Houston Aeros Playoff Update
Published on April 29, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release
The Houston Aeros pushed their opening-round series to the limit with a do-or-die seventh game and came out victorious Monday night in Peoria. The win sends the Aeros to Milwaukee for the West Division Finals series for Games One and Two before returning to Houston for a potential three games. If necessary the series will return the Milwaukee for Games Six and Seven.
W1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. W3-Houston Aeros
Game 1 - Thu., Apr. 30 - Houston at Milwaukee, 7:00 p.m.
Game 2 - Sat., May 2 - Houston at Milwaukee, 7:00 p.m.
Game 3 - Tue., May 5 - Milwaukee at Houston, 7:05 p.m.
Game 4 - Thu., May 7 - Milwaukee at Houston, 7:05 p.m.
*Game 5 - Fri. or Sat., May 8 or 9 - Milwaukee at Houston, 7:35 p.m.
*Game 6 - Mon., May 11 - Houston at Milwaukee, 7:00 p.m.
*Game 7 - Wed., May 13 - Houston at Milwaukee, 7:00 p.m.
*- If necessary
The post-season meeting will be the clubs' fourth all time, third in Calder Cup Playoff action. Milwaukee has taken two of the three prior playoff matchups including a four-game sweep in the division finals series of the 2006 playoffs. In 2003 the Aeros provided a similar fate for the Admirals but a three-game sweep in a best-of-five series. Milwaukee won the first ever playoff series 3-1 in the second round of the 1998 Turner Cup Playoffs.
In post-season action, Houston is 3-3 with an 18-17 goal advantage on home ice against Milwaukee but slips to a 1-4 record in Milwaukee while being out-scored 12-23. The Aeros finished the 2008-09 regular season with a 3-1-1-1 record against the Admirals outscoring the West Division leaders 15-10. Houston's lone regular-season shutout was against Milwaukee courtesy of Nolan Schaefer, and it was the first in the American Hockey League season back on October 13.
Milwaukee's 107 standings points was tied for the best in the American Hockey League and the club swept through Rockford 4-0 in their opening round series. Houston tallied 87 points in the regular season good for third place in the West Division but took points in five of the six contests against the Admirals.
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Aeros Playoff Multimedia
Throughout the Aeros playoff run AEROS.com will have updated video and audio features along with a behind-the-scenes blog with radio man Joe O'Donnell. Audio and video pieces have featured player and coaches' interviews, previews of each game and much more. Click the multimedia image to view all the multimedia from the first round and current content.The Aeros have also joined Twitter!
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West Division Semifinals Review
The Aeros took the opening round to a full seven games before beating the Peoria Rivermen 5-2 Monday night in Illinois to advance to the West Division Finals. The series marked the second post-season pairing between the clubs with Houston winning both. The first four games went in favor of the team tallying the first goal, Games Five and Six were come-from-behind wins for each team leaving the series tied 3-3. Houston tallied the first two goals in Game Seven and recorded three in the third period to continue the Aeros' playoff run.
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Featured Player
Aeros goaltender Anton Khudobin played in and won his first ever Calder Cup Playoff series against Peoria in the West Division Semifinals in seven games. Khudobin backstopped the club for 416:38 of game time stopping 163 of 180 shots while guiding the club to a 4-3 record. His 2.45 goals against average (GAA) in the series ranks him seventh in the league while his .906 save percentage (SV%) puts him at tenth. En route to the opening round victory, Khudobin earned a shutout in Game Two with 30 saves for the team's second blanking of the season. The Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan native didn't allow back-to-back losses at any point in the series helping the Aeros to an all-time record of 5-1 when a series goes a full seven games.
American Hockey League Stories from April 29, 2009
- Houston Aeros Playoff Update - Houston Aeros
- Admirals, Aeros Begin West Division Finals Thursday - Milwaukee Admirals
- Baines Named Winner Of AHL s Fred T. Hunt Award - AHL
- Griffins/Moose Series Preview - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Early Bird Discount Ends April 30th - Albany River Rats
- Neuvirth Leads Bears To Four-Game Sweep Of Philly - Hershey Bears
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