I don't think I've missed too much as the Aeros lost 4-0.

I had three highlights.

Number one: I generally bitch about the audio guys and their music selections a lot. But last night, they had a genius moment. After the third Chicago goal -- one on which Wade Dubielewicz appeared to be screened by his entire team -- the sound guys busted out R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts." It was just serendipity. It was perfect. Kismet. Never has a song so matched the moment. And as Heather said, someone is so getting fired.



Number two: during the first intermission, there was a group of kids singing "God Bless America." Right in front of those kids, there was another set of kids signing "God Bless America." Heather, who was in her own world, looked up from whatever she was doing, saw the kids, and wanted to know why they were doing "YMCA" during "God Bless America."

Number three: I talked to Matt Kassian last night about his being team's Humanitarian of the Year, which makes him the nominee for the league's award. I remember talking to Brandon Rogers when he got this last year, so I know how much this stuff means to the players. And Matt, who is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, gave me some really great stuff for a story I'm going to write for the mothership.

That Kassian story was going to be for today's mothership story, but the Houston Cougars interfered last night and decided to name a new coach for the men's basketball team, so the Kassian thing will run next week.

Do I have any thoughts on the game? Are you kidding, did you see the game? I don't think there were any highlights. Because the wireless was screwed up yet again, I spent the third period down in the press room, writing my mothership post on the Cougars, so I didn't get to see the young kid, Darcy Kuemper, play. I'm sure Heather will contribute some words on that later. Andrew talked to him after the game, while I was with Kassian, and he says Kuemper looks to be about 13.

The Aeros give it another try to tomorrow night. So maybe they'll have some better luck. Hah, who am I kidding? Did you see them play last night?