Back in the teeth

Well, let's see, it was a fun night of hockey for everyone but the Aeros, who lost 3-2 to Rockford. This continues Khudobin's 10ish game losing streak, though I'm told that none of the 3 goals were bad ones. A couple of of defensive lapses and one just heavy traffic and some friendly interference.

One thing that stood out to me was during the first intermission, KC was talking to Joe about how the number of defensive penalities the team is getting indicates that the team isn't possessing the puck enough. They need to control the puck more and win battles for the puck more, etc.

You know what's great for helping that? A goalie who plays the puck like a third defenseman and get the puck back in his team's control closer to their offensive zone.

But where can you get one of those? Hmm... let me think....



The Wild knocked out a big, decisive win against the Canucks, including chasing Luongo, which warms the cockles of my heart. It's not that I dislike Luongo... but he's one of the few goalies who I really don't mind seeing lose. Maybe it's because he's a Nuck and that team just grinds my gears. Or it could be the greasy mullet. Not sure.

And not only did they win on the scoreboard, there were numerous fights and John Scott's in particular was a monstrous beat down of Bolduc. Scotty used to kinda halfass his fights like he didn't want to hurt anybody, but I guess NHL money says, "If he dies, he dies." Rock on, Drago!

And if it's true what Boogaard told Russo about the Nucks coach telling his guys to go fight... man, that's... I dunno. That makes me squidgy. Bolduc got fed his own face and doesn't know which way is up now. It's just not cool.

Oh and, BTW, Latendresse Bitches! And also very relieved to see that Clutter seems to be okay. I don't trust the Wild medical staff re: concussions, but it sounds like Cal's being cautious. You'd have to be seriously concussed to not be able to look around you at the scrambled and re-scrambled brains in that room and not take ownership of your condition to some degree.

And finally, #(ahem)35 had a heck of a game for the Blades tonight. Had a shutout 58 minutes into the game and then one got past him.

Whoever said "shutout" needs to fess up and take your smack on the back of the head. Come on. You know who you are.

The shitty thing about watching online, even with a really spectacular feed like the Royals produce, is that generally you're following the puck by inference. Which is to say, you often only know where it is because of how players are moving and looking. So sometimes it's tough to tell what happened on a goal.

I'd guess by body language, it was deflected in or took a weird bounce, because Barry appeared to be well positioned for where the puck was at the last point I could actually see it. And then it was in.

Anyway, he stopped 20 of 21 in regulation and OT (perhaps the greater victory being that that's all the shots he saw), and then stopped all 7 shootout shooters. Thrilling!

Bonus was, of course, a big poke that honestly, the guy's head must have been up his ass because I don't know how he didn't see that coming. I even saw it coming and I'm fucking clueless.

Regardless, it worked. It was a fun shootout for a goalie lover, though to be truthful, these ECHL guys don't really seem to have much up their sleeves.

A couple went high glove and Barry Roy'd it up a little bit, which makes me laugh. Holding that glove up a couple of beats and then dropping it to the ice like, "Oh hey, you left this." I don't really know how that makes a shooter feel, but it can't be good because I know it makes goalies feel fucking great. Literally. KWIM? Yeah you doooooo....

My girl, Swamp Hockey has a great photoshop of Brusty the Wall here.

And also, um, I just have to get this off my chest: Matt Dalton is a weird lookin' goalie. Something about the way he skates and moves. Very stiff or something. *ahem* I'm totally NOT going to make the "normally I don't mind a stiff goalie" crack you were expecting. Oh wait....

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Quick Hits: Fake It Til You Make It

One of the things I'm learning as I get older, and is being heavily reinforced as a goalie, is that I'm in charge of my emotional and mental status. It's a tough lesson, because it's much easier to just ride the waves of your emotions and screw you if you don't like that I'm a crabby bitch all the time.

But sometimes you hit weeks like I'm having where the grumpy/angry/hurt/FAIL/rejected feelings just won't shake. I'm not excited about anything, especially playing goal. Usually by now I'm ready to get out there and redeem a bad game, but right now, I just still feel burned out and tired. In fact, I last played Tuesday night and only this morning found the will to deal with my gear bag. Yuck.

Part of that is that I really just am tired. I'm pleading my case to get a really, really lazy Saturday tomorrow. Nap when I'm tired and watch football and then the Aeros game. Hopefully that means my batteries will be recharged on Sunday.

But the other part of it is that I just need to suck it up and pepper myself with positive thoughts.

I have been dreaming about goal, so it just goes to show that my mind knows what I need to be doing. And that is, figuring out how to avoid another night like Tuesday, or at least how to turn it around mid-stream.

#1 is if I see blue paint in front of me, to move up. No judgment or fear, no "you're playing too deep again" or "what if I can't get back?"

Just "move up."

In fact, that may be the only thing I worry about Sunday. I need to develop faith in that behavior and I wager that's one of the hardest things to do as a new goalie.

I promise, this is my last big pity party sigh.

*sigh*

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My colleague over at In Goal Mag has a great post on the goalie mask chin strap. Took me AGES to figure out what the chin strap even was. At least on Hackvas, it's a very unfriendly kind of strapping material, and though it doesn't touch skin, it just seems like an uncomfortable thing to have to fasten. So I just never have.

Plus, you always see goalies flipping their masks up (ahhh, precious cool air to the head!) without unfastening anything, so I'm thinking, "What is this? To hang it by?" LOL Apparently I need a mask from IKEA with pictures on how to use.

Anyway, a good read for my goalie readers. And if you're not already subscribing to IGM, why not? Hutch is relentless in his drive to find great goalie content to post there, which makes it a truly unique site and I'm just privileged to be a small part of it.

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I noticed that someone came to the T3I site from one of those "info compilation" pages that gathers resources on a subject from all over the web and puts them on one page for you.

The subject of the page was Barry Brust, but if you go all the way to the bottom, there are some Google Ads. The system tries to tailor the ads to the subject matter, so what you get is an ad for Berry Burst.
Not sure what exactly they mean to be selling, but after a quick search, it appears there is Berry Burst-flavored Metamucil in case you need fiber, and Berry Burst Cheerios in case you need breakfast, and Berry Burst "energy chews" in case you need caffeination. There's a whole Berry Burst diet out there if you're into that sort of thing.

Better yet, when Brusty has to nut a bastard for screening or generally being a dick around the net, it should be officially called the Berry Burst™. Feel free to use that, B.

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I always forget how much I like Jane's Addiction until I happen to hear one of their songs on the radio. Heard this one yesterday and it's been stuck in my head since. Is it fair to say they have a certain timelessness? Or is it just that I never managed to get overexposed to them and so, never tired of them?



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John Scott actually pulls off the stache pretty well. @mnwild Very nice.

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Cal has a huge stick

Is any other sport so full of delicious innuendo as hockey? I nearly hyperventilated reading the second paragraph of this entertaining article on Wild.com about players relationships with their sticks, but that's just me and my filthy mind.

Anyway, Cal apparently has the longest stick on the team, which kinda doesn't surprise me. I remember two seasons ago when we had seats right behind where they put the "best seats in the house" promotion winners now (which are actually really awful seats because the team keeps the extra sticks lined up on the glass at the end of the bench completely blocking the view down the ice). I noticed then that Joel Ward's sticks were as long as John Scott's, but being a big PK guy, as is Cal, that makes a lot of sense.

Go check it out. It's a fun read.

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Calder Cal and speaking of hat tricks...

Okay, so Russo keeps mentioning Cal in context of the Calder, so I feel that gives me license to go full throttle in that direction. If The Don says it, it must be true.

All I can figure out to do is get after it Jehovah's Witness-style and go door to door of all the professional hockey writers and ask them if they've accepted Cal Clutterbuck as their rookie savior.

Goodness knows he's done enough in his short NHL career to put together a pamphlet of information, including exciting color photos of NHL stars getting Clutterbucked.

I was curious what the record for hits in a single season was, but it looks like that stat wasn't maintained much before the lockout. Dustin Brown's 311 hits last season is, presumably, the number to beat. Cal's leading the league now with 173, so he's well on his way. He got a team record 9 last night. And for that matter, if he'd just gotten one little assist, he'd have had a Gordie.

Then there's the 4 goals and 5 points in his last six games. That's not exactly slouching offensively, and given his involvement offensively and his willingness to shoot rather than pass, I think those numbers should stay fairly steady.

Of course, I'm a little rankled by him leaving his visor on during the fight. Not so much because I care about that specifically (White didn't take his off either, Cal stripped it off his head early in the tussle), but because I don't want to give any opportunities for people to say, "Yeah he's awesome, BUT..."

We in Clutterbuck Nation know the only "but" about Cal is the one he's kicking.

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Speaking of hat tricks, my hockey clan came up with a new one:

John Scott Hat Trick

Which is where a player single-handedly fights three guys in one shift, like Scotty did in the now-infamous Matt Foy game last Friday, and wins them all.

As far as I can tell, the league is enjoying its mid-season break and has yet to hand down Foy's suspension terms, beyond the initial "indefinite" suspension.

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Oh, and a few other things...

Criminy... I tried to go to bed and still couldn't sleep. I'm WIDE AWAKE and it's 4:22 as I type this. Ugh. Tomorrow (today) is going to Suuuuuuck.

Anyway, for anybody who thinks I'm a huge bitch about Pouliot, take a gander at the Houston reaction. Now, granted, the IA forum is often overly negative, IMO, so grain of salt, but still. It ain't just me who's prickly about the guy.

Blessedly, the John Scott bashing has died to a trickle there. I finally had to take the site out of my regular rotation and just check in occasionally, it was fouling my mood up so bad.

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My knees hurt. That's actually a good "sign of progress" thing.

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I can't even express how much I want a greasy cheeseburger right now. That bowl of frosted mini-wheats I just had was so unsatisfying.

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We live in a 3-story house, and I've been taking the stairs two at a time lately because that seems to work similar muscles to the ones I use when I'm getting up off the ice. I think it helped. I wasn't AS sucky in that regard tonight.

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The dog is snoring LOUDLY on the couch here next to me. Adorable.

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I'm wondering if confidence might be a bad thing when I have a good warm-up. Warm-ups are always just one puck, one shooter, which I'm ok with. It's when they get me moving, either by passing or setting up in a way where a pass could easily burn me, that it all goes to hell and I can't decide what to do.

I also let in my first totally screened goal tonight. It was one of Stinky's. My d-man scooted right in front of me and the guy has a pretty quick release and it just went through both our feet. Where was my stick? Not on the ice, I can tell you that. Dammit.

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Okay, I'm putting On The Fly on and gonna see if I can work up some ZZZZZs like the dog is knocking out here next to me.

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Scotty's back and you're gonna be in trouble

I feel for him but clearly, the team wasn't going to send Reitz down when Bergeron got all better, so it shouldn't come as any surprise. I think what it does indicate is that if JL is around next year (okay, not much chance of that), the big guy probably will have a spot in Minnesota. Maybe he will anyway. Regardless, I'm just happy to have him patrolling the Aeros blue line again.

Russo was also saying that Kurtis Foster will have a 2 week conditioning stint here in Houston in the next month or so. He's a big, Falk-sized fella, so we're gonna have a pretty imposing blue line for that period of time.

As much as I'm eager to see him play here, I know I'll be jumpier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs until I see him take a few hits and not go crumbling to the ice. *shudder* His injury is still so visceral in my mind. What a stud he is for working so hard to come back. I really didn't think he'd be able to do it. Not for lack of trying but because the injury was so incredibly severe and the NHL is so physically demanding. If anybody deserves the Masterson Award, it's Foster, 100%.

Busy day on my little blog thanks to a link to my Dallas post below from Kukla's Korner. Thanks for that, Dirk.

As for this evening, there's lots on tap!

• First of all, I'll be live blogging the Wild/Phoenix game with my pal, Nick in New York, over at his site. Come say Hi if you're so inclined. It's the rematch of Gretzky and Clutterbuck. We'll see if Gretz has a visor-induced aneurism again.
  
• Then I'm going to be flipping over to FSN-NW to check out my pal Schultzie's Tri-City Adorables, er, Americans in a little WHL action.
• But before I do all that, I get to walk the dog and do some groin strengthening exercises. Goaltending is so glam, baby.

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Aeros v. Dunder Mifflin Penguins - Game 38; Scotty makes his NHL debut

Unfortunately, AHLLive was having issues with transmitting the image for a good half of the game, so it was mostly audio for this game.

But that didn't stop the game from starting out with plenty of punch. Kassian and Bissonnette dropped the mitts on the faceoff. It was so fast, I missed it because I hadn't put my earbuds in yet so I missed the first couple of minutes. I'll have to go look at it on the archives tomorrow morning to see how that one went.

Then after that was sorted out, Love and Boogaard The Lesser dropped the mitts on the very next faceoff. Literally, the fighting penalties were at 0:01 and 0:02. Never seen that before.

Irms started the scoring with a beautiful give and go with Locke that Irmen just fired top shelf over Curry's glove. Really pretty and nice to see Irms come alive lately.

The power play was rough tonight, yet the boys rocked out a delayed penalty and kept the puck moving nicely without allowing a touch-up by the Pens for a good 30 seconds. Not sure why they could pull that off and not the PP, but whatever.

Here's what's so frustrating about this team. Schultz got the second goal and my first thought was, "Oh crap, the Aeros have a two-goal lead. Now they're gonna get blown out." Sure enough, 2 minutes later, the baby Penguins scored.

And to make matters worse, the Aeros then went on a penalty spree getting four in fairly close succession. That's tired minds and bodies at play there, but it netted the Aeros 5 shots to Scrantonicity's 17 shots in the second period. Woof.

The Pens tied it up at 12:22 in the third as Brust was unable to clear the puck cleanly. But then he stood on his head to keep the tie into and through overtime. Since I couldn't see the game, I can't speak to how good the chances were for the Aeros during the third, but it looks like they were outshot a bit.

Also couldn't see the shootout but I'm guessing there was lots of dekeing and irritating stuff like that, and Schaefer did a good job but the Aeros just found the iron too often. (Kolanos failed on his shootout attempt with Minnesota tonight, just to keep it consistent.) I'm waiting for the game where Brust gets a shutout in the first 65 minutes, and then Schaefer wins the shootout. I wonder if two goalies have ever been named stars of the same game.

Anyway, the boys skate away with a point. And I've been saying they get a break starting tomorrow, but I goofed when I put the schedule into my Outlook calendar and missed entering tomorrow's game in Providence at 3 Central. So... make that 8 games in 10 days. Ridiculous! Good on the boys for hanging in there thus far. I hope the measely two days of rest on Monday and Tuesday are genuinely restful.

Same group that's been out was still out, which, since all but Rosa aren't on the trip, I'll just say Rosa was scratched.

Brusty got the second star for his 65 minutes of play. Sucks that Schaefer keeps getting stuck with the SO losses.

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Scotty played his first NHL game tonight, which was pretty exciting. They even interviewed him for the Detroit broadcast (which is all that was showing on CI, unfortunately... jesus what a bunch of pretentious hosers their announcers are!) and showed that during the second intermission. He looked just sublimely happy with a tinge of "holy crap!" around the edges.

Anyway, it was awesome to see the big guy up there. He only played about 6 minutes and 6 shifts, and I suspect, looking at his TOI, that he's going to get a talking to about shortening his shifts.

Also a couple of cool pictures of Cal and Krys in the game photos here.

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Tear-stained hankie getting a workout

With Gaborik out for 10+ weeks, I have a feeling Kolanos is apartment shopping in St. Paul.

And now, my former darling John Scott has been called up to Minnesota as Zidlicky's "one day" illness is verging on day 3 and the team plays Detroit tomorrow night. He didn't even play in Binghamton tonight, so I'm assuming he's actually going to make it to his destination this time. I'm not sure that's the choice I'd have made, but it's not a bad one. As I've mentioned, he's playing quite well this season, so I'm excited to see how he does against the (zomg!) Red Wings tomorrow if he plays.

Aeros lost 0-4 tonight. Those boys need some days off but they've got one more game to slog through to get there. I'm afraid to think what tomorrow's score is going to look like. Presumably it's Barry's turn to get lit up. I haven't watched the game yet... Not exactly looking forward to it honestly, but I'll muddle through tomorrow.

Went to stick and puck with Scott TCG this afternoon and then to Fogo de Chao for dinner with some friends. I'm on the verge of a double coma: A "got my ass kicked HARD in goal" coma and a food coma. More on the hockey tomorrow. Bed is the only thing I can think about right now, though I'm sure Scoo Scott is eagerly awaiting my report.

I will say there are about five teenage hockey players in Sugarland who have been called some really foul names today and for that I'm not remotely sorry. They all deserved it.

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Wild Organization lives up to its name today

I'm trying to make sense of what's going on in Wild land. I'm sure I'm missing something important but I'm not sure what that is exactly. I love when the organization is being coy.

In Aaron Sickman/Ryan Stanzel's blog at 12:30 this morning (after landing in Calgary), it was said that the Wild is calling someone up from Houston today but they can't say who yet. (That has since been removed, however.)

Then we find out that Kimmy J. returned to MN today due to a family emergency. So, the Wild are down to 5 defensemen.

My assumption due to the timing of Stanzel's post was that they were getting another forward body up, possibly Locke. Did they already know that Kimmy was going to have to go home last night?

Russo says they tried to get John Scott to Calgary but missed his connection in Minneapolis (does that mean he stays anyway as the extra defensemen for a tough stretch of games coming up? I mean, he's already there. And can they not find some other way to get him there? Come on. Then again, we've probably given Calgary the win and figure why bother with huge expenses to get a #6 d-man up.)

And then Royal says the Aeros have called up John Adams from Corpus (who, as a team, had a big brawl with the Mudbugs Friday night, including a freaking goalie fight! Man. I missed a goalie fight by 3 days. Darn the luck.)

And speaking of which, my Google Alerts aren't working and haven't been working for a while. I need to go sort that out because I'm pissed that I missed that bit of news. My blanket has holes. Darn it. *snicker*

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The big man is back

Suppose he'll play forward? Seems the Aeros have loads of d-men and have just lost another forward with no forwards on the bench. I suppose Noreau could play up.

WILD REASSIGNS DEFENSEMAN JOHN SCOTT TO HOUSTON

HOUSTON, Texas – Houston Aeros General Manager Tom Lynn announced today the American Hockey League (AHL) club has been reassigned defenseman John Scott from the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Scott, 26 (9/26/82), was placed on injured reserve after suffering an injury October 3 in a pre-season game at Columbus. The 6-foot-7, 255 pound native of St. Catharines, Ontario notched three points, all goals, with the Aeros last season, and has nine points (4-5=9) in 129 games over two seasons with the club.

Scott was originally signed as a free agent by Minnesota on December 31, 2006.

As you can imagine, if you have any knowledge of my particular biases about this team, I'm delighted.

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Kolanos reassigned to Houston; other stuff

Aeros new offensive stud, Krys Kolanos, is returning to the fold as Marek Zidlicky and Pierre Marc Bouchard look to be healing up from their injuries.

Also, it seems the Emmerson call-up from yesterday was to facilitate loaning him to the Rochester Americans.

Andrew predicts doozies against Manitoba Friday and Saturday, and after looking at their roster, I agree. I don't follow other AHL team's players, but boy, I recognize a lot of names. Particularly Zach FitzGerald, who sucker punched Reitz last season and then got completely schooled by a truly angry John Scott. Rawr!

I just ordered up the AHL Live package so I can watch the away games. You can watch the archives for free (so I don't have to watch away games in real time, which is fantastic) so I've pulled up Sunday's game in San Antonio... Looks pretty good! There are obvious compromises in quality, but it's better than not seeing the games at all. Exciting!

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I can't quit staring

at this picture from (presumably before) the game last night. Our mild mannered Finnish hero in perfect light (which I'm assuming he always manages to instinctively find) looking warmly upon the wise, revered coach, and young Shep and Benny in the back unaware of the perfect moment happening right next to them.

Oh and the C. The C!!!! It looks so at home there on his chest, doesn't it? Jacques, give dat equipment guy a break. Time to make de C permanent, no doubt.

So, the fifth pre-season game found the boys playing as a team better with Burns and Butch back in the line-up and a 3-2 win. Harding was on fire until Skoula stuck the blade of his stick in his eye. On the one hand, every goalie knows the risk of a cateye cage, because they're not allowed in so many leagues for this very threat. I mean, really, for a goalie, what's more important than vision?

But of course, on the other hand, you hate to see a freak accident like that happen and for those blaming Skoula, Good Grief! Get over yourselves.

Meanwhile, by all accounts, Pouliot was playing the wing and basically invisible. What have I been saying? "Pouliot's a center. Stop putting him on the wing." I. Told. You. So.

And then somehow Scotty got third star. Huh? But hey, great for him. I'm sure that's a big boost for the big guy.

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Wild Pre-season Line-up: Game 4 (and a bunch of other stuff)

At home against Chicago (against whom we are 0-1 in the pre-season) will be, in no particular order:

Forwards: Veilleux, Brunette, Boogaard, Gillies, Kolanos, Koivu, Pouliot, Sheppard, Kalus, Gaborik, Bouchard (maybe--he's still day to day) Clutterbuck, Miettinen

Defensemen: Skoula, Schultz, Scott, Cuma, Mojzis, Bergeron

Goalies: Backstrom, Harding

Doubt I'll get to listen to it, but I'll update later with any significant happenings. Excited for Cuma to have another game. And sort of amused that they keep hoping Scotty will turn into Chara. Hey, you never know, I guess. Better to roll the dice in pre-season than when it counts.

Updated with the news this morning of Cal filling in for Butch. Huzzah!

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Found out tonight that this Sunday's novice league game will be against one of the the Sugar Land Novice league teams. Our red team will travel to Sugar Land to play against them at their rink, and my green team will play their other team at Willowbrook. I'm excited. It should be good fun to play against a new group.

I feel sure we'll whip them because we actually have quite a few ringers on our team. I mean, they really do play novice, but they could easily play C or B league if they wanted to. But we need them because if we only played with true novice players, I'm not sure we'd get better as quickly as we can playing with good players.

It's big hockey for the next couple of weeks: I'm going to try and steal away during lunch Friday for a bit of a skate on the other rink at the Aeros practice facility, and catch the boys practicing a bit, if I can. Then Friday night is the pre-season game. Then Sunday is this novice "championship" (not sure if we're playing for first or third place). Then Saturday is the Toyota Center game and then the Aeros game that night, as well as the first Wild game that night.

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I've fully updated the Aeros TC Roster post with info about each of the tryout players who will be in camp. At least, the ones I know about so far. An interesting assortment of guys. I bet there will be a gem or two in the mix, like Rosa and Awe were last year. Just good, hard-working guys who manage to hustle their way out of the ECHL.

In case it's not painfully obvious, I so miss the boys and cannot wait for Friday to see them on the ice again. Seems like only yesterday was my birthday with the boys losing out of the playoffs (to no one's surprise, unfortunately). I think it's going to be a good year if they can get the chemistry going sooner than later.

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Blog Botox

I was gonna call it a face lift but really, not much has changed except the forehead.

What do you think? I finally had some inspiration for a new banner and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out given my perfunctory PSP skillz.

Just for grins, the banner roster clockwise from left:

• Mikko (who was with in mom in that photo but I cropped her out... sorry Mrs. Koivu!)
• Clutterbuck
• Brusty
• Headless Harding
• Schaefer
• Scotty punching someone who surely deserves it
• Burnzie

And of course, the giant hockey sock for a background. I really maxed out my PSP skillz on that. Phew. Pass the Gatorade.

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Prospect Watch 2008: Defensive Wrap-Up

Here's what weird about the Aeros. As a group, we had (and probably will have again) the best defense in the league. Individually, though, when the Wild were in a severe pinch for d-men at the end of last season, Reitz was the only one deemed good enough for a call up.

So it's understandable that the list of defensive prospects is relatively short, but I still think it's wrong. Scott shouldn't be on there, nor do I think Scandella should be on there. I can't really justify the Scandella decision as I haven't seen him play, but as I've said, I'm skeptical.

Who should be there? I think you can make a case for both Brandon Rogers and Clayton Stoner.

Brandon played 4 years in college and has 3 years of AHL hockey under his belt, where this season he had a career year and secured his first NHL contract with the Wild for the next 3 years. Brandon has great hockey sense and I think his 4 goals/24 assists and +17 (the team-leading +/-) speak to his gifts.

He actually reminds me a lot of Nick Schultz, both on the ice and in the room (allegedly). They both play a pretty low key game but are effective and calm and good leaders.

Stoner had a tough year last year, playing only 56 games due to injury after injury, but he obviously also saw some benefit from the new coaching regime as his numbers went up significantly in 9 fewer games than last season. But like many defensemen, numbers don't really tell Stoner's story. His bread and butter is his gritty game. He's like Reitz without the offensive touch and, IMO, more hustle and self-sacrifice. Plus, he just seems like a really nice, earnest guy. What can I say? I've seen enough aloof, selfish players and I think it matters to have guys like this.

Tomorrow: Dimples!

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Prospect Watch 2008: John "Condominium" Scott

NHL.com sez:

John Scott -- With massive size (6-foot-7 [he's actually 6'8" and change], 255 pounds) and a mean streak to boot, Scott racked up 184 minutes in penalties in 64 games with Houston, his second season at the pro level. The 25-year-old spent four years at Michigan Tech and eclipsed 100 penalty minutes in two of those seasons despite the shorter schedule.

Clearly, his skating will play a factor as to whether Scott can play in the NHL.

"He's come a long way," Thompson said of Scott, who signed with the Wild after going undrafted. "We liked him at Michigan Tech. He's shown some flashes. He's an older guy, but he's huge. He's strong and powerful. Are his feet good enough for the NHL? I guess we'll have to find that out. It's harder for the tough guys to make it on defense. In your own end down low, you can't use your stick and you can't use your free hand."

Ms. Conduct sez:
Scotty Scotty Scotty. This is the player whose inclusion I have a real problem with, particularly to the exclusion of some other players (more on that in the defensive wrap-up).

I'll admit, I watched him the last two seasons with rose-colored glasses on. I loved the way he played and fought with such glee his first season. He defended his teammates but didn't quite fit the "tough guy" mold. He's just enormous and has a huge reach so he's the safest one to use when you need to send a message. All he has to do is grab the jersey and start pounding. The other guy is just flailing around because he can't even reach Scotty's jersey. Very effective and he hasn't fought too many guys twice.

But the reality is, he's just too nice to be the full-on bad ass you want him to be. You get the distinct sense that unless a guy has done something pretty egregious to him or his teammates, he really doesn't want to hurt anyone, nor does he want to get (yet another) penalty. And get penalties he does. There have been games where, no sooner does he come out of the box for boarding or tripping or making a guy shit his breezers in fear, that the ref slaps him with another 2 for something else. It's PAINFUL to watch, especially if you have a particular fondness for the player. Because you know he's just gotta be frustrated as all hell, and as a fan, it's just frustrating for the team's performance.

So, I really don't see Scotty in the NHL. Yeah, he's huge and tough and has amazing reach, all of which are useful, but he's just gonna get his ass handed to him by the speedy forwards in the league. And if he's not into the enforcer role all that much, what else is there? He did play forward a few times this past season and seemed to have fun letting loose a little bit, but I'm not sure converting him to forward is the answer and I don't think he'd want that anyway. But who really knows. I know the guys in Minnesota love the big galoots so we'll see what kinda look he gets at training camp. But I don't see Lemaire trusting him over others.

Finally, here's my favorite Scotty story: Last season when Reitz was injured and sitting in the broadcast booth with Shaver during a game, somebody on the other team was hassling one of the Aeros forwards (can't remember who). The game was close but Scotty decided to defend his teammate anyway and take the instigator. Reitz questioned the decision but said, basically, that's just Johnny and his "big teddy bear heart."

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Prospect Watch 2008: Cal "Land Mine" Clutterbuck

NHL.com sez:

Cal Clutterbuck -- Minnesota's third-round pick in 2006 is coming off his first season of professional hockey, which was spent with Houston. In 73 games with the Aeros, Clutterbuck, a 5-10, 196-pounder, scored 11 goals and added 13 assists to go along with 97 penalty minutes. The Welland, Ontario, native had back-to-back 35-goal seasons in his final two junior campaigns with Oshawa.

"We think he can be a solid, two-way, physical player," Thompson said. "He would have had more points if (Houston) had used him in offensive situations. He had 70 goals his last two years of junior. He can score if you put him those situations. He can shoot. I think he's got a good chance with us."

Ms. Conduct sez:

It's no secret, Clutterbuck is one of my favorite players in the Wild system, if not all of pro hockey. If I were writing a book about him, it would be called How I Learned to Relax and Love the Agitator.

Cal is smart, wiley, calculating, and nasty. He's a shit-stirrer (watch him during warm-ups skating juuuuust inside the center line). I'm told he runs his mouth constantly, though I think he's got some kind of ventriloquism thing going, because I've never seen his lips move other than in a direct confrontation.

Even though Cal is a classic agitator, he doesn't push the boundaries a la Avery. He doesn't do silly shit to embarrass his team and he's a great guy in the room (from all indications). But he's pure nasty on the ice and I love him for it. He crushes guys with gleeful abandon AND he's strong enough to do it without getting himself hurt. I'm sure he had some injuries last year, but you'd never know it.

So, even if he doesn't get a ton of points, his value goes way beyond that, and I think the NHL.com blurb doesn't capture that at all. However, it is cool to see that TT thinks, given the opportunity, he's got some offensive firepower in him. I tend to agree and think he hasn't hit his stride in that regard yet, as he's had some really nice goals in Houston, so I know he's got a bit of sniper in him. But that's all gravy to me... it's the dozen other terrific attributes he brings that makes him the valuable player he is.

Things that are awesome about Cal:

• His poker face. I've never ever seen him smile or appear frustrated or angry during a game. And when you've got a guy who's so infuriating to the opponent, the fact that he has absolutely no reaction to THEIR reaction just makes it so much sweeter.
• Along the same lines, I love how he'll just CRUSH a guy into the boards and we're all going, "WTF? Did a bomb just drop in here?" (or if you're a seasoned Aeros fan, you just start looking for Cal's number because you can be pretty sure he was the culprit) and the other team's enforcer is on his ass and Cal's wearing this look like, "What's everyone looking at?" It's like someone causing a 10 car pileup during rush hour and just getting out of their car and walking away like, "You dudes deal with this shit. I gotta go." Awesome.
• That he claims to have no talent. That everything he's got is just from hard work. Now, while I do believe that he's probably one of the hardest working guys on the team, I don't believe for a second that he's not blessed with something special. But his humility is charming, so who am I to argue?
• He manages to avoid crossing the line between being a distraction to his own team and being a distraction to the other team. Occasionally, Scotty has had to come in and cast a dark shadow over some altercation that Cal stirred up, but I think those little dramas do more to fire up the team than to throw them off. But it sure gets the other team hating us and hate is distracting.

So, I hope TT is right and my little Land Mine gets a serious cuppa in Minny this season. The only thing is that Minnesota's never had a true agitator like this. Some folks there think Voros was an agitator. No. He was a pest but mostly harmless (unless you're Novotny). And it seems most of these old skool hockey types don't like agitators. So, it remains to be seen if they can find a spot in their heart for one who's on their side for a change. To those people, I think Cal would say:

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Rollercoaster

It's been kind of a tough week in future-goalie land. When you're training for a marathon, there are plenty of people saying, "You're nuts." but an equal number of people eagerly saying, "You can do it! It's hard but it's worth it!" It's pretty easy, if you have a little bit of stubborn in you, to trudge through it. Plus, information on HOW to do it abounds.

Well, when you get the notion to be a goalie, particularly as an adult with no skating experience, you get a few people saying you're crazy, but mostly it's this sort of neutral, yet skeptical, "Oh really? Okay." And this is from hockey people. Goalies even. There is absolutely nobody saying, "That's great! We need more goalies!" And there sure as hell isn't much information out there about the specific issues with being "old" when you start this stuff.

Maybe at some point in this journey, I'll understand this reaction. Right now, I absolutely do not.

But Coach Stalin and I went out to SLICE yesterday and had a good therapy session about it on the drive down, because she faced a lot of the same skepticism when she started learning to play hockey. I felt a lot better after the talk. Not sure what I'd do without Coach. :)

We had a very good skate. I'm so stuck on stopping and getting frustrated with that, so she had the idea of learning something new, which was just what the doctor ordered. We did a little warm up of swizzles, which I'm even getting pretty good at with my dumb leg, and then worked on backwards swizzles!

Since I'd already gone through the slow, painful lesson of figuring out edges while learning forward swizzles, I picked them up pretty quickly. Still need to build the muscles up to help smooth the motion out and figure out the balance a little better, but I feel good about making some progress.

I also need to get back to skating at least once more each week, preferably twice. I think I need to just put it as an appointment on my calendar and do it regardless of what's going on with work.

Also threw on the goalie skates for about 30 minutes, which is about all I can stand in new skates. They definitely felt weird, but I got used to them pretty quickly. I can certainly see how the need to have VERY strong legs is imperative. That's a LOT of blade on the ice, so it's always that much more ice to move through. Lots to learn but I'm glad to at least have a sense of the difference now. I'm acutely aware now of how much I I don't know. That's always a good starting point. Gap analysis, eh. :)

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My Aeros have lost their friggin' minds. Been watching too much Slap Shot or something but look at these rap sheets from the last two games:
Friday Night vs. Rivermen
Saturday Night vs. Wolves

At least Scotty beat the snot out of that punkass Deveaux. Man, I hate that guy. Can't accuse the boys of not playing with passion anymore.

But the Wild are kickin' it and Calgary lost last night. It's been playoff hockey for a month now, it seems, but now it's really down to the wire. Both of my teams play today at 5. I hate when they're simultaneous. Hard to pay attention to the audio of one and video of the other. But at least the Wild/Avs game is in HD. I absolutely can't complain. :)

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Interesting hockey weekend

The Pouliot drama was coming fast and furious this weekend after Dane "Men DO get PMS!" Byers punched him and slammed his face into the ice in a frightening Bertuzzi-esque display. Still waiting to hear about that suspension, AHL! *tick tock*

Anyway, I'm tired of the subject, it's been hashed and rehashed so many times in so many places. And, BTW, I was right and you suckahs was wrong.

I also discovered that Scott's suspension back in February was 3 games, not 1. I'm even more convinced that's why he stayed on the bench (aside from coaches holding guys back). My guess is, the next suspension would have been for the rest of the season.

Moving on...

Rangers/Bruins game on Sunday was most excellent. The seats were very good and we could see everything going on. I was disappointed that Chara wasn't playing, but the goaltending on both ends was SO excellent, that alone was worth the price of admission. Lundqvist was completely in the zone. Very cool to hear them chanting HEN-RIK over and over. Even that pest Avery put on a little show, throwing water bottles during an angry visit to the penalty box.

Today is my last full day in NY and I'm so ready to get home and resume normal life and get into a routine again. We fly home tomorrow afternoon.

I've found the goal skates I want. Pretty good price, really, though I wish it wasn't so much to ship. I think I'm going to return the knee pads I got because they're not going to do what I need them to and I'd rather put the money toward skates.

Haven't worked out the last two days other than walking around the city, and boy was I restless last night as a result. Today I'll do my leg strengthening work and stretching. Might even see about throwing in some yoga. In fact, I should commit to that. I'm doing yoga!

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Hockey run down

Lots of stuff going on in the corner of the hockey world that interests me most:

• Syracuse Crunch are apparently out for John Scott-blood due to a "code" violation last time they played. Of course, who knows if Johnny will see any ice time. It's a 50/50 shot these days.
• Apparently Schaefer is hurt bad enough that the Aeros have had to call up goalie Briggs from ECHL team in Idaho as insurance. I thought I saw Brusty limping on Tuesday... Our deep goalie corps ain't so deep anymore. Not good given how we're playing. Trial by fire for these E guys.
• Austin will have an AHL team by 2010. The Iowa Stars are moving to be closer to their parent team. Beyond wondering what will happen to the Aeros, I wonder what that means for the Ice Bats? I haven't heard any mention of that and I don't see Austin supporting two hockey teams sufficiently. I guess the 2010 season is going to be pretty interesting.
• We're already planning for Chucko to come to town on March 17 and 19. I'm going to get a peice of garden hose to take with me so I can have a visual to wave around when I'm calling him a hoser. Be ready Chuckles. Wait, who are you? (That one's for you, Reitzy.)

Not much else going on. Got to show off my new stick to Coach Stalin and Co. yesterday. I think we're gonna try and skate tomorrow afternoon, assuming I can get my "chores" done early enough. Tomorrow will be two weeks since I last did a real skate where I could work on drills and stuff. I miss it.

Got a packet of info from GDI (Goalie Development Institute or something) today in the mail. I really just want my free copy of Goalie News. These guys are way too serious for me, but looking thru their info has certainly stirred my fervor again. Give me a net to mind!!!

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