Another OT loss to Icehogs

This just happened, Aeros loose in OT to Icehogs, having scored 4 .. with most of the goals in 2. period. BUT there were many penalties called on the Aeros.. some on players who rarely are so physical on home ice.


On the other hand, Dallas Stars win over Ducks, as seen on TV - what a fast paced game that was, with Erickson getting another News Years' Hattrick, last year he had one for the Ducks.


So we have had hockey tonight, now we're off for celebrations....SEE you all next year ;)

Aeros loose vs Wolves

the lonely goal by The Scrapper, Daoust. Atta Boy!

Meanwhile, in San Antonio, Rampage 3: Crunch 2.
T'was a very entertaining game, despite the refs (Banfield) miscalls, no calls when he should have done so, and calling for promo time out almost EVERY time Rampage Goalie Pogge stopped a shot on goal (Crunch had 33? Rampage 20? The overall feeling was : Rampage won courtesy Banfield, who lost quite all control over the game in the third period.. both teams went wild and physical and scrambled for pucks in corners like mad!
Crunch had 2 PP, NO Goals. Rampage 3 with 2 goals during PPs.
Crunch scorers: in 1. Battaglia with MacKenzie. In 2. Radja, Ferguson (yep Feisty Fergie) and Frischmon (maybe last nite, THE fastest and most reactive Crunch skater)
For Rampage in 2. on a PP Kolarik, MacLean and Heshka, and Turris, MacLean and Kolarik, also on a PP. And in the 3. Meyer, Sullivan and MacGregor Sharp. LaLande was pulled for a 6th but Crunch unable to make an even out goal. Crunch goalie LaLande had some spectacular saves.. really, but Pogge seemed immobile after he let in 2.
The ATT center was even colder-my ears seemed icicles even WITH beret to keep my brain warm and functioning ;-) than the TC, fortunately HOT coffee was available and rather palatable. And I wore gloves, too.. tee hee!
Why anyone would want to drink ICECOLD anything in such an arena, is, for us, the 64$ question..LOL.

Noreau-AHL All Star (for Canada, alas) PLUS

BRAVISSIMO!!!Max Noreau, IRONMAN,
will play on the AHL All Star team..FOR Canada, along side Corey Locke..
Here are both in Aeros Colors... photos, I believe , thanks to Chris Jerina!

CORRECTION LOCKE PHOTO BY THE INIMITABLE FRED TRASK...apologies all around.

AND -more good news - Anton Khudobin was named to the USA ALL STARS..

(Photo by Fred? or Chris? but whoever took it-it's a superb job-a seemingly 'protectively glaring-don't you dare blame our Anton' Locke escorts a somber AK off the ice ;-) just kidding!)

Preliminary on January 18, Game on January 19.. supposed to be televised in USA and Canada via Time Warner!

Some questions re a goal last night..

There seem to have been a goal not granted, as some commentators mentioned in T3I ..for your daily laugh here is an old (05?)video clip -courtesy of friends over at Swamphockey(an Everblades blogger). Such things are NOT new..enjoy this, as I did..;-)!
And Happy New Year may all our goals find homes!

On Fire.. facts to chew on

Just did a little looking at Aeros stats, and to keep you all busy during the next few days w/o home games LOL, and found some interesting things -thus far into the season and before last night's game:
In Home games the best scorer players (by total points) seem to be:
Speedy Jon, The Scrapper and Ironman,
followed by Rau-Wow and Irms,
and in the 3. tier by Milroy, Gunderson, The Streak.
In Away games:
it's The Scrapper, Irms, Ironman, Stoney and Milroy,
followed by Rau, Speedy Jon, The Streak, and Frisky Gillies.
"Handy Andy" is remarkable by his consistency: he has the same number of points in home and away games....
Now for the PIMS:
At home: naturally, as expected, Kassian has 44, amazingly Zippy has 27, followed by Kalus with 18, Stoney 17, and Frisky (Gillies) and Testy. Falk ONLY 10;-).
Away: leader of the pack there is The Streak with 35, Stoney with 29, Ironman 21(interesting that, eh?) and Kassian 20, with Falk (BwP) and Kalus each with 16 while Frisky is 'less so' with just 13. Just throwing this out for the numbers scrunchers among us.
ERGO.. at away games the guyz are more aggressive or the refs are less forgiving ;-)



Let's hope the fire will burn hot on the road.. GO AEROS!

Overtime win for Aeros

With Barry Brust, 'Brusty' in goal it promised to be an entertaining game and it was...he made some spectacular saves...really!
1.Period:
at approx. 2:40 'Brusty' Brust was pulled but no goal. Then at 2:34 Crunch Battaglia sat for hooking, but Aeros did not take advantage of the PP. Shortly thereafter Falk went to the box for tripping and the Crunch scored their first goal at 10:43 with 5 SoG by Regner, MacKenzie and Clitsome. At 13:48 Smotherman received a delay of game penalty - 2. PP for Aeros, and at 14:48 Clitsome (high sticking) provided another PP, the 3., opportunity for the Aeros, but no goals. Finally at 15:27 Lannon and Earl, 'the Pearl' with Irmen-'Irms' put Aeros even 1-1. Ending the period with 1 - 1 (Aeros 12 Sog and Crunch 8 Sog).
2.Period:
Just 4:32 into it, Crunch score 2. goal by Bell, Aulin and Clitsome, to which Hilbert with Rau (and I thought Daoust) evened the score 2-2 at 6:54. Another PP came (Holden for tripping) at 9:59, but no gaol.
Saw some excellent plays by Rau=Wow; Daoust (again) seemingly on the bottom of a few pile ups-no penalties either side. Lannon was almost pushed into BB and the net(I have it Lannon-'Cannon'!),' Handy Andy' Hilbert almost succeeded in a 'Krys Kolanos type' sneak attack on the left corner, was stopped by Da Costa, the Crunch Netminder. While Sigalet sat for tripping at approx. 14:43, at 15:15 'Speedy Jon' DiSalvatore got a Power Play goal with assists from 'Handy Andy' and 'The Streak' Smith, putting Aeros up one to 3/24 Sog and Crunch 2/13 SoG. After a PP opportunity missed while Liffiton sat for interference, both Liffiton and Lannon got a 4 minute each penalty which would run into the 3. Period and shortly 'The Streak' Smith received a minor which also ran into the 3. The 2. period ended: Aeros 3/25 SoG and Crunch 2/15 SoG.
3.Period:
Somehow about 5 minutes into the 3. I had a feeling this would go into OT, and was proven right later. My Crystal Ball said it, again! LOL.
The Streak' Smith still in box, Crunch got another PP goal at 44 seconds into the 3. by Bell, Regner and Fritsche, then Smith was joined by 'Testy'Testwuide at 57 seconds into the 3. for roughing. And THAT PP was also converted into a goal by the Crunch at 2:37 by Kana, Clitsome and Sigalet 4/17 SoG. Fortunately, at 4:05 'The Scrapper' Daoust with 'Handy Andy' Hilbert and 'Testy' Testwuide scored the evener for Aeros..4/27 SoG. During an onslaught on the Aeros net, Lannon almost ended up in it, again. And Milroy tried to copy him once as well ;-)!
Almond'Joy' fell but did get up and skated off to return later in the game.
At regulation end the score stood AEROS 4 /33 SoG : CRUNCH 4/25 SoG. OVERTIME...

but before that they showed a brief clip from the famous speech of 'Miracle on Ice'... somebody must've read my blog of 12/19/09 where I suggested that THAT speech ought to be mandatory listening for the guyz...LOL.

Anyway, OT started and just 52 seconds into it 'Testy' Testwuide (he sure looked like he still could not believe he did it when he was feted as Nr. 1 Stars) got his first OT AHL goal during a regular season...assisted by 'Speedy Jon' DiSalvatore.
End of story... Syracuse go on to battle The Rampage and The Stars, while Aeros are heading out of town.
Three Stars: 1. Testy, 2. Handy Andy and 3. Crunch scorer Bell.
Amusingly, 'Feisty Fergie' Simon Ferguson , formerly with Rampage as was Lannon, and also tried out for Aeros, but was sent off, skated for Crunch without much impact. Da Costa, the Crunch Goalie stopped, miraculously, 29 0f 33 shots ; while 'Brusty' stopped 20 of 24.

Now, it does come to mind, that the guyz read some of the comments and/or blogs..and put in extra effort tonite....I'm sure YOU all know who!

Scratches foe Aeros: 'Dubie'(still yodeling in Switzerland?), Fraser, Gunderson and Kalus (in attendance, with girlfriend, but very focused on the action-does that bode well that we shall see him ON the ice soon), but I did not see 'Zippy' Zingoni on the ice, nor anywhere else for that matter, even though his name was not announced. Scratches for Crunch:Harvey, Higgins and Sestito.
It was good entertainment tonight... even though some loud mouthed fan in the end section kept yelling:
"It ain't the Ice Capades, play some real Hockey"- during the first period, and some other fans kept bellowing; one insisted on blowing his horn as loudly as possible right next to our ears; kids jumping up and down and pounding away at Better Half's back or was it his head?
Anyway, we just had to move away from that raucous mob. Or else... and I forgot 'my Prozac'! :-D
Better Half and I are off to San Antonio for the New Years Eve and the Rampage /Syracuse game... are we gluttons for hockey or what!
And in that spirit.. May luck shine on you all for the 2010. In Austria we give Marzipan pigs with cloverleaf and Mushroom for luck (see below)....to eat. And for the coin purses a tinny clover leaf, chimney sweep or pot of gold, or horseshoe....all for luck, so that your purse may never run short...

SMILE.

No, I did not lose a glass slipper..

nor did our car turn into a pumpkin last night, although it came close, very close!

We delivered a bleary eyed 'buddy' around 12:15 AM and were snuggly home by 12:45 AM... which meant sleeping in this morning.
While we were 'hoofing' it to Bush, a friend at T3I managed to tape the interview with 'Irms' and Kassian off Channel 2. - wanna see it: go to http://thethirdintermission.blogspot.com/

just a little advertisement for that 'Numero Uno' ;-) Aeros BLOG, as if they needed it, since they have gazillion followers already, but...they do a good job, alas, without the fab photos by Fred Trask (as in last year)..just stickfigures and videos accompanying the words!

.Let me tempt you to go to "Guns and Hoses" night!

More hockey tonight in honor of Firefighters and Policemen.

So lay up 'your guns and hoses' and hie ye over to the TC for some Hockey - no promises for wins. Win or Lose it's entertainment and at low cost....can't beat that, eh!

Delays, delays.. sky's clear here-

and yet delays due to thunderstorms up Midwest to NE.
Now Buddy's Flight is to arrive at 11:09 PM...Just hope it'll not turn into the witching hour!
WELL: latest arrival time posted just a minute or two ago: 11:30 PM - witching hour? Now, very likely!

But not to worry.. no need for this

to get to Bush tonight - LOL

And, I have been told I have two MORE readers, wonders never cease-well, well, even without propaganda at other blogs - keep'em coming! Just DO send comments. I no longer feel 'blogging into cyberspace only'-someone or more out there are actually checking it out! Sure gives "fuzzy warmth"
Did a little research on "former" soft spots, for friends:

(you know, just for fun and while waiting for the plane to land ;-)

TR's Corey Locke now has 41 points! And leads the AHL pack in scoring.

KB's Krys Kolanos is not doing as well, only 9 points.

Marco Rosa has 20 points, Lammers 0 and Love even has 3.

My own, soft spot, I mean,Mathieu Beaudoin has 17 points, three of which a hat trick.

Now to the AEROS:

"The Scrapper: 22,
"Ironman" 21 (same number of games played ) and

"Speedy" 20 (one more game played), looking at it 'thata' way

...not too bad, eh!

Need Help....

After THAT 'missable' night at the game the bright blue sky with barely a wisper of a cloud in sight.. nippy, but nice.. it is so welcome.Better Half said he had nightmares and does not want to talk about it! What nightmares?
They do need help-here's a safetypin to the rescue.
Why did they play so...sluggishly, even 'The Scrapper' was out of synch with the puck most times, and THAT is not his style! And, "Dimples" letting in 2 goals right off the bat? Not enough sleep? He sure won't dimple much after that."handy Andy"..well he DID make a huge save
during a Rampage power play. "Speedy Jon" did good...so did "Ironman"- thank you both!
But...period one was the pits, period three just not LONG enough to play catch up!
WE may have to...

and so it goes...MAYBE This will inspire them on MONDAY
.

and - maybe this would sell tickets, too: or this..;-)

Eyes on NBC Dec. 27th 2009

Tomorrow night on NBC after the game KASSIAN and IRMEN will appear on Channel 2!!! Wonder how THEY'll explain the disaster of tonight.

Something HAS to be done.

Get more goals, please...

It was not to be...

The San Antonio Rampage streaked off their bench and scored 2 goals right off the bat within the first 10 - yes, ten - minutes of the first period. Goal 1. by MacLean with Turris and Watkins at 5:50, goal 2. by Turris, Watkins and Sullivan at 6:06, after THAT Anton Khudobin-"Dimples" was pulled, Barry B ("Brusty") sent in, but he could not stop the 3. goal by Watkins and Heshka at 9:05.. Watkins was so 'on' tonight he made Number One Star,

with Turris right on his heels as Star number 2.

MacGregor Sharp and MacLean sat for hooking during the 1. period.

Despair just about settled in when with a few minutes to spare "Speedy"DiSalvatore with "Streak"Smith, made it 1 to 3 - it was a sweet goal, a shorthanded goal while Andy, not quite so 'handy' at that moment, sat for tripping. The period ended with Aeros 1 (12 SoG) and Rampage 3 (12 SoG).

2.period: Aeros came out hungry for action - or maybe having seen some bikini clad girls -full of oats ;-) and worked up to goal number two at 16 minutes by "Ironman" Noreau (Star Number 3) with Irmen "Irms" and Milroy, who again, seemed to have found his ice legs and showed his prowess in skating well, passing well and being in the right spot when needed. Sifers sat for tripping, while Lessard of the Rampage was called for interference. Aeros had 2 PP opportunities. 2. period ended with Aeros 2 (20 SoG) and Rampage 3 with 19 SoG.

3.period: The Scrapper scrapped to no avail and sat for boarding, while earlier MacLean got 2 for roughing, neither team could turn the PPs to their advantage. "Handy Andy" Hilbert handily saved the 'bacon' for the Aeros on the San Antonio PP shooting the puck all the way down. Milroy stormed with the puck toward the Rampage goal minder Justin Pogge, but a swifter Rampage defender stole the puck seemingly inches from the crease. And with just a few minutes to go, "Brusty" pulled for a 6. Aeros defender, Watkins (again!!) with Hollweg scored goal 4- an empty netter for Rampage. And the game was over Aeros 2 (26 SoG) Rampage 4 (20 SoG).

Scratches:

AEROS: Zingoni-"Zipper", Gillies-"Frisky" and Kalus, Falk "BasketwarmPuppies"was a healthy scratch, I assume.

RAMPAGE: Ross, Perrault, Bernhardt, Ahnelov and Orpik.

Earl, "the Pearl" was not as fast as usual, was he still under the weather AFTER returning South? 'Dimples" having been up and down to the Wild without real ice time and or much practice opportunities..maybe a bit 'rusty'?

Almond "Joy"skated sweetly and effectively, most of the time.

Even Fraser seemed better, although he tried too many 'going it alone with the puck' only to have it snatched from him.

Rau-"WOW' and "Streak" Smith showed face off talents, but...

Strangely, before heading to the TC I said to Better Half, 'I have this sinking feeling'....he laughed. He is not laughing now.

Halleluja, Halleluja....

hockey is back: Aeros Play Tonite..and Monday.
hope all the guyz made it back 'through snow and ice, drifts and blizzards' just like the postman does - or did - in old commercials... "neither snow nor.. etc".
... and so let me sing along the 'silent' monks.

in praise of that! And they do it so well.
Keeping up with the hockey bloggers over the holiday was rather amusing.

Junior info foremost, Fenway park's early game - go to http://bruinsblog.projo.com/ for the whole enchilada-article and more pix(way in advance of the 'touted one') between two school teams.

And more stuff everywhere on the Olympics - and about the AHL Allstar Team.

Hockey IS alive and well!

Decision time..

why does it always fall around the time of Christmas to make or finally come to a decision, I don't know.
Maybe because a NEW year is just around the corner and anticipation runs high.
Whatever the reason, we have come to the conclusion not to renew our current lease and have settled on another apartment/condo (with option to buy, maybe), as a new abode for at least 2 years.
And already my mind is churning...where to hang the pictures, where to place items, what to leave or donate, what to get...and on and on.
Change of that sort is FUN, eh?
Trips are still on for January, February and July, August for sure, with 'spur of the moment' excursions if and when the itch hits us, LOL.
Well, not exactly a scintillating subject, you say. True, but a lot more entertaining than....feel free to name whatever bugs YOU. Healthcare, Politics, The weather....

Frohe Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas!
Feliz Navidad!

Beautiful Star which I adore, a French Christmas Carol.

Sunshine... the day before X-Mas

well, we are in the South. Much better sunshine than snow and ice, IMO!

On the other hand it was a pleasure to look at those snowdropsdefying snow and ice and poking their heads out...as forerunners of SPRING, way over there in old Austria.

One more thing before I shut my blog for the day

'putting your music where your mouth is' seems an appropriate title LOL.

Merry, Merry, Merry

Revolving doors, the cure..having fun - now 'add ons'

Jon Di Salvatore went up and came down! Maybe I ought to name him "Speedy Jon" ( up and back in what- one and half days?). But come to think on it, 'speedy' does him credit. So he shall be "Speedy Jon" henceforth. Earl came down again, because - per Minnesota - he's still weak after the flu!

Nice of Minnesota (A halo for the Wild)to send him for the 'cure in WARM'Houston, LOL.

Pet names are gelling (and even w/o Dr Scholl).

Let's see what we have so far:

Daoust-The Scrapper,

Noreau-Ironman,

Rau-WOW,

DiSalvatore-Speedy,

Zingoni-Zippy,

Smith-The Streak,

Khudobin- Dimples (thanx to Ms. C),

Dubielewicz -Dubie (Ms. C. too),

Falk-basket of warm puppies (Ms. C), abbrev. to BP

Brandon Buck-Bucky,

Barry B.-Brusty from years past,

Stoner -Stoney,

Earl-The Pearl,

Testwuide =TESTY,

Almond (why did I not think of that-very logical)=ALMOND JOY(the 2 latter thanks to Ms. C.) abbrev. to AJ.,

Gillies- Frisky (like a colt?),

Irmen-Irms from last year,

Could use some help in baptizing: -)

Fraser,

Sifers,

Lannon,

Milroy,

MacMillan,

Kassian,

Hilbert, Handy Andy..as when he slaps in a puck!

Kalus,

Rogers, The Rock, everyone relies on him! (thanx to John Royal for that inspiration)

am I missing someone else?

HELP, anyone, any ideas?

Let's have fun ..

Christmas joy and pity..

San Francisco De Espada Mission - San Antonio

On the way to have the car (fondly" Micro T") checked out, we drove by obviously freezing, barely bundled up 'day laborers' huddling against curbs..usually near construction supply stores, but even more frequently near gas stations waiting for a 'construction Santa' or ?? to offer them a couple hours work at minimum or less wages. If they even get paid those!
And no, these were not your panhandlers and beggars that one is used to seeing at crossroads holding their various signs.
These were real people trying desperately to earn some money to feed themselves, their families and/or their 'coyotes' who may have smuggled them into Houston for "travel expenses".

Not too long ago, I re-read the story about Manolo Benitez, El Cordobes, Matador de Espana who was such a 'fenomenon' during the Beatles era.
BTW, I actually saw him perform (he had guts, but little style as is rather obvious in the video..he is always on the move - 'running' from the bull - and hardly stands still for the pases with the red muleta as should be done) in Barcelona (long time ago) on a cartel with

Paco Camino(the elder-an elegant and suave Matador)

and Diego Puerta

(workman like but mostly in control),
El Cordobes was then the lowest man on the cartel.

The authors are respected writers Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre who co-authored "Is Paris Burning", which I have also read, some time ago.

El Cordobes comes from a farm/daylaborer family in the, then very poor, South of Spain. Whose father, as many in his village, stood daily on the Plaza de Trabajadores waiting for the Encargado (Foreman) of the nearest Finca (ranch) to come and march them off to pick olives, or whatever labor the ranch may have needed... for so little money.. getting paid in peanuts would be getting paid in riches nowadays. If they were not selected the family ate -in luck- once a day bread soaked in olive oil, maybe!

And seeing these men huddled in the morning cold reminded me of reading about those days in Spain before the Spanish Civil war. So what has changed? Seemingly not too much.
Being poor is bad, being poor and having a family to care for must be hell on earth, even more so. And these men try to work. They do not beg, they not claim to be injured... they JUST want to work and get paid, pittance or not. Anything ! And most refuse alms....they are still too proud to take pure charity. One has to respect that. Alas, what a Christmas is ahead for these people?
I don't know exactly why I brought this up just now, but it was such a striking impression I am still reeling from the impact.

What to do, when...

one is inundated with requests to join Twitter, Facebook, My Space etc. when one is not prepared to sit at the computer 24/7/52/1....nor has a superdooper cellphone?

I am still not much in favor of Twitter etc.
What CAN one really discuss in few words or less?
I thought with email, 'telegramming' has gone by the wayside, now this!
The 'new' language for people with very short attention spans.
Good Bye Thank You Notes! Good Bye Letters! Good Bye Essay!
Good Bye Short Story! Good Bye Novel! Good Bye forever?
All's done by the net, visible to all and sundry.... that is progress?]

Anyway...in the spirit of the Season-Cactus, you light up my life

Referee or not, AEROS win 5-3

Yep, they did.. give us an early Christmas Present. Aeros win over Grand Rapids Griffins 5-3. "Dubie in goal for Aeros, with Fan (especially ONE) fave Barry Brust ("Brusty") 'fresh' from the Orange State as BuG;
Larsson for the Griffins.
Just found out Larsson was replaced by McCollum, but when that happened I have no idea, I don't think it was announced, at least I didn't hear it - may have been briefly. Later on was too busy watching game, to look at jersey numbers ;-)

Period One :

at 4:40 Rissmiller with Vigilante and Mursak put Griffins on the scoreboard.

at 13.46 Aeros evened score with a goal by "Ironman"Noreau assisted by Milroy and Irmen- BTW seeing Danny Irmen jump feet into the air to avoid stopping a puck, he'll be "Jumping Dan" from now on (LOL) ending the period with 1 goal and 11 SoG, Griffins 1 Goal and 9 SoG.

This period was also, IMO, rather noticeable by several calls NOT made on Griffins by Referee Chris Brown (Griffins tripped "The Scrapper" Daoust, and a bit later again tripped Daoust AND held him down on the ice for several seconds). But "Blind Brown" made NO call.

Period 2:

at 2:56 Aeros scored goal 2 by Hilbert with assists by "The Scrapper"Daoust and Falk. About 3 minutes later Milroy with Rogers and "Jumping Dan" made it 3 for the Aeros. And Testwuide received a legit penalty for holding, while The Griffins, again, got away with another tripping of Daoust plus a holding of Kassian -seemingly right in front of the referee. Fortunately Griffins could not convert the PP into a goal.

And at 19:06m DiSalvatore got goal # 3 unassisted! The period ended with Aeros 4 (19SoG) , Griffins 1 (16 SoG) and a brawl, for which Falk got a penalty for instigating, thanks to Referee Brown, even though a Griffin started the melee, AFTER the buzzer had already sounded .

Period 3:

Falk sitting in the sin bin, Pyett with Rissmiller and Delmore put Griffins up one goal during the power play, and at 5:32 McGrath with Pare and Lemieux made it Griffin 3 (with 21 SoG).

"Dubie" lost his stick during an onslaught of red/blue jerseys, stopped the puck with his chest, then grabbed Gunderson's stick and held off another shot.

Nylander sat for high sticking (FINALLY a penalty call on the Griffins) at 7:15 - PP for Aeros but no goal.

After a few more 'noncalls' (tippings-tripping, that should be tripping- or other Griffin malfeasances), Larsson was pulled and "Ironman " Noreau with Irmen scored an empty net goal with a few seconds to spare. AEROS 5 (24 SoG) Griffins 3 (27 SoG).

Three stars: 1: Milroy, 2: Di Salvatore and 3. Irmen.

Scratches for Aeros:

Gillies (may have an injury), Kalus and Zingoni.

Griffins had NO scratches.

Aeros had 2 PP (no goals), Griffins 1 PP (scored)

Personal observations: Griffins, despite " road trip lag", skated well, had some great passing and speed.

As I said, a VERY nice early Christmas present.

Maybe having sent 'backstage' to players, AND coaches, 'chocolate kisses ;-)' after the last game (loss to Texas Stars) - courtesy Better Half and I, plus the Boosterclubs' annual goodies bags helped rev up the Team for this Pre-Christmas winner! LOL. see you all December 26. for "Bikini" night.....Bah Humbug!

And in the spirit of the Season,we'll forgive you 'Brown'!

Y'all have a wonderful, serene Christmas in the arms of your loved ones!

Snowbound .. in Houston

Yes, indeed, my buddy is 'snowbound in Houston' .. because NOTHING flies to the NE during this blizzard like storm and here we are with brilliant blue skies, sun shining and even the chill temperatures are welcome, crisp, brisk, wake-up kinda temperatures.

I don't mind the chilly temps, as long as the sun shines and the sky IS blue and cloudless.Just wishing - do you read me Santa, Christkindl - that the Aeros WAKE UP as well and get a winner tomorrow, before they head home (if they can fly!!) for the 'fuzzy warm' feeling of Christmas with the families... because I am afraid, when they come back for the 26. December game, they'll be sooo rested, that...!

In the T3I blog some writers and commentators have made excuses: the team is tired...etc. Reminiscing back on last season's team's horrific travel schedule...this year's schedule is a sinecure! And they are tired? And they are veterans, most of them? Are they too veteran?

Maybe this will inspire them... Hockey hall of Fame in Toronto!Or maybe this..

And so more in the spirit of Christmas.

Do enjoy the view, guys.

Basta. Enuf said. Genug. Enfin. Finito.

The Stars from Hell...

Boohoo, Boohoo

T'was the game from Hell for the Aeros.

A 2 to 5 loss to the Texas Stars who skated without 'former' softspot Beaudoin, reportedly an upper body injury, but with Vishnevskij back from NHL and without Fortunus who got the 'call up'!

1. period ended with 1 Goal (8 sog) for Aeros, 2 goals (7 sog) for Stars.

Aeros goal by DiSalvatore with Gunderson and Rogers.

Stars goals: 1. Gadzic, Tousignant and Shelast. 2. Peters, Lukovich and Climie(the goalie!)

2. period rather uneventful, though very fast.. before I knew it it was over - no goals.

3. period Goal for Aeros by Gunderson with MacMillan and Irmen (power play).

Then the sky fell in, two..YES ..two... empty netters for the Stars, one even a shorthanded (4 on 5) by the Stars. First empty netter: Lukovich and Hutchison; Second empty netter: shorthanded by Gagnon

Penalties:

Aeros: Kassian, Daoust, Kassian, Daoust.

Stars: Gadzic, Tousignant, Wathier, Korostin, Gagnon, Vishnevskij

PP: Aeros: 5 (1 goal), Stars: 2(o)

Total shots on goal: Aeros 29, Stars 22

Overall impressions, Aeros missed too many real good opportunities to score....27 lost shots on gaol after all!
Outstanding tonight, IMO:

Di Salvatore, Gunderson, Hilbert (he was lightening fast), Smith (excellent face offs).
Very good IMO:

Gillies, Rau (but NO wow- ;-), Daoust (despite the 2 penalties!), Noreau, and surprise, surprise, Falk!
Good: Rogers, Almond, MacMillan

SOSO: Milroy, Sifers and Kassian

Rather ineffective tonight: Lannon of the 300 AHL games played (duh - he had 1 good play) & Testwuide (maybe 2 good plays?).

Nothing more to be said.

Hockey Gods do not favor Wild or Aeros these days.

The stars were just too good!!

Although, IMO: The referee overlooked at least 2 occasions when a Star player tripped and held down Daoust, and another tripped or interfered with Gillies- Better Half and I did not get either players number.

Also I, as did the few in attendance, felt that Gunderson - correction NOREAU - was robbed of a goal. It looked to me as if the puck went, in the light went on, the puck looked to have scooted out and Climie simply laid backwards

"MY GOAL KEEP OUT ;-)

(which he did to good avail at least one other time!) and the referee bought it ;-)!!

Constantine pulled goalie (Anton who replaced Dubie after the first 2 goals) at about the time the goal by Noreau was not allowed, did he do it protest or just trying to fire up the team?

Not having second sight or mind reading capability I am just guessing, it would have been such a GOOD cause.

So now the team needs to regroup - and they'll have the time, lots of time, now, since the 'feed the team' was cancelled.

Hockey Gods not well disposed?

Russo reports a Wild equipment truck caught fire while on short drive with doors closed? Burning lots of equipment and trainer rushing back to Minnesota to bring up additional stuff. Meanwhile the weather men report on a major snowstorm with blizzard conditions to hit Eastern seaboard Saturday - Philadelphia is slated for a 10 am start with New York for noon, and on Sunday. Allegedly several flights have already been cancelled.

Will that also include Ottawa? What more can hit the Wild? Injuries, swine flu, now this!!!!

The verdict is in..

what we have are "Raspberry ants"..which LOVE electrical wiring etc.... that's why they are scurring, scuttling all over our computers, human hand in the way.. just crawl over it and that tickles and itches, no bites just itching. Anyway major treatments coming our way next Tuesday inside, outside, inside electrical plates...etc. Hope it works!
And we will not go itching into the New Year!


Stars and Aeros battling tonight. Getting ready for it and in the spirit of the season more

Happy Holiday Wishes to all

Sunshine...

enjoy while you can. Next week should bring....snow again at Christmas, even!
Maybe even more than what fell the other day.

Finally have transfered the photos from the recent San Antonio trip.. here are a few for you!

McNay Museum Front and wing
which houses bronzes

Alexander Liberman (born Russia 1912-1999) ASCENT 1970

a cheery sight on a dreary day for sure!

And below what reminded us of a 'goalie cage' LOL, unfortunately forgot the name of sculptor

Now to my favorite Mission, San Francisco De Espada,built around 1713

and Brother Jerome's famous green thumb-with the profusion of plants, that should be THUMBS :-) This is the cloister which is STILL inhabited by Brother Jerome..

Inside the church with original wooden beamed ceiling and statues.

And 'ye olde cotton gin' now housing the Sistercreek winery

So I shall survive for a few more months...

or so the Doctor tells me. Results are good, even if NOT perfect. But then what IS perfect. I'll do with the good.

And tomorrow Aeros will play Stars in an ongoing battle for supremacy in Texas.

Just replace some words in the above hymn to make it apply to the 'Battle of the Skaters' (not giants yet... only if and when they make the play offs...;-) Right now they are tied, 15 points for each.

As it seems at the moment, Rampage, with 8 points, most likely will stay in 3. place in the Lonestar Face Off.

All is quiet on the 'opera front in Houston'! January will see 'Tosca' and ' The Turn of the Screw' (yes, yes, you are reading right!) at HGO, and 'Ballo en Maschera' at the OH!
And Don Giovanni and the Little Vixen at U of H.

Later more about three exciting opera, one amusing one and one puzzling one.. Britten IS puzzling, to me at least. Friend M. adores his music... I just let her!
Some excerpts will be included for your listening pleasure from all 5 operas if found!
It is GOOD to be different...otherwise life would be sooooo boring!

Now off to pool for the daily' grind'... must keep it up, or 'Uncle Doctor' will get mad at me, LOL.

In the spirit of the season, if the twinkling lights during the battlehymn are not enough for you!

Merry, Merry!

GOAL GOAL....

Am I going to wear out this image?

The way Aeros are going right now, possibly.

And surely this is all thanks to Santa and Christkindl! It was a fast and quick game.

ONLY 1 penalty each-thank you Mr. Referee Smith.. we like that, it keeps the game flow going. Also only 1 power play each, both uneventful.

First period:

uneventful, other than...now I am going to wax poetically...it was so lovely!

It really was a 'Ballet on Ice' with 'waves of white' jerseys flowing smoothly in one direction against 'waves of black' jerseys, then the waves reversed, but - oh, so smoothly. Almost a 'Dance of Sugar Plum Fairies' - almost, I said! Fairies not in evidence unless....the goal fairy was smiling down tonight!

Second period:

Gillies with 'The Streak' Smith (very much in evidence tonite) and Falk (getting better, that boy!) put Aeros one ahead of Rampage at 9:34 with 20 SoG.

Both goalies did outstanding jobs, both seemed to pounce on loose pucks any which way, feet, legs, arms, bodies flat on bellies or backs!

Third Period:

"Dubie", no really, "Dubie", had me thinking..'shut out for Dubie' when it happened .. Boedker with Watkins and Sullivan put Rampage even with Aeros at 10:01, with 22 shots on goal. Lots of broken or lost sticks, 'Rau-WOW' went with the puck as far as his SKATES in lieu allowed, Testwuide fumbling several passes, loosing pucks, and yet, NO goal by Rampage, whose skating speed was obvious, especially by Porter. '

'The Scrapper' Daoust in his NEW number 62 (lucky?) and Hilbert also sporting a NEW number (91).. were fast, made long drives and scrapped against much bigger foes!

Apropos WHY new numbers?? Did they dislike numbers 38 and 39 so much?

Or has that something to do with yin yang or Kabala or whatever ?

Overtime:

4 on 4 for 5 minutes in sudden death. With JUST 36 seconds to go (I mumbled dementedly to myself, oh no, oh no.. shoot out) 'Ironman' Noreau saved my sanity by getting the winning goal with help from 'Rau-WOW' and Hilbert.... maybe changing the numbers cast the right spell ;-) after all, hey?

Almost..but not quite, felt a bit sorry for the Rampage. Having such trying times after a promising start, change of coaches, moving experienced players out, younger eager beavers in.. and yet.. several times I was ready to pour boiling oil (as in the 'good' old days of castles on hills) down onto them to repel their attacts... or rather their desperate tries to incite fights!

Well, the result is GOOD for Aeros, some better passing then previously observed, smooth skating, cohesiveness in defense and offense, furious attacks on goal, furious defense of own goal, if not own goalie..

"Dubie" can, and did, take care of himsef with starfish hands, legs, and whatever he could spread to keep the puck out. At times, IMO, he seemed a bit slow in getting back onto his feet. Has he played catcher in Baseball ;-)? His glove seemed to be a magnet for those puck, and this time none of the rebounds from the net high above rolled INTO the net behind his back.

Three Stars of the GAME:

#3 Rampage Goalie Tordjman stopping a whopping 36 of 38 shots! Great job, alas it'll count against you. Without him the Rampage would have been utterly lost!!

#2 "Dubie" stopping 26 of 27 shots- it was GOALIE night for sure!

#1 'Ironman' Noreau for the winning OT goal!! BRAVO MAXIM!

Waayy to go, guyz, way to go!!! Now, just 4 more at home and 2 away games... Santa and Christkindl will have to work OVERTIME as well to keep this streak going.

Between December 20 and 26, they will be AWAY at HOME with family, I assume, to light trees, unwrap presents, sip eggnog, eat carp or goose or whatever....will 26 Bikini Night be a winner?

I shall do my best to please Santa etal: Even IF it takes to hand over yummy'minions' (Name of a Russian Dessert,per babushka) of chocolate and nuts, as well as the 'Meatballs in Vodka Sauce'( another babushka recipe), scheduled for the Feed the Team - to Santa, his elves, his reindeer and Christkindl!

I shall sacrifice, yes, sacrifice for the good of the team.

Please, pretty please: let the Aeros keep winning ... by one goal , that's all that's necessary.

Like a bit of squirrely homor? Where were the Aeros?

On a certain TV station the sports annoucer had Aeros winning over San Antonio ON THE ROAD!!!!!

Yes, indeed! Just snickering... but hey, he DID mention AEROS....;-) ;-).

Hockey gypsies on the move....

Khudobin and Sifers flying South, Stoner flying North and so it goes.. hockey gypsies are on the move again. And the scheduled Feed the Team for Saturday has been cancelled. NO distractions, however sweet and tasty, are to be 'on the menu' for the guyz - Christmas or no Christmas.

"Work not Play" is to be the motto for this weekend.Afterall, come Monday they'll be flying all over home for Christmas anyway!

And back to Houston by 26..for-the "bikini night' contest.. always a real MEN pleaser ;-)

Female fans might say, like Queen Victoria:

"We are not amused".

Thanks Santa! Danke Christkindl!!

They heard, and granted part of my 3. prayers-Aeros won away..the 2. win this month.

Really must put out more cookies for Santa now....;-)

Aeros win again 5-2 vs Texas Stars in Austin.

"Dubie" in goal stopped 12 out of 14, and Climie managed 14 saves out of 18 for the Stars.

And guess who did it:

2. period:

Milroy (PP!!) (really, he has found his ice legs or arms, as the case may be) with Noreau and Stoner

Rau-'WOW' with "The Scrapper" Daoust and Stoner

3.period:

DiSalvatore "Jonny, Be Good" ,unassisted

"The Scrapper" Daoust with Hilbert on a PP (again!)

Rau-'WOW', unassisted.

Goaling on 2 PowerPlays... 2 unassisted goals...GO AEROS!!

And, really, a second period with sparks!!! Go guyz!!

And 3. period with sparks!!

Keep THAT up tonite, too!

As I can see from the AHL site Beaudoin did not play last night which y have been a good thing, for the AEROS ;-)!

VOTE......GO and VOTE...

for your favorite AEROS...

Ballots at the BOOSTERCLUB Table at section 101 during all coming home games.

Also save the date: TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9 2010 ..AWARDS BANQUET... get over to the table to buy your tickets to attend!

AND VOTE!