Houston Hotdish: Fawnin' over Fallon

Here's what normally happens when I write anything with a shred of definitive excitement about the Aeros: They go out and do the exact opposite and make me look like a huge dope.

So last week, when I gave you a big ol' bullet list of guys who are playing out of their minds along with a few, "still not sure about this thing" (i.e. goaltending), you should not be surprised that the Aeros once again flipped the script on me.

But at least it was flipped in a way I personally enjoy and still resulted in 4 straight wins. Make like Kris Kross and take the Jump...

But you hear all those "lone goals" I just mentioned? That's because the Aeros couldn't score to save their lives most of the weekend. They were outshot 22-32 on Saturday and 23-37 on Sunday. Yowza. Generally, as you know, that's a grim kiss of death.

After a sketchy start to his time with the Aeros, Fallon not only settled in and got good, he flat out stole 4 points for the Aeros over the weekend (and earned AHL Player of the Week in the process). And I may also have a crush on him now. Just a little one. Don't be scared, Joey.

Anyway, I'll spend all day getting worked up about goalies, so I'll stop there and we'll see how it plays out as the team hits the road for 4 games in Rockford, Chicago, and Milwaukee.

Roster News

I don't know if he'll play, but Sean Lorenz should be with the team by the weekend according to Russo. The Aeros defensive pairings are pretty okay, so we'll see how much ice time he actually gets while games still matter for Houston.

Playoff Chase

Aeros are alone in 4th in the conference, which, if they can hold on to it, means they get a bit of home ice advantage. However, the first round on the AHL playoffs is best of 5 and if the teams are more than 500 miles apart, it's a 2-3, away-home scheme, which is a DOG, as you can imagine. I'm not sure how much home ice benefits you in that case.

Regardless, the wins this weekend were critical, but also a bit lucky thanks to stellar goaltending. The Aeros are going to have to get more productive in the offensive end if they want to "keep the train rolling" as Fallon often says.

Catch you next week.