Hrkac provides veteran leadership

HOUSTON, Texas – He hasn’t played professionally in four years and he’s 11 years older than the next oldest teammate, but the Houston Aeros think former NHL center Tony Hrkac’s veteran leadership and championship

pedigree could help push them deep into the playoffs.
 
“We think we have the team to make some hay down there this year, and we wanted a Rem Murray-like presence to lead the young guys,” Aeros general manager Tom Lynn told the Minneapolis Star Tribune after signing Hrkac. And indeed, the team seems to be peaking at the right time, having won 11 of their last 15 games and coming out of last weekend in sole possession of second place in the West Division.
 
But when asked what he’s expecting from Hrkac, Houston coach Kevin Constantine said he’s unsure. “I hope we get a bit of the player he was for 20 years when he played the game because he was a pretty talented guy. We’re hoping that after 700 NHL games and Calder Cups and Stanley Cups, there’s still a little of that magic left.”
 
Hrkac has most recently been coaching hockey at Concordia University in Wisconsin, but with the college season over, he joined the Aeros on Sunday for a week of practice before getting into a game.
 
“The unknown is having not played for the last 4 years, what level of hockey could he actually bring right now,” said Constantine. “It was worth taking a chance, because we didn’t have to give anything to get him, we didn’t make a trade, we didn’t lose an asset, we just added some depth.”
 
Constantine expects Hrkac to provide depth at the skilled positions and on the power play in case the parent club Minnesota Wild choose to recall one of the Aeros top scorers, like forwards Krys Kolanos, Benoit Pouliot, or Corey Locke.
 
But his signing also eliminated a spot on the 22-man clear day roster that would have otherwise gone to a player like center Jason Ryznar, who’s been pivot on the oft-praised “Tough Guy Line” much of the season. “At the end of the day, you run out of numbers,” Constantine said, referring to the whittling of his roster.
 
With the decisions made, the Aeros begin the final stretch of the season with 13 games remaining, all but one of which are against divisionopponents. This schedule may bode well for the team as they are 22-11-1-3 against the division thus far.
 
“If you ask me right now, would we rather be playing the other division or other teams and just watching what’s happening in our own division, I’d say I’d rather play our own teams,” said Constantine. “There’s an equality to the preparation in that now the teams have played each other, and it’s almost like mini-playoff series… so I think it’s good.”
 
Other noteworthy items:
 

• The Aeros are as healthy a group as they have been all season. D Tomas Mojzis had been nursing an upper body injury since early February but returned Saturday against San Antonio.
• Though 5-on-5 scoring has been hard to come by at times for the Aeros, special teams have been strong with the power play unit currently ranked second in the league and the penalty kill ranked fourth.
• Locke recorded his 45^th assist over the weekend, eclipsing his career high for helpers and putting him within 6 points of a career-high points tally.
• C Marco Rosa is also having a career season, already eight points (14 goals, 21 assists) ahead of his numbers last season.
• Aeros goaltenders have been playing musical goaltenders since the All Star break. Barry Brust, who seemed to have an edge on the No. 1 spot, started floundering in late December and into January, and has only played in 6 games in 2009. In his last appearance, against Rockford on Feb. 27 in relief of a struggling Nolan Schaefer, Brust went down with a foot injury that has kept him hobbled for several weeks.
• The Aeros recalled G Anton Khudobin from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, but after a tough weekend for Schaefer, who allowed 5 goals on Friday and got the hook on Sunday after two goals in the first, Khudobin has stepped in and been solid—even denying a career-high 35 goals against division leader Milwaukee on Mar. 1.
• LW Peter Olvecky remains in Minnesota with the Wild, earning 4 points in 23 games.
• D John Scott also got the call of the Wild after D Brent Burns was diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms. Scott has played 5 games in his most second call-up of the season and notched his first NHL point and fight during that period.

 
Contact the author at heather.galindo@prohockeynews.com.