Aeros end road trip in Chicago tonight

February 12, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding has gone 3-3-0 with a 1.82 gaa in six starts since returning from a two-month layoff due to a concussion. His record would be better in that span, but the Aeros have scored only four goals in his three losses - two in overtime. Harding is 8-7-1 with a 1.75 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign. He is 8-10-1 overall with a 1.95 gaa - third in the league. His .933 save pct. is tied for fourth. Harding certainly deserves a better fate. In his 16 starts against teams other than Utah, the Aeros have scored just 29 goals (1.81 gpg). The Aeros average 2.81 gpg in support of Mike Smith.
· The Aeros are winless in their last 11 trips to Allstate Arena (0-6-3-2), their longest winless streak in an opposing building. The Aeros' last win in Chicago was a 5-4 overtime affair 1/15/03, and their last regulation win was 4/7/02, a 4-3 victory. The longest active winless streak by an AHL team in a visiting rink is held by Lowell, which is 0-11-1-0 in its last 12 trips to Providence.
· The Aeros, who rank first in the league on the penalty kill at 89.0 percent, haven't allowed more PPG than they've scored since 11/13 at Milwaukee, a span of 32 straight games. Houston allowed more PPG than it scored in three of its first four games this season, but only once since. The Aeros are plus-22 in power-play goal ratio, third in the league. Houston has scored 37.5 percent of its goals with the man advantage, tops in the AHL. The Aeros have killed off 28-of-29 shorthanded chances (96.6 percent) in the last eight games.
· Houston hooks up with Chicago in each of its next three games, with the All-Star break sandwiched in between. This marks the seventh time in the Aeros' four seasons in the AHL that they've played the same team three straight times in the regular season. It happened twice in 2003-04 - Cincinnati and Grand Rapids. Since joining the league in 2001-02, the Aeros are 3-2-1 in game one, 3-2-1 in game two and 2-4-0 in game three when playing a team three straight times. Houston is in the midst of quite the stretch, one in which it plays Milwaukee and Chicago - the top two teams in the division - in nine of 11 games. After next Saturday's game against Chicago, seven straight games are against Utah, San Antonio and Cincinnati.
· Thirteen of the last 23 meetings between Houston and Chicago have gone into overtime, including three of five overall this season and two of three at Allstate Arena.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 30-21-14-4 overall, Aeros are 12-15-6-2 at Chicago)
· Tonight is the 70th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 36th in Chicago.
· Houston is 2-1-2-0 this season against the Wolves, with all three non wins coming at Allstate Arena.
· The Aeros went 1-5-4 against Chicago in 2003-04, including a 1-1-3 home mark and an 0-4-1 record on the road.
· The Aeros have just three wins in the last 16 matchups (3-7-6-0) but have points in nine of those games. Houston has only five wins in the last 21 matchups (5-7-6-3), but it has points in 14 of those games.
· The Wolves have three former Aeros on the roster - Travis Roche and Cory Larose are the top two point-getters in AHL Aeros history, while Greg Hawgood also plays for Chicago.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has points in eight of its last 11 games (5-3-2-1)..Stephane Veilleux (14-18=32) is the Aeros' leading scorer, just ahead of Pierre-Marc Bouchard (8-21=29)...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (8-19=19) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes four players with 13 points or more...Mike Smith is 14-12-1 with a 2.49 gaa, while Josh Harding is 8-10-1 with a 1.95 gaa to rank third in the league.

Scouting the Wolves
Second-place Chicago, the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, avoided a third loss in four games last night with a 5-4 home shootout win over Milwaukee...J.P. Vigier, who spent the entire 2003-04 season in the NHL and was a 10-goal scorer for Atlanta, leads the Wolves with 46 points (18-28=46)...Former Aeros Greg Hawgood (3-30=33) and Travis Roche (9-23=32) pace the blueline...First-half AHL MVP Kari Lehtonen is 23-15-1 with a 2.33 gaa, while Michael Garnett is 6-4-0 with a 2.92 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Sixth of 10 meetings, Aeros are 2-1-2-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-2-0 at Chicago)
October 20: Houston 4 at Chicago 5 (OT)
October 24: Chicago 3 at Houston 4 (OT)
November 24: Houston 0 at Chicago 3
January 29: Chicago 2 at Houston 3
February 2: Houston 2 at Chicago (OT)
Tonight: Houston at Chicago
February 18: Chicago at Houston
February 19: Chicago at Houston
March 9: Houston at Chicago
April 15: Chicago at Houston

Last game
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. Rookie Josh Harding, starting his third game in three days for the first time in his pro career, continued his stellar play, stopping 29 shots, but he dropped his second straight game.

Quick Hits
· Aeros veteran defenseman Todd Reirden is quickly approaching a new milestone. He's played in 698 professional games.
· Tonight the Aeros try for a fourth time to best their 2003-04 road win total of 10 games. Houston is playing just its 23rd road game this season.
· The Aeros have allowed 34 third-period goals, tied for fourth best in the AHL. Houston yielded one on Thursday and is 1-8-2-1 in its last 12 games when allowing a third-period goal.
· In two games against Utah, Houston has scored 10 goals in support of Josh Harding. In the remainder of his 15 starts, the team has scored just 28 times (1.87 gpg).
· Houston's Kyle Wanvig needs one goal for 50 in his Aeros career. He'd tie Cory Larose for 10th place on the team's all-time list. Stephane Veilleux has 48.
· Pierre-Marc Bouchard has nine points (3-6=9) in only four games versus Chicago. He has a hand in nine of the team's 13 goals scored versus the Wolves this season. The Aeros were shut out in the lone game that Bouchard missed in the series.
· Chicago ranks second in the AHL in minor penalties with 422. Houston has only 289, second fewest the league.

Harding back in a big way
· Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding missed 17 games due to a concussion, but he has returned with a vengeance, going 3-3-0 with a 1.82 gaa.
· Harding earned his third shutout in only 15 starts last Saturday, making 34 saves against Milwaukee, which entered the game with the league's second-best offense. No other Aeros rookie goalie had more than one shutout.
· Harding is 8-7-1 with a 1.75 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.
· Harding ranks third in the league in gaa (1.95) and is tied for fourth in save pct. (.933).

Smith establishes franchise mark
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith appeared in 19 straight games - 17 of the appearances starts - from 11/26-1/25. Smith's 19-game run was a new franchise record, eclipsing Frederic Chabot's old mark of 15, set 12/8/99-1/21/00.
· Smith recorded his third shutout of the run and fourth overall 1/19, making 39 saves in a 2-0 win over Edmonton. It marked the third-highest save total for an Aeros goalie in a shutout, trailing only Chabot's 43 and Josh Harding's 40. Smith is one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season.
· Smith is 3-1 in his AHL career in OT and 3-1 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-1-0 with a 2.37 gaa on the road but 8-11-1 with a 2.55 gaa at Toyota Center.

PP unit fifth
· The Aeros are fifth in the league on the power play at 18.3 percent.
· Houston is 3-for-15 on the power play in its last three games after going 0-for-5 in its previous two games.
· In their last 30 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 34-14 on the power play.
· The Aeros are 17-11-3-1 when scoring a PPG and 5-8-1-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 45-23 on the power play.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, but none since Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Chicago is 18th in the league on the penalty kill at 82.6 percent. The Wolves have yielded 56 PPG, tied for the third most in the league.
· The Wolves have allowed a whopping 38 shorthanded chances over the last five games, allowing four goals (89.5 percent kill).

Houston first on PK
· Houston is first in the league on the penalty kill at 89.0 percent.
· Houston has killed off 28-of-29 shorthanded chances in the past eight games (96.6 percent) and 81-of-88 shorthanded chances in the last 20 games (92.0 percent).
· The Aeros have killed off 147-of-161 (91.3 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 37 games.
· Houston is 15-11-2-1 when not allowing a PPG and 7-8-2-1 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for 11th in the AHL with six SHG, all by different players.
· Chicago is eighth in the AHL on the power play at 17.6 percent.
· The Wolves are 5-for-34 (14.7 percent) with the man advantage over their last five games.

Aeros/Wolves connections
· Wolves defenseman Greg Hawgood played two full seasons for the Aeros from 1997-99. Hawgood totaled 145 points (36g, 109a) in 157 games with Houston. Hawgood was John Erskine's teammate in Utah in 2001-02 and 2002-03, and Erskine played alongside Kyle Rossiter in Utah in 2001-02.
· Chicago's Colin Stuart played two seasons with Houston's Mark Cullen at Colorado College.
· Wolves assistant coach Marty Howe won a pair of AVCO Cups with the WHA Houston Aeros in 1974-75.
· Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.
· Houston's Kyle Wanvig and Chicago netminder Michael Garnett played two seasons together at WHL Red Deer, helping the Rebels to a Memorial Cup title over the Aeros' Stephane Veilleux.
· Chicago defenseman Jeff Dwyer and the Aeros' Ray Giroux each went to Yale.
· Chicago's Brad Larsen played for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan for three junior seasons with WHL Swift Current from 1994-1997.
· Houston's Todd Reirden totaled 15 points (3-12=15) in 88 games over two seasons with IHL Chicago from 1995-97.
· Chicago's Kari Lehtonen and Tommi Santala and Houston's Mikko Koivu all hail from Finland.
· Aeros winger Derek Boogaard played two seasons of juniors at Prince George with Chicago's Tim Wedderburn, who spent the 2003-04 season in Utah with Houston's Mike Smith.



American Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2005


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