Aeros Game Day

Published on February 3, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


A reminder that tonight's game is Internet only and can be heard via www.aeros.com beginning at 7 p.m. Check the website throughout the game for period-by-period recaps.

Houston Aeros vs. Utah Grizzlies, 2/3

Grizzlies at Aeros (Aeros lead series 42-37-3-1 overall, lead 20-15-2-1 at Houston)

Tonight marks the 84th all-time meeting between Houston and the Utah franchise, including its play in Denver in 1994-95, and the 39th home meeting. The 84 meetings are the most between the Aeros and an opponent.

This is the sixth of 10 meetings this season – Houston is 2-3-0-0 in first five, and the home team has won just two of the five meetings this season.

In the last meeting, Jason Marshall scored on the power play with 0.8 seconds left in the second period and Kyle Kettles made 26 saves in a 2-1 win at E Center December 23.

The Aeros are 2-4-0 in the last six meetings with the Grizzlies after a 9-2-0 stretch.

Since moving to the AHL, Houston is 14-11-2-1 versus Utah, including a 6-4-1-1 mark at home.

The Aeros are 19-12-1-1 overall in the last 33 meetings.

Houston has scored only 11 goals in the last six meetings with Utah (1.83 goals per game).

The teams meet again Thursday, before Houston makes its final trip of 2003-04 to Utah on February 22.

2003-04 meetings (Sixth of 10 meetings, Aeros 2-3-0-0 overall, 0-1-0-0 at Houston)

October 26: Utah 2 at Houston 1

November 7: Houston 1 at Utah 6

November 8: Houston 4 at Utah 3

December 3: Houston 1 at Utah 3

December 23: Houston 2 at Utah 1

Tonight: Utah at Houston

Thursday: Utah at Houston

February 22: Houston at Utah

March 6: Utah at Houston

March 23: Utah at Houston

Last game – Pat Kavanagh scored two goals in a four-score Manitoba first period and Fedor Fedorov also tallied twice, leading the Moose to a 7-2 victory over the Houston Aeros at Winnipeg Arena Saturday. Jason King, Mikko Jokela and Justin Morrison also scored and Alex Auld made 28 saves for Manitoba, which improved to 2-5-1-1 in its last nine and salvaged a split of the two-game weekend series with the Aeros. Jeff Hoggan and Darby Hendrickson each scored a power-play goal for the Aeros, who fell to 2-7-7-1 in their last 17. Kyle Kettles surrendered three goals on seven shots in the opening 8:48 before being replaced by Johan Holmqvist.

Scouting the Aeros – Tonight the Aeros look to start February off better than January, when they went 2-7-4-1. Houston is beginning a stretch of 20 consecutive games against the West Division, including all 15 in February. The Aeros have two wins in their last 17 games (2-7-7-1). The Aeros' leading scorer is Stephane Veilleux (9+17=26), who is two points ahead of each Kyle Wanvig (16+8=24) and Dan Cavanaugh (9+15=24). Wanvig's 16 goals are five more than any teammate (Jeff Hoggan has 11). Erik Reitz (3+17=20), who has four assists in the last two games, and Travis Roche (4+16=20), who has a goal and four assists in the last five games, pace the blueline corps with 20 points apiece. Aeros captain Jason Marshall (5+10=15) and his 15 points are currently in Minnesota. Houston's leading rookie scorer is Mika Hannula (7+10=17) with 17 points. Last year's Calder Cup Most Valuable Player, goalie Johan Holmqvist, has started 38 of the team's first 49 games, going 14-18-5 with a 2.73 goals against average. Holmqvist is 2-5-3 in his last 10 decisions, and the Aeros have two wins in his last 12 appearances. His backup is second-year netminder Kyle Kettles, who is 2-5-4 with a 2.44 goals against average. Saturday in Manitoba, Kettles had his six-start unbeaten streak (2-0-4) snapped, allowing three goals on seven shots. Kettles had stopped 145 of 151 shots (96.0 percent) in his unbeaten streak. Kettles, who is now winless in five straight starts (0-1-4), has just 12 goals of support in 10 starts this season.

Scouting the Grizzlies – Utah has lost six of seven to make this two-game series with the Aeros monumental for the Grizzlies' playoff hopes. Utah has 37 points, seven behind both Cincinnati and Houston, currently tied for fourth place. The top five teams in each division qualify for the playoffs. The Grizzlies have two or fewer goals in nine straight games, including a 5-2 home loss to Grand Rapids on Saturday, a night after a 1-0 shutout of the Griffins. Saturday against Grand Rapids, leading scorer Jarrod Skalde paced the Grizzlies with a goal and an assist, while Mike Smith made 12 saves over two periods before being pulled, one game after being in net for the shutout of Grand Rapids. Skalde is by far the Grizzlies' leading scorer with 39 points (18+21=39), more than twice as many points as Utah's next best scorer, David Gove (8+10=18). Skalde has a hand in 39 of the Grizzlies' 91 goals (42.9 percent), and he also has six of his team's 12 goals in the last 10 games. The Grizzlies' third-leading scorer, former Aero David Oliver (5+12=17), has been up in Dallas for the last month. Utah's leading active defenseman is Dan Jancevski (3+12=15), who will represent Utah at the All-Star Game next week. Tim Wedderburn (0+8=8) is the only other Grizzlies' blueliner with more than six points. Mike Smith just returned to Utah from a call-up to Dallas, where he spent most of the past month backing up Marty Turco. Smith, who returned to shut out Grand Rapids 1-0, is 8-10-0 with a 2.87 goals against average. Dan Ellis is 1-4-0 with a 2.05 goals against average, losing four straight decisions since a shutout in his first AHL game. Ellis was grand in making 40 stops in a 2-1 loss against the Aeros December 23, but is 0-4-0 since.

Aeros/Grizzlies connections

Utah's Rob Valicevic was an Aero for three seasons, from 1996-1999. Valicevic totaled 129 points (56g, 73a) in 187 games with the team.

Houston's Chris Bala and Utah's David Gove played together in 2001-02 in Grand Rapids.

Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist played with Utah's Barrett Heisten in 2001-02 in Hartford.

Houston enforcer Derek Boogaard and Utah's Tim Wedderburn were teammates for two seasons, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 in WHL Prince George.

Utah's Brett Draney played with Houston's Kyle Kettles in Medicine Hat for the 2000-01 season, plus five games in the 2001-02 campaign before Kettles was traded to Moose Jaw.

Houston's Kyle Wanvig and Utah's Regan Darby were teammates in WHL Red Deer in 1998-99.

Grizzlies goalie Dan Ellis played with Houston's Jeff Hoggan at Nebraska-Omaha.

Houston's Michael Schutte played with Utah's Barrett Heisten at the University of Maine in 1999-2000.

Utah's Nick Naumenko was Jan Vodrazka's teammate in Kansas City in 1999-2000. Naumenko also played for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan in Cleveland in 2000-01. Naumenko and Travis Roche both went to the University of North Dakota, but not together.

Aeros, Ducks tied for fourth – Houston has 44 points, tied with Cincinnati for fourth place in the West Division. The teams hold a four-point edge on sixth-place San Antonio, which has an important six games in hand on Houston. Cincinnati is at Grand Rapids tomorrow, then plays host to Utah on Friday before hosting Grand Rapids on Saturday. San Antonio, meanwhile, is in Chicago tomorrow before traveling to Norfolk Friday and Saturday. Houston's highest position this season was tied for third on December 28-29.

Aeros 2-7-7-1 in last 17 – Houston has two win in its last 17 games (2-7-7-1) but also only eight regulation losses in the last 27 games (11-8-7-1). The Aeros snapped a franchise-record 13-game winless streak (0-5-7-1) January 24.

Houston hasn't won back-to-back games since a three-game winning streak from December 20-26.

The Aeros' 13-game winless streak (0-5-7-1) was five more than their previous franchise record eight-game streak (0-6-1-1), November 20-December 3 of this season.

Houston's 13-game winless streak was the longest in the AHL this season and was the longest in the league since Cleveland was winless in 13 straight from last March 15 through the end of the season.

Houston ran off a season-high seven straight games without a loss (3-0-4) December 20-January 2, including four straight ties December 27-January 2.

The Aeros' six-game winning streak December 5-17 was tied for the second-longest in the AHL this season.

In the season's first 20 games, Houston allowed a league-worst 3.36 goals per game. In the next 28 games, the Aeros yielded just 2.00 goals per game, prior to a 7-2 loss at Manitoba on Saturday. The defensive streak has helped Houston move out of the basement to 2.80 goals against per game, tied for 20th in the AHL.

‘O' starting to heat up –

Houston's has scored 15 goals in its last five games (3.00 average).

The Aeros have scored just 44 goals in 21 games (2.10 goals per game) since beating Norfolk 5-3 December 17.

Houston has been held to two goals or fewer in 15 of the last 21 games, including a scoreless streak of 178 minutes, 52 seconds that included back-to-back shutouts January 8-9.

In the last 11 contests, the Aeros are averaging 2.00 goals per game.

Offensively, the Aeros are 21st in the AHL at 2.31 goals per game.

Houston has scored one goal or fewer in 14 of its 48 games this season (25.0 percent) and two goals or less in 31 of 48 games (64.6 percent).

Grizzlies struggling offensively as well –

Utah has scored two or fewer goals in nine straight games, including two shutouts and four games with just one goal. The Grizzlies, who are 2-7-0-0 in that stretch, last scored three or more goals in a 4-1 win at Milwaukee January 10.

In their last five wins, the Grizzlies have allowed just two goals, including three shutouts. Utah is ranked 28th and last in the AHL in offense at 1.90 goals per game. The Grizzlies are on pace to score just 152 goals this season, which would be a new AHL 80-game season record. Albany scored 172 in the 2001-02 season.

Shooting gallery – Houston enters tonight's game second in the AHL with 33.45 shots per game, although the Aeros have been outshot in two straight games after having the shooting edge in nine straight contests. Utah ranks 25th in shots (26.48 per game), and 19th in shots against (30.79).

Seven straight regulation games an irregularity – The Aeros haven't gone to overtime in any of their past seven games, which is a story because from December 27-January 17, eight of 10 games went into the extra session. The Aeros, winless at 0-3-9 in overtime, are one of just two AHL teams without an extra session win. Utah is the other, with an 0-3-4 mark. The Aeros went 8-3-7 in overtime last season, second in the league in extra session wins (Chicago, 11). Houston's 12 overtime games this season are still not even halfway to the franchise record of 26 shootout games in the 1998-99 season. The AHL record for overtime games is also 26, set in 2001-02 by both Albany and Rochester. The Aeros' nine ties are still nine short of the AHL/overtime era record, set in 1997-98 by St. John's. New Haven played to 20 ties in 1972-73, but that was before the AHL played overtime periods. Hershey leads the AHL this season with 17 extra session games (6-3-8), while Providence's 10 ties are tops in the circuit.

Holmqvist 2-5-3 in last 10 – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist is 2-5-3 in his last 10 decisions. Holmqvist was the 2003 Butterfield Trophy winner as the playoff Most Valuable Player.

From December 28-January 21, Holmqvist went 0-4-3 with a no decision and a 3.01 goals against average. His seven-decision winless streak was one more than his season-high, an 0-5-1 run from November 20-December 3, and one shy of his career-worst eight-game winless streak, an 0-5-3 span from December 6, 2002, to January 3, 2003.

Holmqvist went 6-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average and a .963 save percentage during a six-game winning streak December 5-17. The six-game winning streak set a new career-high.

The Aeros' netminder had a shutout streak of 189 minutes, seven seconds snapped December 17, just missing Frederic Chabot's 1996 team record mark of 193 minutes, 37 seconds.

In his 14 wins this season, Holmqvist is allowing 1.07 goals per game and sports a .960 save percentage. In his 25 non-wins, Holmqvist sports a 3.70 goals against average and a .870 save percentage. Holmqvist and the Aeros have just two wins this season when yielding more than one goal.

Kettles' unbeaten streak snapped –

Rookie goalie Kyle Kettles was 2-0-4 with a 0.95 goals against average and a 96.0 save percentage in six starts from December 23-January 17, dropping his goals against average from 3.65 to 2.19.

Kettles is now winless in five straight starts (0-1-4) and six appearances (0-2-4) since his last win, a 26-save effort in a 2-1 win over Utah December 23.

The netminder picked up his first AHL shutout by making 20 saves in a January 9 game versus Worcester. Unfortunately for Kettles, his team didn't score either and he had to settle for a tie.

The Aeros have scored just 12 goals in Kettles' 10 starts this season.

Holmqvist 3-2-1 against Grizzlies – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist is 3-2-1 with a sparkling 1.65 goals against average and a shutout in six career games versus Utah. This season, he is 1-2-0 with a 2.04 goals against average against the Grizzlies. Kyle Kettles has split two games with the Grizzlies this season, impressively making 26 saves in a 2-1 Aeros' win in Utah on December 23.

Smith 2-1-0 vs. Aeros – Utah goalie Mike Smith is 2-1-0 with a 1.89 goals against average and a .945 save percentage in four career starts versus the Aeros. He picked up a no decision November 8. Smith had a career-outing versus Houston on October 26 at Toyota Center, making 49 saves in a 2-1 Grizzlies victory. That game was Utah's only trip to Houston so far this season. Dan Ellis lost his lone start against the Aeros, making 40 saves in a 2-1 loss December 23.

Penalty kill update –

Houston killed off its first 31 shorthanded chances this season. Since then, opponents are 29-for-196 (14.8 percent) on the power play.

The Aeros' overall 87.1 percent penalty kill rate (196-225) ranks 11th in the AHL, after spending much of season in the top 10.

Houston has allowed at least one power-play goal in three straight games for the second time this season.

The Aeros have yielded nine power-play goals in 45 chances (80.0 kill rate) in the last nine games.

Houston is winless (0-7-1-0) when yielding two or more PPG.

The Aeros have yielded no power play goals in 29 of their 49 games, and have points in all but eight of those games (10-8-8-3).

Utah is 3-for-18 on the power play (16.7 percent) versus the Aeros this season. Jarrod Skalde, Jeff MacMillan and Andrew Berenzweig have the man-advantage goals for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies rank 27th in the AHL on the power play at 10.9 percent.

Utah is 1-for-10 on the power play over its last three games and 2-for-21 in the last six.

Power play update –

Houston enters tonight's game 34 of 291 on the power play (11.7 percent), up to 24th among 28 AHL teams.

The Aeros have gone 22-for-148 (14.9 percent) since Matt Foy snapped a streak of 37 straight unsuccessful power plays December 5, raising their percentage from 8.3 to 11.7.

Houston is 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) on the power play over its last two games, after a stretch of 1-for-32 the previous six games.

Houston's 291 power plays are the most in the AHL. In order to put the Aeros' power-play totals in perspective, realize that they have an astounding 120 more power plays than in-state rival San Antonio, which has the fewest in the league.

The Aeros have just four wins in 23 games (4-12-6-1) when not scoring a power-play goal.

Houston is just 3-for-34 on the power play (8.8 percent) against the Grizzlies this season. The three power-play tallies were scored by Jason Marshall, Erik Reitz and Matt Foy.

The Grizzlies are fourth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 88.5 percent. In the last three games, though, opponents have scored on 4-of-16 chances (25.0 percent).

Houston has two wins when allowing more than one goal - The Aeros are an unbeaten in regulation 14-0-3-1 when allowing one goal or fewer this season, and December 17 and January 30 were their only wins (2-21-6-2) when yielding two or more.

Aeros have first goal in 16 of 25 games – Houston has scored first in 16 of its last 25 games, but in only four of the last 11 games. Houston is 8-3-5-0 in the last 16 when scoring first and 13-4-5-1 overall when scoring first. January 16 marked the Aeros' only home loss when scoring first (5-1-3-0).

But when not scoring first... - The Aeros are 3-17-3-2 when allowing the game's first goal, including a winless 0-10-2-0 mark on the road. By rallying for a 1-1 tie January 17 in San Antonio, Houston picked up just its second road point when allowing the first goal. Utah, meanwhile, is 0-19-0-0 when trailing after two periods – the only team in the AHL without at least one point when doing so.

Hoggan, Veilleux ironmen – Houston sports just two players who have played in each of the team's first 49 games – Stephane Veilleux and Jeff Hoggan. Veilleux's consecutive game streak is at 55 games dating back to last season, while Hoggan has played in 52 straight games.

Hendrickson closes in on 200 points, 100 goals and assists – Aeros centerman Darby Hendrickson has 196 points (98g, 98a) in his 614-game pro career. Hendrickson is two goals and two assists shy of 100 in his pro career in both those categories. Hendrickson played in his 100th AHL game December 27. He has 71 points (34g, 37a) in 116 career AHL contests. Hendrickson, who spent eight full seasons in the NHL, played in his 600th pro game December 30.

All Mitchell does is score power play goals; also has team-best five-game assist streak –

Defenseman Kevin Mitchell's first goal in an Aeros uniform came January 24 on the power play, but that shouldn't be a surprise. In his three-year pro career, including ECHL totals, Mitchell has 19 goals - and an eye-popping 15 have come on the power play. Each of Mitchell's four AHL goals have been on the power play. Mitchell's last non power play goal came 14 months ago - on December 7, 2002, with ECHL Louisiana against Arkansas.

Last season with the IceGators, Mitchell had 23 of his 34 points on the power play. With the Aeros, five of his nine points have come on the power play.

Mitchell has points in five straight games (1g, 5a) for the first time in his AHL career, and that is one off the team season-high set by Dan Cavanaugh.

Mitchell's five-game assist streak is an Aeros season-high by two games.

Roche gets 100, twice - Houston defenseman Travis Roche has two goals and 10 assists in the last 14 games, and he reached a pair of milestones January 24. Roche's assist on Kevin Mitchell's 5-on-3 game-winning goal in the second period was his 100th point as a pro, while his helper on Kyle Wanvig's third-period goal was his 100th point as an Aero. Roche has 103 points (31g, 72a) in 170 pro games, while he has 102 points (31g, 71a) in 160 Aeros games. Roche has one assist in 10 career games with the Minnesota Wild.

Cavosie betters rookie season numbers - Marc Cavosie has already bettered last season's five-goal total. His 20 points (6+14=20) are also one better than last season's rookie total, and his 14 assists are tied with that mark. Cavosie has a goal and five assists in the last nine games and he has three multi-point games, one better than his total from last season.

Reitz sets new personal-best, too - Second-year defenseman Erik Reitz posted two assists Friday and Saturday in Manitoba. Reitz' 20 points (3+17=20) are one better than last season's rookie total of 19 (6+13=19). Reitz has 17 helpers this season, already four better than last season's rookie mark. Reitz has seven points (1+6=7) in his last nine games, including a trio of multi-point contests. Reitz and Travis Roche (4+16=20) are tied for the team lead in scoring among defensemen.

Houston hits 50-game mark tonight – The Aeros passed the official midway point of the season with a 14-15-8-3 mark and now sport a 16-21-9-3 record. Below is a breakdown of Houston's season so far in 10-game segments.

Games 1-10 3-6-1-0, 7 points GF: 23 GA: 33 PP: 6-62 (9.7%) PK: 37-40 (92.5%)

Games 11-20 2-5-1-2, 7 points GF: 26 GA: 35 PP: 6-60 (10.0%) PK: 51-60 (85.0%)

Games 21-30 7-3-0-0, 14 points GF: 24 GA: 17 PP: 8-69 (11.6%) PK: 43-47 (91.5%)

Games 31-40 2-1-6-1, 11 points GF: 18 GA: 19 PP: 7-49 (14.3%) PK: 29-33 (87.9%)

Games 41-49 2-6-1-0, 5 points GF: 22 GA: 33 PP: 7-52 (13.5%) PK: 36-45 (80.0%)

West to be won or lost in February – Tonight, the Aeros begin a stretch of 20-consecutive games against the Western Division, including all 15 February games. The next nine games after Thursday will be against the top three teams in the division, Grand Rapids, Chicago and Milwaukee. Houston, which has already wrapped up its home schedule against everybody but the West, is 10-14-6-2 against its division. The Aeros have three non division games left, from March 17-21 (one against Worcester, two versus Norfolk).

Houston's home winless streak over –It's been feast or famine at home for the Aeros, who recently had a nine-game unbeaten Toyota Center streak (6-0-3-0) and an 11-game home points streak (6-0-4-1) snapped.

The Aeros' 4-1 win over Syracuse January 24 snapped a season-high six-game home winless streak (0-1-4-1), the second longest AHL streak this season.

The Aeros went 29 days between home wins December 26 and January 24.

Houston's nine-game home unbeaten streak, snapped January 8 in a 1-0 overtime loss to Hartford, was the second longest in the AHL this season, trailing only Bridgeport's 10-game run from October 25-December 17.

Houston started off its first season in Toyota Center just 2-6-1-1 but has improved to 9-8-5-2 at its new home. In the last 15 Toyota Center games, the Aeros have just two regulation losses and are 7-2-4-1.

Aeros snap franchise-record seven-game winless streak –

Houston's win Friday night snapped a franchise-record seven-game road winless streak (0-4-3-0), which was one more than its previous season-high and franchise record-tying, 0-4-1-1 run from November 20-December 3.

The Aeros went from December 23 to January 30 between road wins. Houston is now 7-13-4-1 on the road this season.

Handful of Grizzlies have made living against Aeros - Jarrod Skalde has 33 points (11+22=33), including four power-play goals, in 36 games against the Aeros. Nick Naumenko has 10 points (5+5=10) in 21 games, with each of his five goals coming on the power play. David Gove, meanwhile, has seen two of his seven goals (7+3=10) credited as game-winners in 18 games against Houston.

Quick hits

The Aeros have just two wins this season when allowing a goal in the third period. The Aeros are 14-3-6-2 when keeping their opponents off the board in the third, including an unbeaten in regulation 13-1-6-2 the last 22 times.

Houston's Jason Beckett has played in 199 AHL games, while teammate Marc Cavosie is at 99 pro games.

The Aeros' blueline has accounted for nine of the teams' 26 points versus the Grizzlies. All nine points have come from the duo of Jason Marshall (2+3=5) and Erik Reitz (1+3=4).

Utah has been outscored by a whopping 60-31 in the third period this season.

The Grizzlies have outshot just four teams on the road this season, going 0-3-1-0 in those contests.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2004


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