Houston Hotdish: Wheels Off

I'm writing this the morning after the Aeros lost 6-0 to the Oklahoma City Barons on New Years Day. So, it's safe to say, I'm feeling a little glum about the boys in the bomber jersey. Please forgive my negativity.

Dave McIntyre was back from a month-long injury, lots of call-ups were back from Minnesota, and the boys were just putting up points one after the other. Four in a row, including two from McIntyre himself, until goalie Jakob Markstrom got the hook midway through the second.

Hackett made 38 saves in the win and then pissed the Rampage off by mocking Markstrom's now well-known

Alas, we are back to Earth after that 6-0 drubbing on Sunday.

I'm now hearing the same about Torchetti. And just to put this in proper perspective, I also remember looking in Yeo's face after a month of losses in December last year and thinking, "Oh shit, this guy doesn't have anything else up his sleeve."

And then a week later, the Aeros are on a rocketship headed for the Calder Cup Finals.

A great stat from my colleague, Andrew Ferraro, the Houston Chronicle beat writer for the Aeros (@N737AF, a fantastic follow for real Aeros insight):

Oh dear.

And the Aeros are a very good road team and get to play 7 of their 11 games this month someplace other than Houston. This weekend, Torchetti said he didn't know if maybe they needed to put the guys up in a hotel in downtown Houston so it feels like a road game, playing at home.

To me, this is the part of the season that's hard to write about regularly, but fun to watch. This is go time. This is when points, which always mattered, actually begin to FEEL like they matter. This is where momentum through the end of the season become sustainable.

But which direction will the momentum go? I'll let you know next week, after they've played Rockford at home on Friday and San Antonio on the road Sunday.