The Houston Aeros (12-10-1-1) defeated the Manitoba Moose in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night. Houston is currently stands alone at seventh in the West Division with 26 points. The Aeros are only one point behind Iowa and Quad City tied for fifth and two points back from Milwaukee holding the fourth spot in the division. Houston continues their seven-game road trip in game three on Wednesday night in Hartford. The trip is their second longest road trip of the season regarding number of games, but longest in terms of days in between home games.

WED, at HFD, 6:00 p.m., FRI at SPR, 6:30 p.m., SAT at WOR, 6:05 p.m., SUN at PRO, 3:05 p.m.
Wednesday
The Hartford Wolf Pack leads the all-time series 5-6-1-2 and hasn’t allowed an Aeros victory since the 2004-05 season. Houston is currently riding a four-game winless streak (0-3-1-0) against the Wolf Pack. Last year both of the games were 4-3 and the January 27 game in Hartford was taken to overtime. The Wolf Pack will visit Houston March 7, 2008 for the second and final meeting if the season.

Friday
The Aeros will play the Springfield Falcons for the first time in team history Friday night. Houston’s Barry Brust leads the team’s goaltenders with a 2.86 goals-against average, a .899 save percentage and a 6-1-0 record in eight games played versus Springfield. Center Steve Kelly leads the Areos with 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) in 20 career-games against the Falcons. The Falcons are the Edmonton Oilers primary affiliate.

Saturday
Houston defeated the Worcester Sharks 5-1 in the first meeting of the season on November 10. The Aeros capitalized on three of eight power-play chances and left wing Peter Olvecky tallied two goals and one assist, his first three-point game of his career. Brust stopped 34 of 35 shots in the victory. Houston last both games last season, the first two meetings in team history.

Sunday
Houston will travel to Providence to play the Bruins in the first match-up since the 2001-02 season when the Aeros went 2-1-0-1 overall. The teams will meet up again in Houston on March 4, 2008 for the second and final game between the clubs this season. Kelly has tallied 22 points (6 goals, 16 assists) in his career versus the Bruins, leading the team.

Practice Schedule
10-Dec-07, Monday, Practice on the road
11-Dec-07, Tuesday, Practice on the road
12-Dec-07, Wednesday, Game at Hartford, 6 p.m.
13-Dec-07 , Thursday, Practice on the road
14-Dec-07, Friday, Game at Springfield, 6:30 p.m.
15-Dec-07, Saturday, Game at Worcester, 6:05 p.m.
16-Dec-07, Sunday, Game at Providence, 3:05 p.m.

Aeros Player of the Week: G Nolan Schaefer

12/7 at MTB, Blocked 28 of 29 shots in 65 minutes of play plus 6 of 7 shootout attempts in the 2-1 shootout win
12/8 at MTB, Stopped 21 of 24 shots in 60 minutes on ice in 4-3 victory
G Nolan Schaefer earned two wins on back-to-back nights in Manitoba recording a .925 save percentage and a 1.92 goals-against average. Schaefer successfully killed off eight of nine shorthanded situations including 43 seconds of 5-on-3. He improved his record to 7-4-0 and has now stopped 15 of 17 shootout attempts in three games this season. Schaefer has won his last five starts in net.

TEAM NOTES
The Aeros are in the midst of their second longest road trip of the season (seven games) which started last Friday and Saturday nights in Manitoba. Houston will travel to Hartford, Springfield, Worcester, Providence and Iowa this week. The 21-day break between home games is the longest of the season. They do not play again at home until December 22nd against the Springfield Falcons.

• The Aeros are riding a four-game win streak, the longest such streak since winning five in a row from 11/4-11/17/06 last season.
• G Nolan Schaefer has won his last five starts stopping 119 of 127 shots for a .937 save pct. Schaefer has won two overtime games and a shootout in that time. He is 3-0 in shootouts this season stopping 15 of 17 attempts.
• The Aeros are 4-0-0-0 when C Steve Kelly has a multiple-point game.

Affiliation News
The Minnesota Wild went 1-2 last week defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night snapping the two-game losing-streak. Minnesota’s (16-11-2) 34 points places them tied for third in the Western Conference and only one point behind Vancouver for the division lead.

The Wild are in the middle of a five-game road trip and will travel to California for the next three games. Minnesota will visit San Jose on Tuesday, Anaheim on Friday and Los Angeles on Saturday.

The Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL went 2-0-0-1 in three games last week, all against the Gwinnett Gladiators. The Wildcatters (14-2-0-4) have a league-leading 32 points and hold a six-point lead in the South Division over Florida.

LAST WEEK
12/7 - HOU 2 at MTB 1 – SOW
12/8 - HOU 4 at MTB 3 – W

Friday, December 7:The Houston Aeros won their third straight game, this time 2-1 in a shootout over the Manitoba Moose in front of 7,274 fans in MTS Centre. Tonight’s game is the Aeros (11-10-1-1) third straight game decided after regulation time, the last two decided within the first minute of overtime. The shootout loss is Manitoba’s (14-7-2-1) first such loss of the season. Center Morten Madsen netted the shootout-winning marker in the seventh round after both teams netted each of their first attempts.

Houston’s right wing Danny Irmen netted the Aeros only regulation goal and the Moose’s RW Michael Grabner netted Manitoba’s only marker of the night. Aeros goaltender Nolan Schaefer and the Moose’s Drew MacIntyre each made 28 saves on 29 shots through 65 minutes of play. However Schaefer blocked 6 of 7 shootout attempts compared to MacIntyre’s 5 stops. Houston finished the game 0-for-5 on power-play attempts and the Moose didn’t capitalize on six opportunities.

Saturday, December 8: The Houston Aeros played a more offensive game Saturday night, defeating the Manitoba Moose 4-3 in front of 8,800 fans at MTS Centre. Houston (12-10-1-1) has won four straight games keeping the team tied for sixth in the West Division as Manitoba (14-8-2-1) remains static at second in the North Division.

Houston was led by center Steve Kelly (two goals) and left wing Benoit Pouliot (two assists) scoring two points each. The Moose’s left wing Jason Jaffray tallied two assists and center Brad Moran marked a goal and an assist to lead Manitoba. Aeros goaltender Nolan Schaefer stopped 21 of 24 shots on net in his second win in as many nights. Manitoba’s Cory Schneider blocked 25 of 29 shots in the loss. Each team scored one power-play goal as the Aeros had six opportunities and Manitoba had five chances.