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Ryan Stanzel
Director of Communications
Thursday, September 8, 2005
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)

AEROS SIGN LW’S COURCHAINE, OLSON;
RE-SIGN LW KINKEL

HOUSTON, Texas – The American Hockey League’s Houston Aeros have signed left wings Adam Courchaine and Josh Olson, general manager Tom Lynn announced Thursday. In addition, the Aeros have re-signed left wing Bill Kinkel. Courchaine (pronounced core-SHANE) and Kinkel are currently participating with some of the Minnesota Wild’s top prospects in the NHL Center I.C.E. Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich.

Courchaine, 21 (5/23/84), totaled 78 points (28-50=78) and 32 penalty minutes in 71 games for the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League in 2004-05. In four WHL seasons with Medicine Hat and Vancouver, Courchaine racked up 283 points (131-152=283) and 104 penalty minutes in 285 games. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound native of Winnipeg, Man., was Minnesota’s seventh-round draft pick (No. 219 overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He was a Second-Team WHL All-Star in 2002-03, when he notched 85 points (43-42=85) in 71 games for Vancouver.

Olson, 24 (7/13/81), joins the Aeros after spending much of the past three seasons with their I-10 rivals, the San Antonio Rampage. The 6-foot-5, 236-pound native of Grand Forks, N.D., split last season with the Rampage and the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He notched a combined 19 points (10-9=19) in 76 games. His best season as a pro came in 2003-04, when he totaled 38 points (22-16=38) in 73 games for San Antonio. That performance earned Olson a five-game stint with the Florida Panthers, and he scored one goal for the NHL club. Olson was Florida’s sixth-round pick (No. 190 overall) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He played two junior seasons for WHL Portland.

Kinkel, 21 (2/27/84), spent 12 games in Houston in 2004-05, with three goals and 41 penalty minutes. All three goals came in a memorable game versus Cincinnati on March 30, the same day he was recalled from ECHL Pensacola. He became the first Aeros rookie with a hat trick in more than three seasons. The 6-foot-5, 239-pound native of Buffalo, N.Y., added four points (3-1=4) and 180 penalty minutes in 30 games for Pensacola. He played three OHL seasons, splitting time between Kitchener and Kingston. New Jersey selected Kinkel with its ninth-round pick (No. 281 overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.


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