The Houston Aeros (5-7-1-0) had its most lop-sided victory of the season Saturday night, defeating the Worcester Sharks 5-1 at home in Toyota Center. The win stopped a two-game slide from the two previous nights in Milwaukee and Quad City. The team takes to the road again this coming weekend playing division rivals in Peoria Friday night and at Chicago Saturday evening, both games at 7 p.m.

FRI, at PEO, 7 p.m.
The Peoria Rivermen (6-4-0-2) defeated the Aeros in the first match-up of the season 3-1 at Toyota Center on October 13. Houston will head to Peoria Friday night to attempt revenge and continue the division rivalry. Peoria finished with the upper-hand last season as the Aeros recorded a record of 3-5-1-1 against the Rivermen. The all-time series stands with the Aeros at 9-10-1-1 in two seasons. Houston G Nolan Schaefer stopped 32 of 35 shots on goal in the first meeting and Rivermen G Marek Schwarz earned the win, blocking 26 of 27 Aeros shots on net. C Serge Payer netted the lone Aeros-marker in the contests. The clubs will play six more times before the season is over.

SAT, at CHI, 7 p.m. Houston hosted the Chicago Wolves (11-0-1-0) on opening night being defeated 4-2 after giving up three first-period goals to the Wolves. The Aeros are 23-23-9-4 all-time against the Wolves since joining the AHL. Aeros’ G Nolan Schaefer stopped 32 of 36 shots in the loss as Chicago net-minder Ondrej Pavelec knocked away 21 of 23 shots earning the win. The teams will pair up four more times this season after Saturday night’s contest.

Practice Schedule
12-Nov-07 Monday SLICE 10:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m.
13-Nov-07 Tuesday SLICE 10:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m.
14-NOV-07 Wednesday SLICE 10:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m.
15-Nov-07 Thursday travel to Peoria
16-Nov-07 Friday at Peoria 7 p.m. at Peoria
17-Nov-07 Saturday at Chicago 7 p.m. at Chicago
18-Nov-07 Sunday No Practice

Aeros Player of the Week: Peter Olvecky


11/8 at MIL, 1-0=1, tallied first goal (PP) of season, only Aeros goal in 3-1 loss
11/9 at QCY, 0-1=1, marked assist on lone Aeros-goal in 4-1 loss
11/10 vs. WOR, 2-1=3, netted the first goal (PP) and GWG plus an assist (PP) in 5-1 win
Peter Olvecky marked a career-high three points (2-1=3) in a game in Saturday night’s win. The two goals in the game also tied his personal best which he achieved twice before.

TEAM NOTES
• The Aeros have won their last four of their last five home games after starting the season 0-3 at Toyota Center.
• Houston had their second multiple power play goal game on Saturday vs. Worcester. Houston scored three power play goals against the Sharks having scored only five in their previous 11 games.
• LW Peter Olvecky had the team’s second two-goal performance on Saturday. Olvecky currently has points in the Aeros last three games and four of the last five.
• G Barry Brust has won his last two starts for Houston and three of his last four. Brust stopped 119 of 126 shots in those four games for a .944 save percentage and 3-1-0 record.
• This past week, two players were called up to the Aeros NHL affiliate, the Minnesota Wild. LW Aaron Voros and G Nolan Schaefer were called up on Sunday, November 11th. Voros played in his first NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. He finished with 8:31 of ice time, won his only faceoff, had two hits and a five-minute major for fighting against Colorado’s Jeff Finger. Schaefer did not dress for the game, and was returned to Houston today, November 12th.

Affiliation News
Minnesota is second in the division with a record of 9-5-0-2, trailing Colorado by three points in the Northwest. The 20 points puts the Wild at fourth in the conference with Detroit leading the way at 27 points.

Last week the Minnesota Wild went 1-1-0-0 defeating Edmonton last Monday 5-2 and losing last night 4-2 in Colorado. G Niklas Backstrom (7-2-1) stopped 22 of 26 shots allowing four goals, two power-play markers, in the loss. Eric Belanger and Pierre-Marc Bouchard tallied the goals, both on the power-play.

Four of the Wild’s five goals last Monday were on the power-play. Mark Parrish netted two and Bouchard and former Aero Kurtis Foster marked the other two special-teams markers. Stephane Veilleux, who also played in Houston, tallied the fifth and final goal for Minnesota in the 5-1 victory. Backstrom earned the win, stopping 22 of 24 shots including one power-play goal against.

The Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL defeated the Gwinnett Gladiators 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday night in a battle for first place. The win sends the Wildcatters to 8-1-0-1, an identical record as the Gladiators, and keeps the teams, both from the South division, tied for the best record in the league. The Wildcatters, on the best start in club history, finished their six-game divisional road trip a perfect 6-0-0-0 and extend their unbeaten streak to nine games. Texas will host Elmira in a three-game set this Friday through Sunday.

Three in a row:
HOU 1 at MIL 3, HOU 1 at LEM 4, HOU 5 vs. WOR 1

Thursday: The Houston Aeros (4-6-1-0) lost to the Milwaukee Admirals (7-4-1-0) 3-1 Thursday night in front of 3,061 fans at the Bradley Center. The loss ended the Aeros’ two-game winning streak. G Pekka Rinne stopped 24 of 25 shots in net for his sixth win of the season, and C Cal O’Reilly added an empty net goal and an assist on LW John Vigilante’s game-winning goal. Houston LW Peter Olvecky scored the first goal of the game for the Aeros, but the Admirals came back with three unanswered goals to end their two-game losing streak. Aeros' G Nolan Schaefer stopped 24 of 26 shots in the loss.

Friday: The Houston Aeros lose the first ever game against the Quad City Flames 4-1 in front of 3216 fans at I Wireless Center. The Flames’ (3-7-1-2) win ties the team with the Aeros (4-7-1-0) at nine points apiece. Houston will play its third game in three-days tomorrow night back in Houston at 7:35 p.m.

C Steve Kelly led the Aeros with the only Houston goal of the evening. RW Petr Kalus and LW Peter Olvecky marked the assists for the only points of the evening. RW Derek Couture marked two points (1-1=2) leading the Flames. Houston G Nolan Schaefer (2-4-0) stopped 17 of 20 shots on net in 57:40 of game time. Quad City G Curtis McElhinney (1-2-0) blocked 21 of 22 shots in the win.

Saturday: The Houston Aeros played strong and kept the game even through two periods and dominated the final session in a 5-1 win over the Worcester Sharks at Toyota Center in front of 8,112 fans. Houston (5-7-1-0) capitalized on a season-high three of seven power-play opportunities as Worcester (6-4-1-0) marked one goal in eight man-advantage situations.

Five different Aeros marked a goal in the game including the night’s point leader LW Peter Olvecky with three points (2-1=3), setting a career-high for points in a game. Sharks C Mike Iggulden netted Worcester’s only goal of the night. Houston’s G Barry Brust (3-4-0) stopped 34 of 35 shots in the win. Shark’s G Taylor Dakers (5-3-0) blocked 29 of 34 shots on net.