Aeros v. Binghamton Senators - Game 37

Wow, I'm sure the boyz are feeling all 37 games deep down in their bones, but the first half of the season has whipped past me like it didn't even happen. I suppose I've been waiting for the team I thought this team would be to show up, so it's almost like the season hasn't REALLY started in my mind. Feels like we're about 20 games in. That said, I'm already starting to get depressed about the off-season.

I'll be putting together my mid-year review for PHN in the next few days, so that should be pretty fun.

The first thing that catches my attention in this game is that O'Donnell says Mitch Love is playing center. It's not enough that they have a defenseman playing forward, but now he's playing center, too? Yeesh.

Skating and shots are pretty even in the first. Then about halfway, Kassian and Yablonski drop the mitts and Kass hangs in there but ultimately gets dropped by Yablonski who is the bulldog equivalent of a human. 6'1", 235 with 228 PIM last season. Gotta love a guy with a mohawk who gets almost his weight in penalty minutes each season.

One thing I love about Kass's fights is that he goes with the big name enforcers and they're always good blue-collar, hard-nosed bouts with lots of respect for each other. This one was no exception, including Yablonski, with his nose bleeding, giving Kass a "good job, kid" pat on the shoulder as they were skating to the box. Little stuff like that is why hockey rocks my socks.

Love, on the other hand, kinda has the market cornered on the "energy fight" rather than the "heavyweight fight," and he and Zack Smith go at it later in the first with a clear win for Love who got way more shots in. I'm not loving the 'stache though, Mitch.

But it didn't help the Aeros kill a Mojzis penalty shortly thereafter, as the baby Sens popped one past Schaefer right at the post with just a few seconds left in the period.

In the second period, the Sens second goal was all Falk, who not only made the wrong choice about the direction in which to clear the puck from behind the net (sent it blindly around the boards right to a waiting Sens stick) but also got deked out of his breezers by Cavosie right in front of Schaefer as he was trying to get the puck away. He was appropriately pissed.

And again on the third goal, which bounced off Schaefer's mask and behind him, Falk was battling to keep Regin out from behind Schaefer but didn't get it done and Regin was able to get a stick on it and bat across the line.

The fourth goal was a short handed, empty netter that was just shot down the ice in the air and went in. Lucky goal. But you know what they say about making your own luck.

Again, turnovers were the thorn in the Aeros side for this game. Plus facing up against the AHL goaltender of the month in the Senators' Elliot. Plus kind of crazy, fluky goals on Schaefer.

My only final note, as I'm ready to be done writing about this game, is that Rogers was given the C, with Hamilton and Locke wearing the A.