Fri., Jan. 27, 2012

The Houston Aeros (21-9-3-9, 54 pts.) play a two-game road trip starting with a matchup against the Oklahoma City Barons (27-11-2-3, 59 pts.) at the Cox Convention Center on Friday at 7 p.m.

AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen via Smartphone: Download the TuneIn Radio app; search Houston, then KNTH.

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

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OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (21-9-3-9, 54 pts.) play a two-game road trip starting with a matchup against the Oklahoma City Barons (27-11-2-3, 59 pts.) at the Cox Convention Center on Friday at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Aeros travel to San Antonio for a 7 p.m. game against the Rampage at AT&T Center.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
---The Aeros trail the Barons by five points for the West Division lead.
---The Aeros are winless in four games (0-1-1-2) and are coming off a 4-3 SOL to SAN on Jan. 22.
---The Barons have won four consecutive games.
---Houston is winless in five games against the Barons this season.
---Houston has the fewest regulation losses (9) in the AHL.

WATCH FOR THIS
Three of the five games between the Aeros and Barons have been decided by one goal.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Friday (Jan. 27) --- at OKC (7 p.m. CST)
Saturday (Jan. 28) --- at San Antonio (7 p.m. CST)

AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen on Smartphone including BlackBerry: Download the TuneIn Radio App; search Houston, then KNTH.

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC
The AHL All-Star Classic is set for Jan. 28 and 29 in Atlantic City. Jon DiSalvatore and Matt Hackett will represent Houston. Watch the game live; visit Aeros.com for a full listing of available channels.

AEROS/BARONS HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the sixth meeting this season… Houston is winless against the Barons (0-2-0-3)… HOU PP is 2/28 (7.1%)… OKC PP is 8/21 (38.1%)… The Aeros are 9-2-0-3 all-time vs. the Barons (4-2-0-2 at home, 5-1-0-1 on the road).

RECENT AEROS TRANSACTIONS
---Jan. 26: David Fischer signed PTO (from Florida ECHL)
---Jan. 25: C.J. Stretch released from PTO
---Jan. 25: Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer, and Chad Rau reassigned by MIN
---Jan. 21: Chris Clackson signed PTO (from Gwinnett ECHL)
---Jan. 20: C.J. Stretch signed PTO (from Ontario (ECHL)
---Jan. 20: Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer, Nate Prosser and Chad Rau recalled by MIN
---Jan. 20: David McIntyre and Casey Wellman reassigned by MIN

AEROS INJURIES
Cody Almond has missed the last five games… Jeff Penner has missed the last three games.

AEROS MILESTONES
---Matt Kassian (491 Aeros PIM). He already ranks second in Aeros AHL history behind Erik Reitz.
---Jon DiSalvatore’s 18th goal will be 69th as an Aero, placing him first in franchise history (AHL only, 4th AHL/IHL). His 41st game on Jan. 21 at TEX was his 200th as an Aero, placing him 10th all-time in Aeros/AHL history.

AEROS PLAYER NOTES
---Mike Radja scored his first two goals as an Aero on Jan. 21 at TEX. He added an assist on Jan. 22.
---Casey Wellman has four points (2-2=4 in his last two games and registered Houston’s first three-point game (2-1=3) of the season on Jan. 22.
---Drew Bagnall played in his 300th AHL game at TEX on Jan. 21.
---Chris Clackson earned an assist on Radja's second goal in his first game as an Aero.
---Kyle Medvec registered his first points of the season with a pair of assists on Jan. 20.
---Justin Fontaine has four points (2-2=4) the last three games.
---Jeff Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at SA.
---Jeff Taffe had two assists while skating in his 500th AHL game on Jan. 21 at TEX.
---The Aeros have made 27 transactions since Jan. 1 involving 18 different players. The team made 33 transactions from Dec. 1-Dec. 31 involving 17 different players. The Dec/Jan. combined totals include 27 different players and 60 transactions.

TEAM NOTABLES
---Houston has earned at least a point in 18 of the 23 games (9-6-3-6) in which they have allowed the first goal. They are 12-3-0-3 when scoring first.
---The Aeros played nine of 11 games at home from Dec. 8-Jan. 6 and posted a record of 3-4-0-2 in those contests.
---Houston plays seven of 10 games on the road from Jan. 8-Feb. 2. So far, they have notched a 3-1-0-1 record away from home in that time.
---Houston has played 22 games that have been decided by one goal (8-2-3-9).
---The Aeros edged Grand Rapids 3-2on Jan. 11 for their first shootout victory of the season.
---The Aeros broke the 100,000 mark in attendance this season with the 4,608 who attended the game on Dec. 18.

AEROS GOALIES
HACKETT – Is 4-7-3 (2.72 GAA/.900 SV%) at home and 9-0-1 (1.99 GAA/.939 SV%) on the road… Won six-straight road starts from Oct. 28-Dec. 30… Made his NHL debut on Dec. 6 and made 34 saves in a 2-1 win at SJ after entering the game early in the first period to relieve an injured Josh Harding… Last Game: Stopped 28 of 31 in a 4-3 SOL vs. SA on Jan. 22.

KUEMPER --- Is 1-1-2 at home (2.01 GAA/.934 SV%) and 4-2-2 on the road (2.19 GAA/ .931 SV%)… Led the ECHL in both GAA (1.74) and save percentage (.941) at the time of his recall on Nov. 29 and posted a 7-1-0 record with the Ontario Reign… Recorded his first pro shutout with 1-0 win on Dec. 9 vs. SAN (33 saves)… Last Game: Stopped 45/48 in a 4-3 SOL at TEX on Jan. 21.

POWER PLAY
Is 3/9 in the last three games… Went 7/38 (18.4%) in games 31-40…  Went 5/37 (13.5%) in games 21-30… Went 20/106 (18/9%) in games 1-20… Set a season-high going 3/5 in a 4-2 win at SAN on Oct. 28.

PENALTY KILL
Opponents are 5/10 on the PP in the last three games… Stopped 28/36 (77.7%) in games 31-40… Stopped 20/27 (74.0%) in games 21-30… Stopped 80/97 (82.4%) in games 1-20.

AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
4 – BAGH-nawl
7 – FRED-haym
8 – MED-vekh
10 – RAHD-juh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – TAYF
26 – MACK-in-tyre
27 – mick-MILL-uhn
35 – KEM-per
39 – GEHN-oh-way
41 - ORT-migh-er
42 – KASS-ee-uhn
61 – KOOH-muh