AEROS’ HOME OPENER NOW OCTOBER 16 VS. CINCINNATI

Houston begins season October 15 in San Antonio

Houston, Texas – The Houston Aeros, in conjunction with the American Hockey League, have announced their 2004-05 regular season schedule. The Aeros will open up their 11th season on Friday, Oct. 15, at San Antonio at 7 p.m. Houston will then play its home opener Saturday, Oct. 16 at Toyota Center with a 7:35 p.m. tilt with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. The Aeros’ home opener had been scheduled for October 15, but changes around the AHL necessitated the move to October 16. The Ducks, who defeated the Aeros in the West Qualifying Round in April, become Houston’s 11th different home opener opponent.

For a printable PDF version of the Aeros' schedule, please click here. The schedule is also listed at the bottom of this press release.

The Aeros’ regular season schedule features 7:05 p.m. game times Monday-Thursday, 7:35 p.m. starts Friday and Saturday and 5:05 p.m. Sunday start times. Houston will have an eight-game homestand - one off its franchise record - from November 26-December 29.

After playing two of their first three games on the road, the Aeros have a three-games-in-three-nights homestand before spending most of November on the road. Cleveland comes to Houston for its two visits Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23. The Aeros round out their brief homestand Sunday, Oct. 24 versus Chicago.

From there, the Aeros play 13 of their next 15 games on the road, commencing with a grueling six-game road trip that begins with the Aeros’ first trip to Edmonton on Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30. The trek also includes a game in Hartford two days later (Monday, Nov. 1), followed by a contest in Worcester (Wednesday, Nov. 3) and back-to-back games in Grand Rapids (Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6).

Houston has two home games between October 24 and November 24 – Syracuse’s trip to Toyota Center on Sunday, Nov. 7, and Edmonton’s first of two games in town on Sunday, Nov. 14.

Following a five-game road trip from November 18-24 that includes two games in Cleveland and one each in Rochester, Syracuse and Chicago, the Aeros return home for a season-long eight-game homestand, beginning the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, Nov. 26, with the start of a two-game series against Utah. Starting with that game, the Aeros play 20 of their next 25 games at home.

The eight-game homestand also includes two games against San Antonio and Norfolk, and one apiece versus Rochester and defending Calder Cup champion Milwaukee, which comes to town for the first time Wednesday, Dec. 29. From November 26-December 29, a span of 34 days, the Aeros do not play a road game. The holiday schedule also includes a game Thursday, Dec. 23 versus San Antonio.

After a three-game road trip that includes Thursday, Dec. 30 and Friday, Dec. 31 games in Norfolk, the Aeros return home for a five-game homestand beginning Sunday, Jan. 9 against Worcester. The Aeros play 11 of their 13 January games at home, including Manitoba’s two visits to Toyota Center (Friday, Jan. 14 and Sunday, Jan.16), plus two games against Milwaukee and Grand Rapids. Edmonton makes its second trip to Houston on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

February features five home games, including back-to-back visits by Milwaukee (Friday, Feb. 4 and Saturday, Feb. 5) and Chicago (Friday, Feb. 18 and Saturday, Feb. 19). Houston also has a five-game road trip scheduled in late February, making two stops in Utah and Cincinnati and one in San Antonio.

Following seven of 11 games on the road to begin March, including two games in Manitoba (Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20), the Aeros return home for a five-game homestand March 23-April 2. The span includes two games against Grand Rapids and one each versus Cincinnati, Utah and San Antonio. The Aeros will play Easter Sunday, March 27, versus Grand Rapids at 5:05 p.m.

From there, Houston makes a five-game, four-city road trip April 3-9, before finishing the season with a three-game homestand – Sunday, April 10 against San Antonio, Friday, April 15 versus Chicago and Sunday, April 17 against Utah.

The Aeros play 40 of their final 43 games against fellow West Division teams.

The Aeros will play 28 of their 40 home games and 56 of their 80 overall games against their division foes – Chicago, Cincinnati, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Utah. Houston will play 12 games (six home, six road) versus San Antonio, 10 games (five home, five road) versus Chicago, Milwaukee and Utah, eight (four home, four road) against Grand Rapids, and six (three home, three road) versus Cincinnati.

The Aeros’ longest homestand is eight games, while their longest road trip is six. Houston will accumulate 44,939 miles of travel this season, combining air and bus miles. The Aeros will play nine home games in January and eight in March.

Home Games By Month: Oct. – 4, Nov. – 4, Dec. – 6, Jan. – 9, Feb. – 5, Mar. – 8, Apr. – 4

Road Games By Month: Oct. – 4, Nov. – 11, Dec. – 2, Jan. – 2, Feb. – 9, Mar. – 7, Apr. – 5

Games by Conference/Division

Western Conference: West Division (56), North Division (16)

Eastern Conference: Atlantic Division (4), East Division (4)

Three games in three nights: 11

The Aeros are also playing four pre-season games versus San Antonio, including two at the Sugar Land Aerodrome on Saturday, Oct. 2 and Friday, Oct. 8. Both games begin at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $5 (cash only) at the door, with a capacity of 250.

You can join the Aeros “Elite Fleet” today. Elite Fleet members get tickets to all 40 Aeros games for the price of 30, along with great benefits like guaranteed premium items and discounted merchandise. Elite Fleet packages start at just $300. Partial packages of 13 and 22 games are also on sale and begin at only $130.

2004-05 Houston Aeros Regular Season Schedule

OCTOBER
Fri. 15 @ San Antonio 7:00 p.m.
SAT. 16 CINCINNATI 7:35 P.M.
Wed. 20 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
FRI. 22 CLEVELAND 7:35 P.M.
SAT. 23 CLEVELAND 7:35 P.M.
SUN. 24 CHICAGO 5:05 P.M.
Fri. 29 @ Edmonton 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 30 @ Edmonton 8:00 p.m.

NOVEMBER
Mon. 1 @ Hartford TBA
Wed. 3 @ Worcester 6:05 p.m.
Fri. 5 @ Grand Rapids 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 6 @ Grand Rapids 6:30 p.m.
SUN. 7 SYRACUSE 5:05 P.M.
Fri. 12 @ Grand Rapids 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 13 @ Milwaukee 1:30 p.m.
SUN. 14 EDMONTON 5:05 P.M.
Thur. 18 @ Cleveland 6:00 p.m.
Fri. 19 @ Rochester 6:35 p.m.
Sat. 20 @ Syracuse 6:30 p.m.
Tue. 23 @ Cleveland 6:00 p.m.
Wed. 24 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
FRI. 26 UTAH 7:35 P.M.
SUN. 28 UTAH 5:05 P.M.

DECEMBER
THUR. 2 ROCHESTER 7:05 P.M.
FRI. 3 SAN ANTONIO 7:35 P.M.
THUR. 16 NORFOLK 7:05 P.M.
SAT. 18 NORFOLK 7:35 P.M.
THUR. 23 SAN ANTONIO 7:05 P.M.
WED. 29 MILWAUKEE 7:05 P.M.
Thur. 30 @ Norfolk 6:30 p.m.
Fri. 31 @ Norfolk 5:00 p.m.

JANUARY
Sat. 8 @ Milwaukee 1:30 p.m.
SUN. 9 WORCESTER 5:05 P.M.
TUE. 11 MILWAUKEE 7:05 P.M.
FRI. 14 MANITOBA 7:35 P.M.
SUN. 16 MANITOBA 5:05 P.M.
WED. 19 EDMONTON 7:05 P.M.
Fri. 21 @ San Antonio 7:00 p.m.
SAT. 22 GRAND RAPIDS 7:35 P.M.
SUN. 23 GRAND RAPIDS 5:05 P.M.
TUE. 25 MILWAUKEE 7:05 P.M.
SAT. 29 CHICAGO 7:35 P.M.

FEBRUARY
Wed. 2 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
FRI. 4 MILWAUKEE 7:35 P.M.
SAT. 5 MILWAUKEE 7:35 P.M.
TUE. 8 UTAH 7:05 P.M.
Wed. 9 @ Grand Rapids 6:00 p.m.
Thur. 10 @ Milwaukee 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 12 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
FRI. 18 CHICAGO 7:35 P.M.
SAT. 19 CHICAGO 7:35 P.M.
Mon. 21 @ Utah 3:05 p.m.
Wed. 23 @ Utah 8:05 p.m.
Fri. 25 @ Cincinnati 6:35 p.m.
Sat. 26 @ Cincinnati 6:35 p.m.
Sun. 27 @ San Antonio 4:00 p.m.

MARCH
WED. 2 SAN ANTONIO 7:05 P.M.
Thur. 3 @ San Antonio 7:00 p.m.
FRI. 4 HARTFORD 7:35 P.M.
Wed. 9 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
Thur. 10 @ Milwaukee 7:00 p.m.
SAT. 12 SAN ANTONIO 7:35 P.M.
MON. 14 CINCINNATI 7:05 P.M.
Wed. 16 @ Utah 8:05 p.m.
Fri. 18 @ Utah 8:05 p.m.
Sat. 19 @ Manitoba 7:30 p.m.
Sun. 20 @ Manitoba 2:00 p.m.
WED. 23 UTAH 7:05 P.M.
FRI. 25 GRAND RAPIDS 7:35 P.M.
SUN. 27 GRAND RAPIDS 5:05 P.M.
WED. 30 CINCINNATI 7:05 P.M.

APRIL
SAT. 2 SAN ANTONIO 7:35 P.M.
Sun. 3 @ San Antonio 4:00 p.m.
Tue. 5 @ Milwaukee 7:00 p.m.
Wed. 6 @ Utah 8:05 p.m.
Fri. 8 @ Cincinnati 6:35 p.m.
Sat. 9 @ San Antonio 7:00 p.m.
SUN. 10 SAN ANTONIO 5:05 P.M.
FRI. 15 CHICAGO 7:35 P.M.
SUN. 17 UTAH 5:05 P.M.