Jon Gruden, next Wild coach?

Crap. Supposed be up at 6:30 in the morning to drive to Austin for the UT vs. Iowa Farm College or whoever they make us play anymore. But much like games I play in, I still suffer from an adrenaline rush after good Aeros games and have a hard time sleeping.

Beer? Why, yes, I believe I will. BRB

Oh how nice. I feel like a pro for using the gap between the couch cushions as a cup holder. Here's hoping the dog doesn't get startled or anything since he's up here with me.

Anyway...

Good Aeros game tonight. They lost in OT, but it was entertaining the whole way. Lots of excellent chances but Ben Bishop, y'all. Ben Bishop has found. his. game. He looks like a different goalie. Gone is the lumbering slowness. All he is now is big and relentlessly square to the puck (aka, he's moving faster) Whoever's been coaching him absolutely nailed it. He's fantastic right now.

I'll see him again tomorrow night in Austin, unless Jake Allen takes the net. But I kinda hope it's Bish again. Just so I can compare and make sure what I saw tonight is really what I saw. And also because I never had a great view of his porn stretch tonight. *sad*

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Meanwhile, way up north, Brusty followed up his killer appearance on Sunday with a 28-save shutout. Show-off.

I tried to tell Andrew and John that we're "Shutout Twins" now but John kindly reminded me that I didn't actually WIN my shutout. Hmph. Yeah. I guess Anton and I will have to settle for each other as shutout twins since he lost his shutout, too.

It's pretty cool to see BSens fans on Twitter being absolutely nuts for Brusty though. Told ya so!  On to Wilkes-Barre tomorrow, where I daydream that they will erupt into a "Barre! Barre! Barre!" chant without realizing they're cheering on the opposing goalie.

Anyway, WTG,  Brusty. You're making my endless fawning and adulation seem not quite so insane.

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At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Wild are a mess. I don't get it. They've shown that they CAN do this. What is their problem? I feel bad bad bad for Todd Richards. He seems like a decent guy but this ship is sinking around his ears. It's painful to watch. *glug*

So much optimism when you get a new coach, you know? How much is Jacques Lemaire enjoying this though? Like, I dunno if the guy gets giddy, but if he does... well... he's giggling like a school girl right now. His desk chair wasn't even cool before he called this.

Anyway, I asked on Twitter how many games folks give him. I say he's gone in the next 10 and everybody was within that timeframe. But who do you bring in? I say Jon Gruden... I mean, these guys already know how to play hockey. They need someone to kick their asses. Chuckyyyyyyy....

Haha! Goodnight!

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Your Sunday Battery Burner....

Giggity.



Giggity.



*shudder*


*ahem*

Goalie Porn by Chris Jerina, to whom I owe undying gratitude for finally capturing Ben Bishop's pre-period stretch on camera for me.

Sweet mother of giant bendy goalie...

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O Canada

So, Cody Almond has 9 points since yours truly informed him during an interview at the end of December that KC promised on the record he'd play in the NHL.

Now, I know it's Cody's hard work that's got him where he is right now and it was clear he was on the cusp of this, but hey, nothing like a crazy-positive scouting report from the bossman to put the wind at your back.

Tonight he got a career high 3 points, assists on all three power play goals the Aeros racked up in the first 6 minutes of the second period tonight. He also got the third star (and the only star for any of the Aeros).

I think it's safe to say that the Aeros have Abbotsford's number on the power play. It's really been exciting to watch the last couple of nights.

Dubie was not super sharp in goal tonight, and the Aeros allowed 4 goals (1 PP), so the game went to OT and Rogers just straight up hard-worked his way to the GWG.

Great start to this road trip, for sure.

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Blades won tonight 5-1, and Brusty was Brusty. I'm really out of superlatives. All the guy does is validate my adulation. The team played well in front of him, too, for the most part. It never ceases to amuse me when a fight breaks out around him, he's jumping in there to pull guys off or whatever. None of that typical goalie aloofness. More reasons to be lusty for Brusty, as if you needed more.

He also got the third star, after I jokingly fussed at the Blades beat writer for leaving him off last night. His performance last night I thought was more deserving. Lots more great chances for Gwinnett but still, tonight he stopped 28 of 29 and the one goal was a PP goal.

Also, once again, I got called away from my laptop to help Mr. C, and boom. Goal. So, Brusty's still pitching a shutout while I'm watching. :)

Dear Blades, I'll happily take cash or a practice sweater in exchange for being glued to the screen. *call me*

Gotta say though, my heart kinda went out to Gwinnett goalie Dan Taylor, as he got scored on literally at 19:59 in the third. :( It didn't matter in the game, but stats-wise, that's a punch in the gut for the guy and he went off clearly in a pissy, stick-swinging way. Clear a path for that one.

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Jaeger hasn't played in a while, but his partner Joe Palmer got his ass handed to him last night, so I expected Jags would be in tonight.

Well, he was and man, what a game that must have been. One of those rare games that goes through regulation and OT without a single goal on either side. Just a total tending clinic at both ends for Texas and Corpus Christi, with shots 34-37 respectively. Wow.

Texas ended up winning with Jaeger letting in only 1 of 5 shootout attempts and the Brahmas potting two in the skills competition.

To complete the hat trick of game stars for "my boys," he took home the second star, but more importantly, hopefully he's earned some starts over Palmer at least for a while. I know it seems crazy to award starts to the BEST goalie, but apparently some teams actually do that.

Is my bitterness getting any cuter? No? Here have a puppy and pretend it's my bitterness.

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I've been following this little blog that's all about Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen since last summer. The writer digs that oft-injured goalie an awful lot, so you can imagine, the blog speaks to me on a certain level.

Anyway, Lehtonen had his first conditioning start in Chicago for the Wolves tonight. Chicago lost 5-4 to Peoria, and from the Peoria tweets I saw, it sounded like Ben Bishop stole some of the game from Chicago with some really huge saves (though, does that guy do anything small?)

But I was just thinking how excited that blog's author must be tonight. Their goalie back in action at long last! Best wishes to Lehtonen on a solid return to the NHL and congrats to my fellow blogger on getting your goalie back. It's like the world getting back on its axis and definitely something to celebrate.

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Avoid Blues ice if you have a lower body....

So first, Chris Mason's appendix goes kaplooey. Then Legace goes down after slipping on the carpet laid out for the ceremonial puck drop with That Woman. Now my big Ben Bishop has a lower body injury suffered during last night's game against Florida. So, backup Marek Schwarz filled in and finished off the shutout Ben had started.

With both of Peoria's top goaltending prospects up in St. Louis... can the Aeros hurry up and play them while they're vulnerable?? :)

Here's hoping the boys are angry at these two losses and and looking avenge their honor (or something similarly noble and righteous) against the Toronto Marlies at 3 this afternoon. The Marlies 2-3-0-1, so hopefully they'll be a little easier to play.

BTW, I watched those first two Manitoba goals from last night. The first one, Barry should have gotten. No screen and just a straight up shot on goal by a player who broke away from the defense. The second one was, I believe, one shift later off a face-off, where the Manitoba player shot from a few feet beside the net and the puck bounced in off of Paul Albers' leg. Ouch. At least, that's how it looked. There was a Manitoba player right behind Albers, but I don't think he got a piece of it.

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A few miscellaneous things...

First, I just bought tickets to my very first Wild game! We almost decided to go to Minny for the Montreal game, but felt like 100K frequent flyer miles was a bit steep for an overnighter. So, we stuck with the plan to drive up to the game in Dallas in a couple of weeks. I'm excited!

We got seats on the goal line where Minny shoots twice, down in the bowl. Judging by the empty seats I've seen in the American Airlines Center this season, I'm guessing it won't be a problem to skooch over a section if we're too "in the corner." Shouldn't be a particularly popular game, I'm guessing (Sorry, Wild).

It will be fun to actually get to cheer out loud for my team again and wear my Wild Ms. Conduct sweater for the first time. Plus getting to meet my fellow Russotan's from Austin! I'm taking my camera!

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More Ben Bishop news, potentially, as Blues goalie Chris Mason had to get his appendix yanked last night. So, either Big Ben or Marek Schwarz will get a call up to the big club from Peoria to back up Manny.

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Last night's Wild game against the Panthers (yeah, that team still exists), which I fully expected to be a disappointing dud, was decidedly more exciting than anticipated. Cal seems to be finding his NHL legs and was very effective at breaking up plays, being a pain in the ass, and punishing guys with some hard hits. Defenseman Mojzis impressed playing forward very solidly. Reitz has also proven himself to be reliable and tough on the blue line. At this point, he makes me less nervous than Skoula, who has been playing like he's pregnant or something. This one check he had last night. OMG. *I* hit harder in my non-checking novice league hockey.

Of course, Mikko was totally mikko and got 5 points (1 goal) and just brought that shit like his life depended on it. He's ridiculous.

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Big Ben Bishop & Peoria

My fascination with Peoria Rivermen goalie Ben Bishop is no secret, right? Here's a good article on him from the AHL web site.

I'm looking forward to Peoria coming to town (wonder what reception Matt Foy will get), though I'll have to be on my A game to have enough focus to not just sit and watch him all game. And I love that he's coming up behind my favorite small goalie, Manny Legace, in the Blues organization.

For those keeping track, I think he's the only non-Aeros AHL player who has his own label on my blog. (Edit: I take that back. My friend, Kris Chucko, has his own.)

I'd love to do a little Aeros road trip if there's an Illinois swing with the Wolves, Ice Hogs, and Peoria in quick succession. SIL's family is in Peoria, so that would be good family relations to take our nephew to a game (though I'd have to watch my potty mouth). He's a spunky kid. I think he'd take to hockey pretty well. Hmm.

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Coveting the Goalie

As the draft came along this year and I looked at where we have holes in our system, my natural instinct was to worry more about goaltending than the rest of it. We have Anton Khudobin as our only legit prospect and I'm not sure he'll be an NHL-caliber goalie. Of course, my darling Brusty is the next Roy, but I'm not sure the organization sees it like I do.

As a result, I did a little investigating of the top goalies in the draft hoping the Wild would pick one of them somewhere down the line. The top two were Chet Pickard and Tom McCollum, and it was an easy choice for me after watching some scouting footage which goalie I could love more and would want to watch more. McCollum is a good goalie but... meh.

Pickard, on the other hand, was dynamic and athletic and snappy and aggressive and awesome. Come to mama! Of course, "mama" turned out to be Nashville, those saber-toothed bastards. Okay, not really bastards; I kinda like that team and don't have a problem with players I like going there, as opposed to going to the Ducks or some ass-clown club like that.

So, it was delightful to find this great interview (jump to page 17) with him in the Goalie News online edition. Man, talk about a kid with poise and maturity and a good head on his shoulders. Between him and the Blues giant goalie prospect, Ben Bishop, my goalie interest continues to spread around the league. It won't be long before I can't decide who to root for in any non-Wild, non-Stars match-up because everybody will have goalies I like.

We never did draft a goalie, so it seems the Wild are looking at goalies Cody St. Jacques (who played in Guelph behind McCollum last season but was traded to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds this summer) and Steven Stanford, who had unimpressive numbers for Prince George last season. Not seeing much there. Plus, both guys were only born in 1990, which means they're only 18 and couldn't play pro yet anyway. I dunno.

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Aeros Schedule

Man, I hate to bump the previous thread down. Nom nom nom...

But the AHL released the schedule for all its teams, so now we can plan our Aeros-watching (all whopping 15 games... hmph) and hopefully put together our trip to Minnesota for some Wild games.

In seasons past, we've tried to see as many different teams as possible, but in most cases, there's just no history with these teams, none of the bad blood and fierce rivalry that makes for really great hockey. This year, I want to spread the love but I'm okay with repeating games against certain teams. Though with only 15 games to attend, I'm gonna have to ration. *'scuze me while I go cry*

Our big rivals are Chicago and San Antonio, though I'm guessing we're going to hate Iowa pretty much off the bat. I know I do already.

Peoria is always good competition, too, and they'll have Matt Foy, if he doesn't make the Blues big club, and that giant goalie who I can't seem to tear my eyes away from, Ben Bishop.

And of course, my dear "you left us too soon" Ryan Jones will be with Milwaukee along with gregarious former Aero, Joel Ward. Plus they have cool uniforms. Definitely want to catch them.

I don't know how it has played out for the rest of the AHL, but we have LOTS of 3 games in 3 nights on the schedule. Rough stuff and hard on the guys.

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