We hit the road bright and early yesterday morning heading out to Cleveland for the Aeros first and only trip to Ohio this season. Cleveland’s a pretty cool town from what I’ve gathered the few times I’ve been here. They are pretty crazy for their Cavaliers and there are some small bars / restaurants by Quicken Loans Arena and Progressive Field that have a cool atmosphere. Oh, and if you’ve never been to the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame, you’re missing out. It’s super educational and entertaining, in other words it’s a great way to kill 4 or 5 hours if you ever find yourself in Cleveland. Unfortunately, there’s no time to stop there on this trip, as we’re pretty much in here for a pair of games and then it’s back to Houston as the Aeros will play their first 3-in-3 this weekend.

En route to the hotel yesterday, the bus made a pit stop and dropped off all but about three or four players at the Hugo Boss outlet store near the airport in Cleveland. Something about cheap suits and golf shirts that had the boys all fired up…some of the veterans like Clayton Stoner and Jon DiSalvatore seemed to be leading the charge.

I had a chance to visit a local school in Houston earlier this week as part of a program called “Promise To Read” in the Katy ISD. I read two books to about 20, third graders and it was awesome. I had them eating out of the palm of my hand from the second I arrived after I mentioned I came bearing Aeros removable tattoos…nothing like bribing kids to get them to sit quietly while you read some fictional books! It was really a lot of fun interacting with the kids (one of them asked me if the Aeros have ever played a game in Japan) and I think they enjoyed my reading of “Miss Nelson Is Missing” and “Miss Nelson Is Back”, both of which are written by Henry Allard.

Now to the ice for a minute. The next week-plus for the Aeros will be huge as far as jockeying for positioning in the West Division goes, but it should also be a very intriguing handful of games. The Aeros have yet to play a division foe outside of their intra-state rivals but that changes starting Sunday when the Chicago Wolves visit Toyota Center. After the Wolves leave town, it’s the Peoria Rivermen and Milwaukee Admirals that come calling. It’s a difficult stretch overall with six games in 10 days starting tonight against the Monsters so we’ll know a lot more about the Aeros after they get through this patch of games.

And I’ll leave you with this… the most surprising thing of this 2009-2010 AHL season in my opinion, even more so than the Rochester Americans 12-1-1-0 early season record:

Heading into play on November 11, the Manitoba Moose have scored just 1.89 goals per game through their first 19 outings, the least potent offense in the AHL. A rash of injuries and call-ups is the sole reason for their offensive woes, but regardless, it’s still mind-boggling.

Catch ya on the flip side.

- Aero Joe