And then there were 26

Trying to fix the ice Friday night

The Aeros announced that they cut 5 more guys from camp today: forwards Rylan Kaip, Michael Kennedy, Bobby Robins, defenseman J.F. David and goaltender Per-Olivier Pelletier.

Pelletier isn't a surprise since Jose Theodore is headed to Houston for the week. Wish there was more to say about the other guys but... they never even got a chance to show their stuff for coaches and fans. Stinks for them.

Getting close to a final roster, folks. Games start mattering in a week!

WIld Goalie Moves

The late-night/early-morning news from Finland is that the Wild has signed goalie Jose Theodore to replace Josh Harding who is out for the season with a torn ACL and torn MCL. Michael Russo is reporting that Theodore will report to the Aeros and play here until the Wild return from Finland. Theodore will then join the Wild and Anton Khudobin will return for another season with the Aeros.

Theodore was 30-7-7 with the Washington Capitals last season.

I'm sure there will be more on this as the day/week progresses.

Slicing Up The SLICE

As you no doubt no by now, there was no Aeros/Rampage contest tonight. The reason can generously be described as being due to bad/dangerous ice conditions.

The Aeros will supposedly be sending an email out to all of those who purchased tickets in an effort to refund the money spent for tickets. And the team will hold a skills competition on Monday night at SLICE for anyone who cares to come out and watch.

Andrew and I spoke to Mike Yeo a bit after the cancellation. He was a bit disappointed, and admitted he had been pumped for the game. Seeing as how this was to be his first game as head coach, it's not hard to understand why. The game was going to be important for him as a way to evaluate several of the players who are on the bubble of making the squad. As for Sunday's game, he said that he was going to try to play the squad that will be on the team come next weekend's opener in Oklahoma City.

As to which player has surprised and pleased him most since he's taken over for the Aeros, the answer would be Matt Hackett, and knowing how well Hackett plays will, he says, ease the burden caused by Josh Harding's injury.

Meet Your 2010-11 Aeros: Jamie Fraser

Jamie Fraser

Defense

Born Nov 17 1985 -- Sarnia, ONT
Height 6.01 -- Weight 200 -- Shoots L

Sixth year pro, second with the Aeros

Jamie got off to a bit of a slow start in 2009-10. I never claim to be a hockey expert, but even I could tell that Fraser struggled a bit out of the gate. The good news? He finished with 22 points, which is just about what he averaged in his previous two AHL seasons in Bridgeport. In the first three months of the season, he played 19 games and scored just one point. In November and December, he recorded ZERO points. As far as I know, that is how many points Barry Brust recorded in the AHL over that same time frame.

Then something clicked.

He got in more games, got more ice time and started putting up some pretty decent numbers.

January? Two goals, four assists. February? Same; two goals, four assists. In March and the few April games, Fraser tacked on 2 more goals and seven assists and was right up there with the team lead in scoring by defensemen. He was fairly steady on the blueline, too, and only played in two games where he was a horrific -3.

If Jamie stays healthy this year, he and Max Noreau could make a very formidable offensive threat on the blue line. Come on Jamie, how about we go for 30-35 points this year?

Meet Your 2010-11 Aeros: Brandon Buck

BRANDON BUCK

Forward

Born Aug 16 1988 -- Delaware, ONT
Height 6.01 -- Weight 191 -- Shoots L

Third-Year Pro, Second season with Aeros

Brandon Buck (pictured here on the right celebrating a goal) signed a two-way AHL deal with the Aeros right before the season started last year. His role was fairly simple: play your tail off down in the ECHL and when you are need in Houston, don't embarrass yourself. Last year, Brandon did both of those things very well. He finished with 39 points in the ECHL (21 goals) and even contributed with three helpers in his 21 games with Kevin Constantine's Aeros.

Buck is fast and has decent hands, but he's probably not going to be on any top lines unless the Aeros and Wild just get devastated with injuries. He is a good candidate to spend some time down in the ECHL again, this time with the teams' affiliate in Bakersfield.

He is one of the guys that I did not get a chance to talk too much to last year, but based on what I have heard about him ... he seems to be a nice kid and one that is just ready for the chance to contribute. This guy averaged 62 points in his last two years of junior hockey, so he can put the puck in the net.

I don't know that he will make the team out of camp this yea, but he should be among one of the first called up when needed.

Meet Your 2010-11 Aeros: Peter Zingoni

PETER ZINGONI
Born: April 28, 1981 (age 29)
Bridgeport, CT

5 ft 10
190 lb
Center
Shoots: Left

Career Transactions: Selected by Columbus in the eighth round (231st overall) in 2000 NHL entry draft…Joined the Aeros as a free agent last season…Returns to the Aeros on a AHL contract this season.

I remember speaking to Peter Zingoni in training camp last season. The Aeros were going to be a chance for him to set right some misconceptions that had arisen about him as a result on an injury-plagued 2008-09 season with the Norfolk Admirals in which he had only 14 points (7-7=14). The primary misconceptions being that he could no longer score and that he could no longer stay healthy.

Unfortunately for Zingoni, his 2009-10 season with the Aeros was much like his previous season with the Admirals as he suffered through a series of injuries that allowed him to hit the ice in 47 games and limited his scoring once again (8-6=14). I spoke to him again later in the season, when he was once again sitting out a game because of injury, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more frustrated player – no, Heather, not even Barry when he was dealing with his multiple injuries.

Zingoni was frustrated because of the injuries. He was frustrated because he wanted to be playing hockey. He was frustrated because he felt he was letting everybody down. He was frustrated because he knew that the team, which was battered by injuries all season, would be better if he were on the ice.

Zingoni comes into this season off of two injury-plagued seasons that have worn on him, without a doubt. And he’s having to learn another new system and he’s having to deal with another new coach. But he still has talent, he still has skill, and if he can stay healthy, he should be able to help this Aeros team.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Jerina

Best of Houston -- Jean-Michel Daoust

The Best of Houston edition of the mothership is out, so I advice you to click the link and read about my selection for the Best Aero, Jean-Michel Daoust.

Welcome to Hockey Season, AHL style

Aeros start camp today with testing and physicals in the morning and then hitting the ice at 3 p.m. I find it interesting that they're on the ice today, as it seems like most camps don't hit the ice until day 2.

But I like it. This team needs a jump start and I'm guessing the guys won't mind it either. Maybe helps to knock some nerves back to just rip that bandaid off and get out there with the guys you're competing against for a job.

The first round of Wild cuts came last week, sending down LW Brandon Buck, RW Jarod Palmer, RW Joel Broda, RW Jean-Michel Daoust and G Josh Tordjman to join the tryouts on the training camp roster in Houston.

But today, the big cuts come as the team whittles down to the crew that will mostly be together until the end of training camp and into Finland.

Before we get to those names, though, an update on the goaltending situation: Apparently, Khudobin is not the shoo-in we first thought he would be. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher has not committed to making Anton the #2 and has made noises like he might pick up a free agent with more NHL experience to back up Backstrom.

That's disappointing for Anton, though. I would guess his latter-half inconsistency last season is a good chunk of where their reservations are coming from, and rightly so. He let in too many untimely goals in the AHL and you just can't do that in the NHL or you're the next Vesa Toskala (which, BTW, is a name Fletcher threw out there, along with Jose Theodore. Wouldn't THAT be fun?)

We'll keep you posted on that front as the Wild continues to evaluate and make decisions between the pipes.

Okay, here's your list of guys who are having a crappy day today:

F
Robbie Earl*
Petr Kalus*
Warren Peters*
Jon DiSalvatore*
Colton Gillies (who Russo reports is "pumped")
Cody Almond
Chad Rau
Carson McMillan

D
Tyler Cuma
Max Noreau
Nate Prosser
Jared Spurgeon
Jamie Fraser

G
Matt Hackett

*These guys are on waivers for the purposes of being sent down. Will know tomorrow if they've cleared.

A few who have managed to hang on for at least a bit longer are Kassian, Wellman (though I think he's going to stick out of camp), Bagnall, Falk, and Scandella. These guys might get a sweet first class trip to Finland at the end of the week even if they don't make the final roster, so congrats to them.

Anyway, welcome to Houston, fellas. It's not that bad. Flip-flops in the winter, yo! It's gonna be great. Just ask Colton!

(Thanks to Russo and his killer tweeting and blog today for the updates.)

Goalie News From Minnesota

For those who missed the news, Josh Harding was injured in last night's exhibition game. Michael Russo is tweeting that Harding tore his right ACL and right MCL and that he is likely out for the season. Russo is also tweeting that, as of now, the Wild's number two goalie for the season will be Anton Khudobin until/unless he proves he can't handle the position.

For the Aeros, that means that Josh Tordjman and Matt Hackett will be number one and two in Houston to start the season, and I would expect Jim Mill to get another AHL-experienced goalie under contract and stashed in the ECHL.

Meet Your 2010-11 Aeros: Matt Kassian

MATT KASSIAN
Born: October 28, 1986 (age 23)
Edmonton, AB

6 ft 05
245 lb
Left Wing
Shoots: Left

Career Transactions: Selected by Minnesota in the second round (57th overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Signed a 2-year contract to stay in the Wild system this off-season.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that Kevin Constantine had a favorite player. He appreciated some players more than others, but as long as the guys worked their asses off, as long as they worked on their games, did everything they could make their games better, did everything they could to make the team better, then Constantine liked them.

Matt Kassian fits that definition to a key. Kassian set career highs last year with 6 points (2+4=6) last season, and probably nobody was happier than Constantine because this was proof of Kassian’s work ethic. The guy was willing himself to be a better hockey player, to be something besides the team bruiser.

Mike Yeo is going to like Matt Kassian, just like Constantine liked Kassian, just like his teammates like him, and just like those of in the press box like him. Kassian’s a friendly guy, but he’s a worker. He’s not the most graceful guy, nor the most gifted of skaters. But it’s doubtful that anyone on the team’s going to work harder. And if anybody starts messing around with one of his teammates, then they're going to have to deal with Kassian because while he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, Kassian's not afraid or shy about playing the protector/enforcer when the need arises.

And not that it matters, but in my opinion, Yeo’s not going to have a nicer guy on the team. Kassian’s always ready to a joke or a friendly greeting. He’s a great guy to know, and from what I can tell, he’s a hell of a teammate.