Split personality. Liking the arts, especially opera, and hockey and Los Toros. I know, I know THAT one is non pc currently. But I can't help it saw some in Spain and got hooked, but good.
But on the other hand right now opera and hockey are in the forefront!
After the soso game two nights ago, this was a wild fast paced, exciting game between two worthy opponents. A funny little tidbit: Aeros Nr. 35 battled Checkers Nr. 35 (net minders) :-D.
Garnering for Kuemper in goal (finally - his fans were so pleased) the Nr. 3 * nomination as he stopped 30 of the 32 sogs with which the Checkers peppered him, even increasing the number in periods 2 and 3.
Considering that the Aeros Only shot 21 sogs on Justin Peters, making this a win in OT was - almost - a miracle. Tonight's Aeros defense was present and accounted for IMO.
Overall I really liked the quality of the game played by both teams. Fast, furious and (almost) no holds barred, even though IMO the Checkers managed to slide past a goaltender interference call or two, despite TWO referees, who called 6 penalties, one resulted in the PP goal by Granlund. Jordan and Medvec had at it to the pleasure of excited yelling and screaming fans, and sat in the box for roughing.
Zac Dalpe (19 ) tries but defense and Kuemper hold him off
Tripping up a Checkerman ;-)
I am totally in awe over the speed, ice sense and well aimed passing that Granlund seems to toss off effortlessly.
On the other hand I felt Cuma lacked some umph tonight, despite doing yeoman's work checking Checkers (lol) opponents often, his slow and often short distance passing almost caused another goal by checkers! Yikes!
Attacking the Aeros net
Caught between Cuma and Kuemper
And what a surprise to see Petersen (11), latterly with the Solar Bears, get his AHL goal in the first period with the help of McIntyre (26).
Larsson whoops it up after his game winner goal
And the game winner by Larsson (with Bagnall) about halfway through Overtime went over rather well to the 7 000 plus fans
Now that the baddest news are past...I'll get to the rest of them.
Aeros defense was quite good, Hackett was too, he did stop 23 sogs during the regulation time,
and 10 of the 12 SO.
The 3 P.. goal
That SA's Kostka with Thomas and Cullen (!) got a short handed goal which put SA Rampage on the board first - was kind of a fluke.
But Aeros evened the score soon with goals by the 3 P's (Penner, Peters, Palmer) -
a PP goal at that -lol; followed by another PP goal by Wellman, Hendry, Prosser.
That D + D equals G...
Or it does when you have a Dadonov with a Derlyuk attacking a surprised Hacket that's when you get a Goal (Nr. 2 for Rampage).
BTW Dadonov #14 was rather impressive, holding onto the puck, switching out the way of Aeros defenders to sneak around the goal and plant the puck on Hacketts' uncovered right flank. Now that happened in Period 2. But Fontaine (he IS good - that one) with Broda and MacIntyre made it Aeros 3- SA 2.
Also good was the twinset Penner (right) and Chenoway (left) skating towards SA Goalie Brian Foster (who for a Rookie did extremely well) - in a sorta pincer movement.
Passing the puck well amongst themselves, skating speedily and agilely...a good combo, IMO.
During another PP of the Aeros caused by an interference call on Cullen of SA - forced, so it seemed to me rather on purpose by Chenoway, no goal was scored.
So there we have the rookie Chenoway, at 5"9 the littlest guy on the team, doing arabesques around the others. Niiice! very nice!
In the third we have no goals by Aeros nor SA despite 3 PP ( 2 for SA) 1 for Aeros.
And the game seemed in favor of Aeros, when at 13 min, Kearns with Repik made it 3-3.
And so it stayed though the 5 minute Over Time.
McMillan was the recipient of the newest penalty "illegal hit to the head" of Dadonov (#14) who took his time to rise from the ice...a case of embellishment (?) which was however NOT called.
And soon after he was back skating as furious as before.
Rallo Tries
Now the Shoot Out.. a total of 10 as per AHL sheet,. my notes said 11 shooters .. the Nrs 19 for Aeros, and 27 for SA, were on it!
Palmer Tries
Did I dream these? I dunno.
The Official AHL sheet said 10 shooters.
But here are the 2 photos I took!
Palmer and Rallo tried.
I did NOT dream!
With Fontaine getting the lone goal for Aeros; and Cullen (here he is again) and Esposito the two for SA.
BUT SA Rampage won the shoot out..
a historic shoot out?
When Nr. 17 Casey Wellman faced down Matt Climie Nr 33 in goal for Chicago,
Wellman got 2 goals on Climie - not quite a repeat of that other game.
But exciting enough to keep us on the edge of our seats ...will he make a Third goal and get another hat trick?
Now that would have started the season off with a real bang.
Nevertheless, the game progressed nicely.
Goal One
From a reasonable (10 SOG by Aeros vs 5 by Wolves), but scoreless First by both teams, the Aeros went gungho in the second with 20 Shots on Goal vs 8 by Chicago, scoring 2 goals in rapid succession by Wellman 17 (Helpers Taffe 22, Penner 5 and then McMillan 27) - later 1 by Ortmeyer, prominently wearing 41 (must remember that number change from 22 to 41), with Peters 25 and Foucault 13 assisting.
Matt Hackett keeping Chicago scoreless through 2 periods....and getting us to believe in a shut out!
Goal 3 -Fans Happy
But no, Chicago came howling back in the third with 12 SOG vs Aeros with just 4..one of which however was goal Nr. 4 by DiSalvatore 14 with Foucault 13 and Taffe 22.
Chicago Goal-fans unhappy!
The lone Chicago goal came at about 4 minutes into 3rd. by Mancari with Doell and Polasek..
And at least twice it looked to me as if Mancari could have slipped the puck into Aeros net again! Were it nor for Hackett stopping 24 of 25 SOG..
whose glove catching facility has immeasurably improved over the summer!
And Climie had to eat the loss with 30 stops of 34 SOGs.
Team Chicago a bit disconcerted by Aeros efforts needed 2 periods to regroup!
Sauve couldn't save...Last Aeros Goal
Was the two Too many men on ice, and one Delay of game penalties for the Aeros just a sign of a newly gungho team spirit? All those new Aeros raring to go?
Whatever it was, Chicago was unable to use the 9 penalty opportunities,
while Houston made 2 of their 7 count.
Three Stars of the Game were all Aeros:
Casey Wellman Nr.1,
DiSalvatore Nr.2 and
Rookie Foucault Nr.13.
Kris Foucault 13, and Nystrom 23 skated well and fast with a certain "turn on a dime" agility which looked so easy.
Peters on the Draw
Caught me a Puck!
Peters, Rau and McMillan did most of the face off honors.
Two melees...at one time
Ortmeyer helps stop the puck!
Prosser 15, Palmer 19 and Taffe 22 played a very solid game.
Rau had some nifty moves as did Wellman.
Joel Broda
Hendry 24 and Broda 56 appear to have taken on the Kassian mantle!
Genoway 39 was somewhat invisible.
Early on Cuma 61 took quite a while to right himself after a collision near the bench.
Team speed and passing, plus puck possession seemed rather improved - but it is early yet!
Over all this first regulation game of the season was up tempo and exciting to watch by almost 10,000 fans!
A win would be great when going to Milwaukee for the last one or two games.
But: Will the Ads adjust to the 'newish' Aeros play?
But: Will the ice conditions make that much a difference?
Ah, well all these questions will be covered exhaustively tonight and the after the game by various parochial bloggers, the "official blog of the Aeros", the semiofficial bloggers at T3I, and the actual print media guy.
So I shall meander over to the IIHF and report on results there from yesterdays games for those of you, cher readers, who can't or won't spend time on the net:
But I feel it is interesting to say the least, since several of those skating there now are in, or will be with the NHL and AHL teams next year.
Jason Zucker (IIHF Juniors) signed by Wild
That second half of the trade for Anton Khudobin (BTW since with the Bruins he played 4 games and recorded a .942 % svs), Mikko Lehtonen,
for instance, has been reported to have signed with KHL for next season, so the Wild managed to get ONLY Penner for Anton for sure. Of course, it is possible the Wild may buy out that contract.. but....
So my poor country Austria again the loser with 2 versus Belarus with 7
(and Belarus was not exactly a forerunner up to now) SIGH!
Slovakia vs. Latvia 5-2, Russia vs Denmark 4-3 and Norway vs Switzerland 3-2.
Hmm, that begs the question: are Austria and Switzerland - being so 'hilly' and better known for other winter sports (skiing), - less prone to manage flat surfaces (just kidding).
Also you may notice that Italy, also a 'hilly' (in the North) nation did not field a team competing.
And France (also hilly) was not exactly a "burning up the ice" team as well. Again am kidding! Although Austria has supplied a few, a very few, good to excellent hockey players to the NHL
(Vanek, An
dreas Nodl
Michael Grabner..etc.).
Not sure why Slovakia, Czech Republic and Slovenia (all hilly countries to some extent, as well) do so much better in hockey? Goalies (Vokoun, etal), giants-not in basketball (Chara) - and many other skaters.
Is it because these neighbour states of the former USSR followed the example of state athlete training -get them young and they'll do better (vide China's 'baby' athletes!!).
But then where IS Hungary?
Any way just some nagging questions while sorta following the IIHF over there!
was much better than expected.
I really went for one, well maybe three, reasons.
One: Susan Graham. I just enjoy her voice. Her composer was all I expected.
I have heard/seen her so many times I lost count, but every time I feel soothed, and filled with warmth by that unexplainable quality she has - it is subjective of course!
Two: wondering how Dolgov (seen in Tosca and liked) and Goerke (seen as Ortrud for which did not care much, then) would sound. I honestly admit, I was blown away by Christine Goerke's Ariadne.
Even though her strong big steely voice is still not my cup of tea, her presentation was superb!
Alexey Dolgov was a more than adequate Bacchus. But at times seemed to strain to keep his own in duets with Gorke's overpowering Ariadne.
Three: Laura Claycomb: a saucy Zerbinetta with incredible vocal and physical agility, high notes, and enormous breathcontrol. I have seen her sing Handel (and like her rather much in either opera), as Verdi's Gilda (sososo-I know that it not what most thought) as Donizetti's Lucia (she did wow me with that).
The smaller roles were filled with youthful enthusiasm and pleasant voices by current (Wheeler, Deonarine, Martin, Dyakov, Peake, Touhy) and ex-Studio (Kolbet) members, and other comprimario singers.
The last two times I saw Ariadne, I was underwhelmed and - I admit it - bored by less than inspired conducting, less then adequate singing (truly I don' t even remember who sang - either time),
and a blah staging and sets. Static sets, boring staging! No sign of the theater within the theater concept..
Neither flashy nortrashy staging! What more need I say.
So, maybe this production had its flaws, very minor ones but overall I like the (is camp the right word?) staging, sets and costumes. They seem traditional, but then this is one opera where traditional (though camp) works for me - LOL!.
I am rather tired of some over the top 'modern' productions in which the directors' will takes precedence over the composers' musical ideas and moods!
So, call me an old foggy!
I don't care.
I liked this production, especially the end..why chandeliers? Why not-it seems a fitting starry end ;-0!
I liked the theater within an old private housetheater concept.
I liked the onstage set changes and machinery as may have been used way back then!
Liked the 'campy' Echo in thecloud...sung by Brittany Wheeler.
Liked the way Summers coaxed dulcet but also powerful tones from the orchestra.
It's probably only due to having been brought up with the sound of the Vienna Philharmoniker playing Strauss, that the strings seem to miss something, that something that the Vienna Philharmoniker seem to do so well! Did my ears deceive me, or did I hear a note or two from Brahms Lullaby? Well, never mind. Strauss took it and composed his variations and they did sound lovely, as did the frquent small waltz like movements.
And then Hugo von Hoffmansthal brought some of that kind of Galgenhumor the Viennese excel in, to the libretto and contents. In the 'funny' parts AND the solemn ones.
After all, Ariadne sees Bacchus (god of Wines!!) as the angel of oblivion, to help her drown her sorrows!
If that is not a bit of irony/sarcasm, I don't know what is! Don't you?
And not only that, but having the Master of the House via his flunky, the Mayor Domo (a speaking role -Jon Kolbet) demand that an opera seria be merged with a harlequinade! BECAUSE he paid money for it - and money talks (and pays for singers and dancers and entertainers, eh?) is sooo ironic!
A spoof on opera seria, diva and divoallures,
composer's self importance,
the 'heart of gold' of a 'less virtuous than she should be' Zerbinetta!
And so on! So it was then and so it still is, don't you think?
Ah, well.. am I reading too much into it? Perhaps.
If you want to know what goes on in this opera, I'll let you google for it ;-)!
Goerke and Dolgov
Kolbet, Graham, Rosel(dancemaster)
Zerbinetta Troupers: Gleadow, Dyakov, Touhy, Peake and Claycomb
Overall it was a surprise and a very pleasant one! At least I think so!
But honestly, no more Ariadne auf Naxos for a while! The 'third's the charm' as they say,
and that's it for me!
AND ANOTHER REAL PLEASANT SURPRISE: In the 2. battle between Airforce and Navy (lol), the Aeros shut out Admirals 2-0 in Round Two Game 2 in Milwaukee with goals by Peters, Wellman, Earl and Gillies, Ortmeyer and Scandella. Hackett getting his FIRST ever play off shut out! GO AEROS.
Three more games for sure right here in Houston TUESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY!
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
, An
..etc.).
