From: Ryan Stanzel
Director of Communications
Monday, January 3, 2005
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)

Aeros Weekly Report

Click here for a printable PDF version of the Aeros Weekly Report.

This week on Aeros.com – Fans can submit aeros.com Q&A questions to John Erskine prior to 9 a.m. Tuesday. Check aeros.com later in the week for Erskine’s answers. Visit www.theahl.com to vote your favorite Aero into the AHL All-Star Game as a starter. Michael McHugh, the Aeros’ “Junior Reporter” from the Reporter News, has a new feature up on goalie Mike Smith, available here.

Memorial Hermann visit Tuesday - The Aeros will make their annual visit to Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital this Tuesday from 2-4 p.m. Mark Cullen, Marc Cavosie, Mike Smith, Mikko Koivu, Rickard Wallin, Junior Lessard, Brent Burns, Kirby Law and Marius Holtet will attend.

Coming attractions:

SAT, at MIL, 1:30 p.m.
The Aeros and Admirals have split a pair of three-goal decisions this season, and play game No. 3 of 10 in a Bradley Center matinee. Houston handed Milwaukee its first regulation loss in 18 games, 5-2, on November 13, but the Admirals fought back for a 4-1 victory in Houston last Wednesday. The Aeros are 1-8-1-1 in the last 11 meetings with Milwaukee. The Admirals have righted the ship after a rough stretch and come into this week winners of two straight. Milwaukee’s 43 points put the Ads one behind West-leading Chicago to begin the week.

SUN, vs. WOR, 5:05 p.m.
Family Day
Get four tickets, four pucks, $20 in Toyota Bucks and free parking, all for just $59! Visit www.aeros.com/themenights to order. Username is Family, password is Aeros. The Aeros are winless in their last four games with the Ice Cats (0-3-1-0) after winning the first three meetings. Houston fell behind by four goals before falling 4-3 in Worcester on November 3. In the teams’ only Toyota Center meeting, the teams skated to a 0-0 tie last January 9, exactly one year ago this Sunday. Worcester is 6-3-0-1 in its last 10, good for 41 points and fourth in the tough Atlantic Division. Former Aero Jeff Hoggan is injured and is not expected to play against his old team. Rookie defenseman Dennis Wideman (7-16=23) leads the IceCats in scoring.

PPG streak up to 10 - Houston stretched its power play goal streak to a franchise-best 10 straight games last week. The Aeros are 14-for-60 (23.3 percent) in that span, but are only 3-for-24 (12.5 percent) in the last three games. Houston’s run puts the Aeros tied for third in the AHL with the man advantage. In their last 17 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 22-8 on the power play. The penalty kill unit has also been vastly improved, as the Aeros have killed off 24 of their last 25 shorthanded chances over the last seven games for a 96.0 percent kill rate. That has helped Houston move to third in the AHL on the penalty kill at 88.4 percent, including first on the road at 88.1 percent. The Aeros have been outscored 52-39 in 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 situations this season.

Admirals often put up crooked numbers in Houston - Simon Gamache (0-4=4) and Darren Haydar (1-3=4) became the first opposing players with four-point games in Houston since Milwaukee’s Greg Koehler (3-1=4) in a 5-0 win November 14, 2002.

Milestone watch - Dan Cavanaugh will become the sixth player in Aeros history to play 250 games with the team in his next game. Stephane Veilleux was the 11th player with 200 games played last Thursday. Kyle Wanvig passed the 400-penalty minute mark Thursday and continues to sit at 49 pro goals and 48 Aeros goals. Mikko Koivu enters this week with 49 career professional assists, counting his European travels.

Giroux’s a power play specialist - Defenseman Ray Giroux returned from a month-long absence last Wednesday. Friday, Giroux scored his third goal of the season - all on the power play. In his 340 AHL games, 34 of his 64 goals have come with the man advantage.

Down on the farm - The CHL’s Austin Ice Bats are 13-12-2, in third place in the Southeast Division, five points behind Laredo and Corpus Christi...F Dallas Anderson has three goals, four assists and 147 PIM’s in 21 games...Anderson ranks fourth in the CHL in PIM’s...The ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Pilots are 17-8-3, tied for first in the South with Florida, with three games in hand...LW Jordan Krestanovich has 19 points (8-11=19)...RW Jason Beckett has a goal and seven assists and is plus-eight...LW Bill Kinkel has two goals and 47 PIM’s in five games and is currently on injured reserve...D Ryan Stokes has one goal, three assists and 62 PIM’s and is a plus-seven...ECHL Louisiana is 14-13-3 and in fifth place in the six-team South Division...IceGators are 4-9-1 in their last 14...LW David Bararuk (8-15=23) is second on the team in scoring while D Maxime Fortunus has 12 points (3-9=12)...RW Mark Rooneem has eight points (2-6=8)...D Chris Heid has five points (2-3=5) in just five games since being reassigned 12/23...G Kyle Kettles is 4-4-0 with a 2.96 gaa and a .905 save pct. and is currently in Houston...UHL Quad City is 13-15-4, in fourth place in the West...G Robert Gherson is 4-4-2 with a 2.65 gaa...C Mike Kompon has a team-best 33 points (10-23=33)...Kompon is first in assists and second in points among UHL rookies.

West Standings - The Aeros enter this week with 35 points, in fourth place in the West Division. Houston has games in hand on each division opponent.
West Division Standings, 1/3
Chicago 20-10-3-1=44
Milwaukee 20-9-2-1=43
Grand Rapids 18-13-1-1=38
Houston 16-12-2-1=35
San Antonio 14-16-2-4=34
Cincinnati 15-19-0-2=32
Utah 9-22-0-2=20

Aeros rebound from two losses for key road win
MIL 4, HOU 1; NOR 5, HOU 2; HOU 3, NOR 1

The Aeros lost a pair of three-goal decisions to begin last week before rebounding for a big 3-1 win in Norfolk on Saturday.
Wednesday: Andrew Hutchinson scored twice, Darren Haydar added a goal and three assists and Aero-killer Simon Gamache contributed four assists, all in a four-goal second period, as the Milwaukee Admirals shook off a slow start to beat the Aeros 4-1 at Toyota Center.
Brian Finley made 16 of his 31 saves in a frantic first period and Dan Hamhuis also scored for defending Calder Cup champion Milwaukee, which remained perfect in six games at Toyota Center in the past two seasons, outscoring Houston 26-10 in the process.
Brent Burns scored a power play goal and Mike Smith made 15 saves over two periods for Houston, which finished its season-long eight-game homestand 4-3-1-0.
Thursday: Quintin Laing and Shawn Thornton each tallied a goal and an assist, as the Norfolk Admirals cruised by the Aeros 5-2 at The Scope. Michael Leighton made 31 saves, and Rene Bourque, Mike Brown and Eric Nickulas also scored for Norfolk, which reached the five-goal plateau for just the second time this season to win its second straight.
Stephane Veilleux and Kirby Law each scored and Kyle Kettles stopped nine-of-12 shots for Houston, which has lost two straight for the first time since December 2-3.
Friday: Smith made 14 of his 33 saves in the third period, and defenseman Patrick Traverse snapped a tie with 3:49 remaining in regulation, as the Aeros beat the Norfolk Admirals 3-1 at The Scope. Blueliner Ray Giroux scored a power play goal and Rickard Wallin also scored for Houston, which snapped a two-game skid.
Mikhail Yakubov scored and Adam Munro stopped 19 shots for the Admirals.
Traverse’s blast from the blueline gave Houston its first lead on the road in three games, with 3:49 left in regulation. Mikko Koivu won the faceoff back to Traverse, who ripped the puck by Munro for his third goal of the season – first since November 14.

Aeros’ Practice schedule:
Monday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Tuesday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Wednesday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Thursday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Friday - Travel Day
Saturday - at MIL, 1:30 p.m.
Sunday - vs. WOR, 5:05 p.m.

Player of the week C Rickard Wallin -
Posted a goal and two assists in three games last week, extending point streak to a four games, tying both his season high and the Aeros’ season high...Pierre-Marc Bouchard also sported a four-game goal streak...Wallin picked up assists Wednesday against MIL and Thursday in NOR, before sealing a 3-1 road win over NOR with Houston’s third goal with less than a minute remaining...Point streak is two games shy of his career-best of six, set October 11-23, 2002, his first six games in North America...Tied for team-best plus-two.

Player of the month LW Stephane Veilleux -
Notched team bests of six goals and seven points in eight December games...Also one of three Aeros above the break even mark in plus-minus (+1)...Three of his six goals came on the PP...Added a GWG, in 2-0 win over NOR 12/16...Began month on three-game goal scoring streak 12/2-12/16...Had at least a point in six of team’s eight games, and scored a goal in five of eight contests...Was even or better in all but two games...Currently leads Aeros in points (21), goals (12) and power play goals (six)...His 12 goals are one off his AHL career-high, set last season.

Rookie of the Month F Junior Lessard -
Totaled team rookie monthly bests of four points and three assists...Added a shootout goal...Aeros went 3-1-0-0 when Lessard found the scoresheet...All four of his points came in Houston’s final five December games, including three-game point streak 12/18-12/29...Reigning Hobey Baker winner has 10 points (4-6=10), tops among Aeros rookies, and is a minus-two in 27 games.


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