The Mikael Granlund Situation

A few of you might have noticed that Mikael Granlund skated during the warm-ups, but that he was scratched from the game. A few of you might have also have read on twitter that the Wild had Granlund pulled from the game so as not to risk injury with a possible NHL camp right around the corner.

But that's not quite the way things went down. Not according to the Aeros:

"He has a little soreness, so we don’t want to push that, especially with it being a three-in-three," Aeros coach John Torchetti said after the game. "So you’ve got to be careful with that."

Granlund was also seen after the game with a bit of a limp, and the "soreness" is in the same general area of his previous injury.

So maybe the Wild chose not to play Granlund to prevent further aggravation of an injury, and it sounds like he'll be able to  play tomorrow night. But if the Wild "had him pulled" to prevent an injury, then it appears they waited a game too long.

Aeros sweep Texas, host Milwaukee tonight

The Aeros erased their 0-2 start with two fairly dominating wins over the Texas Stars. The power play was pretty good, rebounding nicely from the opening weekend. Coyle was the hero Friday, and Palmieri and Granlund lit the lamp twice each in Saturday's road game.

The Aeros celebrate one of their early goals against Texas Saturday night

Both goalies each got a win, and the struggling Milwaukee Admirals will come to Toyota Center today. The Aeros win, and they'll sweep a three in three for the first time in a long time. Lose, and it's back to being the same old Milwaukee Admirals slump-busters. Last year, the Aeros were probably the better team, but every time the slumping Milwaukee Admirals played the Aeros, the slumping team got a win. 

Last year is last year, but my point this time is to call attention to one thing the squad from a year ago lacked. The killer instinct. Yeah, it's cliche, but when a team can get a third and fourth goal after taking a 2-1 lead, that can go a long way down the stretch (Hey another cliche!)

So far the Aeros have had a very nice weekend, so win or lose things are going in the right direction after just not being able to score very much opening weekend. The 5-3 scores are more of what I think you can expect from this team for the most part. Good offensive numbers, young defense and goalies who will give you a chance to win every night.

In closing, here are a few lines about today's opponent, the Milwaukee Admirals.

They are 1-2 on the year, losing two straight this weekend after winning their season opener. Last night they were blanked in San Antonio, 1-0. Jeremy Smith has played every game so far, so I'd have to think their backup will get the call today. Another great thing about the Admirals, is they have three players with the last names "Bang" and "Moore" and "Valentine."... You gotta think some radio guys will have some fun with that. (Not to mention some sophomoric bloggers)

Aeros Win, Aeros Win, The Aeros Win

I've been hearing about how bad the Aeros have looked this season. But aside from a couple of practices, I haven't seen either of the games. So I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw during tonight's 5-1 win over the Texas Stars.

First, here's Heather's gamer over at the Chronicle. It has quotes and everything.

The Aeros got the early lead, with Charlie Coyle putting the Aeros up early and with Marco Scandella Jason Zucker putting the team up 2-0 later in the first with a shot from the blue line (okay, I was down in the corner, so it looked like the blue line to me, but I didn't have a good view) tip-in of a Marco Scandella shot. The Stars made it 2-1 early in the third, but the Aeros put up three more goals and put this game out of reach.

The offense seemed to have a bit of a slow start early on in the game -- goal notwithstanding. It kind of looked as if the guys are still trying to learn each other and develop on-ice chemistry. But it looked like they began clicking as things moved on.

So here are some random thoughts.

1. I was impressed by Jason Zucker. It seemed to me, from my view down in the corner, that wherever there was action with the puck, you would find Zucker.

Zucker in action.

2. John Torchetti thought the most important thing for the Aeros was that they got a week off after losing their opening two games. It gave the team a chance to see what happens if they don't play the system. It also got him some time to sit the guys down with video so that they could watch their play. He said that this was the first time that some of the guys had ever seen themselves on video, and gives them a feel of what it'll be like on the next level.

Torchetti in action during the second period.

3. The win was good for the team, Torchetti said, because it showed the guys that the system does, indeed, work. And that if they play that system, the team wins. There's still a little too much individual play on the ice, but the improvement was notable.

4. Torchetti thinks some of the other guys have to step up and bring the tough-guy attitude. He likes that he's got Drew Bagnall -- Bagnall was in two fights during the game -- but he thinks it's better for the team if Bagnall's actually out on the ice instead of the penalty box for fighting. But it appears so far that Bagnall's the only guy who really wants to get physical.

5. The Aeros got over one hurdle by getting that first win. Now comes the team's first three-in-three. There are a bunch of guys on the Aeros who have never experienced anything like a three-in-three, and Torchetti says it's important the guys learn how to play on such days.

6. Brian Connelly was the quarterbacking the power play, and Torchetti wants him to start shooting the puck more than he is. Torchetti says that Connelly's used to being a pass-first guy on the power play, and he really wants Connelly to concentrate on taking his shot.

7. This is a big season for Matt Hackett who is hoping to make the leap to full-time action in the NHL (for the uninitiated, the NHL is supposedly the highest level of professional hockey that can be played. But the NHL has shut down the league once again. Frankly, I think the NHL is one of those myths, like Big Foot). Torchetti says the key for Hackett this season is consistency.

The team gives Matt Hackett the first of hopefully many celebratory head pats following the end of tonight's game.

8. And Wild fans, speaking of mythical beings, here's a photo of Mikael Granlund in action on the ice. Maybe someday.

A Quick Chat With Mikael Granlund

Thanks to the NHL lockout, there are a bunch of guys who just showed up in Sugar Land today who would normally not have come anywhere near the place. One of those guys is Mikael Granlund from Finland. So we took the chance to chat with Granlund for a bit earlier this afternoon at SLICE.

He's close to fulfilling a dream, the dream of playing in the NHL, which has been his dream since he was a kid. And he's really looking forward to playing some actual hockey in a competitive situation tomorrow night, even if the competitive situation is merely an exhibition game.

"It’s always been a dream since I was a kid to play here in North American, and maybe someday in the NHL. I am so excited," he said. "Now I’m here and just waiting for games.

He thinks his biggest challenge will basically be dealing with the smaller ice surface here in North America: "That’s maybe the biggest thing. You don’t have that much time and space on the ice. But still, it’s the same game and everything’s the same."

But basically, all that he's got to do, he believes, is just his play his game.

And in a short amount of time, we'll see just how easily he makes the adjustments.