Greatly anticipated

Bagnall sends puck flying over net :-)



Fredheim specialized in bodychecks : ) tonight!

Oh, hello Peters, welcome to my net!

Attentive fans look a bit...underwhelmed?

the 'decisive' game versus the Admirals, the 'other' First placed team, went somewhat flat for the hard core-die hard small number of fans tonight.



And the winners skate happily!



Not that the Aeros did not give battle.

They did.

O'Sullivan had 2 goals and 1 assist.
He also had 3 penalties.


Thurreson goal stuns Anton



Bucky's big grin

Thuresson got the first goal - a power goal at that - Anton looks like he just can't believe it! Mueller got the second.

But then O'Sullivan made it 2-1, also on a power play and the Aeros went to the locker room-maybe for some talking to?

Second period started out well. Aeros had 4 power play opportunities, but no puck went in :-).
With just a few seconds to spare Brandon Buck got a goal, making it 2-2.
And so we went into the third.
Hectic action going both ways, Aeros kept peppering Lindback (Lanky Lindy) -below



Peters in wait



O'Sullivan gets his second goal of the night and the crowd is happy. BUT seconds later, Palin gets another PP goal and the scoreboard is even again.
Never fear though, O'Sullivan gets goal Nr 3 and  then Peters Nr 4.

Peters snaps it in

But then the Admirals let rip...

Halischuck skates into net, if he can't shoot the puck, he shoots himself : -)

But never fear Halischuck scores once, he scores twice

A goal by Halischuk, the eager beaver (he sure.tries to make his goal with or without a puck). And then - horror upon horror he scores again and the end is

Anton's signature sprawl

Caught me a puck, here!

Skip to my Lou, perhaps?

Snapshots, all by artandhockey

Excuses, Excuses...

"My alarm didn't go off"
"Wolves hunt better in packs under a full moon"
"The crowd energy was missing"

Which one do you prefer?

Kinda like the wolves and full moon one, myself.
Although it was morning and the moon had set!
Sure seems obvious, after several NON evening games, the Aeros are no matitutinal
rather they are nocturnal creatures.

Guess it was "Warm up" time during the first period - with just 7 shots on goal to the Wolves 12 and 1 PP goal by Deveaux for which he got the Nr. 3 Star.
Revving it up after, undoubtedly some pointed talking to by the coaches, in the 2 to 15 and still no score!

On the other hand the Wolves scored 2 in rapid succession despite a ready Anton.
They slowed down a bit in the third to just 13 SOG BUT..
Our thanks to THE Captain the team went home with at least ONE PP goal!


Peters on the draw

Tell me, what's going on behind my back, Sifers?

THE MAN(nino) in the Wolves net, almost had a shut out.
But Di Salvatore said NO to that late in the third.
And so ended the 'undervisited High School Career Game'.
IMO too many High Schoolers stayed home or took advantage of the day off ;-)! Just a few lonely and relatively quiet souls were sprinkled about the TC. And no earplugs were needed this morning!

Not this one, oh no sirs!

And of course a respectable number of die hard hockey fans must
have taken the day off to be there. Afterwards a large number were observed taking solace with numerous beers, to stave off the return to work, perhaps.

Mercifully, the game seemed to be over quickly.

And Better Half and I headed to the Symphony Box Office to get our tickets for the all Mahler Concert in May, then to KIM SON for some sustenance.
Watching Hockey in a cold arena makes one real hungry!

 Earl and THE MAN real close?

 Crouching 'tiger'

The Trio in Waiting

Catch me a puck!

Goalie on watch

Deveaux is ready for the PP goal puck





Captain, Oh my Captain in place?

Now we know the WILD of it...

after the 5th loss in preseason, after they cleared waivers, the Wild have re-assigned old favorites Robbie Earl, Petr Kalus, Warren Peters and Jon DiSalvatore to Houston.

While Justin Falk is having some good game(s):

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/photos?gameId=300928029&photoId=854963#

So, we shall have pretty much the same team on ice down here, as last year.

Unless....

Definitely NOT here will be: Irmen, Smith, Hilbert, Testwuide, Milroy, Lanon, Gunderson and Brust.

With Rodgers, Sifers and Zingoni, plus several NEW faces, etc. still on the camp list,

the battle for spots on this season's Aeros roster will be intense.

Thursday at 10 AM is one more training session at Slice,

 and  Friday at 7 PM is the 1. pre- season game vs Rampage

(now boasting the 2 Matts (:-) as in Beaudoin and Climie).

Been  told a few, a very few seats still available - NEW this year are assigned seating & parking passes.

When it comes to Anton Khudobin there seems to be no rush for a decision, since Backstrom, not Khudobin, played in the third against the Columbus Blue Jackets, widely conceived as "C" team.

So, AK warmed the bench again, and we all know from past experiences THAT a 'benched

 Anton is a 'rusty' Anton, alas. He is still slated to go to Finland BUT...what happens after that?

Something really bugs me about this, not that I am a died-in-the-wool baseball fan, but...

During a  recent game the attendance in the stands was about 12,500 while a  tweet posted during, or just after, the game, by Rays' Pitcher was followed by almost that same number, 12,100, .. a sign of the times?  Why bother to build arenas - with taxpayers money no less - when they stand mostly empty? Just have VIRTUAL games via the net.... LOL.

T'is will be the seasons for couch potatoes!

And more in that vein: California university slashes funding for sports, or so I hear! Eliminated are Baseball, women's LaCrosse, women's and men's gymnastics, men's rugby becomes strictly a varsity sport... this measure is thought to SAVE 4 Million.

But that's not all, academic funds are slashed as well.

California once more leading the pack in 'innovations'... will the rest of the states follow soon?

"Latin Lovers" in Paris....

The Mimi of Daniella Carvalho (Brazil) and Rodolfo of David Guzman (Colombia) did deliver sparks on stage at The OH! last night, as presaged by many who've seen this cast before me.
As Marcello, Charles Stanton (USA) brought strong acting and a mellifluous baritone to the duets with the Musetta (Alyssa Bowlby)(Photos by Gwen Turner Juarez-many thanks)
It was another sold out house. This La Boheme at The OH! was the most exciting production, yet, I have seen there. All soloists are outstanding, the chorus women, children and men well coordinated by Chorus Master Fuller, the orchestra played truly well, Maestro Weibel conducted with a deep understanding of Puccini (IMO). What makes THe OH! so unique is the location (a Landmark Old Church building) holding just over 300 people. And the way the audience actually IS in the opera, is part of the crowd scene at the Cafe Momus (La Boheme) is simply exhilarating for anyone. In any given opera: singers, chorus may sing from the aisles, from the balcony, may rush on stage past delighted guest, who are just a handswidth from the larger than life singers (if seated in the first row, LOL) or so close to some orchestra members to feel the vibrations of the strings and the echo of the brass (;-)..you get the idea!
An experience that is so inviting, so involving..you are really THERE, with the singers and players, unlike being across the gulf of an orchestra pit elsewhere.

And sparks were delivered by Aeros in San Antonio...

Aeros 5 Rampage 3.

All I heard from Better Half who followed that game: Rau-"WOW" with 2 goals, "Dimples" Khudobin with an assist!! And "Andy Handy" Hilbert' great game....am not going into the game scores, etc. for that AHL and the Aeros sites have detailed information for my truly interested readers.

As I posted before, with Hilbert, Zingoni and others healthy all season, the team jelling as they seem to promise so early in the season (Sept/Oct/Nov), playing all along as they have played the last 3 of 4 games (all wins) a Play Off spot would have been assured, again! Maybe not a Cup win (who can again out play the Hershey Bears ?) - but a spot in an early round, that, YES!

But, as it were all season..an Aeros game starts out well in a 1. Period, survives a 2. period and either collapses in the 3. or, as lately, revs up in the 3. and may make it.

Tonight it's off to University of Houston to see the Houston premiere of a new American opera"Elmer Gantry"-composer Robert Aldridge, libretto Herschel Garfein based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis, of which more tomorrow.The clip below form the 2oo7 Nashville opera premiere. Opening an opera with"She's half naked" ought to wake some interest eh?

U of H never shies away from controversial subjects and/or interpretations of such, LOL.

Perhaps, this take on an old fashioned survival meeting with rousing singing should have been presented last fall and cause a rousing on the Aeros then.. just kidding!