Weds., March 28, 2012

The Houston Aeros (32-23-3-9, 76 pts.) close a four-game road trip on Wednesday (7:05 p.m. CST) at Milwaukee against the Admirals (33-27-2-3, 71 pts.) at the Bradley Center.

AEROS BROADCASTS
NOTE: EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF TONIGHT’S GAME IS ON 97.5 FM
Radio: ESPN Radio 97.5 FM
Listen online:USTREAM
Watch online: www.ahllive.com

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

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OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (32-23-3-9, 76 pts.) close a four-game road trip on Wednesday (7:05 p.m. CST) at Milwaukee against the Admirals (33-27-2-3, 71 pts.) at the Bradley Center.

 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
---The Aeros hold the No. 5 spot in the eight-team Western Conference playoff race. Teams 6-9 (CHA, RCH, SA, PEO) sit one point behind the Aeros.
---The Aeros have dropped three straight games. The team’s longest losing streak this season is four games (Feb.14-24).
---Milwaukee is four points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
---Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs: the three division winners will be seeded first through third in order of points, and the next five teams in order of points will be seeded fourth through eighth.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Wednesday (March 28) --- at MIL (7:05 p.m. CST)
Thursday (March 29) --- vs.  LE (7:05 p.m. CST)
Saturday (March 31) --- vs. HAM (7:35 p.m. CST)

LAST GAME
Jeff Taffe scored and Scott Greenham stopped 28 shots in goal but the Houston Aeros fell 4-1 to the Chicago Wolves on Sunday at the Allstate Arena.

AEROS BROADCASTS
NOTE: EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF TONIGHT’S GAME IS ON 97.5 FM
Radio: ESPN Radio 97.5 FM
Listen online: No online audio broadcast
Watch online: www.ahllive.com

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

AEROS/ADMIRALS HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the third of four meetings this season…  HOU is 0-2-0-0 against the Ads this season (0-1-0-0 at home, 0-1-0-0 on the road) … HOU PP is 0/8… MIL PP is 1/8… All-time HOU is 34-40-8-6 (19-17-5-3 home, 16-21-3-3 road).

RECENT AEROS TRANSACTIONS
---March 24: G Matt Hackett reassigned by MIN
---March 25: F Chad Rau recalled by MIN
---March 24: G Matt Hackett recalled by MIN

AEROS INJURIES
Jeff Penner has missed the last 28 games… Mike McKenzie has missed the last 25 games… Darcy Kuemper has missed the last 11 games.

AEROS MILESTONES
---Jon DiSalvatore’s 20th goal (on March 3 at SA) was his 69th as an Aero, placing him first in franchise history (AHL only, 4th AHL/IHL). His 41st game on Jan. 21 at TEX was his 200th as an Aero, placing him 10th all-time in Aeros (AHL) history.
---Jeff Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at SA. Taffe had two assists while skating in his 500th AHL game on Jan. 21 at TEX.
---Drew Bagnall played in his 300th AHL game at TEX on Jan. 21.

AEROS PLAYER NOTES
--- Justin Fontaine has points in seven of the last 11 games (4-6=10) and 12 of the last 17 games (5-13=18). He is scoreless in three games, tying the second-longest stretch he’s gone without a point this season.
---Jeff Taffe leads the Aeros with 13 multi-point games, including a pair of four-point outings. He has goals in two straight games.
---Jon DiSalvatore has assists in two straight games.
---The Aeros have made 167 transactions since opening day, involving 52 different players, and both are new team records.
 ---Roster players by season (01-02/36, 02-03/35, 03-04/41, 04-05/31, 05-06/35, 06-07/26, 07-08/32, 08-09/42, 09-10/38, 10-11/43).

TEAM NOTABLES
---The Aeros are 6-8-0-2 against Midwest Division teams this season.
---Houston is 21-0-1-3 when leading after two periods.
---Houston has earned at least a point in 20 of the 3 games (11-17-3-6) in which they have allowed the first goal. They are 20-6-0-3 when scoring first.
---The Aeros netted two power play goals in the same period for the first time since scoring twice in the middle period against San Antonio on Jan. 8
---Out of 32 wins this season, 29 have come when the Aeros allow three or fewer goals and 22 have come when scoring four or more.
---Houston has played 34 games that have been decided by one goal (14-8-3-9).
---The Aeros have won four straight shootouts after losing nine of the first 10 this season. The Aeros edged Grand Rapids 3-2 on Jan. 11 for their first shootout victory of the season.
--- The attendance of 13,390 on Feb. 5 was the largest crowd for the Aeros since moving to Toyota Center in the 2002-03 season. It was the largest Aeros crowd since 13,342 on Jan. 16, 2004.  The crowd of 11,373 was the second largest crowd for the Aeros this season.

AEROS GOALIES
BRODEUR --- Has a 40-37-6 record in 102 AHL games with four shutouts, a 2.85 GAA and a .907 SV%. He also has appeared in seven NHL games, all with the Ottawa Senators, posting a 3-1-0 record with one shutout and 2.17 GAA and .922 SV%. The 6-foot-2, 186-pound Calgary native was selected to the Canadian all-star team for the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic, and joins the Aeros from the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL. Brodeur was a seventh-round selection (211th overall) of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

FALLON --- Signed PTO on March 3… Appeared in 47 games with Las Vegas of the ECHL this season, posting a 30-10-1-3 record along with a 2.39 GAA and .912 SV%...  Led the ECHL in wins (26) and minutes played (2739) and was tied for second in shutouts (3) when signed by HOU… Stopped 29/30 in 5-1 W over GR on March 10 for his first Aeros win… Was selected as the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Mar. 18, 2012. Won all four starts, allowing just five goals on 125 shots (4-0-0, 1.20, .960) and stopping 11/13 in two shootouts.

GREENHAM --- Joins the Aeros from the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL, where he registered a 2-0-0 record with a 4.00 GAA and a .900 SV%. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Addison, Ont., native recently completed his collegiate career at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. He finished as the school’s career leader in wins (48), GAA (2.24), SV% (.916), and shutouts (11).

HACKETT – Is 6-8-3 (2.58 GAA/.904 SV%) at home and 11-5-1 (2.28, .927) GAA/.933 SV%) on the road… Won six-straight road starts from Oct. 28-Dec. 30…  Is 3-5-0 with a 2.30 goals against average (GAA) and a .927 save percentage (SV%) in 11 games with the Wild this season… Last Game: Stopped 21/23 in 5-2W at TEX on Feb. 25.

POWER PLAY
Is 1/12 in the last three games… Went 8/38 in games 51-60 (21.1 %)… Went 8/43 in games 41-50 (18.6%)… Went 7/38 (18.4%) in games 31-40…  Went 5/37 (13.5%) in games 21-30… Went 20/106 (18/9%) in games 1-20… Set a season-high going 3/5 in a 4-2 win at SAN on Oct. 28… Tied the 3/5 mark on March 10 vs. GR.

PENALTY KILL
Opponents are 2/13 on the PP in the last three games… Stopped 6/34 in games 51-60 (82.4%)… Stopped 30/39 (76.9 %) in games 41-50… Stopped 28/36 (77.7%) in games 31-40… Stopped 20/27 (74.0%) in games 21-30… Stopped 80/97 (82.4%) in games 1-20.

AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
4 – BAGH-nawl
7 – FRED-haym
8 – MED-vekh
13 – FOO-koh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – TAYF
26 – MACK-in-tyre
27 – mick-MILL-uhn
35 – KEHM-puhr
39 – GEHN-oh-way
44 – pawl-MAIR-ee
61 – KOO-muh
Torchetti --- TOHR-cheh-TEE
Van Ryn --- VAN-RIGHN
LaPlante --- luh-PLAHNT