From: Patrick Armstrong, Director of Communications
713.361.7920 (Direct Line)
Scott Henninger, Communications Manager
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)
Monday, February 4, 2008

HOUSTON AEROS WEEKLY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 4

HOUSTON, Texas – The Houston Aeros (23-18-2-3) earned points in both games this past weekend with a shootout loss Friday and a win on Saturday, both against the Quad City Flames. The win ended a five-game winless streak (0-3-1-1) for the club. The Aeros hit the road for a six-game trip playing Rockford Tuesday and Friday this week and visit the Flames on Wednesday. Aeros team jerseys are also going up for auction starting today! At 11 a.m. the autographed Old School white jerseys the team wore against San Antonio, January 25-26 went up for bid. The auction will end February 12 at 12:01 p.m. so check back often.

TUES. at RFD, 7:05 p.m., WED. at QCY, 7:05 p.m., FRI. at RFD, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Friday
Tuesday marks the third game this season against the Rockford IceHogs. The Aeros lost the first two meetings, 2-3 and 0-3, one at home and one at Rockford MetroCentre. Clayton Stoner and Adrian Foster scored Houston’s only goals against the IceHogs so far this season with four games left to play. Rockford currently leads the West Division and ranks second in the league with 68 points through 50 games.

Wednesday
Houston entered last weekend trailing Quad City by one point but came out of the weekend tied after losing in a shootout Friday night and winning Saturday. The clubs are tied for sixth in the Division with 51 points but the Aeros have three games in-hand over Quad City. Through four games played the teams have each earned five points, two games being decided in a shootout. The season-series has four games remaining, two in each city.

Aeros Player of the Week: C Marco Rosa

Fri. vs. Quad City      1-0=1
Sun. vs. Quad City   1-0=1
Totals                         2-0=2
Center Marco Rosa netted goals in back-to-back games. He scored the Aeros’ first goal of a 4-3 shootout loss on Friday and the game-winning marker in a 3-1 win Saturday night, his first game-winner of the season. Rosa was plus-2 in the two games and took seven shots en route to his two goals. The back-to-back goals marked the second time this season he has had a two-game goal-scoring streak.

TEAM NOTES
• The Aeros snapped out of their five game winless-streak, their longest such streak since last season’s eight-game streak from 2/18-3/7, with Saturday night’s win over the Quad City Flames.
• Houston is 2-31 on the power-play in the last six games, the worst stretch this season, surpassing the 2-30 streak the team had covering seven games from 12/22-1/4.
• C Marco Rosa became the 11th member of the Aeros to score a game-winning goal this season. C Steve Kelly leads the club with six GWGs and is tied for the league lead with four others.
• Houston has killed off 18 of the last 20 penalty-kill situations over the last four games tying the team for third in the league at 85.9% PK.

Affiliation News
The NHL’s Minnesota Wild (30-19-3) currently leads the Northwest Division and rank third in the Western Conference with 63 points. Last week the Wild won both of their games following the All-Star break, a 5-1 win hosting Anaheim and a 4-1 victory in Columbus.

Marian Gaborik has a team-leading 55 points and 28 goals coming off his all-star appearance. Gaborik scored three goals last week including the game-winner over Anaheim and Brian Rolston, (19-19=38) ranking second on the team in goals, netted the winning marker in Columbus. Niklas Backstrom leads the club with a record of 20-9-2, a .917 save percentage and a 2.43 goals against average.

The ECHL’s Texas Wildcatters (35-4-3-4) swept a three-game series against the Florida Everblades this past weekend keeping the team atop the league with 77 points. During the series-finale on Saturday Kevin Baker scored twice, Jeff Pietrasiak stopped 40 shots, and the two teams combined for 38 infractions and 114 penalty minutes as the ‘Catters swept the Florida Everblades with a 4-1 win Saturday night.

LAST WEEK
2/1 - HOU 3 vs. QCY 4 – SOL
2/2 - HOU 3 vs. QCY 1 – W

Friday, February 1: The Houston Aeros and Quad City Flames battled through regulation and overtime but the Flames prevail in a 4-3 shootout Friday night in front of 8,221 fans at Toyota Center. The Aeros were led by center Adrian Foster with two points (one goal, one assist) as Quad City’s Krys Kolanos marked three points (two goals, one assist). Aeros’ goaltender Barry Brust stopped 29 of 32 shots during 65 minutes of play and blocked three of five in the shootout. Quad City used two net-minders as Curtis McElhinney stopped 13 of 16 shots in 31:54 of playing time in the first half of the game. Matt Keetley took over after the third goal and blocked all 13 shots in 33:06 minutes of play and stopped four of five shots in the shootout.

Saturday, February 2: The Houston Aeros ended their five-game winless-streak with a 3-1 victory over the Quad City Flames Saturday night in front of 6,268 fans at Toyota Center. Houston center Marco Rosa netted the game-winning goal and six other Aeros recorded one point each. Flames C Krys Kolanos marked the team’s only goal in the game. Aeros’ goaltender Barry Brust blocked 30 of 31 shots on net in the win. Matt Keetley stopped 21 of 23 shots in the loss and Quad City allowed a short-handed empty-net goal. Quad City failed to convert on six man-advantage opportunities while the Aeros scored on one of four chances.

The Aeros took off today for a six-game road trip starting tomorrow in Rockford. The club will return home Friday, February 15 to face Iowa. Don’t forget, the Aeros have a Sweetheart of a Deal going on throughout the Valentines time of year. Click here to learn more about the Sweetheart of a Deal presented by McDonald’s. The Aeros Old School jersey auction is underway so visit often to make sure you’re the winner of the autographed jerseys! ---HOUSTON AEROS---