APRIL 13, 2011
HOUSTON AEROS (2nd seed, West Division)
vs. PEORIA RIVERMEN (3rd seed, West Division)
TOYOTA CENTER (7:05 p.m. CST)

OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros open a best-of-seven series against the Peoria Rivermen in the opening round of the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs. Game 2 is set for Friday at Toyota Center at 7:35 p.m. The series is a 2-3-2 format.

WHERE THEY STAND
The Aeros finished the regular season with a 46-28-1-5 (98 pts.) record for the No. 2 spot in the West Division. The Aeros had the most wins in both the division and the Western Conference. Only two other teams finished with more wins (WBS – 58, Portland -47). Peoria finished at 42-30-3-5 (92 pts.) and earned the No. 3 seed in the West. Peoria raced out to an impressive 25-12-2-1 record in the first half of the season and went 17-18-1-4 in the final 40 games of the season.

NHL AFFILIATES
Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild)
Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues)

AEROS UPCOMING GAMES
West Division Semifinals
Game 1 - Wed Apr 13 7:05 PM Peoria at Houston
Game 2 - Fri Apr 15 7:35 PM Peoria at Houston
Game 3 - Mon Apr 18 7:05 PM Houston at Peoria
Game 4 - Tue Apr 19 7:05 PM Houston at Peoria
Game 5 - Wed Apr 20 7:05 PM * Houston at Peoria
Game 6 - Fri Apr 22 7:35 PM * Peoria at Houston
Game 7 - Sun Apr 24 4:05 PM * Peoria at Houston

REGULAR SEASON SERIES NOTES
--- The Aeros went 2-3-1-0 (0-2-1-0 at home, 2-1-0-0 on the road).
--- HOU went 4/34 on the PP while PEO went 3/22.
--- HOU went scoreless on the PP in the first three games of the series.
--- PEO was held without a PPG in the first four games of the series.
--- PEO had the first goal in four of the six games including the first three overall.

PLAYOFF NUGGETS
--- This is the third time the Aeros have played the Rivermen in the playoffs. Houston swept the Rivermen in 2006 and won in seven games in 2009). Both were first round matchups.
--- The Aeros are 8-3 against Peoria in the playoffs.
--- Houston is 16-10 in Game 1 of a playoff series. They are 11-3 at home.
--- Three Aeros playoff Game 1’s have gone to overtime. The last time was on April 21, 2006 at home versus Peoria in a 5-4 win.

LAST PLAYOFF MEETING (April 27, 2009 at PEO)
Corey Locke tallied a goal and an assist and Krys Kolanos, Marco Rosa and Mitch Love tallied the other three goals as the Aeros ousted the Peoria Rivermen in Game 7 of the West Division Semifinals with a 5-2 victory. Aeros goaltender Anton Khudobin stopped 19 of 21 shots and helped secure Houston's first playoff series victory since 2006, also over the Peoria Rivermen.

AEROS LAST GAME QUICK RECAP
Warren Peters scored twice and added an assist while Robbie Earl chipped in with three assists as the Houston Aeros closed out the regular season with a 6-3 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in front of a season-high 11,519 fans in American Hockey League action on Sunday at Toyota Center.

BROADCAST INFO
Follow the Aeros on News Talk 1070 KNTH and online at AEROS.COM with Joe O’Donnell providing the play-by-play call. Watch every game at www.ahllive.com.

AEROS GOALIES
Matt Hackett won a personal season-high four in a row from March 13-20…  Hackett improved to 12-4-2 at home with the March 27 win vs. OKC… Hackett had won five in a row at Toyota Center until taking the loss on March 31 vs. CHI… Josh Tordjman is 4-1-0 in six appearances this season.

SEASON NOTES
Jon DiSalvatore led Houston in scoring with 61 points (28-33=61) in 80 games. Hackett posted team-bests in wins (23), goals against average (2.37) and save percentage (.916).

AEROS SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY --- Finished the season with goals in six-straight to set a season-high streak (18/45)…Also had goals in six-straight from Feb. 22-Mar. 4…  Has multiple PPG in 16 games and was 12-2-0-2 in those games.

PENALTY KILL --- Opponents were 16/46 on the PP in the final last eight games of the season… Allowed at least a goal in a season-high seven straight (Mar. 22 – Apr. 2)… Held opponents to one or no PPG in 15 straight games until TOR went 2-for-5 on Jan. 23.

AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
6 - scan-DELL-uh
8 – LOFF-kwist
10 – FOO-coh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – ORT-migh-uhr
26 – Max-uhm naw-roh
32 – FRED-haym
42 – KAS-ee-uhn
61 – KOO-muh
62 – DAH-ooh
Yeo – YOH
Sydor – sugh-DOHR
Tretiak – TREE-tee-ack