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Aeros continue road trip in Grand Rapids tonight

November 5, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know

The Aeros have won two straight against the Griffins, and have won three straight against them just once since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons - 3/7-10/24/02.
Grand Rapids goalie Joey MacDonald (two shutouts) joins former teammate Marc Lamothe and Jason LaBarbera as the lone netminders to shut the Aeros out more than one time in AHL play. Lamothe had two of his three blankings since 2001-02, and LaBarbera has three since then. Seven goalies have two or more shutouts versus Houston since 1994-95, and tonight MacDonald will look to join Lamothe and LaBarbara as the lone netminders with three. MacDonald is 5-5-0 with a 2.20 gaa against the Aeros, and his gaa is the fifth-best among AHL netminders versus Houston.
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 eight goals in this crucial time.
Aeros defenseman Ray Giroux enters tonight's game with 199 AHL points.
Each of the teams the Aeros are facing on their six-game road trip are ranked in the top eight of the AHL in goals against per game. The Griffins (1.86) are third.

Griffins at Aeros (Aeros are 20-21-7-0 overall, Aeros are 8-13-2-0 at Grand Rapids)
Tonight is the 49th all-time meeting between the teams - 24th in Grand Rapids
Houston went 5-5-0 against Grand Rapids in 2003-04 and was the only AHL team with five wins against the Griffins.
The Aeros are 5-3-0 in the last eight meetings after a 1-6-0 and 2-7-1 stretch.
The loser in each of the last eight meetings has scored either one goal or has been shut out.
Houston is 14-20-7 against Grand Rapids since starting off with a 6-1-0 mark.
The Aeros have won two straight against the Griffins, and have won three straight against them just once since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons - 3/7-10/24/02.
Since joining the AHL, Houston is 12-14-6 against Grand Rapids, including a 5-9-2 road record.
The Aeros are 2-6-0 in their last eight trips to Grand Rapids, but did win two straight there 11/19-12/12/03.
Houston's 8-13-2 mark in Grand Rapids is its worst in any AHL city.

Scouting the Aeros
Pierre-Marc Bouchard (1-7=8) leads the Aeros with eight points through 10 games...Mark Cullen (2-5=7) has seven 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 1-4-1 with a 2.03 gaa, while Mike Smith is 3-1-0 with a 3.93 gaa.

Scouting the Griffins
Grand Rapids was flying high a week ago, sporting a 5-0-0-0 mark after game one of a franchise-record, nine-game homestand...Since then, the Griffins have dropped two straight one-goal decisions and haven't played since Saturday, a 4-3 loss to San Antonio...Top Red Wings prospects Jiri Hudler (5-5=10) and defenseman Niklas Kronwall (3-7=10) share the Griffins scoring lead, with former Aero Blake Sloan (4-2=6) just off the pace...Hudler and Sloan each have three PPG...Joey MacDonald has played every minute for the Griffins, and he sports a 5-2-0 mark with a 1.84 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (First of 8 meetings, Aeros are 0-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-0-0-0 at Grand Rapids)
TONIGHT: Houston at Grand Rapids
Tomorrow: Houston at Grand Rapids
November 12: Houston at Grand Rapids
January 22: Grand Rapids at Houston
January 23: Grand Rapids at Houston
February 9: Houston at Grand Rapids
March 25: Grand Rapids at Houston
March 27: Grand Rapids at Houston

Wednesday's game
Dennis Wideman, Erkki Rajamaki, Mike Glumac and Peter Sejna each scored in the game's first 13:21, and the red-hot Worcester IceCats held on for a 4-3 victory over the Houston Aeros at Centrum Centre. Jason Bacashihua made 25 saves for Worcester, which has won five straight overall and improved to 4-0-0-0 at home. Stephane Veilleux, Christoph Brandner and Kirby Law all scored second-period goals for Houston, which had points in four straight games (3-0-0-1). Mike Smith stopped three-of-six shots before being replaced by Josh Harding, who finished with 16 saves.

Quite the "trip"
Tonight the Aeros play game No. 5 of a six-game road trip, and the first four games have been against teams with a combined 21 games over the .500 mark. Grand Rapids sits three games over that plateau at 5-2-0-0. Houston returns home after a grand total of 7,318 miles for a Sunday game versus Syracuse. The Aeros are in a stretch of 13 road games out of 15.

Quick Hits
Houston has allowed 16 first-period goals, four more than any other AHL team. But the Aeros have scored 10 goals in the opening 20 minutes, just one off the league lead.
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.
Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has assisted on six of the Aeros' 10 power play goals this season.

Road trip notes
This is the ninth road trip of six or more games in Aeros history, and with a win tonight or tomorrow, Houston is guaranteed to finish above the .500 mark on the trek for just the fourth time.
The previous long road trips with above .500 records were in the 1998-99 and 2002-03 seasons - both championship campaigns. Houston was 6-2-0 on an eight-game road trip and 3-1-3 on a seven-game trip in 1998-99, and 5-1-1-1 in eight games in 2002-03.
The Aeros have been at the .500 mark on two other road trips.

It's all about support
With his 2.03 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 1-4-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 1.80 goals per game when Harding gets the start. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in four of his five starts, and he was the hard-luck loser Wednesday in Worcester when he stopped 16-of-17 shots in relief. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 3.93 gaa, but his record is 3-1-0 largely because Houston scores 3.40 goals per game when he starts.

No way to treat a rookie
Neither of the last two Aeros rookie goalies to record shutouts – Josh Harding and Kyle Kettles – has gotten a victory in the game. Kettles fought Worcester's Reinhard Divis to a scoreless tie 1/9/04, and Harding lost 1-0 in a shootout to reigning AHL MVP Jason LaBarbera Monday.

Getting better as they go
Houston has allowed an AHL-high 16 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 four goals on 100 shots (.960 save percentage). Opponents do have two empty-net goals.

Boogaard in the box
Houston's Derek Boogaard has a penalty in each of his first nine games, the longest streak in the AHL this season.
Boogaard has a team-high 40 penalty minutes.
In his AHL rookie season in 2003-04, Boogaard had 207 penalty minutes, the most for an Aero since 2000-01.
With three more PIM's, Boogaard will be just the 20th player in Aeros history to notch 250 with the team.

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 eight goals in this crucial time.

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/Griffins connections
The Aeros' Stephane Veilleux and Grand Rapids' Danny Groulx played together in 1999-2000 with Victoriaville of the QMJHL.
Houston's Rickard Wallin and the Griffins' Niklas Kronwall both hail from Stockholm, Sweden.
Aeros defenseman Todd Reirden was teammates with Grand Rapids' Bryan Helmer briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the 1999-2000 season.
The Aeros' Josh Harding (38th) and Marius Holtet (42) and the Griffins' Jiri Hudler (58th) were all selected in the second round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard went eighth overall in that draft.
Houston's Kyle Wanvig and Grand Rapids' Derek Meech were teammates for two seasons with WHL Red Deer, including the team's 2001 Memorial Cup championship.
The Griffins' Blake Sloan was an Aero from 1997-99 and 2000-01, totaling 44 points (17-24=44) in 165 games.
Houston defenseman Patrick Traverse played 10 games for Grand Rapids during the Griffins inaugural 1996-97 season.

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