Eleven Players Returning From Last Season’s Squad



HOUSTON - Houston Aeros President and General Manager Dave Barr announced the team’s opening roster for the pair of games this weekend versus the Utah Grizzlies at Compaq Center on Friday and Saturday.



Highlighting the roster is the return of three of the Aeros top four point leaders from last season: center Cory Larose, right wing Tony Virta and defenseman Curtis Murphy. Larose led the team in goals and points with 32 and 64 respectively and was named to the American Hockey League All-Rookie Team. Virta scored 25 goals and 33 assists for 68 points to rank second on the club. He also added 2-3-5 in eight games with the Minnesota Wild (National Hockey League). Murphy was the lone Aero to play in all 80 regular season games and led blueliners with 12-35-47.



The other returning players are defensemen David Cullen, Lawrence Nycholat and Travis Roche, forwards: Dan Cavanaugh, Greg Crozier, Stephane Veilleux and Kyle Wanvig and goaltender Derek Gustafson.



Several new faces have joined the Aeros as well. Left wing Jean-Guy Trudel is a two-time AHL All-Star and has led the Springfield Falcons (AHL) in scoring the past two seasons with 169 points combined. Goaltender Dieter Kochan was a teammate of Trudel’s last season and posted a record of 21 wins, 20 losses and one tie with a 2.67 goals against average. Six rookies also are on Houston’s roster, including Hobey Baker finalist Marc Cavosie and three NCAA Second Team All-Americans, center Mark Cullen, right wing Jeff Hoggan and defenseman Chris Dyment.



Opening weekend features two games against long-time rival, the Utah Grizzlies, on Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12 at 7:30 PM at Compaq Center. The team then spends the next five games on the road, before returning to Houston for the first regular season match-up against the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday, October 26.



To see the full roster and statistics on Houston's players, check out the Roster Page under Team Info.