April 2009 - Posts

• Aeros Take Game 1

  Posted Apr 30 2009, 10:44 PM by Eric W. Kent

  The Houston Aeros took Game One of the Western Division Finals, beating Milwaukee 2-1. You can read Dave Boehler's recap here, the Admirals' write up here, and the Third Intermission's recap here.

  Coach Lane Lambert wasn't really concerned about "rust". He wasn't worried about the timing or the effort. He was concerned about his team controlling their emotions.  

  "I thought we did a poor job of that right off the bat, and we put ourselves in a hole. It was certainly a mistake, and we can't afford to do that. We can't afford to get into those situations."

  "Those situations" are basically putting a top-notch power play unit on a 2-man advantage less than two minutes into the game. For this, we can thank captain Nolan Yonkman. He and Aeros captain Clayton Stoner came together as add-ons to an initial scrum between Kelsey Wilson and Robbie Earl. Amidst the jostling, Yonkman must have thought he heard the magic words, because he started fighting Stoner. The problem was Stoner had no interest in fighting. Yonkman delivered three or four solid shots to Stoner's chops (and even dropped him to one knee) before Stoner even dropped the gloves. Once they were both bare-fisted, Yonkman delivered a couple more solid shots before dropping Stoner again. Yonkman certainly won the battle (Stoner didn't put up much resistance at all), but the Aeros won the war. Yonkman got an instigating penalty, and Kelsey Wilson got a double minor for his role in starting the whole dust-up in the first place.

  You.   Can.   Not.   Give.  Houston.  That.  Opportunity.

  Drew MacIntyre actually played very well on the penalty kill, making several difficult saves. The easiest save of all, however, was not made. After Bryan Smolinski lost the face off clean, one easy pass was made to Tomas Mojzis, who wound up and fired a shot between Mark Matheson's legs, and beat MacIntyre 5-hole. It was a stoppable shot, and one I'm sure Mac would like to have back.

  The Aeros' second goal was all Kris Kolanos. He made a tremendous play at the offensive blue line to corral an airborne pass, maneuvered around 2 defenders, and broke in on Drew MacIntyre. Mac made the save, but the Admirals were never able to clear the zone. Tony Hrkac fired a shot on goal from the point, and Mac made that save, too. But Kolanos got the rebound, drove behind the net, and cut back quickly to sneak the puck between the post and MacIntyre's left skate. It was a great display of Kolanos' tremendous offensive talent.

  The Admirals hit the second intermission down 2-0...and it was THIS close to being 3-0. The Aeros' Marco Rosa fired a wrist shot that beat Drew MacIntyre over his left shoulder and snuck under the crossbar. The puck clearly went in the net - there was no question about that. The only problem was that the goal came 20:01 into the period....one second too late.  

  The Admirals lone goal came late in the third. Bryan Smolinski was decked to the ice by Mitch Love just inside the offensive zone...while Mark Matheson controlled the puck at the right point. To make matters worse, Love and another Aeros player came over to make sure Smolinski stayed down. Fortunately for the Admirals, that meant Andreas Thuresson was left undefended at the left point.  

  "You would think those are penalties now," said Smolinski, who was whistled for two penalties earlier in the game.

  "You want them to be consistent. But you know, whatever, we scored."

  Unfortunately, it was too little too late. With under a minute left, the Admirals pulled MacIntyre for the 6-on-5 advantage. Tony Hrkac committed a hooking penalty, and the Ads were about to go up 6-on-4...until they were whistled for Too Many Men on The Ice. It was the final mistake in the coffin, and now the Admirals are facing a reallywouldliketo-win situation for Game 2.

  "Obviously, Saturday's game is huge for us. We know that, and I think the sense of urgency has certainly increased" said Coach Lambert.

  "I think it's the process and the way we lost it that's concerning," said Bryan Smolinski. "Home Ice advantage - I think in any league it seems to be a little obsolete until game 7. For the most part, you could tell that the guys were off for a while. You could see the rust. They had a lot of energy, we just got outsmarted tonight." 

  Coach Lambert says Oren Eizenman suffered an upper body injury, and is considered game-to-game.

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  Filed under: Houston Aeros, Playoffs

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• Admirals Add Center Bryan Smolinski

  Posted Apr 30 2009, 02:18 PM by Ryan Miller

  So the Aeros signed Tony Hrkac out of retirement for some veteran leadership.

  The Admirals have now raised that bet.

  Bryan Smolinski is now an Admiral.  He was signed to a PTO contract today.

  He has previously played in the NHL with the likes of the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, and Montreal Canadiens.

  Smoke had been playing with the Port Huron Icehawks of the IHL this season.  In 21 games, he averaged over a point a game, with 9 goals and 21 assists.The Icehawks' season ended earlier this week when they were bounced from the Turner Cup playoffs by the Muskegon Fury.

  As for playoff leadership?  Smoke has accumulated 52 points in 123 career post-season games.

  The Admirals press release is saying that he'll make his Admirals debut TONIGHT at the Bradley Center.  He'll wear #22, according to the AHL website.

  While it's awesome to have him....we're still trying to figure out HOW he can play....what with clear day roster rules and such.

  Update:  Sulzer and Pihlstrom are already out....and the third injured player to allow Smolinski to play may be Oren Eizenman. Apparently, the Ads fourth-line center is a little hobbled. If he can't play, Smoke will suit up.

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  Filed under: Oren Eizenman, Bryan Smolinski

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• Scouting The Enemy

  Posted Apr 30 2009, 11:40 AM by Eric W. Kent

  Milwaukee's played against the Aeros enough this year that we have a basic knowledge of Houston's team. For today's series preview and scouting report post, I planned to watch film on every Aero's game over the past 2 months and break down their tendencies and weaknesses.

  Then I realized that

  A) I don't have any game film

  2) I'm not paid enough to spend that much time on this

  iii) I can just cheat and ask the folks at The Third Intermission to do it for me. (If it seems like we're pimping their site a lot lately....we are. Anything we can do to help out a fellow AHL blog we will do. Plus....they're actually good at what they do, which helps).

  Anyway - here is what we can expect from the Houston Aeros, courtesy of the folks that know them best: 

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  A bit of a scouting report on the boys in the bombers

  By Ms. Conduct 

  Now, I know this team and I know enough hockey to play it myself, but I'm probably the least qualified to write this of the four of us at T3I. But I got no volunteers, so you get Ms. Conduct's Scouting Report whether you like it or not. I'll spare the rest of the guys any responsibility or accountability for my writing here, other than John helping me with line combinations.

  I may have made some of this up. This is for entertainment purposes only. No wagering, please.

  Okay, disclaimers finished. Let's drop the puck:

  Great Things about the Aeros

  Their special teams are top notch and continue to be so in the playoffs. The PP is the Aeros bread and butter in terms of goal scoring. I can pretty much guarantee Coach Lambert has a big sign in the locker room that says, "STAY OUT OF THE BOX."

  Max Noreau (26) is the guy to watch on the power play and has proven himself to be a "playoff player" so far this post-season with several important goals.

  Also, Krys Kolanos (36) (Picture, Right: Excellent photo courtesy Fred Trask). He's the team's MSH (Makes *** Happen) guy. If the Ads can shut him down, first of all, WOW, because that's not easy, and second, enjoy round 3! The dude is a line all to himself. He can score from the point, he can score on the move, he can score from sharp angles. And the team seems a bit lost when he's not in the line-up or when he's having an off night.

  The Defense isn't the most talented group ever but they work their ever-loving tails off every shift and that makes up for a lot. Clayton Stoner (7) is full of heart and grit; don't piss him off. Justin Falk (44), the rookie on the blue line this season, is frankly just enormous and great along the boards and uses his size and long reach really well without getting penalized very often. (Plus, he couldn't be more adorable if he tried. That's just something for the ladies to keep an eye on. )

  Not So Great Things about the Aeros

  Their two main goaltenders (Barry Brust and Nolan Schaefer) are out with injuries, and while Anton Khudobin (30) (Picture, Left: Another excellent photo courtesy Fred Trask) did pull it out in the first round, he's got a major rebound control problem and quite often loses the puck in traffic, so he's terrifying to watch. Luckily, the defense clamped down for most of the series and worked hard to sweep those juicy rebounds to safety.

  5-on-5 scoring has been a problem much of the season and continues to be. The Aeros are the only team in the playoffs with fewer goals for than goals allowed during the regular season. It boggles the mind how this team is in the playoffs, but there it is.

  Discipline. For a team that has trouble scoring 5-on-5, being on the PK all the time (even on such a reliable one) is murder on scoring chances. The parade to the box cannot continue this round.

  LINES

  I'm not much for lines. I've cut my hockey teeth watching the Minnesota Wild and the Houston Aeros and both teams have been typically pretty consistent about not having set lines. Though this season, Coach Kevin Constantine seems to have discovered that keeping lines together works better for the personality of this team, so I'll make an attempt (with much help from the more attentive John Royal... thanks John!)

  Also, it should be noted that with Jesse Schultz's injury late in game 6, lines are a bit in flux as the team shuffles guys around to fill his skates.

  Beaudoin (25) - Pouliot (27) - Locke (84)

  The wingers on this line have been quite successful so far in the playoffs, but Pouliot is pretty filler. He poses a threat with his speed but folds like a cheap tent at the least amount of defensive pressure and is a turnover machine as a result. But all this folding does create a distraction that gives Beaudoin and Locke room to operate. This is, you could say, the speedy, but somewhat soft, line.

  Kolanos (36) - Hrkac (14) - Earl (17)

  As I mentioned, you can put Kolanos on pretty much any line and he'll dominate the offensive zone. They did finally have to put him with more defensively responsible players. And Earl has the speed to keep up with Kolanos, but can't hit the broad side of a barn. And Hrkac... well, you Ads fans know what great hands and hockey sense he has, so he's a good playmaker between the other two even if he's not as fast.

  Rosa (40) - Lundbohm (15) - Lammers (29)

  Checking line, with some offensive touch from Rosa, who gets tons of chances and wears a defense out with his strong puck possession. Lammers has his moments but is generally kind of an average speed/shot guy. Lundbohm is just so happy to be in the lineup again now that a couple of guys have left for World Championships and Schultz is injured, he's playing like a bat out of hell.

  Love (6) - Ryznar (22) - Irmen (19)

  This is the line fans love. They hit, they get pucks deep, they're fast, and they work their butts off. Of course, they hardly ever score, but they rarely end a shift without having improved the momentum of the game in the favor of the Aeros. Love is the Aeros middle-weight fighter and is darn good at it and really fun player to watch, unless you're the guy who's eating his fist.

  Defensively, as I mentioned earlier, Stoner brings good grit to his pairing with Brandon Rogers (28).

  Then Falk and Noreau are often paired up, with Falk doing the physical work of relieving the opponent of the puck and Noreau is excellent at transitioning the puck to the forwards in the neutral zone and is a beast from the point or the high slot.

  Finally, Tomas Mojzis (4) and Paul Albers (3) are both good puck-moving defensemen, but Mojzis is a bit penalty prone but has a great shot from the point, and Albers has the occasional brain-fart but has a good transition game.

  On special teams, the first PP unit is Kolanos-Locke-Noreau and then a couple of others that could vary, but recently included Beaudoin and Lammers down low.

  The second unit is a bit sketchy with Schultz out, but is generally Rosa-Hrkac-Rogers-Schultz-Pouliot. We're not sure who will fill in for Schultz there if he's out for a while.

  The Aeros best PKers vary, but Albers and Falk are both quite good as are Rosa and Earl and Pouliot. I think you pretty much don't survive on a Kevin Constantine team without being good on the PK, so most of these guys other than the top scorers can play the PK well.

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  Filed under: Houston Aeros, Playoffs

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• Updates: Pickard, Blum, Sixsmith, and a Surprise!!

  Posted Apr 30 2009, 10:44 AM by Eric W. Kent

  So Chet Pickard has left the team. He went to Edmonton last night to pick up his second straight Del Wilson Trophy as WHL Goaltender of the year. It's unlikely that he will return this season to Milwaukee. The main goal of getting Pickard some exposure to the team and the city has been accomplished. Pickard will get to have some rest and relaxtion now...and begin his off-season workout program.

  Jon Blum has not yet joined the team. A source within the Admirals indicates that it could be a couple days before Blum hooks up with the Ads...and he might not join the team before they head on the road to Houston for Game 3. As soon as he does, you can count on a Short Shifts Exclusive interview. (If you have any questions you're dying to know the answers to, leave them in the comments!)

  James Sixmith is doing well. We heard this story third hand - but we're gonna pass it along. Sixsmith was watching a little CNN today, and they were doing a story about the Swine Flu and its potential impact on the NBA playoffs. You can read a similar CNN report here. Apparently, there was a poll that asked how many people would avoid going to Houston for an NBA playoff game because of the Swine Flu virus. He said it indicated about 71% would avoid going.

  And finally, we hear rumblings that a major signing may be in the works for Milwaukee. We'll keep tracking it down and let you know once we know.

  With 2 comment(s)

  Filed under: Chet Pickard, James Sixsmith, Jonathan Blum

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• Fun With Quotes (Out of Context)

  Posted Apr 30 2009, 09:47 AM by Eric W. Kent

  Waiting this long for some hockey to watch, we can get a little punchy around the Short Shifts offices. Not punchy enough to do any actual work (like attending practice), but punchy enough to have some fun with Dave Boelher's work at JSOnline.

  Boehler wrote a nice little piece about the team today, and had some good quotes from the players and staff. I recommend you head here to read it. That way, you will know the real context of the following quotes:

  "It's a little like Groundhog Day" - Coach Lane Lambert

  "I don't know" -Coach Lane Lambert

  "Nobody is going to care" - Coach Lane Lambert

  "We're all itching" -Cal O'Reilly

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