From: Ryan Stanzel
Director of Communications
Monday, November 29, 2004
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)

Printable Weekly Report

Aeros Weekly Report

Coming attractions:

THU, vs. ROC, 7:05 p.m.
Aeros Happy Hour
Get a corner ticket plus free parking for just $15, and enjoy pre- and post-game drink specials ($1 well drinks and drafts) at The Bus II across from Toyota Center. Order online at www.aeros.com/themenights. Username is Happy, password is Hour. Or, get a center ice seat, free parking, $10 in Toyota Bucks and pre- and post-game drink specials at The Bus II for $30. Username is Happy, password is Aeros. The Aeros, who beat the Americans 2-1 November 19 in Rochester, have never lost to the Amerks in seven attempts (4-0-3-0). Houston is 2-0-1-0 at home versus Rochester. The teams skated to a 4-4 tie January 4 in their only Toyota Center meeting. Houston’s seven-game unbeaten streak versus Rochester is tied for its longest such streak against any active AHL opponent. The Aeros have also had seven-game unbeaten runs against Chicago, Cincinnati and San Antonio. Houston’s longest ever unbeaten streak against an opponent is 10 games, set against both Kansas City and Las Vegas in the IHL days. Rochester has won two straight, is 7-2-1-0 in its last 10 and currently sits in fourth place in the contentious North Division with 24 points. C-Beyond Communications is the “Tickets for Kids” donor for Thursday.

FRI, vs. SAN, 7:35 p.m.
Aeros jersey ornaments
The first 3,000 people will receive Aeros jersey ornaments. The Aeros and Rampage meet for the first time since Opening Night on October 15 in San Antonio, when the Rampage took a 2-1 decision. Houston is 15-5-3-2 all-time versus San Antonio and has won 10 of 12 home meetings. The Rampage feature a trio of Florida Panthers high draft picks - Jay Bouwmeester, Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss. San Antonio has only three wins in its last 10 games (3-4-1-2), partly because of a 9.8 power play percentage - 27th in the 28-team AHL. San Antonio ranks 22nd in the AHL in offense (2.21 goals per game) and 27th in shots (25.89), nearly eight shots per game fewer than Houston.

This week on Aeros.com – Check www.aeros.com Wednesday afternoon for a feature story on life on the road as a Houston Aero. Next week’s aeros.com Q&A session will feature Aeros trainer Jerry Meins, whose stops have included the Houston Oilers and the University of Southern California. Send questions to qanda@aeros.com. Also, if you’d like to send a get well message to injured Aeros goalie Josh Harding, please send it here.

Aeros out and about – Today, defenseman Ray Giroux will serve food to the homeless at Open Door Mission from 3-5 p.m. Tomorrow, Todd Reirden, Patrick Traverse and John Erskine will serve food from 4:30-5:30. Also tomorrow, Brent Burns, Erik Reitz, Christoph Brandner and Giroux will attend MD Anderson’s Children’s Cancer Ward from 3:30-5. 

Aeros split four games last week
HOU 3, CLE 2 (SO); CHI 3, HOU 0; UTA 5, HOU 3, HOU 5, UTA 2

The Aeros split four games last week and play twice this week before a 12-day break with no games.
Sunday: Rickard Wallin tied a career high with four points (1-3=4) and Mikko Koivu collected two goals and an assist, as the Houston Aeros defeated the Utah Grizzlies 5-2 at Toyota Center. Wallin, Kyle Wanvig and Zbynek Michalek each scored on the red hot Houston power play and Josh Harding made 22 saves before being taken to the hospital after an elbow to the head by Jeff Taffe with less than five seconds left.
Harding was diagnosed with a concussion and underwent further evaluations at the hospital. The game saw an Aeros home record 212 total penalty minutes – 94 in the final 4.3 ticks.
Friday: Jakub Koreis, Randall Gelech and Fredrik Sjostrom scored 5:10 apart early in the third period, as the Utah Grizzlies defeated the Houston Aeros 5-3 at Toyota Center for their first regulation win of the season. Kiel McLeod and Martin Sonnenberg also scored as Utah (3-11-0-1) established a season-high for goals and rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits to score four times in the final 20 minutes.
Mark Cullen notched a goal and two assists to move to the 100-point career plateau for Houston.
Wednesday: Kari Lehtonen made 39 saves for his second straight shutout and former Aero Cory Larose’s goal 82 seconds into the game was all he needed, as the Chicago Wolves beat Houston 3-0 at Allstate Arena. Stephen Baby and Karl Stewart also scored for Chicago.
Harding turned aside 30 shots for Houston, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Tuesday: Matt Foy forced overtime with 4:54 left in regulation and Marc Cavosie scored the deciding shootout goal, lifting the Houston Aeros to 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Barons at National City Rink in Gund Arena. Christoph Brandner also scored, Erik Reitz had his second straight two-assist game and Mike Smith made a season-high 38 saves for the Aeros.

West Standings - The Aeros enter this week with 26 points, good for third place, one behind Grand Rapids and three behind Milwaukee. The Griffins have four games in hand on Houston, and Milwaukee has five.
West Division Standings, 11/29
Milwaukee 13-2-2-1=29
Grand Rapids 13-5-1-0=27
Houston 12-9-1-1=26
Chicago 8-6-2-1=21
San Antonio 7-8-2-1=18
Cincinnati 7-11-0-2=16
Utah 3-12-0-1=7

Veilleux at 99, Cullen reaches 100 - Stephane Veilleux assisted on Kyle Wanvig’s goal Sunday, putting him at 99 career points, one shy of becoming the 19th player in team history to hit the century mark. Mark Cullen, who reached the mark with two goals and an assist Friday, is now tied with Michael Maurice for 15th on the all-time list with 102 points.

Men behaving badly - The Aeros and Grizzlies set a Houston home record Sunday with 212 penalty minutes, surpassing a long-standing record of 137 set versus Atlanta on November 17, 1995. Houston’s 101 penalty minutes were also a home record, and Utah’s 111 PIM’s set an Aeros home opponent record. Aeros defenseman Erik Reitz, who came to Josh Harding’s aid when the goalie was run into, picked up a career-high 27 penalty minutes.

In good company through 23 - Houston (12-9-1-1) has won 12 of its first 23 games for the fifth time in team history. In two of the previous four occasions, the Aeros have claimed the playoff championship.

Aeros red hot on the PP - The Aeros went 3-for-6 on the power play Sunday, making them 5-for-13 (38.5 percent) with the man advantage in the two-game series with Utah. Overall in the last nine game, Houston is 13-for-46 (28.3 percent) on the power play. The Aeros are up to fifth in the AHL on the power play at 20.0 percent. Houston began the nine-game run 14th in the league with the man advantage at 14.9 percent.

Aeros piling up games lost to injury - The Aeros have lost 71 games to man injury, including 23 by Chris Heid, 12 by Mikko Koivu and five by the currently injured Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

Down on the farm - The CHL’s Austin Ice Bats are 7-8-1, good for second in the Southeast Division...F Dallas Anderson has three goals and two assists and 106 PIM’s in 10 games...Anderson ranks third in the CHL in PIM’s...The ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Pilots and Louisiana IceGators have identical 7-3-2 records for 16 points, tied for second in the South Division....For Pensacola, LW Jordan Krestanovich has 14 points (7-7=14)...RW Jason Beckett has four assists and is a team-best plus-six...LW Bill Kinkel has two goals and 47 PIM’s in five games and is currently on injured reserve...D Ryan Stokes scored his first pro goal last week and has 23 PIM’s...IceGators LW David Bararuk (3-5=8) is fourth on the team in scoring while D Maxime Fortunus (1-4=5) is tied for a team-best plus-three...RW Mark Rooneem has two assists and 16 PIM’s...G Kyle Kettles is 4-3-0 with a 2.98 gaa and a .906 save pct...UHL Quad City is 10-7-1, in fourth place in the West...G Robert Gherson is 4-3-1 with a 2.18 gaa, sixth among all UHL netminders...C Mike Kompon has a team-best 17 points (2-15=17)...Kompon is in the top 10 of the UHL in assists, and he’s first in assists and third in points among rookies.

Player of the week C Rickard Wallin -
Totaled five points (1-4=5) as Aeros went 2-2-0-0 last week, with all five points coming in the final two games...Notched an assist in Friday’s 5-3 loss to UTA...Tied career high with four points (1-3=4) in 5-2 rout of UTA on Sunday...Scored his second power play goal of the season...Other four-point game came November 22, 2002, at Cleveland (2-2=4)...Three assists also matched a career-high, now set three times, the last February 18, 2004, versus Grand Rapids...Ranks fourth on the Aeros in points with 13 (3-10=13) and is a team-best plus-three.

Wallin this week...
11/23 at CLE 0-0=0, -1
11/24 at CHI 0-0=0, -1
11/26 vs. UTA 0-1=1, -1
11/28 vs. UTA 1-3=4, +2
Totals - 4gp, 1-4=5, -1

Aeros’ Practice schedule:
Monday - Off
Tuesday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Wednesday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Thursday - 10 a.m. pre-game skate, vs. Rochester, 7:05 p.m.
Friday - 10 a.m. pre-game skate, vs. San Antonio, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Sunday - Off


---HOUSTON AEROS, BE A FAN---