Aeros v. Rochester Americans - Game 25

What can I say about this game? It was typical 07-08 Aeros game where the defense, especially the penalty kill, was spectacular and the offense was painfully anemic.

Amerks goalie Mike Brodeur (who is either very blessed or very cursed with that name) saw little in the way of challenging shots in the 27 he faced, almost as though the point of the game was TO hit the goalie with the puck and not actually get it PAST the goalie. Even Kolanos wasn't picking the top corners like he usually is so good at.

What's especially sad about this game is that the Amerks came into this game with ZERO road wins. Well, you're welcome, Rochester. Now you're 1-10-0-1 on the road.

And to top it all off, Brust was in net and saved some doozies, but again, in the shootout, he was abysmal. I love watching him play, but if this team is going to continue struggling offensively and games are going to be tight all the time, this has GOT to get fixed. The longer it continues to haunt him, the more ingrained the problem is going to get in the psychology of his game. (Post-game reaction here in Andrew's Chronicle article and here in Royal's blog post... which, after reading, I'm feeling really, really sad for Barry right now... poor guy needs a hug.)

I'm not even gonna rag on the guys who participated in the shoot out and didn't score (only Kolanos did... and made it look like there wasn't even an goalie there... it was a beauty). It doesn't matter as long as Barry's letting every single puck past him.

Also, Marco Rosa is back to his dilly-dallying with the puck. Bad Rosy! STOP IT! He's like a cat playing with a mouse, the way he's just batting the puck around, as though there aren't 5 other cats descending on him, wanting that mouse. You put that rodent in your teeth and you head for home, son! Family needs to eat!

That said, it wasn't all bad (just mostly):

• I drove to and walked into the rink in a barrage of snowflakes. It was beautiful and magical and put me in a terrific mood. I smiled from the moment I opened my garage door to leave until the time I sat down in my seat at the TC. Lovely.
  
• Noreau got the lone goal for the Aeros on the power play and now leads all defensemen in the league in goals and power play goals. The kid is Solid. I'm more impressed with him all the time.
• The National Anthem was nice. No choirs. A different music mix, which was a wonderful change of pace. And both intermissions utilized the ice. First with some little figure skater girls, and then some little kid hockey teams playing each other. That's the way you do intermission, gang. Well done.
• There were three fights, none worth writing home about. Kassian and Emmerson did the required enforcer fight. Edge to Emmerson but only because he's taller and had a little better leverage. Then Rogers and Stewart went, though I think Stewart instigated and it ended quickly, though they both just got 5 for it. And the Irmen and Henry went after a scrum in the corner or something. By then I was so bored I didn't even care why or what happened.
  
• There was something else that didn't suck but I can't remember what it was. Oh, in spite of the 2,400+ official attendance, my very generous estimate would be 400 people. So, you know, if you're gonna suck, at least you're doing it in front of die-hards who will come out in a blizzard on a Wednesday for hockey.
  

Our deck when I got home, before the dog went out and decided his new mission in life was to eat all the snow on the deck. Fortunately his feet got cold before he got too far into that mission. He was fired up though. Very cute.

Tomorrow, Chucko and the Flames comes to town. Apparently he's playing pretty well this season. And he's catching a break because my little crew of Chucko-haters won't be there.

Though I did learn from a QC fan that the team is leaving QC pre-dawn, having to come through Atlanta, eat their pre-game meal in ATL at the airport, and then fly into Houston, maybe/maybe not get a pre-game nap, etc. So for once, the Aeros get the benefit of a travel-weary team rather than being the travel-weary team themselves. They'll need to take advantage of it and come out strong and with a helluva lot more fire in the belly than they showed up with tonight.

Oh and I have a special treat for tomorrow, including some Clutterbuckage. Stay tuned.

ETA: I forgot to say, the scratches were Hamilton (concussion), Lundbohm (groin), Lammers (undisclosed), Love (healthy), Falk (healthy)