Aeros stay in West Division

The league announced today a chance in divisions and playoff format.

The Aeros, as expected, will stay in the West division. The league, however, will move from four to six divisions and the top eight teams will make the playoffs. The division winners will be seeded 1-3.

The TX and OK teams will be grouped with Abbotsford, and Charlotte will move to the Western Conference and will play in the newly-created Midwest Division. I call that the O'Hare division, since all the teams fly to Chicago to play the Wolves, Admirals, IceHogs and Rivermen.

Later this week, I think we'll see the grid of who plays whom and how many times. Expect to see the teams the same number of times, with the exception of Charlotte. The Aeros will play them at least four times, if not six. And I would imagine the Aeros will play more than just four games against Abbottsford this season.

This is a win-win. No more crappy crossovers and the best eight teams make the playoffs. That is the best way to do it, and the AHL even says that teams are re-seeded after the first round. That patterns the NHL style (win) and not the NBA style (fail).

Discuss ... this is a good day to be an AHL/Aeros fan.



Here is the official release from the AHL:


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced that the league’s Board of Governors, convening this week for its Annual Meeting in Hilton Head Island, S.C., has approved the following division alignment for the 2011-12 AHL season (NHL affiliates in parentheses):

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Manchester Monarchs (LA)
Portland Pirates (PHX)
Providence Bruins (BOS)
St. John’s (WPG)
Worcester Sharks (SJ)

Northeast Division
Adirondack Phantoms (PHI)
Albany Devils (NJ)
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)
Connecticut Whale (NYR)
Springfield Falcons (CBJ)

East Division
Binghamton Senators (OTT)
Hershey Bears (WSH)
Norfolk Admirals (TB)
Syracuse Crunch (ANA)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)

Western Conference
North Division
Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)
Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL)
Lake Erie Monsters (COL)
Rochester Americans (BUF)
Toronto Marlies (TOR)

Midwest Division
Charlotte Checkers (CAR)
Chicago Wolves (VAN)
Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)
Peoria Rivermen (STL)
Rockford IceHogs (CHI)

West Division
Abbotsford Heat (CGY)
Houston Aeros (MIN)
Oklahoma City Barons (EDM)
San Antonio Rampage (FLA)
Texas Stars (DAL)

The format for the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs was also approved by the Board of Governors. Eight teams in each conference will qualify for the postseason, with the three division winners earning the top three seeds and the next five best teams in order of regular-season points seeded fourth through eighth.

The conference quarterfinals will be best-of-five series; the conference semifinals, conference finals and Calder Cup Finals will be best-of-seven series. Teams will be re-ordered after the first round so that the highest-remaining seed plays the lowest-remaining seed.

The regular-season schedule format is still to be determined, and the complete playing schedule for the 2011-12 regular season, which begins Oct. 7, will be announced later this summer.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 87 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and for the 10th year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2010-11.

Torchetti to be named Yeo's successor

Former NHL head coach John Torchetti will be named the Aeros next head coach today.
The three-previously announced "finalists" (Trent Yawney, Gary Agnew and Ryan McGill) did not make the cut, as the Wild chose Torchetti.

"Torch" as he is affectionately known, has coached the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings in two previous stints, and he was an assistant under Quenneville in Chicago with the 'Hawks broke their Stanley Cup drought in 2010.

Another fun fact is that Torch was the first head coach of the San Antonio Rampage the first time they were affiliated with the Florida Panthers. He was the head coach, once upon a time, with the San Antonio Iguanas (CHL) and an assistant coach for the San Antonio Dragons under Jeff Brubaker. (The Aeros knocked the Dragons out of the playoffs that year, four games to one in round 2.)

Here is a post that Mike Russo of the Star Tribune wrote today. Some more great background information here.

Wild adds forward Jeff Taffe

The Wild was unable to get power forward Mark Mancari on free agent Friday. That would have been huge as Mancari is one of the best players in the AHL when he is down.

The Wild went after him hard, but ultimately could not match the one-way deal offered by Vancouver for half a million bucks.

But with the departure of Patrick O'Sullivan (who has of Sunday afternoon, has yet to sign anywhere) the Aeros still needed someone to put the puck in the net.

Jim Mill found his guy Sunday, announcing that Jeff Taffe will join the organization on a one year, two-way contract.

Taffe was in the Blackhawks organization last year, and scored a career-high 30 goals for the Rockford IceHogs. He did not get much time in the NHL in 2010-11, but Taffe is a guy that can contribute "in the majors" when he is there.

In 175 career NHL games, Taffe has 21 goals, 23 assists and 40 PIMs.

More on this signing later ... I have a small story to tell about the time that Taffe ran over former Aeros goalie (and current Wild backup) Josh Harding.

That was a long time ago, and doesn't matter ... but it was a big deal at the time, and Harding missed a significant amount of time with an injury.

Aeros returning for 2011-12

Here is a quick look at a group of players that will definitely be with the Aeros come opening night:

AEROS

Defense (8):
Jeff Penner
Drew Bagnall
Sam Lofquist
Justin Falk
Tyler Cuma
Kris Fredheim (AHL deal)
Kyle Medvec
Nate Prosser

Forwards (11):
Carson McMillan
Jeff Taffe
Kris Foucault
Jon DiSalvatore
Chad Rau
Jarrod Palmer
Jed Ortmeyer
Warren Peters
Matt Kassian
Joel Broda
David MacIntyre
Cody Almond

Goalies (2):
Matt Hackett
Darcy Kuemper

This following is a group that will likely see time with the Wild. Some, of course, more than others.

WILD (4):
Marco Scandella
Casey Wellman
Colton Gillies
Jared Spurgeon

And these players are categorized accordingly:

Europe (1):
Dennis Endras

Back to Juniors (2):
Brett Bulmer, Colton Jobke

Free Agents (4):
Patrick O'Sullivan, Scott Campbell, Robbie Earl, Pascal Morency

Already Gone (5):
Jamie Fraser, Max Noreau, Brandon Buck, JM Daoust, Josh Tordjman

Ortmeyer and Bagnall back in the fold

The Wild have re-signed forward Jed Ortmeyer and defenseman Drew Bagnall.
Both will spend a good chunk of time in Houston, but they will get their chances to play in Minnesota, too.

I think Bagnall was a lock to come back, but Ortmeyer was probably a little iffy. Having Yeo in St. Paul probably helped that cause.

Bagnall is a two-year deal; Ortmeyer is for one.

Congrats to Fletcher, Jim Mill and Co. for getting these two back in the fold.

Aeros coaching finalist down to three

Got the news yesterday that, barring any real surprise, the next Aeros head coach will either be Trent Yawney, Gary Agnew or Ryan McGill.

If those names sound familiar, they should. No matter which direction they go, the Aeros will have a very good hockey person in charge of the team come October.

Yawney coached in Norfolk and is good friends with Todd McLellan, who coached the Aeros in their early AHL days. Yawney has been an assistant under McLellan in San Jose and is the former head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

I am a little less familiar with Agnew, but he was in charge of the Syracuse AHL team for many years and then was an assistant under Claude Noel in Columbus.

As for McGill, Aeros fans probably saw his coaching style with Omaha/Quad City Flames. He them moved up as an assistant with Calgary, where he has been since the team moved to Abbotsford.

I am reaching out to see what I can find out about these guys from colleagues who have covered their teams. My gut says Yawney is going to get the gig, and I really hope I am right.

He did a lot with some weird Norfolk teams and was completely hosed in Chicago.

Here is a quote from one of my peers, Trys Wykes about Yawney: "He was awesome. One of the best people I've ever dealt with. He can be a tiny bit grumpy in certain situations but I miss him tremendously. An amazing father figure to young players. Houston and Minnesota will be lucky to have him."


Yawney in Chicago

Wykes covered the Norfolk Admirals for many years for the Virginia Pilot. Read this article he wrote about Yawney from back in the day.


Ryan McGill

McGill comes highly recommended, too. From another colleague, Joe Clark, who is now the GM for the NAHL team in Odessa: "His teams were always competitive, and you know what ... they always, always worked their asses off. And he does not sugar coat anything with the prospects. Tells them what they have to do to get better. Kind of reminds me of Barry Trotz in that regard. He is really old school, but he is great at developing guys."

I will update this post if/when I hear back about Agnew. For now, I will go with this quote from Lindsay Kramer, who covers the Crunch in upstate NY: "He always had the knack for teaching and relating to younger players, identifying their strengths and putting them in a position to do well."


Agnew in Columbus

This is a great year to be in the market for an AHL coach. All of these guys will make a great head coach. It will be a tough choice for Fletcher, Mill and company. But again, I really hope that Trent Yawney is our guy.

Hockey? In Reliant Stadium? In September?

So Andrew posted the story on the "preseason" game to be played at Reliant Stadium. And while I like the idea of a preseason game in Houston, the idea of playing it at that lifeless hanger known as Reliant Stadium, in September, just strikes me as a monumentally bad idea.

I've got some thoughts on this, and I posted them over at the mothership today. Let's just say that I'm troubled at the lack of involvement from the Aeros, the venue, the lack of an agreement with Reliant, and the lack of involvement on the part of the Toyota Center and Les Alexander.

In the comments I was shocked to discover that Phoenix does actually have a fan, and that somebody thought it was my job to write positive PR for hockey so that the sport will grow. I think if you ask my editor at the Press he would probably say that I write too many positive things about hockey when he would much prefer to see me bitching about the Texans, Astros, or Rockets.

But just in case you, dear readers, don't know it: I like hockey. I want hockey to grow in Houston. I want the NHL here on a full-time basis because it bugs me that Dallas has a team and we don't. I just wish that this Coyotes/Stars game at Reliant Stadium made more sense to me because, right now, it just has "failure" written all over it which, in turn, will shine this gigantic negative light on the city of Houston.

But what do I know, right?

NHL Preseason coming to Houston

This story is developing, but it looks like there will be a preseason game in Houston this year.

A game between the affiliates of the Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage.


http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/06/stars-to-play-pre-season-game-at-reliant.html

Here is the Phoenix Coyotes press release:

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=566563

Yeo to be named Minnesota Wild head coach

Russo is reporting that Mike Yeo will be announced as the new head coach of the Wild tomorrow. So, the Aeros are on the hunt yet again for a new coach.

Personally, I'm delighted for Mike. I really can't say enough nice things about him as a person and as a coach and he absolutely has earned the opportunity to be a head coach in the NHL.

And as a Wild fan myself, the last two years have been a dreadful experience, so I'm looking forward to watching the sort of team Mike puts on the ice. I will be rooting for him AND for the boys.

I think a good number of them will be guys he's coached down here, if they go for a youth movement up there, so it's a good transition for them, too.

But of course, it's always a bit pins-and-needles time when you get a new coach down here. So here's to the team making another good choice when they fill his big shoes.

All the best of luck to Mike. I hope Wild fans enjoy him as much as we have.

I'm sure we'll (and by we, I mean someone with actual quotes) be back with more before long, but I wanted to get it out there.

Max Noreau traded to Devils

It is official - Max Noreau has been traded to the New Jersey Devils for Dave McIntyre.

I will try to get more details on this, but trade has been confirmed by Aeros GM Jim Mill.

Quick thought - this is not a shocker with the number of dmen in the Wild system.
Also, MacIntyre is a center originally drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2006. He recorded 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in 78 games for Albany last season.

Both teams pick up something they need with this deal.

Noreau was the "oldest" Aero in sense of his tenure with the team. He and his massive slapshot will be missed.

Best of luck, Max!