27th out of 30?

The Hockey News came out with their AHL team rankings today and the Aeros did not fare well in the eyes of their AHL expert.

To Patrick's credit, I suspect this was written prior to all the business going down with Theodore being signed and Khudobin coming back to Houston once the Wild return from Finland.

I think Khudobin/Hackett is a stronger tandem than Hackett/Tordjman, but it's true that a lot does rest on this and it's not so big a difference as to negate his point. The Wild didn't exactly open the wallet to get the Aeros some top notch offensive help, so it will have to come from within.

And seeing how bad the Wild are thus far, I wouldn't be surprised to see them give some chances to guys down here who are playing well.

What do you think of the ranking? Fair or foul? How jacked for the season does that get you? :)

Aeros Poised For Liftoff

My latest post on the Aeros is up over at the mothership. I talk with Mike Yeo about goalies, about his and the staff's enthusiam for the season. So go it a read.

Aeros On The Radio

The Aeros announced yesterday that their games will be returning, once again, to 1070. There will be 78 games on the radio this season, and nothing was mentioned about any of the games being joined in process, which happend on occasion last season.

David, Kaip to join Bakersfield

Two recently-released Aeros hopefuls will join the Bakerfield Condors.

JF David and Rylan Kaip, who played for the Chicago Wolves last year, will spend at least the first part of the season in California.

Here is the press release.

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