Round 3 Game 5 AEROS loose by 2

 Yes, it IS true.

ANOTHER LOSS.

The 4. goal was an empty netter by BSens.



Daoust





Kudos to Jm Daoust for the two goals!



Now we have injuries to
Almond AND Spurgeon! 
Not Good !

Enough said-Sad.

Back to Houston for Game 6 and (maybe 7).

Miracles were are you?

Trifolium repens...help is needed!

To follow the system,

Or not?
Think outside the box?
Or not?

Whatever it is or was, I'm not quite sure where I am going with these thoughts.
Was it that I am sorry I made too much tongue-in-cheek fun of the team last year,
that not much humor in this vein was left over for the team of this year?


Or was that simply a case of too much irrational hockey for months to summon up real hot enthusiasm later?

Or was it too much ado about "wunderkind" players?
Or was it a kind of hockey blahs that crept over me at times?
I truly can't muster much one way or the other ,in praise or blame, for this team anymore.

I do consider each individual player on his own merits.
Consider the coaches' first time efforts to make over a bunch of individuals.
To mould them into part of the 'system'.
Yes, the 'system' seems to work, sometimes.
No, the 'system' does not seem to work other times.
Yes, adjustments and fine-tuning seem to work, sometimes.
No, adjustments and fine-tuning do not seem to work as expected.

Especially when the OTHER Team doesn't take it lying down! And then do their own thing!

Are Aeros seemingly not flexible enough?  Is the 'system' that has been drilled into them holding back individual player's gut reactions to respond in any given situation?

I won't presume to know the answer, not being an hockey expert..
Even so I do know that the best laid plans can indeed go awry.
And what is needed then is a sometime gut reaction to counter unexpected changes.
And the need to think outside of the box or system, as the case may be.

Daoust in action in January

I am  hopeful, that the injection of seasoned gutsy players like J.M. Daoust

who have meshed well with certain others on  the line,

will bring some of that ice-sense back to the play in the next game or two.



GO Aeros in 6 or 7!

But  GO!

When/IF that happens I and several others (I know) will be torn.

Shall our loyalty be 100%. to OUR Team?
Or will we root as well for certain most favorite players from the past :-)!
I will applaud just  as much
IF/When the team moves up into the final round, despite what I just posted -
ha, I do enjoy a success story just as much as anyone!

Anyway, it is just a game, right?
Right?
Hmm, you tell me!

Video: Byers Misconduct, Beaudoin Goal, Daoust Goal

The way NOT to play-Misconduct by Byers gets him thrown out.

                                      Beaudoin's lonely goal-at least Rampage suffered no shut out!

                   And Daoust puts the "Icing on the cake" with his gioal almost immediately afterwards.

A Hackett save!

Auctioning off the Rookies....

.... always THE highlight at the Annual Booster Club Players Appreciation Banquet..

We do so appreciate the rookies.
All 10 of them.
That's coaches and staff, too!
Yep.

The live auctions of
"Lunch with the Rookies" and
"The Jersey of Nr. 62"
went fast, real fast. All thanks to 'rookie' Denver Wilson,

who has his auction patter down pat.

FYI: As a (former?) rodeo roper and aspiring livestock
(do rookies count?) auctioneer(he'll head to Wisconsin ? this summer to hone this patter, he told us), he rattled off increments of 25s and 50s, so before we all knew it the price shot up and up and, bingo, 'Kids Unlimited' were richer by some $ 1000's.

Well, even Better Half got in on the auction action, but stopped when the 'jersey of Daoust' hit a certain high (somewhat beyond our budget limit).

After all we had already bid, and won (I kept an eagle eye on them),
3 silent auction items.

• Such as Braden Holtby's signed Photo to keep the puck, he signed last year at play offs in Austin, company.In a recent interview Holtby (21 yrs)when asked about The Water Squirt as Holtby squirts water out of his bottle during stoppages in play, picks out one  specific drop from the spray, and follows it to the ground with his eyes. BTW I did not see that last year "Actually, that looks a little weird," he admitted. "If you can focus in on something, it sharpens up your vision." "I think everyone else is scared of looking weird," he said. "I don't really care, as long as it helps me stop the puck."

• Better Half - being a goalie fan - got Harding's 04-05 Aeros season stick, signed by what looked about a third to a half of the then team(now proudly displayed on the study door...open it too fast and the stick sets off an alarm).
• And last but not least a Symphony/Restaurant package..after all artandhockey must have some art (musical and culinary) somewhere? The question now is do we choose Shostakovitch or Mahler?

All in all, the atmosphere inside the Country club was

warm (so nice) and friendly. Lots of joshing among players and coaches, and pleasantries from players to fans made for a good event. And thankfully, NO long winded speeches by any one.

The two kids from KU did well, kept it short and sweet. 

But a bit emotional..tears were observed flowing.