With his new workout regiment, Rick will be the size of Richard Simmons before we know it

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Aeros equipment manager and resident comedian Rick Bronwell continues his Aeros.com blog. Rick loves hearing from his fans...rather, Aeros fans...so e-mail him now

Howdy ho everyone, welcome back to Blog Central. You didn’t think I’d go on the road without talking to you, did you?

Last weekend, we lost another two heartbreakers. We play way better than the results we are getting. I hope it turns around soon.

This is a fun week. We’re looking at some really, really good times going through Omaha, Peoria and Chicago. Let me give you the rundown.

We fly Thursday to Omaha and play then play Friday. Easy enough. We’ll hang our gear in Omaha and we’ll stay overnight. We have a 6 a.m. flight to Chicago on Saturday morning, and then the players hop on a bus and drive the three hours down to Peoria. They’ll go to the hotel, eat, go to bed and play the game Saturday night.

The gear will go a separate way probably, but we’re still not sure how. We may drive it from Omaha to Peoria after the game, and if not, we’re having another problem with small planes Saturday morning. There are two scenarios and by the time I’m done writing this hopefully I’ll have it done. That’s part of being the equipment manager thing, is to have these things planned out so you don’t have any surprises on the road. At least it’s our divisional opponents, so we’re not going out East or anything like later this month in Toronto, Syracuse and Rochester. We’ll talk about that later. And it’s a long talk.

We’ll play Saturday and Sunday in Peoria .We’ll put the gear on the bus and go from Peoria to Chicago. We’ll get in there about 10:30 or 11. Jerry and I will unload the gear at Allstate Arena, and we’re lucky because we get to stay there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ll have a couple Chinese buffets, maybe a Steak ‘N Shake.

We’ll come back to Houston on Thursday, practice in Sugar Land on Friday and play at home Saturday against Peoria before going right back out again. The first 3,000 fans will receive an Aeros bandana to coincide with the rodeo. You can still get group tickets by calling 713.974.PUCK!

After that game, we’ll go to Toronto, Rochester, Syracuse and then up to Manitoba. One year we were up there Super Bowl weekend and it was minus-60. Without the wind chill.

It’s been a real quiet week. The Booster Club had a Feed the Team Party on Saturday. Thank you to Helen and Melanie and everyone who came out to help out. The whole team appreciates what you do for us, and the fact you support us through thick and thin is unbelievable. It’s like we’re married in a way. Thank you very much for keeping me fat.

This Lifetime Fitness thing…I’ve already dumped 15 pounds in two weeks. It’s been great. I feel better. I’m excited about going to the gym again. Not to mention, the wife loves looking at the men, and I love looking at all the women!

We did a bunch of steel changes on skates this week. Monday was an day off, and it was nice to spend the day with the family. I came in at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday to get the steel changes done. It takes 30 minutes per pair and then you have to cross grind and sharpen them. A few guys like Hamilton, Tetarenko and Stokes all had low steel. Since we had a couple days of practice before playing a game again, I like to change it so they can practice on it and we can adjust it. So there are no excuses for those guys.

I got some skates ordered too for the stretch run. Usually you have to have couple weeks’ lead time, at least. Some guys wear stock skates, those are just skates they have sitting around. Bauer stores full and half sizes, a couple of guys in the AHL have 13’s. John Scott’s at 12 ¼. That’s a really big skate.

You have to check out the Power Play Post Show. I did an interview this week about Hold the Mayo, and the job I do here. Bob is awesome, he treated me well. He didn’t make me feel like an idiot. Wait, he did. Thanks a lot Bob, if you’re reading this, and I know you are because who doesn’t. Stanzel’s on that show sometimes. But I think my good looks alone have replaced him as the Aeros beat reporter.

The Power Play Post Show is a friend of Hold the Mayo’s on MySpace. Become a friend, it’s fast and easy and the site is growing really fast right now. We’re like Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, Hold the Mayo. Yes, I did just say that in the same breath.

We’re working to collaborate on a song about pet peeves. We have a big long list of things. It may be an epic 15 or 16 minute song, the whole album. If there are any more ideas give them to me. Like Bob from the last blog saying “I heard you the first time, I have another 22 players to worry about.” That may have to be a song too.

The wife went and got a massage yesterday. I babysat the kids. She got the massage from Lynn Sanders. I’m going to pimp her out because she’s awesome. Magic Fingers Massage on Richmond. She’s great at it. The wife is very scared of masseuses, but she loved it. I know she’ll go back for sure.

I know the office has been in contact with the Buc-ee’s people. His name is Beaver. I never knew that. How cool a name is that? I always thought that was just the TV show, Leave it to Beaver. I’m going to use that. Ashleigh, you’re now named Beaver. Sorry. And Heather just slapped me in the back of the head. I’ll okay it with her later.

Speaking of Buc-ee’s, those of you out of state don’t understand. Stanzel just texted me and said there are four people sitting behind the Raptors bench at tonight’s Rockets game all wearing red Buc-ee’s t-shirts. T-minus 45 days until we see Buc-ee’s again.

The songs are going well. We have this March 13 concert at The Maple Leaf Pub. Come check it out. We’ll go on about 7:30. We’ll do some crowd participation. We’ll play some songs, do some covers and have a really good time with it. It’s over 21, so no “Radio Edits” necessary! Then the Wild play the hated Canucks at 9. And I’m just talking about Benny’s hatred for the Canucks, he’s an Alberta boy.

The CD sales are flying through the roof. The support has been great. Everyone who has bought the album or is thinking about it, or those who have said congrats, thank you, because without you, this wouldn’t be nearly as fun as it has been. I’m glad it’s been successful raising money for a good cause.

Who’d have thought Benny and I would have done two TV interviews in the last week? And we didn't even break the camera. 

Anyone seen Monk E-mail? It’s a great way to send notes to your friends. You can do it with text or with your own voice. It’s one of the funniest little greeting cards. If you want to save money, just have a monkey say what you want to say. Hold the Mayo actually has a Monk E-mail for all of its fans this week. Click here to access. Just don't say the Monkey sounds better than Benny and me.

Mailbag Time

Q: Hi Rick. My name is Dylan and I’m 17 years old from Hamilton, Ontario. I like your blogs a lot. I’m also in the equipment world. Not hockey, but professional football. I’m not sure if you've heard of the Hamilton Tigercats – they.play in the Canadian Football League. I do the same thing. I’m going into my second year volunteering with the Ticats. I pack up equipment when the team goes on the road. I also do laundry. We’ve got a nice stadium here in Hamilton. It fits over 25,000 fans. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll come and help you. Keep up the great work on the blogs.

A: Alright Dylan, all the way from one of my favorite AHL stops, Hamilton! I love the CFL! Donny’s been a little shaky lately (think he’s jealous of Hold the Mayo), so I’ll keep your e-mail on file if I need some help with the laundry! Thanks for reading and rock on!

Q: Rick:

Yes, you need to get me the CD so I can pass it on to Don at Buc-ee’s! I will make sure it is blasting next time you are there. (Tell Ben to lose the baseball cap…you can’t see him on the video!)

It was lonely at the ice rink today…I like it when you guys are there – at least I am not in the dark. I need to remember to bring a flashlight so I can see to get up my spiral staircase. I guess I will be in the dark again tomorrow??? And with a long road trip coming up, I am in danger of turning into a vampire! The least Ricky Rose could do is get me a CD player so I can listen to your tunes in my dungeon! Hey, we have that new juke box at PLR – we need to put you on our play list!

I still need you and Donny to autograph my jersey!!!! (increases the value now that you are living large as a rock star). Maybe before you go on the road next week?

Talk to you soon.

Julie

A: Great e-mail.

I will get you a CD, and maybe he’ll lose the baseball cap. I think it’s part of Benny’s farm roots, to wear boots and a John Deere cap. You have to do it if you’re Canadian, I think. I haven’t seen you around here too much, I can’t wait. Bring the jersey on down.

Q: Man you are the best Rick. KEEP ROCKIN - Elena

A: You are my hero, Elena. I love you. You rock. Keep on rockin’. That’s a bold faced statement. Dinner tomorrow night, 8 p.m.

Q: WOW……I feel really special too. My name made the blog. Just for that I guess I will have to buy 2 CD’s. One for my car and one for work. I’m sure people will try to fight me over it here at work. I will have to get a mirror so I can watch my back….in case they sneak up. So are you and Ben, by the way my cat is named Ben, planning on singing during an intermission soon? Let me know in advance so I can be sure to bring a lighter to hold up! -Aimee’

A: You’re in another blog! So now you have to buy four CD’s. One for car, work, bathroom and one for when you wake up in the morning on your CD alarm clock. I don’t think we’re ever going to play during intermission. Hockey comes first, and he has to make sure he’s prepared every game. That would be too much of a distraction. I’m still trying to get him to maybe sing the national anthem, but don’t think that’s going to happen either. I’d play the guitar on the bench and he’d sing. As far as the lighter, I’m not sure they’ll let you in with it. But just tell them I said it was ok. Then they’ll come down and kick me out.

I don’t feel as though this blog has lived up to its usual standards. But us rock stars, sometimes we just spread ourselves too thin. Media coverage this week has left me a little tired. We’ll be back with more stories from the road!