Sitting high above the ice at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, I’ve got a few extra tidbits for ya in addition to the behind-the-scenes multimedia look that we’re bringing you on aeros.com.

Marc Crawford, head coach of the Dallas Stars and long-time NHL bench boss, was chatting with the media this morning after his team got off the ice and he was asked about the Wild’s trade of former Aero Benoit Pouliot to the Canadiens for Guillaume Latendresse.  In addition to signing the praises of Latendresse (who had his first NHL hat trick the other night in Phoenix), Crawford went out of his way to note that Pouliot has been a pleasant surprise for the Canadiens (six goals and one assist in just 12 games).  Crawford was also asked if he noticed any changes in the Wild’s style of play under the new management in Minnesota with GM Chuck Fletcher and head coach Todd Richards.  Right off the hop he gave credit to former Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire and the fact that as an organization you don’t ever try lose the strengths that somebody like Lemaire brought to the Wild.

As for tonight’s game, Richards said he wants his team to come out tonight and try to essentially start this game like they’re on home ice – meaning he wants to “push” the Stars instead of letting them set the tempo.  As he put it, he wants his team to be “invested physically and mentally.”  For more with Todd Richards, check out our conversation here.

Tonight’s Wild / Stars game is being nationally televised on Versus (7:00 pm CST) with Joe Beninati and Eddie Olczyk calling the action.

Plus, don’t forget that the AHL All-Star Skills Competition is tonight and you can see it live at 7:00 pm CST on FS Houston.  Aeros’ defenseman Max Noreau and goaltender Anton Khudobin are in Portland, ME representing the squad and the two will square off in the rapid fire competition.  To stir the pot, I texted Max to see how he was planning to beat Anton and here was his response:

“High and hard.  I find out you told him and you’re done : p” 

So naturally I tried to rile up Anton a bit and told him I needed him to talk some smack and that I wanted to know if Max would score on him.  His response:

“I don’t know we will see!”

Well, at least I did my part to try and create some mild drama…

Be sure to check out all of the other segments in the multimedia section of aeros.com and the photo gallery we’ve posted, plus Asst. Communications Manager Palmer Hestley will be blogging the game on aeros.com.