From: Ryan Stanzel
Director of Communications
Monday, February 14, 2005
713.361.7930 (Direct Line)

Aeros Weekly Report

This week on Aeros.com – The AHL may be breaking for the All-Star Classic, but aeros.com knows no breaks. Tuesday, log on to read Junior Reporter Michael McHugh’s feature story on Matt Foy. Wednesday, the latest edition of the aeros.com Power Poll goes up along with the Aeros.com First Half AHL Awards. Thursday, the Dan Cavanaugh Q&A goes up. Submit questions to qanda@aeros.com prior to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Ever wonder what the key is to good penalty killing? Friday, log on to aeros.com to read a feature story on the Aeros’ top-notch PK unit.

Coming attractions:
MON, 6 p.m.
AHL All-Star Classic (ESPN2)
Houston’s Mikko Koivu and “Chilly” are representing the Aeros at the AHL All-Star Classic in Manchester, N.H. Koivu is the top rated prospect in the Wild organization, according to The Hockey News. The live broadcast begins on ESPN2 at 6 p.m.

FRI, vs. CHI, 7:35 p.m.
Cap Night (3,000)
Bring the night-time blanket for the children, this weekend series with the Wolves could be a long one. The teams have gone into overtime in 14 of their last 24 meetings, including four of six this season. Another game was decided with less than a minute to go in regulation. Houston rallied from three goals down and won in a marathon 10-round shootout to finish off a 5-4 win in Chicago on Saturday. After an eight-game winless streak against the Wolves, Houston has points in four of the last five meetings (3-1-1-0). The season series is tied at eight points apiece through six games. In the last game at Toyota Center 1/29, Brent Burns scored with 51 seconds in regulation to lift the Aeros to a 3-2 win. Chicago had led 2-0 early in the first period.

SAT, vs. CHI, 7:35 p.m.
Luggage Tag Night (3,000)
Chicago makes its penultimate trip to Toyota Center this season. Did you know? In each of the last three meetings between the teams, the losing team has coughed up a multi-goal lead.

Comeback kids - Saturday’s 5-4 overtime win in Chicago marked the first time the Aeros have rallied from more than two goals down to win since December 21, 2001. In that game, Houston actually trailed Manitoba 4-0 in the first period before rallying for a 6-4 victory. The victory was Houston’s fifth of the season when trailing after two periods - tying the Aeros for third in the AHL. In 2003-04, Houston had zero victories when behind after 40 minutes.

Road success - The Aeros got their 11th road win Saturday in their fourth try, bettering last season’s mark of 10 victories in just their 23rd game away from Toyota Center. Houston sports an 11-8-3-1 road mark this season, the fifth-best mark in the Western Conference.

One second off long-standing team record - Mikko Koivu and Marius Holtet scored seven seconds apart Saturday, one tick off the team record, set by David Oliver and Rob Valicevic November 29, 1997, in a 6-4 loss to Milwaukee. The three goals scored by both teams in a span of 44 seconds tied the team record. Houston’s Scott Arniel and Cincinnati’s Doug MacDonald and Jeff Greenlaw set the mark originally on December 22, 1995.

Movin’ on up - The Aeros are in sole possession of fourth place in the West Division for the first time since January 13. Houston could move into a tie for third with two wins this weekend and some help. The Aeros haven’t held a share of third since December 6.

PK ranked third in AHL - The Aeros entered the All-Star break third in the league on the penalty kill at 88.7 percent, just .1 percent behind league-leading Norfolk and Rochester. Houston has yielded an AHL-low 24 PPG The Aeros led the league at 89.0 percent prior to allowing one goal on four chances Saturday, but not allowing a shot on a five-minute Chicago power play more than made up for the disappointment.

Down on the farm - The CHL’s Austin Ice Bats are 22-20-4, in second place in the Southeast Division, just four points behind Corpus Christi...F Dallas Anderson has 16 points (9-7=16) and 285 PIM’s...Anderson is second in the CHL in PIM’s...The Pensacola Ice Pilots are an ECHL-best 32-11-4 after a franchise-record 10-game winning streak...Head coach Dave Farrish won his 500th game over the weekend...LW Jordan Krestanovich has 40 points (15-25=40)...RW Jason Beckett has 21 points (7-14=21) and is third in the league at plus-21...D Ryan Stokes has 11 points (1-10=11) and 101 PIM’s and is a plus-12...LW Bill Kinkel has four points (3-1=4) and 131 PIM’s in 23 games...ECHL Louisiana is 17-25-4...Currently with the Aeros, LW David Bararuk (14-22=36) is second on the team in scoring while RW Mark Rooneem, reassigned from the Aeros to the IceGators this morning, has 21 points (13-8=21)...D Maxime Fortunus has 17 points (6-11=17)...G Kyle Kettles is 4-6-0 with a 3.61 gaa. and is currently on injured reserve..UHL Quad City is 22-21-8, in fourth place in the West...G Robert Gherson is 9-8-4 with a 2.46 gaa....C Mike Kompon has a team-best 47 points (15-32=47)...Kompon is second among UHL rookies in points and is first in assists.

Aeros pick up five of eight points
HOU 5, UTA 2; GR 3, HOU 1; MIL 2, HOU 1 (OT); HOU 5, CHI 4 (SO)
The Aeros notched five of a possible eight points last week for a .625 winning percentage.
Tuesday: Defensemen Brent Burns and Patrick Traverse each scored a power play goal, leading the Aeros to a 5-2 victory over the Utah Grizzlies in front of 9,062 fans on Chronicle in Education Field Trip Day at Toyota Center. Kirby Law, Kyle Wanvig and Mark Cullen also scored, Stephane Veilleux, Mikko Koivu and Ray Giroux each notched two assists and Josh Harding made 22 saves for Houston.
Wednesday: Darryl Bootland’s second goal of the game snapped a tie with 1:43 left in regulation and Joey MacDonald turned aside 37 shots, as the Grand Rapids Griffins outlasted the Houston Aeros 3-1 at Van Andel Arena. Kip Miller added an empty-net goal for the Griffins, who fired head coach Danton Cole the morning after the game.
Giroux scored a power play goal and tough-luck loser Harding made 22 saves for Houston.
Thursday: Ryan Suter scored 51 seconds into overtime and Brian Finley made 22 saves, as the Milwaukee Admirals defeated the Houston Aeros 2-1 at Bradley Center. Bryan Lundbohm also scored for the Admirals, who avenged a 1-0 loss at Toyota Center February 5.
Harding, starting his third game in three days for the first time in his pro career, continued his stellar play, stopping 29 shots. Law scored the lone Aeros’ goal.
Saturday: Cullen tied the game with 10:06 left in regulation, Houston didn’t allow a shot in the third period, and Junior Lessard scored the deciding goal in the 10th round of the shootout, as the Aeros rallied from three goals down to earn a hard-fought 5-4 decision over the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena in the first of three straight meetings between the teams. The victory snapped Houston’s 11-game winless streak (0-6-3-2) in Chicago, dating back to January 15, 2003.
Harding made 17 saves, plus nine in the shootout, and Koivu and Marius Holtet scored seven seconds apart in the second period for Houston. Todd Reirden scored later in the period for the Aeros, who had to kill off a controversial five-minute power play immediately following Cullen’s goal.

West Standings - The Aeros hit the All-Star break with 52 points, in fourth place in the West but only four points behind third-place Cincinnati. Houston has five games in hand on the Ducks, who host the Aeros for two games February 25-26.
West Division Standings, 2/14
Milwaukee 35-14-2-4=75
Chicago 29-18-4-2=64
Cincinnati 26-23-1-3=56
Houston 23-19-4-2=52
San Antonio 22-28-2-4=50
Grand Rapids 24-23-1-1=50
Utah 13-34-0-3=29

Player of the week D Ray Giroux -
Totaled four points (1-3=4) to lead all Aeros last week...Houston went 2-1-1-0 in four games...Tallied two assists in 5-2 home win over Utah on Tuesday...Scored team’s lone goal in 3-1 loss at Grand Rapids on Wednesday...Notched an assist in 5-4 shootout win in Chicago on Thursday...Second among Aeros defensemen with 18 points (6-12=18)...Since returning 12/29 after missing more than a month with a knee injury, the three-time AHL All Star has compiled 11 points (4-7=11) in 19 games with a plus-four rating.

Giroux this week...
2/8 vs. UTA 0-2=2, +2
2/9 at GR 1-0=1, E
2/10 at MIL 0-0=0, E
2/12 vs. CHI 0-1-1, E
Totals - 4gp, 1-3-4, +2

Aeros’ Practice schedule:
Monday - All-Star Break
Tuesday - All-Star Break
Wednesday - All-Star Break
Thursday - 10-11:30, Sugar Land
Friday - pre-game skate, vs. CHI 7:35
Saturday - pre-game skate, vs. CHI 7:35
Sunday – Off


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