Aeros Game Day

Published on February 7, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Tune into tonight's game starting at 7 p.m. on KBME 790 AM or via www.aeros.com. Also log on the website during the game for period-by-period recaps.

Houston Aeros at Chicago Wolves, 2/7

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros lead all-time series 28-18-11-4, Aeros are 12-12-3-2 at Chicago)

· Tonight is the 62nd all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros.

· This game marks the first of two consecutive contests for the Aeros at Allstate Arena, where they are winless in their last five trips (0-3-0-2), having not won there since a 5-4 overtime affair January 15, 2003.

· Since joining the AHL, Houston is 10-9-6-4 versus Chicago, including a 4-6-1-2 road mark.

· Aeros have just three wins but only four regulation losses in the last 13 matchups (3-4-3-3).

· Amazingly, nine of the last 15 meetings have gone into overtime but neither of the last two.

· The Aeros have lost two straight against Chicago. Houston's last three-game losing streak versus the Wolves was a run of four straight November 6, 1999, to March 19, 2000.

· Tonight marks the third of Houston's five trips to Chicago this season. The teams have wrapped up their season series in Houston prior to New Year's.

· In the last meeting on January 18, former Aero Brendan Yarema had two first-period goals, Steve Maltais scored twice on the power play and Frederic Cassivi finished with 34 saves in a 5-2 win. The Aeros arrived in Chicago less than three hours prior to that 3 p.m. game.

2003-04 meetings (Eighth of 10 meetings, Aeros are 1-3-3-0 overall, 0-2-0-0 in Chicago) October 31: Chicago 2 at Houston 2 (OT) November 22: Chicago 4 at Houston 3 December 7: Chicago 1 at Houston 3 December 28: Chicago 3 at Houston 3 (OT) December 30: Chicago 2 at Houston 2 (OT) January 3: Houston 2 at Chicago 4 January 18: Houston 2 at Chicago 5 Tonight: Houston at Chicago February 11: Houston at Chicago February 21: Houston at Chicago

Last game – Simon Gamache tallied a goal and two assists and Timofei Shishkanov added a goal and a helper, as the Milwaukee Admirals held on for a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Houston Aeros at Bradley Center. Andrew Hutchinson and Darren Haydar also scored and Brian Finley made 21 saves for Milwaukee, which led by three early in the third and has only one loss in its last nine (5-1-2-1). Jason Beckett scored his first goal of the season and Travis Roche provided three helpers for Houston. Stephane Veilleux tallied another shorthanded goal, Marc Cavosie scored on the power play and Frederic Cloutier turned aside 35 shots for the Aeros, who fell to 1-6-3-0 in their last 10 road games.

Scouting the Aeros – Tonight the Aeros play their fourth of 20 straight games against the West Division, including all 15 in February. Houston had a two-game win streak snapped last night, but the Aeros have still won three of five. The Aeros' leading scorer is Stephane Veilleux (12+18=30), who has a goal in three straight games and six in his last eight. Veilleux is four points ahead of defenseman Travis Roche (5+21=26), who had three assists last night, his second three-point game in three contests. Dan Cavanaugh (9+16=25) is third in scoring, a point ahead of Kyle Wanvig (16+8=24), who has been held without a point in the last six games. Wanvig still leads the team in goals and is fourth overall in scoring. His 16 goals are four more than any teammate (Veilleux). Erik Reitz (3+17=20), who has four assists in the last four games, is lighting it up from the defensive position. Aeros captain Jason Marshall (5+11=16) and his 16 points were returned from Minnesota prior to Thursday's game. Last year's Calder Cup Most Valuable Player, goalie Johan Holmqvist, has started 40 of the team's first 52 games, going 16-18-5 with a 2.65 goals against average. Holmqvist is 4-5-3 in his last 12 decisions, but he has won three straight starts. With Kyle Kettles out with a minor injury, Frederic Cloutier was summoned from ECHL Louisiana and dropped his second decision in as many tries last night.

Scouting the Wolves – Chicago has dropped two straight games for the first time since mid December after falling 3-2 on the road last night at division-leading Grand Rapids. The Wolves had won five straight prior to that, and had gone 12-2-3-1 in the last 18 games. Last night, Kamil Piros and Steve Maltais each had a goal and an assist in the loss. The Wolves are led in scoring by the mainstay Maltais (20+21=41), who also has a team-best 10 power-play goals and is riding a league-high five-game goal streak. Right behind him is last season's AHL goal leader Eric Healey (20+15=35), who had some troubles early on but in the last 17 games, Healey has 17 points (10+7=17). Veteran Greg Hawgood is the team's leading defensive scorer, with 23 points (3+20=23). With Kari Lehtonen out with an injury since January 14, Frederic Cassivi has become the full time starter, going 9-9-5 with a 2.81 goals against average. Lehtonen, selected to start Monday's All Star Game, is 14-10-1 with a 2.36 goals against average. Lehtonen will not play in the All-Star Game. Last night marked just the second time in 16 games that Chicago didn't score at least three goals.

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 played with Houston's Jan Vodrazka in 2000-01 in Kansas City.

· Chicago centerman Brendan Yarema had 31 points (18g, 13a) in 77 games with the Aeros in 2001-02. Yarema was also Jan Vodrazka's teammate in 1999-2000 with Kansas City.

· Chicago's Brian Swanson was a senior at Colorado College when the Aeros' Mark Cullen was a freshman.

· Wolves assistant coach Marty Howe won a pair of AVCO Cups with the WHA Houston Aeros in 1974-75.

· Houston's Dan Cavanaugh played with Chicago's Joe DiPenta at Boston University in 1998-99.

· Chicago's Eric Healey (1994-98) and Houston's Marc Cavosie (1999-2002) each played collegiately at RPI.

Aeros get on the road again –

· Tonight, the Aeros play game two of a season-long five game road trip, with all five games coming against the top three teams in the West Division. Houston is 3-6-1 combined against those three teams on the road this season.

· Houston's win January 30 in Manitoba 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.

· Houston is now 7-14-4-1 on the road, including a 1-6-3-0 mark in the last 10 games.

· The Aeros must win tonight to avoid tying its season high with a third straight road loss. Houston lost three straight away from Toyota Center November 28-December 3.

Aeros in fourth – Fourth-place Houston has 48 points, four better than Cincinnati and seven points behind third-place Milwaukee in the West Division. Houston holds a six-point edge on sixth-place San Antonio, which has an important seven games in hand on the Aeros. Cincinnati plays host to Grand Rapids tonight, while San Antonio travels to Norfolk tonight after a 4-3 loss to the Admirals last night. Houston's highest position this season was third on December 30.

Aeros blueline feeling not so blue – In the last eight games, Houston's defensive corps, counting goalie Johan Holmqvist, has nearly outscored the team's forwards. The Aeros' blueline, along with Holmqvist, has accounted for 29 points (3+26=29) in the last eight games, while the forwards have 36 points over that same span. Travis Roche has 11 of the defense's 29 points (2+9=11) in the last eight.

Aeros' attempt at three straight foiled – Last night, Houston was trying to put together its first three-game winning streak since December 20-26. Houston has four wins in its last 20 games (4-8-7-1) but also only nine regulation losses in the last 30 games (13-9-7-1). The Aeros snapped a franchise-record 13-game winless streak (0-5-7-1) January 24.

· 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. It was also the longest stretch in the AHL this 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 last 32 games, the Aeros have yielded just 2.16 goals per game. The defensive streak has helped Houston move out of the basement to 2.75 goals against per game, 20th in the AHL.

‘O' starting to heat up –

· Houston has scored 23 goals in its last eight games (2.88 average).

· The Aeros have scored just 52 goals in 24 games (2.17 goals per game) since beating Norfolk 5-3 December 17.

· Houston has been held to two goals or fewer in 16 of the last 24 games, including a scoreless streak of 178 minutes, 52 seconds that included back-to-back shutouts January 8-9.

· In the last 14 contests, the Aeros are averaging 2.14 goals per game.

· Offensively in the AHL, the Aeros are 20th in the AHL at 2.32 goals per game.

· Houston has scored one goal or fewer in 14 of its 52 games this season (26.9 percent) and two goals or less in 32 of 52 games (61.5 percent).

Shooting gallery – Houston enters tonight's game second in the AHL with 33.17 shots per game. The Aeros have outshot 11 of their last 14 opponents. Last night though the Aeros were outshot 39-25 in Milwaukee, their worst margin of the season. Houston was outshot for just the 13th time this season, and the Aeros have only three wins (3-8-2-0) in those games.

Ten straight regulation games an irregularity – The Aeros haven't gone to overtime in any of their past 10 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 has won three straight – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist has gone 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals against average in his last three starts, after going 1-5-3 in his previous nine decisions. Holmqvist was the 2003 Butterfield Trophy winner as the playoff Most Valuable Player.

· Holmqvist has won three straight starts for the first time since his six-game winning streak December 5-17. Holmqvist's next appearance will be his 50th with the Aeros. He sports an even 21-21-5 mark with the Aeros.

· 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 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 16 wins this season, Holmqvist is allowing 1.06 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 .960 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 2-4-3 against Chicago – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist sports a 2-4-3 mark with a 3.25 goals against average and a .897 save percentage against Chicago. This season, Holmqvist is 1-3-3 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .905 save percentage versus the Wolves. Kyle Kettles has yet to face Chicago.

Cassivi 5-3-2 versus Aeros – Chicago's Frederic Cassivi is 5-3-2 with two no decisions and a 2.67 goals against average in 12 career games against Houston. Cassivi is unbeaten in four games (2-0-2) with a 2.16 goals against average against versus Houston this season. Kari Lehtonen is 1-1-1 with a 2.59 goals against average and a .922 save percentage versus the Aeros in this, his rookie season.

Penalty kill update –

· Houston killed off its first 31 shorthanded chances this season. Since then, opponents are 31-for-210 (14.8 percent) on the power play.

· The Aeros' overall 87.1 percent penalty kill rate (210-241) is 11th in the AHL, after spending much of season in the top 10.

· The Aeros have yielded 11 power-play goals in 61 chances (82.0 kill rate) in the last 12 games.

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

· The Aeros have yielded no power play goals in 30 of their 52 games, and have points in all but eight of those games (11-8-8-3).

· Chicago is an impressive 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) on the power play over its last five games, having scored a man-advantage goal in each of the games, including three contests with two or more.

· The Wolves are 7-for-40 (17.5 percent) on the power play against Houston this season. Chicago has allowed the Aeros a pair of shorthanded goals.

Power play update –

· Houston enters tonight's game 37 of 306 on the power play (12.1 percent), up to 23rd among 28 AHL teams.

· The Aeros have gone 25-for-163 (15.3 percent) since Matt Foy snapped a streak of 37 straight unsuccessful power plays December 5, raising their percentage from 8.3 to 12.1.

· Houston is 7-for-33 (21.2 percent) on the power play over its last five games, after a stretch of 1-for-32 the previous six games.

· Houston's 306 power plays are the most in the AHL, 30 more than second-place Manitoba. In order to put the Aeros' power-play totals in perspective, realize that they have an astounding 131 more power plays than in-state rival San Antonio, which has the fewest in the league.

· The Aeros have just five wins in 24 games (5-12-6-1) when not scoring a power-play goal.

· Chicago has allowed three power-play goals in 18 chances (83.3 percent kill rate) over its last five games. Grand Rapids went 1-for-3 with the man advantage last night.

· Houston is 6-for-43 (14.0 percent) on the power play versus the Wolves this season.

Houston has two wins when allowing more than one goal - The Aeros are an unbeaten in regulation 16-0-3-1 when allowing one goal or fewer this season, and December 17 and January 30 were their only wins (2-22-6-2) when yielding two or more.

Aeros have first goal in 18 of 28 games – Houston has scored first in 18 of its last 28 games, but in only six of the last 14 games. Houston is 9-4-5-0 in the last 18 when scoring first and 14-5-5-1 overall when scoring first. January 16 marked the Aeros' only home loss when scoring first (6-1-3-0).

But when not scoring first... - The Aeros are 4-17-3-2 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.

Veilleux the lone ironman – Houston sports just one player, Stephane Veilleux, who has played in each of the team's first 52 games. His consecutive game streak is at 58 games dating back to last season. Jeff Hoggan played in the season's first 51 games but was a scratch last night.

Hendrickson closes in on 200 points, 100 goals and assists – Aeros centerman Darby Hendrickson has 196 points (98g, 98a) in his 617-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 119 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; five-game assist streak was team-best –

· 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, six of his 10 points have come on the power play.

· Mitchell had points in five straight games (1+5=6) for the first time in his AHL career January 23-31, and that is one off the team season-high set by Dan Cavanaugh.

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

· The blueliner has seven points (1+6=7) in the last eight games.

Roche averaging more than a point per game in last 17 - Houston defenseman Travis Roche has three goals and 15 assists in the last 17 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 109 points (32g, 77a) in 173 pro games, while he has 108 points (32g, 76a) in 163 Aeros games. He picked up both his 75th pro and Aeros assists last night. Roche has one assist in 10 career games with the Minnesota Wild. Roche has a pair of three-point games in the last three contests, with each tying his career high for points in a game.

Cavosie betters rookie season numbers - Marc Cavosie has already bettered last season's five-goal total. His 21 points (7+14=21) are also two better than last season's rookie total, and his 14 assists are tied with that mark. Cavosie has two goals and five assists in the last 11 games and he has three multi-point games, one better than his total from last season. Cavosie picked up his first power-play goal of the season last night.

Reitz sets new personal-best, too - Second-year defenseman Erik Reitz posted two assists last 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 11 games, including a trio of multi-point contests. Reitz is second to Travis Roche (5+21=24) for the team lead in scoring among defensemen.

West to be won or lost in February – Tonight, the Aeros play game four of a stretch of 20 consecutive games against the Western Division, including all 15 February games. Starting last night, nine straight games 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 12-15-6-2 against its division. The Aeros have three non division games left, from March 17-21 (one against Worcester, two versus Norfolk).

Houston at 52-game mark – The Aeros passed the official midway point of the season with a 14-15-8-3 mark and now sport an 18-22-9-3 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 41-50 3-6-1-0, 7 points GF: 25 GA: 34 PP: 7-58 (12.1%) PK: 39-49 (79.6%) Games 51-52 1-1-0-0, 2 points GF: 5 GA: 5 PP: 3-9 (33.3%) PK: 11-12 (91.7%)

Veilleux has a goal in three straight – Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux has a goal in three straight games and in six of the last eight. Veilleux is just the second Aero with a three-game goal streak this season, joining Kyle Wanvig, who posted a five-game streak earlier this season. Veilleux's three-game goal streak is a new career-high, besting five previous two-game spans.

Quick hits

· Chicago's Steve Maltais has 23 goals in 55 games against Houston, including 12 on the power play and three game-winners. Teammate Greg Hawgood has eight of his 11 career goals versus the Aeros with the man advantage.

· The Wolves are an impressive 10-6-0-3 in one-goal games, while Houston is 6-4-0-3.

· Chicago has outscored Houston 7-4 in the first period of their meetings this season.

· The Aeros have picked up points in three of four games (1-1-2-0) when finishing off a three-in-three stretch.

· Frederic Cloutier's 35 saves last night tied a team season-high.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 7, 2004


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