A WIN IS A WIN... EVEN IF ONLY BY ONE

You did good Matt!

Knight of the Night Matt Hackett lol.

The crowd of almost 13,000 was loud and boisterous. Perhaps that inspired the team. This was the night of redemption for Matt Hackett, who saved shot after shot by glove, pads to the tune of 36, playing like he used to way back when I dubbed Wundergoalie!

BUG Nr,2 Cody Reichard

The only goal for OKC was, naturally scored by that pesky guy, Arcobello with Mancinin  and Clark. And it just slid like a butter pat between his legs into the net, IMO he could do nothing to stop that. And that time the defense was not even close.

Kampfer's Goal

DaSilva Goal: OMG that went in and out so quickly :-D

But they learned and closed ranks the rest of the game:

We have your back, Matt..Genoway and Kassian seem to say

The BIG surprise came from a Newby named Dan DaSilva (Nr. 2 *) who got the first goal with Kampfer and Rau.

The second and game winner by Kampfer with DaSilva and Rau netted Kampfer the Nr, 1 *

Phillips and Danis whispering sweet nothings, maybe?

Medved beleaguered

The game was quite exciting. Both teams battled valiantly, neither could capitalize on 2 powerplays - Aeros, 4 Powerplays - OKC.

At left: Arcobello in place as ususal.. but this time NO go ;-)
Much honking on the way out. Celebration...win!

And so Good Night, all.

Aeros 1:Rockford 4 - so the curse continues

The only positive thing  IMO of tonight's performance - if one can call it that - was that  Mike McKenzie got his first goal of the season to even the score after the Icehogs scored almost immediately.
You'd think, that the presence of a respectable crowd of over 7,000 would have fired up the Aeros!

But, other than Kuemper getting his award early on, Hackett stopping 28 of 31 (the last goal for Rockford being an empty netter - Hackett is absolved from that !)

Final last seconds

Another Goal for Icehogs

Battling for the Puck: Genoway vs Richards

 4 on Defense and yet...??

and the afore mentioned baptism of McKenzie with godparents Prosser and Kassian,
it was a depressing game.
Rockford skated, fought a seemingly discombobulated Aeros.
There was lots falling about.
Several lost and broken sticks.
Fortunately 2 'might have been' injuries weren't, as far as I could tell tell.
Both 'nose holding' skaters - one from each team - were back skating soon after!

 A conference re what?

And the Ref (singular) called ONLY 4 penalties - neither resulting in a PP for either side!

Richards pushing Genoway  away from the puck in front!

 Hackett saves that one

But fans, it WAS an at home game..
and the majority of those, as we are getting used to, are being lost.

Roster additions for Aeros

AEROS fans WILL enjoy hearing that Kassian cleared waivers and on his way to Houston.
Also Cody Almond was returned to Houston per AEROS Roster
And a new defense man was signed to a PTO.
Elgin Reid, who skated last season for Everblades, started this season with Kalamazoo Wings.  The 6ft-Reid is 24, hails from Ontario. Canada.
Credit to SwampHockey for the video:

Hackett and the Barons

now that sounds like the title of a book, doesn't it? 



 O-cocoon  Fire Place.



And it sure seems like a book..

Hackett sporting another shut out game against the OKC Barons last evening in front of their home crowd.

And the O's were very much in evidence.

Kassian and Buck, Wellman, and others did their share as well.

As I posted earlier, the arrivals of the O's most certainly has an huge impact on the team. "They light up their fire"!

The future of the Aeros as  play off contenders is getting

rosier and rosier by the day!

Kinda makes one feel like singing.

And if one can't sing one CAN kick up one's heels!

And what makes it even rosier,

for the first time in ????  the AEROS +/- column sported all PLUSSES! 

Right! Good Job!

So now Rockford and Wolves having become the 'spoilers',

they both won over their opponents last night.

The Rampage drifting downward, the Stars rising slightly. 

And Aeros are surely emerging to spread their wings

                                             And that's all folks on this happy Sunday morning.

There is another game to come!

Going North..

Let the duelings begin

into a winterstorm?

Both big guys, Matt Kassian and Justin Falk,
have been recalled to Minnesota for the next game.

And will miss Thanksgiving in Cowtown with friends and  family.

But hey, playing NHL games beats family turkey feast, plus they've celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving Day in October, already.

While Casey Wellman is coming back and has/will bring with him some cold air for

Friday's Aeros Game :-) vs. The Rampage from San Antonio.

That will be an exciting game, I am sure.

And the first for Better Half and I in several weeks! 

We had almost suffered withdrawal symptoms, were it not for Games On TV and Radio... lol.

It's just not quite the same as being there in person, hearing the crunch, the thumps,

the yelling and the cursing of officiating personel...especially certain ones :-)!

More on that afterwards with photos I hope.

And then we are off to San Antonio for the Rampage vs Milwaukie game over the weekend.
And scooping out the new Riverwalk edition plus the Egyptian Exhibit at the SA Art Museum..what fun!
And not to forget the obligatory stop at Buccee's...both ways!

The suspense is killing me - update

who will now be on the final roster of the 2010/11 AEROS?

Well, the roster for the season opener is out.. visit www.aeros.com for the complete list.. and FYI Zingoni is on it, as is for the moment I presume Tordjman.

Rampage season opener, with former soft spots Mathieu Beaudoin and Matt Climie on their roster, is tonight vs Chicago Wolves at San Antonio.

Kassian


and Bagnall


have been placed on waivers and probably will show up here soon.

And here are the youngsters Boogaard and Kassian (now on same team?)
facing off against each other whilst in the minors -
am posting this just to get Aeros fans in the mood for hockey..as if they need it :-D

So, who of the current players, as seen  recently, will be sent off to Bakersfield?

Jerina Photo?

We are happy to report that Justin FALK (The Falker) is sticking with the mother team, for now! And will not be in an AEROS sweater any more...



Humorous musings on sports

The other sleepless night I was musing on what draws us fans to any sport.
And what draws man/woman to a specific sport.

There are the "egomaniacal" :-) sports such as weight lifting, shot put, hammer throw, javelin throw, long and high jumps, skijumping, single luge, kayaking, golf, etc... you get the idea.. sports in which the *me* first and foremost competes against the *me*, and only after that against the *foe*. *I* have to better *my* time, length, height.,..etc. then I go up against the *other* who also strove mightily to better *his/her* time, length, height etc. And some is wonderful to watch, indeed.

Then you have the  "twofers" such as fencing, sumo, wrestling, boxing, tennis-lawn and table,  etc. when the *me* competes opposite *him/her* necessitating  strategy as well as personal striving.. slightly more exciting to watch.

And lastly the *all for one, one for all* sports in which the *me* is subordinated/integrated into the group. Strategy, prior planning, on-the-spot decisions, working with and supporting the mates in order to outwit, outrun, outskate, outscore the *foe of the day* which in a year or less time may become *our* teammate again. Must be slightly paranoic to play against a foe that with a decision from above becomes a mate (hockey seems to be rather prone to that, as players are traded back and forth within the season)

Hot Mayan Hockey?

This can be the joy of team sport fans, to watch - at best -  a well oiled machine in which each cog does its part well to the final success!

"United we stand Defense"

Alas, at its worst, it is more like a jumble of individuals only 'doing' for themselves.

And that ugly, disjointed, frustrating play leads to fan dissatisfaction, even disgust.

Fans, being only human, curse, weep and swear NEVER to buy another ticket...

and yet.. next season rolls around, new players & coaches come, and the hopes of fans flare again!

And so with this song from a 1932's German movie..."It will get better" -
fans are hopefully optimistic, or are they masochistic  :-D!

And in this vein, as the Aeros have signed another goalie, can we assume that "Dimples" will move to Minnesota, whilst Tordjman becomes 'veteran goalie as THE role model'  in the Aeros net' with Hackett and/or Kuemper as B.U.G.? 
And where does that leave recently signed German goalie Endras? Still in Europe of course ;-)!.

With the Kaip signing, the Aeros now will have Kassian And Kaip ("K.& K. Defense") which does sound like a 'law firm of public defenders', lol.

DEFENSE-update

yep, the Wild signed the "Kassassinator";-)= Matt Kassian, the gentle Wild guy, to a 2 year, and
'Nate Prosser' to a one year contract.
With Staubitz, it does seem the Wild Defense is shaping up!

Prosser (2 yrs ago while at Colorado in college) gets hit, gets up and gets skating again. He is Minnesota born (1986), played 3 games last season with the Wild, had 1 assist and several PIMs.
On the other hand Boogaard went to the NY Rangers for 1.65 Mill for 4 years. Maybe there he will see more icetime?
In other news, it appears that SOCCERhas to contend with similarly 'blind' referees the Hockey world has battled against for a while
With, even in World Cup Soccer!, NO instant replay to confirm or deny a ref's call, made for some heartbreaking losses in South Africa! And some teams' losses caused political havoc at home ;-)! And I thoughts sports are NON political...guess not judging from the news.

One day behind - One Euro short

Having divorced Twitter some time ago ;-(,
just found out that Aeros will not only have a new head coach
(Mike Yeo)but also a new (well actually also old Aeros) equipment manager Bronwell.
For more details feel free to head over to The Third Intermission/Russo's Rants.
As far as Aeros fan faves are concerned, Anton Khudobin "the famous "Dimples"- as well as Matt Kassian ("The Kassassinator") have received qualifying offers from the Wild. Welcome back, old friends as presented by Cabaret Singer Ute!!