Aeros can climb into tie for first this afternoon

November 13, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Each of Houston's nine road games has been decided by one goal, tying the franchise record originally set 1/27-3/1/97. The Aeros are 4-3-1-1 in those games, and they have a league-best four wins and 10 points in one-goal road games.
· This afternoon's games features two of the hottest teams in the Western Conference. Milwaukee is the lone AHL team without a regulation loss (8-0-1-1), and the Admirals are 15-0-2 dating back to last season's playoffs. Houston, meanwhile, has just two regulation losses in its last nine games (6-2-0-1).
· Milwaukee netminder Brian Finley owns more wins against the Aeros than any active AHL netminder. Finley is 8-3-1 with a 2.43 gaa versus Houston, including a stellar 7-1-0 mark in 2003-04.
· With a regulation win today, Houston would be tied for first in the West for the first time since the final day of the 2002-03 season.
· Milwaukee's Simon Gamache has 23 points (12-11=23) in 20 career games versus the Aeros. He enjoys the entire state of Texas, as he has totaled 21 points (13-8=21) in 20 games against San Antonio, giving him 44 points (25-14=44) in 40 games against Texas teams.

Aeros at Admirals (Aeros are 26-27-6-1 overall, Aeros are 12-15-2-0 at Milwaukee)
· The teams meet for the 61st time today - 30th in Milwaukee.
· Milwaukee is the only active AHL team that the Aeros have an overall losing record against.
· Houston went 1-7-1-1 against Milwaukee in 2003-04, including an 0-4-0-1 home mark and a 1-3-1-0 road record. The Admirals outscored the Aeros 36-19 over the last nine games.
· The Aeros are winless in the last nine meetings (0-7-1-1) and last beat the Admirals 10/17/03, when they earned a 5-1 win at Bradley Center.
· Houston's nine-game winless streak against Milwaukee is its longest active skid against any opponent.
· The Aeros are winless (0-3-1-0) in the last four meetings at Bradley Center, last winning there 10/17/03. Despite the recent speed bump, the Aeros are 11-5-1-0 in their last 17 trips to Milwaukee after a 1-10-1-0 start there.
· The Aeros haven't scored more than three goals in any of the last nine meetings.
· Since the teams joined the American Hockey League prior to the 2001-02 season, Houston has a 15-14-2-1 mark versus Milwaukee.

Scouting the Aeros Pierre-Marc Bouchard (3-7=10) leads the Aeros with 10 points through 14 games, including his team's only two-goal game of the season 11/5 at Grand Rapids...Mark Cullen (2-7=9) has nine points...Houston has 16 players with at least one goal, and only Stephane Veilleux (four) has more than three...Twenty-year-old Brent Burns (2-5=7) and veteran Ray Giroux (2-5=7) anchor the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 3-5-1 with a 1.80 gaa, while Mike Smith is 4-1-0 with a 3.11 gaa.

Scouting the Admirals Milwaukee is the hottest team in the Western Conference and has yet to lose a game in regulation (8-0-1-1) after a 2-1 shootout loss at San Antonio Thursday...The loss snapped a five-game winning streak...The defending Calder Cup champs are rolling along offensively, averaging 3.30 gpg (fourth in AHL) behind the likes of Simon Gamache (6-5=11) and Timofei Shishkanov (4-5=9)...Like Houston, Milwaukee has two players who spent the entire 2003-04 season in the NHL - defenseman Dan Hamhuis (1-6=7) and right winger Jordin Tootoo (1-0=1, 33 PIM's)...Brian Finley is 7-1-1 between the pipes with a 1.74 gaa...Seamus Kotyk is 1-0-0 with a 2.99 gaa...The Admirals (5-0-0-0 at home) join Philadelphia and Manchester as teams who have won all their home games.

2004-05 meetings (First of 10 meetings, Aeros are 0-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-0-0-0 at Milwaukee) TODAY: Houston at Milwaukee December 29: Milwaukee at Houston January 8: Houston at Milwaukee January 11: Milwaukee at Houston January 25: Milwaukee at Houston February 4: Milwaukee at Houston February 5: Milwaukee at Houston February 10: Houston at Milwaukee March 10: Houston at Milwaukee April 5: Houston at Milwaukee

Friday's game Joey MacDonald made 13 of his 23 saves in the third period for his third career shutout versus Houston, and he and the Grand Rapids Griffins outdueled rookie Josh Harding and the Aeros 1-0 at Van Andel Arena. Darryl Bootland scored the lone goal 7:23 into the game for Grand Rapids, which snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1-0)...Harding stopped 18 shots, just missing his second straight shutout of the Griffins. Harding and the Aeros bested MacDonald 1-0 last Saturday in Grand Rapids. The Aeros rookie lowered his goals against average to 1.80.

Aeros can't shake 1-0 habit
· Houston has played three 1-0 games in its last six outings. The Aeros are 1-1-0-1 in those games.
· All three 1-0 games have been on the road. Houston has lost at least a pair of 1-0 road games in a season just twice in team history, most recently in 2000-01.
· The Aeros are 5-8-1 all-time in 1-0 games.

Quick Hits
· Houston has allowed an AHL-high 17 first-period goals. The Admirals, meanwhile, have outscored their opponents 11-2 in the first period and haven't yielded a first-period goal since 10/16 vs. Rochester. In the 2003-04 season series, Milwaukee outscored Houston 12-4 in the opening period.
· Houston has allowed only one goal in its last three games, and in each of those games one of the two teams has been shut out.
· Aeros defenseman Brent Burns had his four-game assist streak snapped last night.
· Houston is 5-3-1-1 in one-goal games, tied with three other teams for the most one-goal wins. In 2003-04, the Aeros were 8-6-0-4 in such games.
· The Aeros haven't lost a game in which they've had a lead.
· Houston is 5-1-0-0 when playing the second or third game of back-to-back situations. Last season, the Aeros were 11-13-6-2 in those situations, including a 2-4-2 mark when playing the third game in three nights.
· Aeros winger Kyle Wanvig, who was the team's leading scorer last season, has no points in his last seven games.
· Houston has scored one or fewer goals in three of its last five road games.

Mikko is back Aeros centerman Mikko Koivu returned last night after a 12-game absence due to an appendectomy. Koivu was minus-one with 12 PIM's in Houston's 1-0 loss in Grand Rapids. Koivu scored a goal in his first game with the Aeros, 10/15 in San Antonio, but underwent surgery three days later.

An early wake-up call
· Today's game is the second of six beginning at 2 p.m. or earlier that the Aeros will play this season. Five are on the road. Houston dropped a 1-0 shootout decision in Hartford 11/1.
· In 2003-04, the Aeros went 1-2-0 in true matinee contests, with the lone win coming at home 2/18, a 4-1 decision over Grand Rapids.

It's not "Hard" to figure out his talent with these stats
· Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding made 40 saves last Saturday for his second shutout in three starts. He joined Frederic Chabot as the lone Aeros goalies with 1-0 road wins, and his 40 saves trail only Chabot's 43 on 2/15/97, versus Long Beach for most in a shutout.
· Since falling to 0-3-0 October 23, the 20-year-old Harding is 3-2-1 with a 1.18 gaa. He has two losses in that stretch - each when he allowed just one goal.
· Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Marc-Andre Fleury, has lowered his goals against average to 1.80, ninth best in the AHL. Harding is the first Aeros rookie netminder with two shutouts.
· Only Philadelphia Flyers goalie Robert Esche had two shutouts with the Aeros prior to 11/6. Esche had two shutouts by 11/4.
· Harding has stopped an eye-popping 88-of-91 shots in the third period for a .967 save percentage.

Smith is no slouch either
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith improved to 4-1-0 on the young season with a 32-save shutout of Syracuse on Sunday.
· Smith has won three straight decisions and hasn't lost since 10/22 vs. Cleveland.
· Smith, who spent the past two seasons with an offensively-challenged Utah team, has evened his career AHL mark at 17-17-0.

Aeros 0-for on PP in last three games
· Houston, which is 13th on the power play at 14.9 percent, is 0-for-13 on the power play over its last three games, the first time all season the Aeros have gome more than one game without scoring a PPG.
· The Aeros are 5-2-1-0 when scoring a PPG and 2-3-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has a hand in seven of the Aeros' 11 PPG's this season. He has also been on the ice for five of the last six PPG.
· Milwaukee is the top penalty kill team in the league at 95.7 percent, but the Admirals have given up all three of their man-advantage goals at home.
· The Admirals have killed off their last 27 shorthanded chances dating back to 10/30 vs. Utah.

PK perfect over last four games
· The Aeros have killed off each of their last 22 shorthanded chances, moving to 87.0 percent, ninth in the AHL.
· Houston is 4-3-0-1 when not allowing a PPG and 3-2-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· Milwaukee is ranked 10th in the league on the power play at 16.7 percent.
· After scoring a PPG in four straight games, the Admirals went 0-for-4 in San Antonio Thursday.
· The Admirals scored eight PPG last season in 56 chances (14.3 percent) against Houston, with Timofei Shishkanov, Tony Hrkac and Simon Gamache each scoring twice.

What's on tap
· The Aeros return to Toyota Center tomorrow for a 5:05 p.m. game against the Edmonton Road Runners and Joe Cullen, brother of Mark Cullen.
· After tomorrow, Houston takes off in its second long road trip of the month - this one a five-game trek through Cleveland (twice), Syracuse, Rochester and Chicago.
· The Aeros are in a stretch of 13 road games out of 15 before an eight-game homestand beginning 11/26.

Fine work on the road
· Each of Houston's nine road games has been decided by one goal, tying the franchise record originally set 1/27-3/1/97. The Aeros are 4-3-1-1 in those games, and they have a league-best four wins and 10 points in one-goal road games.
· The Aeros (4-3-1-1 on the road) have 10 points away from home, tops in the West Division l Houston had its two-game road winning streak snapped last night. The Aeros haven't won three straight on the road since 1/22-1/25/03.
· The Aeros were 3-4-1-1 last season through their first nine road games.

Toyota Center is home, but Aeros may not recognize it
· The Aeros, who are in a stretch of 13 games out of 15 on the road, are 3-2-0-0 on home ice, but they have won two straight since a 1-2-0-0 start.
· Houston is 3-0-0-0 when scoring first at home, but they dropped both games to Cleveland when the Barons scored first.
· The Aeros open up an eight-game homestand 11/26 versus Utah.

It's all about support With his 1.80 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 3-5-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 1.75 goals per game when Harding gets the start. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in six of his eight starts, and Houston has been shut out in each of his last two starting losses. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 3.11 gaa, but his record is 4-1-0 largely because Houston scores 3.33 goals per game when he starts. Smith isn't complaining about the support. In his 16 losses over two seasons with Utah, the Grizzlies scored 25 goals for him.

Getting better as they go Houston has allowed an AHL-high 17 first-period goals this season, but the goalies get downright stingy after that, especially in the final 20 minutes. In the third period, Aeros goalies have allowed only five goals on 140 shots (.964 save percentage). Opponents do have two empty-net goals. Houston's save percentage increases from .879 in the first period to .917 in the second and .964 in the third.

First and last two minutes are crucial Houston has scored just one goal in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, when John Erskine potted a goal at 18:13 of the second period 10/20 at Chicago. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have nine goals in this crucial time.

Attendance update Houston is averaging 5,006 fans per game through five home games, a 12.6 percent increase over the same span in 2003-04, when the Aeros increased their average attendance for the first time in team history.

Aeros/Admirals connections
· Houston's Stephane Veilleux and the Admirals' Simon Gamache were two of the leading scorers for QMJHL Val d'Or from 1999-2001.
· Houston defenseman Erik Reitz played two seasons (1999-2001) with Milwaukee goalie Brian Finley at OHL Barrie.
· Milwaukee's Dan Hamhuis and Houston's Derek Boogaard were teammates for two seasons with WHL Prince George in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
· Houston's Junior Lessard (2004) and Milwaukee's Tony Hrkac (1987) each won the Hobey Baker Award for being college hockey's top player, albeit 17 years apart. Hrkac and Houston's Todd Reirden were teammates with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2001-02.
· Milwaukee's Mike Matteucci was Houston's captain during the 2001-02 season. Matteucci also played for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan in 2000-01 in IHL Cleveland.
· Milwaukee's Cam Severson played parts of two junior seasons for Houston head coach Todd McLellan in Swift Current. Severson was also teammates with Houston's Todd Reirden for the past two seasons in Cincinnati.
· Houston's captain Kirby Law was teammates with Milwaukee's Brad Tiley from 2000-2003 at AHL Philadelphia.
· Milwaukee's Jeremy Yablonski and Houston's Kyle Wanvig were junior teammates in WHL Kootenay in 1998-99.



American Hockey League Stories from November 13, 2004


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