AEROS’ 2008-09 SCHEDULE IS ANNOUNCED

Houston begins season at home October 11 against defending champs

HOUSTON, Texas – The Houston Aeros, in conjunction with the American Hockey League (AHL), have announced their 2008-09 regular season schedule. The Aeros will open up their 15th anniversary season on Saturday, Oct. 11, at Toyota Center at 7:35 p.m. against the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves.

Download .pdf version / Link to AEROS.com master schedule / Outlook Downloadable

The Aeros’ 40-game home schedule is highlighted by 28 weekend dates, and 20 different teams will visit Houston this season, the most in team history. The schedule features 7:05 p.m. game times Monday-Thursday, 7:35 p.m. starts Friday and Saturday and 4:05 p.m. Sunday start times for seven of the nine Sunday games. Two Sunday games (November 23, January 18) will begin at 5:05 p.m..

The Aeros will play in-state rival San Antonio eight times (four home, four road), down from a total of 10 last season, and the teams will square off in a three-games series to end the season. Houston will also play Iowa, Peoria and Quad City eight times each (four home, four road), while squaring off with Chicago, Milwaukee and Rockford six times (three home, three road). Out of the North Division, Houston will play Lake Erie and Manitoba four times each (two home, two road) and Grand Rapids, Hamilton, Rochester, Syracuse, and Toronto twice each (one home, one road).

Two teams out of the Eastern Conference that have never played a regular season game in Houston will visit Toyota Center in 2008-09. The Hershey Bears will play in Houston on Saturday, December 13 and the Binghamton Senators will visit Toyota Center on Friday, January 30. Houston will play each team twice (one home, one road). Two other teams from the East Division will face off for two games (one home, one road) against the Aeros in 2008-09, Bridgeport and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The Aeros have not played either team since the 2002-03 season.

The Aeros will play two games (one home, one road) against two teams from the Atlantic Division in Providence and Worcester, just as they did in the 2007-08 season.

There are plenty of “don’t miss” games on the Aeros’ 40-game home schedule. The defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves will start the season on opening night (Oct. 11), the Aeros will host the Providence Bruins on Halloween night (Oct. 31), and Halloween weekend concludes with a tilt against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday, November 2.

Starting on November 30 vs. Milwaukee and ending on December 13 against the Hershey Bears, the Aeros will have a seven-game home stand, their longest of the season. During that home stand, Houston will play the Manitoba Moose on Thursday, December 4 in their annual Kid’s Day Game starting at 11:05 a.m.

After their longest road trip of the season, an eight-game trip from December 31-January 11, the Aeros will have a six-game home stand starting with Toronto on Friday, January 16 and ending with Binghamton’s first trip to Houston on Friday, January 30.

February, March and April will see the Aeros play 30 games and only two against non-divisional opponents. The Grand Rapids Griffins will visit Houston on Thursday, March 5. The Aeros will travel to Lake Erie to take on the Monsters on Saturday, April 4 before heading home to start three-game series against I-10 rival, the San Antonio Rampage. Houston will close out the regular season at home against the Rampage on Sunday, April 12.

Season tickets packages are available now and can be ordered by calling (713) 974-PUCK or by going to the AEROS.com. The Aeros’ 40-game package is on sale for the price of 30 and begins at just $360. Due to the popularity of the “40 for 30” package, the Aeros also have mini-plans of “15 for 13” and “25 for 22”. Purchase a 15-game plan and it is like getting two games free, and buy a 25-game plan and receive three games free, plus great season ticket holder benefits such as merchandise discounts. Voucher Books are also a great way to save on tickets. 10-packs are available, and by picking one, fans will receive two free tickets to the game of their choice!

Schedule Notes:
- Houston is one of six teams in the AHL to play 20 different opponents this season.
- The Aeros will play 50 of their 80 games, and 25 of their 40 home games, against the West Division. A total of 68 games will be played against the Western Conference.
- Houston will play 12 games (six home, six road) against the Eastern Conference.
- Houston plays three games in three nights 15 times – up from eight in 2007-08. The Aeros have two long homestands – seven games (November 30-December 13) and six games (January 16-30), and two road trips of six games or longer, including the season-long eight-game jaunt December 31-January 11.

Home games by month – October 5, November 6, December 8, January 6, February 4, March 8, April 3

Home games by day – Monday 1, Tuesday 4, Wednesday 1, Thursday 6, Friday 10, Saturday 9, Sunday 9



Instructions for downloading the Houston Aeros schedule into Microsoft Outlook:

• In your Outlook, select FILE --> IMPORT AND EXPORT...
• Select "Import from another program or file" and click Next.
• Select "Comma Separated Values (Windows)" and click Next.
• Find the AerosOutlookSchedule0809.csv file you just downloaded and select "Do not import duplicate items" and click Next.
• Select Calendar and click Next.
• The next window will have a title that says 'The following actions will be performed:' above an option to 'Import "AerosOutlookSchedule0809.csv" into folder: Calendar.'
• Check the box to the left and click on 'Import " AerosOutlookSchedule0809.csv " into folder: 'Calendar'
• Click Finish
• Synchronize your palm or handheld device to your computer if so desired.