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Aeros, Wolf Pack get early wakeup call

November 1, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know

The Aeros woke up early this morning above the .500 mark for the first times since the final day of the 2002-03 regular season, not counting when they won the 2003-04 season opener. Houston is 4-3-1-0 after eight games. Last season, the Aeros were 3-3-1-0 through seven games before a 2-10-1-2 stretch. Hartford blanked Houston twice last season, with Jason LaBarbera tending the nets in both contests. LaBarbera is 4-1-0 with a 2.10 goals against average in his career versus the Aeros. LaBarbera went 124:48 last season without allowing a goal to Houston, and the shutout streak is at 146:55 dating back to Hnat Domenichelli’s power play goal 1/22/03. LaBarbera is the seventh goalie with at least two shutouts against Houston. Marc Lamothe is the only one with three. The Aeros have won three straight, all by one goal, including two wins in a row to begin a season-long six-game road trip. Houston won back-to-back road games on just two occasions in 2003-04. Today, Houston will go after its first three-game road winning streak since 1/22-1/25/03. Houston’s Rickard Wallin has an assist in four straight games, tying his career-high set 10/18-10/23/02, his first season in Houston. Wallin’s career-best point streak is six games. Wallin’s assist streak is one off Hartford’s Dominic Moore for the current AHL high. Moore has points in six straight overall. Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux enters this morning’s game with 199 AHL points.

Aeros at Wolf Pack (Aeros are 4-3-0-1 overall, Aeros are 2-2-0-0 at Hartford)

The teams meet for the ninth time today - fifth time in Hartford. The Aeros went 0-1-0-1 last season against Hartford, failing to score a goal against Jason LaBarbera in 124:48. In the last meeting, in Houston 1/8/04, Ken Gernander scored the game's lone goal with 12 seconds left in overtime and Jason LaBarbera (31 saves) outdueled Johan Holmqvist (28). Four of the previous eight meetings have resulted in one team being shut out - each team twice. The only other time the Aeros have been shut out in two straight games versus one opponent was when Milwaukee earned 1-0 and 3-0 wins 3/22-3/24/95.

Scouting the Aeros

Pierre-Marc Bouchard (1-6=7) leads the Aeros with seven points through eight games...Mark Cullen (2-4=6) has six points, including his second two-point game Saturday...Houston has 14 players with at least one goal, and none with more than three...Brent Burns (2-3=5) and veteran Ray Giroux (2-2=4) anchor the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 1-3-0 with a 2.67 gaa, while Mike Smith is 3-1-0 with a 3.28 gaa.

Scouting the Wolf Pack

Hartford continues to pour it on in the early season with road wins in Portland and Lowell over the weekend, running its winning streak to start the season to six games...Hartford has given up a league-low seven goals in six games...Reigning AHL Most Valuable Player Jason LaBarbera leads the way in between the pipes...LaBarbera, who owns two career shutouts against Houston, is 4-0-0 with a 1.00 gaa...Dominic Moore has a team-best eight points (2-6=8).

2004-05 meetings (First of 2 meetings, Aeros are 0-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-0-0-0 at Hartford) TODAY: Houston at Hartford March 4: Hartford at Houston

Saturday Night

Pierre-Marc Bouchard's deciding shootout goal lifted the Houston Aeros to a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Road Runners at Rexall Place. Mark Cullen tallied a goal and an assist in a three-goal first period, and Christoph Brandner, Dan Cavanaugh and Ray Giroux also scored for the Aeros, who recovered from losing a three-goal lead to win their third straight. Mike Smith made 29 saves, plus all four in the shootout.

Quick Hits

The Aeros are 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) on the power play over their three-game winning streak. Houston is 4-1-1 when scoring a PPG and 0-2-0 when not. Houston has allowed 12 first-period goals, tying the AHL high entering last night’s action. But the Aeros have scored 10 goals in the opening 20 minutes, just one off the league lead. The Aeros are tied for the league lead with a pair of one-goal road victories. Last season, Houston had 10 road wins and just three against teams above the .500 mark. Already, the Aeros have two wins against a first-place team on the road.

An early wake-up call

This morning’s game is one of six beginning at 2 p.m. or earlier that the Aeros will play this season. Five are on the road. In 2003-04, the Aeros went 1-2-0 in true matinee contests, with the lone win coming at home2/18, a 4-1 decision over Grand Rapids.

What’s on tap

Today the Aeros play game three of a six-game road trip that kicks off a grueling stretch of 13 out of 15 on the road. Five of the six games come versus teams that were in first place when the trek began. The six-game road trip, which continues Wednesday in Worcester, is the longest for the team since an eight-game trip in January and February of 2003. The Aeros will travel a grand total of 7,318 miles before their next home game, 11/7 vs. Syracuse.

Wanvig getting on a roll

Kyle Wanvig, coming off his first career overtime game-winning goal 10/24, notched his second straight game-winner Friday. Wanvig’s 13 career game-winning goals has moved him into a third-place tie with Mark Lamb on the team’s all-time ledgers. Brian Wiseman is up next with 14. Mark Freer is the franchise’s all-time leader in that category with 21. In 2003-04, Wanvig led Houston with seven game-winners, including six in six straight games before New Year’s.

Aeros went winless against Atlantic in 2003-04

The Aeros were a winless 0-2-1-1 versus the Atlantic Division last year, having played both Hartford and Worcester. Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are the only other Atlantic teams the Aeros have played since joining the AHL in 2001-02.

Boogaard in the box

Houston’s Derek Boogaard has a penalty in each of his first seven games, tied for the AHL lead. Boogaard has 31 penalty minutes, third on the team behind John Erskine (39) and Kyle Wanvig (35). In his AHL rookie season in 2003-04, Boogaard had 207 penalty minutes, the most for an Aero since 2000-01.

How the Aeros were built

The Aeros have a franchise record three first-round picks, plus five second-rounders and four third rounders. Kyle Wanvig was drafted twice, once in the second round by Boston and again in the third by Minnesota. All but four of Houston’s players were drafted. Five Aeros have their NHL rights owned by the Dallas Stars - Mike Smith, Junior Lessard, Patrick Traverse, Marius Holtet and John Erskine. Houston had 15 players from Canada on its Opening Night roster, five from the United States and one each from the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Austria. Marius Holtet, a second-round pick by Dallas, is the highest drafted Norwegian player in NHL history.

Aeros have 11 who played in NHL in 2003-04

Eleven Aeros played a total of 250 games in the NHL in 2003-04, and including Patrick Traverse, who has 278 games of NHL experience but none last season, 12 Aeros have 884 games of NHL experience. Another two Aeros - Mike Smith and Erik Reitz - were recalled to Dallas and Minnesota, respectively, last season but didn’t see action in a game.

Aeros/Wolf Pack connections

Hartford defenseman Lawrence Nycholat notched 53 points (14g, 39a) in 138 games over two seasons (2001-02, 2002-03) with Houston. He was traded in March 2003 by the Minnesota Wild to the New York Rangers organization for goalie Johan Holmqvist, who was the playoff MVP during the Aeros' Calder Cup run. Nycholat also played four junior seasons in Swift Current for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan. Nycholat then played for McLellan in IHL Cleveland in 2000-01, and for the Aeros in 2001-02 and 2002-03. This marks Nycholat's second season not playing under McLellan after seven under his tutelage. Nycholat isn't the only Wolf Pack player to play for Todd McLellan. Layne Ulmer spent three seasons getting directions from McLellan in Swift Current from 1997-2000. In addition to being former teammates, Hartford's Lawrence Nycholat and Houston winger Kyle Wanvig both reside in Calgary, Alberta, in the off-season. Hartford's Craig Weller is also from Calgary. Hartford's Jozef Balej was a member of the 2002-03 Hamilton Bulldogs team that lost to Houston in the Calder Cup Finals. Houston's Derek Boogaard and Hartford's Blair Betts were teammates in 1999-2000 with WHL Prince George. Houston's Todd Reirden and Hartford's Trevor Gillies were teammates for part of last season in Springfield. Hartford's Ryan Hollweg and Houston's Chris Heid each hail from Langley, B.C. Heid was on the blueline in front of Hartford netminder Jason LaBarbera in WHL Spokane in 1999-2000. Houston's Ray Giroux and Hartford's Jeff Hamilton were teammates in 1996-97 and 1997-98 at Yale. Hamilton and Giroux were the top two scorers in 1997-98, when Giroux was a Hobey Baker Finalist. Hartford's Jeff MacMillan was with Utah for the past four seasons, where he was at one point teammates with both Houston's Mike Smith and John Erskine. Hartford's Thomas Pock (injured) played one season in his native Austria with countryman Christoph Brandner with Klagenfurt in 1999-2000, when Pock was only 18.

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