I am not going to lie and say hockey is at the top of my mind all of the time at this time of year. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact I am studying a football playbook which is a sign the start of the season is a little less than a week away, or maybe its the fact my eyes are glued to the television as I watch Team USA battle through the London Olympics. I absolutely love the Olympics; both the summer and winter games especially. I don’t pay much attention to basketball and the ‘Dream Team’, but just about every other event I do my best to watch, absorbing the drama and emotions of it all. I think its pretty tough not to get caught up into it. The Wild have done a lot this summer to get fans caught up in anticipation for the 2012-13 season to begin but their good fortunes have other ripple effects apart from a cover story from the Hockey News and increased season ticket sales. Its been a pretty terrific summer for the Houston Aeros as well.
What sort of lessons can seasoned pros like Carson McMillan pass onto the Wild’s impressive core of young talent?
The Wild’s good fortune with the free agent signings of Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, Torrey Mitchell, Zenon Konopka and Jake Dowell along with a bumper crop of prospects means the Aeros should be locked and loaded for a very promising 2012-13 campaign of their own. This is will not be your typical Houston team that is buoyed by a few ringers. In the past, players like Kirby Law, Jean-Guy Trudel, Erik Westrum and Patrick O’Sullivan carried the lion-share of the load. The best part is, the Wild have stocked Houston mostly from within via the draft or college free agency. The veterans of the team are no longer older AHL journeyman like Jon DiSalvatore and Jeff Taffe but are players the team has brought along its own ‘home grown’ vets to teach the youngsters the ropes of professional hockey in Carson McMillan, Jarod Palmer, Matt Hackett, Chad Rau, Tyler Cuma and Chay Genoway. So just how good do the Houston Aeros look this year?
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They look very solid. As the team reached deals with David McIntyre, Carson McMillan, and Jarod Palmer. The team also seems to be close to re-signing Nick Palmieri who was acquired as part of the Marek Zidlicky trade. With youngsters Charlie Coyle, Brett Bulmer, Johan Larsson, Jonas Brodin, Jason Zucker, and Zack Phillips close to being ready to steer the Aeros in their own way Aeros fans have lots to be excited about. Who knows, this group could be even stronger if the Wild decide that Mikael Granlund (gasp) could use some North American seasoning. In fact, I’d argue that may be the proper course to take with the Wild’s resident wunderkind but I have a feeling the team’s brass is at least going to have him start the season with the big club.
We won’t know the lineup precisely until the end of Training Camp in September, but Aeros Head Coach John Torchetti has to know that however training camp turns out, he’s going to have a young, talented and dynamic squad. The former Plattsburgh Pioneer hopes the Wild’s depth will be reflected in his lineup with the Aeros which will mean he will not have to field a roster that is half full of players they had to cherry pick from various ECHL teams since last year Minnesota did not have an affiliate in that league. This year the Wild have an affiliation with the Orlando Solar Bears next year, and with 3 goaltenders under contract next year in Hackett, Darcy Kuemper and Johan Gustafsson its very unlikely the team will have to resort to calling up guys like Ian Keserich, Joe Fallon, and Mike Brodeur on professional tryout contracts to fill voids (knock on wood). As injuries ravaged the Wild, they cascaded to ravage the Aeros who had to make due while its own players were being used in Minnesota. Some of these ECHL’ers performed pretty well; in fact Fallon played pretty well, so well he earned AHL Player of the Week honors until he too was injured down the closing stretch of the season. Yet, for Torchetti it must’ve been a nightmare dealing with an ever changing roster where he seemed to have fewer and fewer of the players he started the season with. Hopefully he won’t have to experience that again this season.
So what should Houston Aeros’ fans expect?
1. More offense ~ In the past few seasons, the Aeros have mirrored their NHL counterpart in an overall lack of offense. Much of that was due to icing a lineup that was thin on talent and the ability to finish. Houston started the season with an ‘ok’ offense, but that would change when the team traded away Casey Wellman halfway through the season. Team captain Jon DiSalvatore did the best he could to carry the load but didn’t have a lot of help around him. Jeff Taffe did not emerge to be the big scoring counterpart the club had hoped for. However their is great hope this year with such an influx of young talent, many of whom with good offensive skills the Aeros should be a more dynamic club from top to bottom. Zucker, Coyle, Phillips, Larsson and Bulmer have all been decent scorers whether in college, major junior, or the European pro leagues. This should give the Aeros two excellent scoring lines at the very least. If Mikael Granlund arrives in Houston, they gain a player who was over a point per game in Finnish Sm-Liiga which is about the same level as the AHL. Even with this great addition of skill, I would not expect the Aeros to become the next coming of the Hershey Bears but I think it is reasonable to expect them to be in the upper half of the league in scoring. John Torchetti will have lots and lots of good options to choose from. Also expect some of the older Wild prospects to raise their game; especially Justin Fontaine, Joel Broda, Kris Foucault and Nick Palmieri as they will want to stay in the mix on the Top 6, at the very least they should give Houston a very competent Top 9. The Aeros’ top blog, the 3rd Intermission offers this insight to an unsung Wild prospect here.
2. A better forecheck for the whole season ~ When current Wild head coach Mike Yeo helped lead the Houston Aeros to the Calder Cup Finals in 2010-11, a big reason for their success was their stifling forecheck. Houston’s best defense really was its forecheck which kept opposing teams bottled up in its own zone and limited the amount of shots that Matt Hackett had to face. The Aeros had moments of this stifling forecheck last season, but it wasn’t all that consistent and its tough not to consider how the team’s constant roster moves played a role in this inconsistency. The Wild had two of the Aeros best forecheckers for most of the year last season from that Calder Cup Final squad with Warren Peters and Jed Ortmeyer and while they did not lead the Aeros in scoring, they really made Houston tough to play against. While some Wild fans loathed these players who were often put into roles for which they were not best suited, it is undeniable the effort these guys put into their shifts and their willingness to race into the corners and punish the opposition. The new influx of talent will give Houston guys who are natural forecheckers but also provide skill as well. Brett Bulmer, Charlie Coyle and Johan Larsson are all guys who not only embrace this hard charging approach along the boards, but they have the ability to create scoring chances and bury the biscuit off the turnovers their pressure will create. David McIntyre, Carson McMillan also return so the team should again be a pain to play against.
3. A well-rounded but young defense ~ The Aeros will also see some significant changes to the defense this season. It will be helmed by more players who were drafted by the Wild than in previous seasons. Veteran Drew Bagnall will be the veteran leader on the Aeros blueline but he will have lots of new recruits to help break in. Jonas Brodin is the most notable addition, he will not make Houston fans “ooh and ahh” over his unassuming style but they’ll learn to respect the subtle and effective way he plays the game. Offensive defenseman free agent Brian Connelly will give the Aeros defense a nice boost of scoring (he had 6 goals, 46 assists in split duty between Abbotsford and Rockford last season) that they haven’t had that kind of producer from the blueline since the departure of Maxim Noreau. Chay Genoway also returns as the leading scorer amongst the Aeros’ defenseman from last season. Steven Kampfer is also another player to consider as he is a terrific skater who has a booming shot and he doesn’t mind to deliver hits either. Its put up or shut up time for Tyler Cuma. He needs to start showing some of the potential that we thought we had when we drafted him 23rd Overall in 2008. I would expect him to be very motivated to raise his game this season and he might be a good fit for the 2nd pairing with Kampfer. Kyle Medvec, Colton Jobke, Josh Caron, and Sean Lorenz can battle it out for the remaining 2 spots. Apart from some of this group’s relative inexperience, the only other concern is the lack of right handed shots, only 2 out of the 10 defenseman in the system (Kampfer and Lorenz) have right handed shots. This could become an issue on the power play but that may be mitigated by the fact the team has a lot of right handed shots at forward that it may use as point men on the man advantage.
4. Solid goaltending should continue ~ The Aeros have typically been the strongest from the crease on on out and this season should be no different. From Manny Fernandez to Johan Holmqvist to Josh Harding the Aeros have had strong goaltending to serve as the foundation of their best teams. Matt Hackett will likely be returning for a 3rd season and if he is too disappointed he will have one eager competitor waiting for any possible slide in his game in Darcy Kuemper. I have little doubt Hackett was a bit disappointed at the news that the Wild re-signed Harding but barring any kind of pouting from him it should mean Houston will be amongst the strongest teams between the pipes in the AHL. Kuemper started last season in the ECHL, but after Dennis Endras left to go play in Finland he stepped in and played well before succumbing to an injury. Either way the competition should bring out the best in all of the goaltenders and that can only stand to help Houston’s chances next year.
2012-13 Team Roster
Forwards:
RW – Nick Palmieri
C – Joel Broda
LW – Kris Foucault
RW – Justin Fontaine
RW – Jarod Palmer
LW – Brett Bulmer
C/RW – Charlie Coyle
C – Zack Phillips
LW – Jason Zucker
C – David McIntyre
C/LW – Johan Larsson
RW – Carson McMillan
C – Chad Rau
C – Jake Dowell
LW – Stephane Veilleux
Defenseman:
LD – Chay Genoway
LD – Jonas Brodin
LD – Tyler Cuma
LD – Brian Connelly
RD – Steven Kampfer
LD – Kyle Medvec
RD – Sean Lorenz
LD – Colton Jobke
LD – Josh Caron
LD – Drew Bagnall
Goaltenders:
Matt Hackett
Darcy Kuemper
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