Calder Cup in Houston this weekend

Cup to make appearances at games, skating rinks, local mall

HOUSTON, Texas –The American Hockey League’s Calder Cup will make several stops in Houston this weekend on the 2005 Calder Cup Tour.

The 2005 Calder Cup Tour offers fans the opportunity to view up close one of the oldest trophies in North American sports. The Calder Cup, which has been competed for since the 1936-37 season, features the names of players, coaches and support staff from the last 20 American Hockey League champions (the other 48 champions’ plaques are on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto), and is accompanied by a special display highlighting the intensity and excitement of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The Cup’s first appearance is at the Toyota Center from 3-5 p.m. on Saturday, for the Interscholastic Hockey League’s Skills Competition and Seniors Games. The high school action runs from 1-5 p.m. and is open to the public free of charge. The Calder Cup will also attend the Aeros’ game versus San Antonio on Saturday at 7:35 p.m.

Sunday, the Calder Cup will travel to local skating rinks the entire day. The schedule includes the Sugar Land Ice & Sports Centre (formerly Sugar Land Aerodrome) from 10-11 a.m., Space City Ice Station from 12-1 p.m., Memorial City Mall from 2-3 p.m. and the Willowbrook Aerodrome from 5-6 p.m.

Monday, Hightower High School in Missouri City will host the Calder Cup in the morning, and it will then travel to downtown Houston to The Park Shops at 1221 Lamar St. for a lunchtime appearance in the food court from 12:30-2 p.m. The Aeros will again have the Cup at their game Monday, at 7:05 p.m. against Cincinnati.

Making its ninth annual excursion around the American Hockey League, the coveted Calder Cup will cover more than 12,000 miles as it travels to 19 cities, making appearances at games, schools, area sponsors, local TV and radio stations and various other community events. The 47-day tour leads up to the start of the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs in mid-April.

The AHL’s championship trophy is named after Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Calder, who served as the first president of the National Hockey League from 1917-43. During the 1920s, Calder was instrumental in guiding professional hockey into the mainstream of the United States’ major cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Detroit, while also helping in the formation of the American Hockey League.

Twenty-six members of the Hockey Hall of Fame are among the more than 1,200 different players, coaches and managers who have won the Calder Cup, including Terry Sawchuk, Emile Francis, Gerry Cheevers, Larry Robinson, Frank Mathers, Bill Barber, Tim Horton and Johnny Bower.

Aeros coaches, staff players who were with the team when it won the 2003 Calder Cup are head coach Todd McLellan, assistant coach Matt Shaw, equipment manager Rick Bronwell, athletic trainer Jerry Meins, Dan Cavanaugh, Marc Cavosie, Mark Cullen, Zbynek Michalek, Erik Reitz, Stephane Veilleux, Rickard Wallin and Kyle Wanvig.


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