Yeah, so I'll be honest, I barely watched the game as I was having too much fun in the little chat window AHL Live provides, plus watching the Wild game that came on about halfway thru the Aeros game. HD vs. AHL Live means HD wins.
Not a terrific game for either team but these games against QC are never pretty. Never ever. They're always just ugly grinds for both sides. No difference tonight.
Luckily, Rosa brought his goal stick on the road because he got two PP markers tonight AND a shootout goal. And yet somehow Kolanos, who had an assist and the winning shootout goal, got the first star of the game. I might have even put the Flame's Cunning (suppose he's a linguist?) above Kolanos in the final accounting.
Maybe they let the choir who did the national anthem pick the stars and they liked K-Train's shiny blond highlights? I dunno.
Schultz got the other goal for the Aeros and most importantly, Chucko was completely shut out. Suh-weet!
Schaefer let in the first shootout shot after stopping 27 of 30 in regulation and overtime, but then stopped all the rest. I've never seen him look so dejected as after he let in that first SO goal, but he gathered himself admirably. As a goalie, I know letting in that first one feels awful. I know this because I almost always let in the first shot on me. Not tomorrow though. Bitches.
Anyway, Kassian and Brown dropped the mitts early in the third and Kassian wolloped him pretty good. Nice work Kass.
Even Schaefer got a little fiesty, putting the glove to Sutter as he was leaving the ice for the period and sending him to his ass. No penalty. The only thing better than a goalie roughing a guy up is the goalie getting away with roughing the guy up.
Irmen was back in the game, but Pouliot, Mojzis, and Crowley were out. Khudobin was minding the door (or sitting in a tunnel... wherever they tuck the back-up goalie in QC) and Brusty stayed home on this trip due to his injury Friday night.
Off to Milwaukee tomorrow. And you can watch it by going to AHLLive.com and signing up Sunday for their free viewing day. Aeros play at 4 p.m. Central, so go check it out. If there's someone named "Heather" in the chat saying inappropriate things, that's not me.
Cycle Like the Sedins brings us Puck Huffer's All Decade Team
I obviously don't agree that he's a "thug" but hey, putting him on a line with Mario and Nasher? Okay. Call him whatever you want. I guarantee he's been called worse.
I love hockey and I love being a hockey fan. In fact, I even love days like this where it feels like doom is imminent and it's time to fire everybody and start over. One Russovillian is even suggesting blowing up the entire NHL.
I find the drama pretty entertaining though. The rush of the win or even the win streak wouldn't mean anything without times like this. And what times these are:
The Wild kicked off their toughest roady of the season with an ugly loss to Calgary (natch) and look to be playing for an early golf season.
Boogie is suspended 5 games for an embarrassing elbow to the head of a guy who just got back from a broken jaw.
Cal seems to be playing through an injury and, as a result, playing a squirrely game the last couple of outings.
Weller is on waivers.
The Aeros killed and buried their handsome win streak with a 1-6 abomination last night.
Our offensive studs look completely unmotivated.
Brusty has a leg injury of some sort.
Playoffs? Don't talk about... Playoffs??!
It really does feel sometimes like the walls are falling down around us, but this summer, when the Cup has been awarded to some other team and we only have free agency, random signings, and NHL09, and hope for next season to keep us entertained, we'll long for this roller coaster ride.
Anyway, the Wild are the late game on HNIC tonight against Scott TFCG's beloved Grease. I'm gonna predict a loss for the Wild. I know... way to go out on a limb.
And the Aeros are facing the QC Flamers tonight. Same prediction as above. If our scorers aren't motivated and our goalies can't see the puck, that's one salty pickle, my friends.
Read more...
Well, kids, the streak is over with that 1-6 beat down, so the leash of superstition is off (which also means I no longer have to keep wearing purple shirts to the games) and I've got lots to say. But first, lemme get a beer.
Ahhhh....
Let's start with the good stuff! (This should go quickly.)
The Aeros scored a goal! And it was a really pretty one by a pair of defensemen who don't see the scoresheet all that often. Paul Albers finally finished what he's teased us with a couple of times over the last couple of games, with a beautiful streak down the ice, dekeing the IceHogs defense right out of their breezers, and firing one past Crawford.
It was a joy to watch and John Scott got the lone assist, so that was icing on the cake. Bravo boys.
The other highlight was just how damn tough Mitch Love is. At one point, he got in a tangle by the IceHogs bench and honest to God, it looked like he was fighting about 4 guys at once, a couple of them ON the bench. And yet somehow he got the double minor. Bullshit, I say. Those asshats shouldn't have been throwing punches at him from the bench without getting penalized for it, and I KNOW they were.
But then he got in a real fight midway through the third against Bertram and just beat the snot out of the guy. It was a nice one. Quick and decisive.
The beer is kicking in now. I feel warm and happy inside. Good beer. Beer doing its job.
Now for the bad stuff.
3rd
RFD
0:07
P. Pelletier (25)
P. Kontiola, T. Brent
3rd
RFD
7:08
E. Brophey (13)
N. Hjalmarsson, T. Hambly
3rd
RFD
13:12
P. Pelletier (26)
T. Brent, P. Kontiola
3rd
RFD
17:27
T. Brent (19)
P. Pelletier, A. Hobson
3rd
RFD
18:09
P. Kontiola (14)
P. Pelletier, D. Groulx
After the Brophey goal, Brusty replaced Schaefer but fell awkwardly making a save just a little over 4 minutes into his time, and Schaefer had to come back out, letting in 3 more and looking like a statue.
My crew said they thought he was injured, but I don't believe that's the case. Then again, I hope he wasn't playing like that healthy. And apparently Constantine felt the entire team folded like a cheap tent, according to Andrew's Chron article. Couldn't agree more. Shots were 29-14. Fourteen!
The usual guys who always work their asses off worked their asses off, but turnovers were plenty in the neutral zone and the team was miserable at getting the puck deep. The playmakers and scorers were sloppy and heartless.
Kolanos in particular has not carried on his level of play from prior to his last call-up to Minnesota. Very disappointing. Locke was nearly invisible tonight. Schultz looked timid after being the target of a number of IceHog cheap shots.
Rosa looked good, Earl had his best game since getting here. Falk was impressive tonight as well. Best I've seen him look so far this season.
Sometimes I watch the boys handle the puck and want to send them to breadmaking classes. The lesson is that the more you dick around with the dough, the tougher your bread will be. The chemistry is different, of course, but the more you dick around with the puck, the more opportunity the other team has to relieve you of it. Simple hockey, boys. Simple hockey.
Speaking of which, Madsen is back from his ankle injury, but Pouliot is out with a lower body injury. Mr. Crowley was a healthy scratch and Irmen's still out with his bunged up ankle. ETA: Oh yeah, and I guess Kilpatrick was a healthy scratch, too, though I'm starting to doubt his existance. Forgot to also mention that Mojzis is still out with an injury.
Kudos to Mr. Prediction for literally counting down from 5 to the first IceHogs goal (I keep wanting to say Chops... I'd forgotten what it's like to play anybody but them). It was uncanny and impressive. Though I have to wonder if he wishes he could take this back...
Here's Royal's blog on the game. As I thought, Schaefer didn't stink it up due to injury. But Brusty IS injured and it sounds like Khudobin will need to pack his dimples and get to Moline, IL tomorrow. I'm sad. I miss watching Brusty.
That's all. It's been a bad hockey night for Ms. Conduct, but as Mr. Conduct says, "The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass every day." Indeed, my dog's ass is very much in the shade tonight.
TSN released their player rankings, including their rookie rankings, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare Cal to his peers and maybe debunk some of the myths around how great these other guys are.
First of all, here's the extent of TSN's ranking explanation: "Player rankings are based on statistical production and are intended to value the impact a player has on the game."
Well, there's your first problem. Statistical production and impact on the game are, in some cases, mutually exclusive. There is no stat for how many players you get looking over their shoulders or how many you get into a hot-potato mentality, unloading the puck too quickly for fear of getting plastered into the glass.
There's no stat for how much time the opponent spends seeking revenge rather than playing hockey or getting out of position to give some lip and a shove. There's no stat for leadership or for being exactly what a team needed even when they didn't know they needed it.
Not that I have an angle here.
So, for our analysis, we're going to look at REAL impact, which is about more than stats. Here's the list they came up with:
1. Steve Mason Columbus 88.13 2. Bobby Ryan Anaheim 81.88 3. Kris Versteeg Chicago 79.26 4. Blake Wheeler Boston 77.98 5. Patrik Berglund St. Louis 75.61 6. Alex Goligoski Pittsburgh 74.34 7. James Neal Dallas 72.62 8. Troy Brouwer Chicago 71.50 9. Michael Frolik Florida 70.93 10. Jakub Voracek Columbus 69.41 11. Drew Doughty Los Angeles 69.15 12. Kyle Okposo N.Y. Islanders 69.15 13. Mikkel Boedker Phoenix 67.88 14. Adam Pardy Calgary 66.66 15. Jannik Hansen Vancouver 66.46 16. Steven Stamkos Tampa Bay 65.92 17. Mikhail Grabovski Toronto 65.92 18. Cal Clutterbuck Minnesota 65.70 19. Kevin Klein Nashville 64.60 20. Luke Schenn Toronto 64.39
I have no idea, nor do they disclose, what these numbers mean. Therefore, I can only assume they randomly picked numbers.
"Hey, Gord, what do you think aboat putting Wheeler aboat a point n'a half behind Versteeg?" "Yup, sounds aboat right to me. Throw me a beer eh."
I'll assign them new numbers in the following categories (1-10 for more important categories, but 1-5 for less important categories, so I have a way of weighting the categories):
Expectation Level - If you were a lower draft pick, weren't expected to make the team, came out of nowhere, then you get a high score here. If you're meeting expectations, you'll get right in the middle. If you're, say, Stamkos... no soup for you.
Badassness (aka the Chuck Norris Scale) - It's nice to be skilled but if you can be skilled AND bring the pain, you'll do well in this category.
Nice Stats - The more ways in which your stats are impressive, the better you'll do here.
Team MVP Status - The more valuable you are to your specific team, the higher you'll be ranked in this category. If your solitary superstar is out recovering from hip surgery, this bodes well.
Moment-Making - When the season ends, how many of the big moments and lasting memories did you make for fans? How many times will your name come up in this context: "Dude, you remember the game where ____ did ______? Holy crap, that was nuts!"
Fan-Base Adoption - Do you lead your team in t-shirt sales?
Foxiness - Oh don't act surprised. Of course it matters.
Scorn from Hockey Legends - If you've make Gretzky turn purple with rage or gotten your own segment on HNIC calling your cowardly ass out, you'll rock this category.
Name Game - How much game does your name have?
Adorableness - I actually added this category in honor of Kris Versteeg, who couldn't be more charming and adorable if he tried (but also because Cal does well here, though the perma-smirk did lose him one point).
Here's how my ranking sorted out, but I should add that I got bored near the bottom and it was just painfully clear that Grabovski and Schenn and Kevin Klein (who?) weren't gonna rate, and also Goligoski isn't even in the NHL right now, so he got DQ'd:
Cal Clutterbuck 61 Should surprise no one. Though I though it was interesting to discover that not only does Cal lead rookies in hits by about 80 hits, he also leads in Shots Missed. Maybe that's not something you write home to mom about, but hey, he SHOOTS! Anyway, he kicked ass in every category except Nice Stats.
Kris Versteeg 44.5 Low expectations, incredible stats, almost a 6 out of 5 on the adorableness meter... what's not to love with this one? He could make me a Hawks fan. Proof: (oh yeah, and can I please be Sarah Spain when I grow up?)
Michael Frolik 41 His extras, such as adorableness and foxiness and name game (any name that connotes frolicking and licking is a big time winner), boosted him up from fairly average ratings elsewhere. Look how adorable:
James Neal 39 Neal flies under the radar a bit but he's big and tough and handsome and has a hat trick among his above average stats, so he did will in these rankings.
Patrik Berglund 38.5 I was having trouble rating Bergie until I saw this video that a fan made. That plus nice stats and relatively high importance on a team that needed something to smile about, oh yeah, and being very easy on the eyes...
Steve Mason 38 Goalies are tough to rank among skaters, and it's even tougher to rank young goalies because those guys don't usually hit their stride until their late 20s. But his amazing stats and fairly clear cut MVP status on his team has him ranked pretty high in spite of being weakened by mono and not particularly attractive, even for a goalie.
Drew Doughty 37.5 To just be 19 and a defenseman, Doughty's success this season exceeds expectations big time, IMO, even though he was a high pick. This, along with average rankings elsewhere for Drew, put him right here.
Bobby Ryan 36.5 You've all seen that sick hat trick Ryan got a few weeks ago. This put him high on the Moment-Maker rankings. If a guy plays for a team you don't follow and you're still thinking about his goals, that's a moment-maker. That, plus very nice stats and a fairly gritty style, overcame a low Expectations ranking. Seems like fans were getting impatient for him to meet expectations and felt like he was a little behind the curve. He's caught up this season though.
Blake Wheeler 36.5 You'd think Blake would be higher because I'd sure love him on my team, and not just to get folks who bitch about not having a Minnesota player on the Wild to STFU already (though that's part of it for sure). But apart from making some great moments (anybody with a hat trick got ranked well here) and amazing stats, he was at or below average in other categories.
Troy Brouwer 35.5 I almost threw this one out. Why is he on this list? Yeah, he's a pretty tough dude and was a very good AHLer, but I'm not seeing how he's exceptional in the NHL. And yet he has surpassed expectations a bit and he's a major badass. It was funny to finally get to him after researching several of the other rookies. He looks about 10 years older than the rest of them.
Steven Stamkos 35.5 I like Stammers. Poor kid was thrown into the water with a big-dollar Stamkos for Savior campaign on his shoulders when the season started. No fair. But he was a trooper and a professional, from all I've heard, and now he's starting to get comfortable and find his game. He pretty much hit the average on most categories but blew the top out of the Foxiness and Adorableness categories, which made up for a low expectations score.
Kyle Okposo 34 Average pretty much across the board. Meeting expectations on a really bad team but not really blowing anyone away.
Adam Pardy 33 Another "filler" player on the list, IMO. If this were a "Most Improved" list or a "Late Bloomers" list, yeah, he's on it, but I guess they wanted another defenseman on the list. He'd be at the bottom if he weren't so good looking and adorable and if he didn't have a name that reminds you of, well, a party. Win!
Mikkel Boedker 30.5 The extra half point for Danish adorableness and the quite good stats can't make up for below average everything-else. Or I may just be bitter because he's been relatively useless on one of my fantasy hockey teams.
Jakub Voracek 25.5 Above average stats but below average on most everything else. I do have him at least meeting expectations based on age and draft status.
Jannik Hansen 22.5 Though he is exceeding expectations and is averagely cute (and got the .5 Danish bonus), he's just not pivotal to his team and isn't a badass at all. Sorry Jannik. But don't feel bad. I didn't even bother to rank some of the guys, so you're not really at the bottom.
Feel free to argue a rating in the comments here. Obviously I don't watch these other boys on any regular basis (though I've seen quite a few of them in the AHL), so I was having to use stats and scouting reports and YouTube and other resources to figure out where to rank them. It was a real pain in the ass, I have to say.
I'm even open to changing some ratings if you can convince me I'm wrong about something. A lack of objection constitutes agreement, so consider yourself on notice if one of these boys is yours and you don't defend his honor.
Anyway, the bottom line is that Cal is the bitchinest rookie in the league and the rest of them are prissy little mama's boys. (Except for you, Brouwer. I'm scared of you.) Read more...
Congrats to Matt Beaudoin, who kept the pace up throughout his try-out and earned himself, not only a spot on the top line, but also a standard player contract with the Aeros.
Beaudoin, 24 (4/6/84), signed his SPC after posting 12 points (8 goals, 4 assists) in 19 games with the Aeros while playing on a professional tryout contract (PTO). The Rock Forest, PQ, native recorded the Aeros only hat trick of the season on February 14 in Iowa. He skated in 11 AHL games during brief stints with Hershey, Rochester, Iowa, San Antonio and Milwaukee since the 2007-08 season. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound forward also skated in 62 ECHL games during the 2007-08 season split between Las Vegas and Dayton while tallying 38 goals, 31 assists and 44 PIM.
The Aeros have certainly "tried on" plenty of forwards this season. Glad to find one that has stuck and stuck hard. Can't argue with a hat trick, can you? Keep it up, Matt.
The icing on the cake is giving him his own tag here on the blog. I know, I know, it's a lot to take in.
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