AEROS WIN

 tonight at Home in OT in front of a larger crowd than usual. 
 Am a bit late in posting, had to borrow a computer.. mine crashed yesterday morning-nice x-mas present, :-)!
The Rampage's Caruso with Timmins, scored first in the Second period. And on a Hackett, once more wayyy out his position.
And that after he had  made a great save, on a regular SoG then immediately after he also caught a 'flying' rebound!
After two so-so, IMO, periods, the "Third Period Aeros" (with 10 sogs) came out, and Rau, Fontaine, DiSalvatore evened the score on a PP.
And kept the momentum going into OT with the winning goal by Taffe, Disalvatore, Fontaine.
Which came as Rallo sat for Slashing from the 3. into  OT.
So part of the thanks for that goal ought to go to Rallo.. not that his teammates will thank him, :-)!

a sprawl by Hackett=a save this time

Rau gettin ready... goal

after the Winning goal in OT



Celebration is finally due!



Some of the crowd.. looked bigger than quoted by AHL

In the goals:
Hackett, as expected and
Markstrom for the Rampage, also as expected.  Peters and Palmer are still WILD!
As much as I hate to say it, this game was not one of the most exciting ones.
But a win is a win and in front of the home crowd...FINALLY! 
Why??
 Better Half and I were NOT wearing Aeros jerseys.
Another fan went ahead and got popcorn even though the Aeros had yet to score which is when they usually get their popcorn ;-)!
Maybe Santa Claus brought some new ooompf to the skating! Lol.
Or maybe it was that Ortmeyer was back, even though he interfered with Markstrom and sat for it!
Just kidding, of course.  :-), :-)!!
Briefly, it appeared that Aeros PP has improved (2 goals/ 6 opportunities)
Also improved IMO penalty kill - 5 PP opportunities for the Rampage were safely killed by Aeros.
The three stars (in ascending order)
Caruso, Rau and Taffe.. all the scorers.
Markstrom, making 24 saves in regulation outsaved Hackett's 20 of 21, seemed to me the better goalie.

Markstrom saves a try to score by DiSalvatore, this time.

But then what do I know about goalies!

20 ways of creative officiating?

No, really I mean that.

Between the officiating of the two Referees (Meyer and Croft) nothing resembled the Van Ryn Motto:"Keep It Simple (usually followed by Stupid-KISS)".

I lost count of the many three on five penalties both teams endured.
And some were called rather innovatingly:

• Delay of game BEFORE puck drop in Third? Duh? 
• Closing Hand on Puck? Double Duh?
• Others were the usual offenders.

At least in the end they were evenly divided 10 and 10, and both teams made two of them count!
Both Cuma of the Aeros and Pistilli (looked like) of the Checkers went down on the ice and needed attention from the teams' athletic trainers. Thankfully both came back to skate some more.
Neither incident was (apparently) severe enough for a penalty on the other team, this time!

Action around Murphy

Now after an unsually hectic fast paced first period in which the Aeros managed 5 Sogs to the Checkers 13,  the score was 1 Aeros - O Checkers..

Eyes-on-the-Puck Endras :-)

Endras simply making save after save - seemingly in most incredible ways...deep butterfly, stretched body, high glove catches, hard blocked shots (you could literally hear the puck striking his pads!)...

Just to recap Aeros Goals:
Taffe, Chenoway, DiSalvatore (1. period).
Foucault, Fontaine, Ortmeyer (2.)
Wellman, Taffe, DiSalvatore, Unassisted goal by McMillan, and finally empty netter by McIntyre, Fredheim all in the 3.

To the far right Ortmeyer and Foucault Goal 2

After Goal 1. PP by Taffe

Samson still looking (for a Delilah, perhaps? lol)

Checkers:
Soryal, Faulk, Staal;
Matsumoto, Samson, Faulk;
and Samson, Terry, Matsumoto all in 2.

Di Salvatore, Foucault chasing after puck



Soryal goal

Sutter (C) consoling Murphy after Houston goal 3

 McMillan=Number 1 Star with unassisted goal.

I truly believe this was one of the worst officiated games I've seen.

And the "Third Period Aeros" DID show up again to win this game against all odds...truly!

Almost unbelievable officiating (all those 3 on 5 calls) plus some less than stellar playing by several Aeros (Cuma, Bagnall (he ought to know better after all the years), Broda, Medved).
Did they, mayhap, mishear Van Ryn's "Keep It Simple"?

Well, whatever the case.
Aeros kept Checkers in check - but only by the skin of their teeth - especially in the second period.

Warming up in the 1. (as we now know they like to do).
Barely making it in the 2. (aided perhaps by ref's calls!)
And roaring back as the by now - almost expected  - AEROS OF THE THIRD!
Win with 5 to 3 vs Checkers.

I speak - You speak

  

Somethings are just too funny for those who are not au courant with them.

Just like these... 

.. scattered trout caught on croakers     weather report

.. quick limits of flounder    casino wager? 

.. crapple are fair on minnows     fair or unfair?

.. fair bass action to four pounds     is it a price war?

              If you haven't guessed it..                                                         that's fishermen speak!

And with a living thing..as language really is..words take on different meanings.

Discussed eloquently here.

On the other hand, there are "chickflics".
So are romance novels "chickbooks":-D?

And how about "props"? 

No, not the kind usually artfully displayed on stages!

Not these either  

So PROPS to that certain someone who inspired this blog..

not much of a blog, but then it IS summer :-)!

For serious Aeros/Wild fans there is this:

Aeros sign Jeff Taffe,

 while The Wild aquire Dany Heatley for Martin Havlat from the Sharks. Setoguchi now has an old friend on the ice with him, eh!

BTW O'Sullivan is still out there somewhere, but where ?

And in case you did not know about the life of "Sully". Life was not a bowl of cherries for him. Wishing him, his wife and new baby the best!

Should you have missed it due to the holiday weekend

Minnesota, the State, is shut-down!

It has run out of money!