American Hockey League

Watch Out, AHL, the Aeros Are Back in the Playoffs

The Houston Aeros didn't make things easy this season. The team's been beset by injuries. They've lost important players to the parent Minnesota Wild time and time again. They tied the AHL record with 11 losses in the shootout. But despite it all, they stayed in the hunt for a playoff spot. Yesterd ... More >>

Houston Aeros Aim For Playoffs

When last we checked in on the Houston Aeros, they had just returned to Toyota Center after a month on the road (having gone 4-7). They went 1-1 on the first two games of a six-game homestand, and they had fallen into 10th place of the AHL's Western Conference. The team was beset by injuries. The te ... More >>

Aeros Soar into All-Star Break

The no doubt about it leader of the Houston Aeros is Jon DiSalvatore, the 30-year-old captain in his third season with the team. He's the go-to-go guy for information after the game. He's the unquestioned locker room leader. He's the team's leading scorer, and he's the one constant on a squad tha ... More >>

Aeros Searching for Clues and Consistency As Mid-Season Arrives

For a team coached by a man nicknamed "Torch," the Houston Aeros (20-8-2-7, 49 points) have been a pretty lifeless entity the past month. And as the team moves into the second half of the season this weekend, lifelessness appears to be the least of their problems. The Aeros opened the season fine, ... More >>

The Year in Aeros Hockey: To the Top and Back

To wrap up my year in review of the teams I cover, here's a look back at the 25 most significant moments with the Houston Aeros for the year 2011. 1. The Aeros added veterans Jed Ortmeyer and Patrick O'Sullivan to the team just as the New Year hit. From that point on, a team which had been strugg ... More >>

Aeros Plan to Take Care of Unfinished Business

Four months ago the Houston Aeros stood on the Toyota Center ice stunned. Stunned that they'd lost to the Binghamton Senators. Stunned that the AHL Calder Cup, which has been in their grasp, was gone. Stunned that the Senators were celebrating on their ice. Stunned that their magnificent playoff ... More >>

And In The End, The Aeros Lose To The Best Team In The AHL

John RoyalPatrick O'Sullivan feels the weight of the world​In the end, it wasn't about the officiating. Or about whether Binghamton had tested the hockey gods by releasing the victory parade route plans hours before game six had even started. In the end, it probably wasn't even about the Aer ... More >>

Senators And Bad Officiating Have Aeros On The Edge Of Defeat

John RoyalJean-Michel Daoust about to tie Saturday's game at 1-1​The Houston Aeros play in hockey's top minor league. The players take the game as seriously as those who play in the NHL. And the stakes can be just as important, what with promotions and careers riding on each shift a guy take ... More >>

Aeros Poised To Make History -- The Wrong Kind Of History

John RoyalA despondent Matt Hackett lays on the ice after Hamilton gets the winning goal in the second overtime​Only twice in AHL history had a team had to go to a game seven in a playoff series after grabbing a 3-0 series lead. But things change. And when a team from Houston is involved in ... More >>

Aeros Hockey and the Sounds of Silence

John RoyalWhat if they played a hockey game and nobody came?​What if they played a hockey game and there were no fans? What if the players came out with no energy, got off to a slow start and never got started? What if what was just last week the hottest hockey team in the AHL was suddenly b ... More >>

Max Noreau: Hey Now, You're an All Star

John RoyalMax Noreau leads the team onto the ice Saturday night​Let's hear it for the Houston Aeros. The team appeared doomed by a difficult December schedule that found them playing nearly every other day, with most of the games on the road, while traveling back and forth between the U.S. an ... More >>

Houston Aeros Prove That Stars Don't Always Shine Over Texas

The Aeros know how Steve Martin felt​It's probably safe to say that the AHL hates the Houston Aeros. Or rather, the schedule-makers hate the Aeros. Along with playing a frightening number of three-games-in-three-nights, the Aeros have also had to deal with the month of December, in which the ... More >>

The Houston Aeros vs. Texas Stars

Aeros Would Like To Start Making Plans, But The AHL Doesn't Have A Schedule Yet

LeBron, causing trouble again​The Houston Aeros know who they'll be playing this season. They know the date of their home opener, and they know the dates of five other home games. What they don't actually have yet, as the start of the AHL regular season draws close, is an actual schedule, and with ... More >>

Face It, Fans: MLS Is A Minor League

What's that "M" stand for again?​I don't read Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle often. I think of him as a kind of minor league Richard Justice. But I couldn't resist reading him the other day when he did one of my favorite things, piss off soccer fans. Last week, apparently, he made the mis ... More >>

Aeros End Up At .500, With Plenty Of Changes On the Way

Photo by Jason Villanueva/Houston Aeros​The season's all over for the Houston Aeros, and a season that started with a defeat in Winnipeg ended with a loss in San Antonio. In between, the wins and losses evened out and the Aeros finished the season with a 34-34-7-5 record (80 points), good enough ... More >>

The Close Losses Keep Piling Up For The Aeros

Photo courtesy Jason Villanueva/Houston Aeros​There was once a pitcher for the Houston Astros known as Jose Lima. Lima had a moderately successful career for the Astros while the team was in the Astrodome, a park ideally suited for his style of pitching, a style which often involved deep flyball ... More >>

Aeros' Power Play Rises From The Dead, As Do Their Playoff Hopes

​The Houston Aeros come into tonight's game against the Chicago Wolves with 34 games remaining in the season. The Aeros, with a record of 22-17-6-1 (51 points), still sit on the edge of the playoff race, and if they're going to stand any realistic chance of making the postseason, then winning to ... More >>

Aeros' Max Noreau: From Nowhere To All-Star

​One of the fun things about covering (and watching) sports is the joy that comes from watching the underdog triumph over all odds and get to the top. It can be a team -- like the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team -- or a player. Just someone or something that overcomes overwhelming obstacles that w ... More >>

The Aeros' Roster Isn't Written In Stone

​Because the Houston Aeros prefer having easy access to the Toyota Center ice, they use the locker room that, during Rocket games, is used by the Power Dancers cheer squad. So the locker room tends to be a bit cramped under normal circumstances. This past weekend, with about eight more players t ... More >>

It's Hockey Season? Apparently So, And Here's Your Preview

​As hard as it might be to believe, hockey season starts tonight. And for the Houston Aeros, this season starts in the same place that last season's ended. In Winnipeg, Manitoba.The 2009-10 Aeros are going to be a rather different looking team than what you saw on the ice last year. Krys Kolan ... More >>

Aeros' New Boss Promises A More Aggressive Offense

Hard as it may be to believe, especially with the temps outside and with football just now starting, but within a matter of weeks, players will be reporting to camp for the Houston Aeros. The Aeros have undergone some rather massive changes this off season -- as has the team's parent club the Minnes ... More >>

Will the Aeros Be Recognizable As the Same Team Next Season?

When the Houston Aeros season gets underway come October, you truly are going to need a scorecard to tell apart the players. Because while it may be a way of life in the minor leagues to have roster changes during the off season, the Aeros, who made it into the AHL's Calder Cup Semi-Finals last sea ... More >>

Never Too Hot For A Hockey Update

Just because it's the off-season in hockey doesn't mean that things aren't happening with the Houston Aeros. Since the end of the season, head coach Kevin Constantine and his coaching staff have been retained by the new management regime of the parent Minnesota Wild. But Aeros general manager Tom Ly ... More >>

No Bitching This Time: Aeros Earn A Good-Guys Award

Photo courtesy AHLThe Aeros' Brandon Rogers, good guyIt seems like I usually use this forum to bitch and moan about sports.  So today I thought I would do something a little different. The Houston Aeros are being honored by the City and by the Anti-Defamation League this afternoon at City Hall, ... More >>

Kurtis Foster: One of the Team

We press guys walked into the Houston Aeros locker room on Saturday night and saw a happy bunch of guys. Sure, they had just defeated the Iowa Chops. And sure, the team had just won its sixth straight game. The win was a thriller, a 2-1 Aeros win in the shootout that featured some of the team's m ... More >>

Kurtis Foster: One of the Team

We press guys walked into the Houston Aeros locker room on Saturday night and saw a happy bunch of guys. Sure, they had just defeated the Iowa Chops. And sure, the team had just won its sixth straight game. The win was a thriller, a 2-1 Aeros win in the shootout that featured some of the team's m ... More >>

Houston Aeros Keep Fighting

Photo by Fred Trask The Houston Aeros are not the most skilled or talented of hockey teams. They win hockey games by playing smart, executing the fundamentals, and by not being stupid. Even then, they still struggle to pull off the win more often than not. "It started off in the first period. We ... More >>

Aeros: Consistently Inconsistent at the Halfway Point

Photo by Fred Trask Tonight the Houston Aeros will take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Bridgeport, CT. It will be the fifth game of an eight game road trip and their sixth game in their sixth state in nine days. It will also be their 40th game of the season, meaning they will have reached the ... More >>

Aeros: Consistently Inconsistent at the Halfway Point

Photo by Fred Trask Tonight the Houston Aeros will take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Bridgeport, CT. It will be the fifth game of an eight game road trip and their sixth game in their sixth state in nine days. It will also be their 40th game of the season, meaning they will have reached the ... More >>

Aeros Staying in Houston for at Least Five More Seasons

Aeros-IceHogs: Season Over

Houston Aeros Finish Season in Third Place and Get Ready for Rockford IceHogs

Aeros Win Two of Three and Make the Playoffs

Aeros Poised to Make the Playoffs

Aeros Come from Behind and Best the Providence Bruins

Houston Aeros Beat Lake Erie Monsters, Tied for Last Spot in AHL Playoffs

Aeros Win Three in Row

Aeros Defeat Rockford and Quad City

Another Lost Weekend: San Antonio Rampage Take Two from Houston Aeros

Aeros Face Off Against Marlies and Bulldogs This Weekend

Barry Brust Blocks Beaucoup Shots, Aeros Beat the Moose Again

Coach Kevin Constantine Explains the Difference Between a Good Fight and a Bad Fight in Hockey

Cal Clutterbuck Levels an Admiral, Gets the Aeros Going

Coach Kevin Constantine Talks NHL, AHL, Injuries and Subtleties

Aeros Lose to the IceHogs

Hockey 101: The Houston Aeros Primer

Best Aero

Harvard and the Boogeyman

Will it be the Aeros' brawler or brainiac who gets to the NHL?

Duck and Cover

The Aeros look to skewer Cincinnati