From: Ryan Stanzel
Director of Communications
Monday, December 6, 2004
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)

AEROS WEEKLY REPORT

Upcoming events – The Aeros enjoy a rare 13-day break between games and don’t play again until hosting Norfolk on Thursday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 18. December 16 is Santa Hat Night, while December 18 is the Teddy Bear Toss and Toy Drive to benefit the Children’s Assessment Center. December 18 is also Santa Bobblehead Night.

Christmas shopping made easy with the Aeros - There's no better Christmas gift for the Aeros fan in your life than an Aeros Holiday Stuffer, which includes a free ticket voucher and gift certificate to Amazon Grill. The Aeros are also offering free shipping/logo puck with merchandise orders over $89.

This week on Aeros.com – This week’s aeros.com Q&A session will feature Aeros trainer Jerry Meins, whose stops have included the Houston Oilers and the University of Southern California. Send questions to qanda@aeros.com before 10 a.m. Wednesday. Also you can now register to win an autographed Aeros jersey on aeros.com.

Aeros make donation to Zholtok Fund - The Houston Aeros players and front office chipped in to make a $2,700 donation this week to the Sergei Zholtok Memorial Fund. Zholtok is a former Minnesota Wild player who passed away last month while playing hockey in Europe.

Aeros may be off, but they’re not off in the community - The Aeros are in the midst of a 13-day stretch without a game, but they are still busy. Monday, Houston Aeros Charities and Gillman Chrysler Jeep present the 10th Annual Houston Aeros Golf Tournament on Monday, Dec. 6 at Greatwood Golf Course in Sugar Land. The tournament benefits Round Up for Autism and Houston Aeros Charities. Wednesday from 7:30-8:30, Derek Boogaard will sign autographs at the Galleria Mall Ice Rink to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer. Saturday (Patrick Traverse, Christoph Brandner) and Sunday (Mark Cullen, Todd Reirden), the Aeros will be at the Moody Gardens Festival of Lights skating rink from 7-8 p.m. signing autographs. Aeros Fan Club members get $1 off the $4.95 admission by presenting their Fan Club card, but the events are open to the public. Skating is extra. Saturday from 3-4 p.m., Brent Burns will appear at The Hockey Stop at 6450 Louetta. Saturday from 6-7 p.m., Rickard Wallin and Zbynek Michalek will appear at the Houston Zoo to sign autographs. Sunday from 12:30-2 p.m. at the Willowbrook Aerodrome is this season’s first Chilly’s Puck Pals party. Mikko Koivu and Erik Reitz will attend. For information on Chilly’s Puck Pals, please call Adrian Cavazos at 713.361.7940. **All player appearances are subject to change. Please check aeros.com for updated information.

Sonic Boom out and about also - Sonic Boom will appear at Sherlock’s from 8-10 p.m. this Wednesday to sign autographs and at Uncle Albert’s Saturday from 8-10 p.m.

Down on the farm - The CHL’s Austin Ice Bats are 8-10-1, tied for second in the Southeast Division...F Dallas Anderson has three goals and three assists and 116 PIM’s in 13 games...Anderson ranks fourth in the CHL in PIM’s...The ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Pilots and Louisiana IceGators have identical 9-4-2 records for 20 points, tied for third in the South Division....For Pensacola, LW Jordan Krestanovich has 14 points (7-7=14)...RW Jason Beckett has five assists and is a team-best plus-seven...LW Bill Kinkel has two goals and 47 PIM’s in five games and is currently on injured reserve...D Ryan Stokes has one goal and 42 PIM’s...IceGators LW David Bararuk (4-8=12) is third on the team in scoring while D Maxime Fortunus has five points (1-4=5)...RW Mark Rooneem scored his first pro goal last week and also has three assists and 16 PIM’s...G Kyle Kettles is 4-3-0 with a 2.98 gaa and a .906 save pct...UHL Quad City is 10-9-2, in fourth place in the West...G Robert Gherson is 4-4-1 with a 2.50 gaa...C Mike Kompon has a team-best 18 points (2-16=18)...Kompon is in the top 10 of the UHL in assists, and he’s first in assists and third in points among rookies.

Aeros drop pair before break
ROC 3, HOU 2; SAN 2, HOU 1 (OT)

The Aeros went 0-1-1-0 in two games last week.

Friday: Nathan Horton’s second goal of the game, 46 seconds into overtime, helped the San Antonio Rampage rally for a 2-1 win over the Houston Aeros at Toyota Center. Travis Scott made 42 saves for San Antonio.
Mike Smith made 28 saves and Stephane Veilleux scored a power play goal for his third goal in two games for Houston, which fell to 10-2-1-0 all-time at home versus the Rampage.
Just 46 seconds into overtime, Stephen Weiss’ attempt was kicked out by Smith, but Horton pushed the puck past smith for his second of the game and fourth of the season.

Thursday: Ryan Miller made 40 saves and Geoff Peters was credited with the game-winning goal midway through the second period, as the Rochester Americans beat the Houston Aeros 3-2 despite being outshot 42-19. Michael Ryan and Thomas Vanek also scored and Derek Roy chipped in two assists for Rochester, which won for the first time ever against Houston (1-4-3-0).
Stephane Veilleux recorded his third career two-goal game and became the 19th Aero with 100 career points in the process. Mike Smith stopped 16 shots for Houston, which had an apparent goal waved off due to a penalty late in the second period.

West Standings - The Aeros enter this week with 27 points, tied for third place with Chicago in the West Division.

West Division Standings, 12/6
Milwaukee 14-3-2-1=31
Grand Rapids 15-5-1-0=31
Houston 12-10-2-1=27
Chicago 12-8-2-1=27
San Antonio 8-8-2-4=22
Cincinnati 8-14-0-2=18
Utah 4-14-0-2=10

Player of the week LW Stephane Veilleux -

Totaled three points (3-0=3), scoring all three of Houston’s goals in two games last week...Tallied third career two-goal game in 3-2 loss to ROC Thursday, then scored second PPG in as many nights in 2-1 loss to SAN Friday...Has three-game point streak (3-1=4), a season-high and three games shy of his career-high...Leads Aeros with nine goals and tied with Mark Cullen for team lead with 17 points...Thursday, became 19th Aero in team history to notch 100 points.

Veilleux this week...
12/2 vs. ROC 2-0=2, +1
12/3 vs. SAN 1-0=1, E
Totals - 2gp, 3-0=3, +1


---HOUSTON AEROS, BE A FAN---