Aeros Game Day

Published on February 21, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Tonight's broadcast from Chicago starts at 7 p.m. on Star 790 KBME or on the Internet at www.aeros.com. Complete period-by-period recaps will also be available on the website throughout the game.

Houston Aeros at Chicago Wolves, 2/21

Five things you absolutely need to know before reading any further –

Tonight the Aeros open up a four-game road trip that continues tomorrow afternoon in Utah. After this road trip, Houston is home for 11 of its final 17 games.

Houston is winless in its last seven trips to Allstate Arena (0-4-1-2), but the Aeros did snap a four-game regulation losing streak there February 11 in a 2-2 tie. The Aeros' last win in Chicago was a 5-4 overtime affair January 15, 2003.

Four of the Aeros' top seven scorers over the last 10 games have been defensemen, led by Travis Roche's nine points (1+8=9).

Johan Holmqvist's next appearance will be his 49th, a new career-high. Holmqvist has already set his career-best in minutes (2,823) and is 78 saves shy of his all-time best.

The Aeros are 0-5-1-0 in their last six road games, one shy of the franchise record, set earlier this season and snapped January 30 in Manitoba.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros lead all-time series 28-19-12-4, Aeros are 12-13-4-2 at Chicago)

Tonight is the 64th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros – 32nd in Chicago.

Houston is winless in its last seven trips to Allstate Arena (0-4-1-2), but the Aeros did snap a four-game regulation losing streak there February 11 in a 2-2 tie. The Aeros' last win in Chicago was a 5-4 overtime affair January 15, 2003.

Houston has scored just two goals in each of its last five games against Chicago and is winless in the last six meetings (0-3-3-0), tying its longest winless streak in the series (November 6, 1999-April 16, 2000).

The Aeros' longest winless streak against any opponent is seven straight losses – versus Denver/Utah from March 19, 1995 to January 24, 1997 and also its current streak against Milwaukee, extended to seven games last night.

Since joining the AHL, Houston is 10-10-7-4 versus Chicago, including a 4-7-2-2 road mark.

The Aeros have just three wins in the last 15 matchups (3-5-4-3) but have points in 10 of those games.

Ten of the last 17 meetings have gone into overtime, including four of nine this season.

Chicago is one of three teams against whom the Aeros have a losing record on the road in franchise history. Milwaukee and Grand Rapids are the others.

Tonight marks the final regular-season meeting between the teams in 2003-04.

In the last meeting, Kyle Wanvig scored twice against former junior teammate Michael Garnett to help the Aeros to a 2-2 tie at Allstate Arena February 11.

2003-04 meetings (Last of 10 meetings, Aeros are 1-4-4-0 overall, 0-3-1-0 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

February 7: Houston 2 at Chicago 4

February 11: Houston 2 at Chicago 2 (OT)

February 21: Houston at Chicago

Last game – Greg Classen scored twice and Brian Finley finished with 35 saves, as the Milwaukee Admirals beat the Houston Aeros 4-2 at Toyota Center. Timofei Shishkanov also scored and Tony Hrkac had an empty-netter for the Admirals, who have won eight of nine and picked up the 1,000th win in franchise history. Erik Reitz and Mika Hannula each scored and Johan Holmqvist posted 23 saves for Houston, which fell to 1-6-1-0 in its last eight.

Scouting the Aeros – Houston continues through one of its busiest, and most important, stretches of the season tonight. The Aeros are in a span where they play seven games in 10 days – tonight is the sixth game of that stretch. Houston is also playing its 11th of 20 straight games against the West Division, including all 15 in February. Houston is 3-6-1-0 in the first 10 games against its division brethren. The Aeros' leading scorer is Stephane Veilleux (12+23=35). Veilleux is six points ahead Travis Roche (5+24=29) and seven ahead of Dan Cavanaugh (10+18=28). Kyle Wanvig (19+8=27) has three goals in his last six games and is one point ahead of Rickard Wallin (10+16=26), who made a triumphant return to the lineup with three assists in a span of 1:49 Wednesday. Erik Reitz (4+17=21) is the team's second leading defensive scorer, and he snapped out of an eight-game point-less streak with a goal last night. Aeros captain Jason Marshall (7+12=19) and his 19 points were returned from Minnesota February 5. Marshall, 32, has tied a career-high with his seven goals. Last season's Calder Cup Most Valuable Player, goalie Johan Holmqvist, has started 47 of the team's first 59 games, going 17-23-6 with a 2.64 goals against average. Backup Kyle Kettles is 2-5-4 with a 2.44 goals against average but has deserved a better fate. The Aeros have scored only 12 goals in his 10 starts.

Scouting the Wolves – Chicago, suddenly struggling, returns home tonight after a four-game road trip with just two wins in its last eight games (2-5-1-0). The Wolves lost three of four on the road swing, including a 4-1 loss in Utah last night. Eric Healey scored the lone goal for Chicago and Kari Lehtonen, making his second start in the last month due to injury, yielded four goals on 36 shots. The Wolves are led in scoring by the mainstay Steve Maltais (20+23=43), who also has a team-best 10 power-play goals. Right behind him is last season's AHL goal leader Healey (22+16=38). Veteran Greg Hawgood, a former Aero, is the team's leading defensive scorer with 25 points (4+21=25). It's been a goaltender merry-go-round for much of the last month for Chicago, but the situation should be stabilized now that Lehtonen has come back from a January 14 injury. Lehtonen, who was selected as the starter in the All Star Game but didn't play, is 15-11-1 with a 2.38 goals against average. Frederic Cassivi, the regular starter with Lehtonen out, was summoned to Atlanta earlier this week due to an injury to Byron Dafoe. Michael Garnett filled in more than admirably for the injured Lehtonen in the last five weeks, going 3-1-1 with a 1.98 goals against average. Chicago has just one win in its last three home games (1-1-1-0), but that victory was against the Aeros, 4-2 on February 7.

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.

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.

Aeros hit the road –

After a brief three-game homestand over five days, the Aeros hit the road for a four-game swing tonight. A week ago, Houston wrapped up a season-long five-game road trip 0-4-1-0.

The Aeros are winless in six straight on the road (0-5-1-0), one game shy of their franchise-record seven-game streak (0-4-3-0), snapped January 30 in Manitoba.

Houston is now 7-17-5-1 on the road, including a 1-9-4-0 mark in the last 14 games since December 23.

The Aeros' 17 road losses are tied with Norfolk and Manitoba for the most in the AHL.

Aeros, Ducks, Rampage in a playoff dog-fight – Fourth-place Houston has 51 points, one more than Cincinnati and three more than San Antonio in the West Division. Cincinnati, which is at North-leading Hamilton tonight, has six games in hand on the Aeros. San Antonio is at Manitoba tonight and Milwaukee tomorrow. Below is a look at the number of games left for each team. The Aeros have the most advantageous schedule – they have just seven games left against teams with a better than .500 record. Cincinnati, meanwhile, still has 17 road games left and also 17 against teams at the .500 mark of above. The top five teams in the West make the playoffs, with the fourth- and fifth-place team playing a three-game qualifying series at the higher seed. Houston's highest position this season was third on December 30.

Houston – 51 points (21 games left, 11H, 10R)

GR (3H/0R), CHI (OH/1R), MIL (1H/1R), UTA (2H/1R), SA (3H/3R), CIN (2H/1R), WOR (0H/1R), NOR (0H/2R)

Cincinnati – 50 points (27 games left, 10H, 17R)

CHI (2H/2R), MIL (0H/2R), TOR (0H/1R), HAM (0H/1R), PHI (0H/2R), CLE (4H/3R), UTA (1H/2R), GR (0H/2R), SA (0H/2R), HOU (1H/2R)

San Antonio – 48 points (28 games left, 13H, 15R)

CLE (0H/1R), MTB (OH/1R), MIL (2H/3R), HOU (3H/3R), CHI (1H/4R), GR (3H/1R), UTA (2H/2R), CIN (2H/0R)

Head-to-head matchups

Houston/Cincinnati (3 total, 2 at HOU, 1 at CIN) – 4/1, 4/2 at HOU; 4/9 at CIN

Houston/San Antonio (6 total, 3 at HOU, 3 at SAN) – 2/28, 3/12, 3/27 at HOU; 2/27, 3/13, 3/26 at SAN

San Antonio/Cincinnati (2 total, 2 at SAN) – 3/20, 3/22 at SAN

Welcome back "Wally" –

Aeros center Rickard Wallin returned from a 17-game injury absence Wednesday, and celebrated the occasion with three assists, all on the power play in a span of 1:49, to tie his career high.

Wallin last played on January 9 against Worcester. The Aeros went 4-11-2-0 without the centerman.

The Sweden native previously had three assists on November 21, 2002, against Hartford. He followed that up with a career-best four points (2+2=4) the next night against Cleveland.

Wallin has six multiple point games, one off the team lead, and the Aeros are 4-0-2-0 on such occasions.

Wallin has 11 power play points (3+8=11), two off the team lead.

Records meant to be broken, but so soon? – January 30 in Manitoba, Darby Hendrickson, Christoph Brandner and Mika Hannula scored three goals in a span of 1:51, bettering the six-year-old team record by eight seconds. The trio's mark lasted for only 19 days, as Kevin Mitchell, Chris Bala and Zbynek Michalek tallied 1:49 apart Wednesday against Grand Rapids. What made that feat so remarkable was the fact that all three Aeros goals came on the same power play, after the Griffins' Kory Karlander was called for a five-minute high-sticking major.

McLellan sitting at 148 pro wins – Houston head coach Todd McLellan is two wins shy of 150 in his pro career, after joining current Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett as the only coaches in team history with 100 victories December 26. McLellan is 148-108-34-11 in 3 ½ seasons as a head coach, counting his time with IHL Cleveland in 2000-01. He has gone 105-76-27-11 in his 2 ½-season reign with the Aeros. McLellan picked up his 100th victory in his 192nd game with the team, just five more games than it took Tippett to reach the plateau. McLellan coached his 200th game with the Aeros January 9. McLellan, who missed five games due to illness January 16-23, and his staff coached the Canadian team at the 2004 Pepsi AHL All Star Game on February 9.

"Z" marks the spot – Aeros second-year blueliner Zbynek Michalek is about to blow by his rookie season totals.

Michalek has 14 points (4+10=14), identical to the numbers he put up in 2002-03. He has needed just 47 games, compared to 62 last season.

The defenseman's goal and assist Wednesday against Grand Rapids marked the second multi-point game of his career. His other also came against the Griffins, a three-assist game April 5, 2003.

The 21-year-old has played eight games with the Minnesota Wild this season, with no points.

Veilleux has tied his career-high in points –

Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux has tied his career-high in points and is one goal shy of tying his career-mark. Veilleux has 35 points (12+23=35) in just 59 games, while he posted 35 points (13+22=35) in his rookie season of 2001-02.

Veilleux has 14 points (6+7=13) overall in the last 19 games. He has an assist in five of the last six games and a point in eight of the last nine contests.

He had points in a career-best six straight games (3+4=7) February 3-13.

Veilleux was the second Aero with a three-game goal streak this season (February 3-6), joining Kyle Wanvig, who posted a five-game streak.

The winger is the only Aero to have played in each of Houston's first 59 games, and he carries a consecutive game played streak of 65 games, dating back to last season. February 14, Veilleux played in his 200th pro game.

Veilleux is tied for the AHL lead with a franchise record tying four shorthanded goals. The only other Aero with four was Mario Chitaroni in 1994-95.

Holmqvist 1-5-1 in last seven – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist snapped out of a five-game (0-4-1) winless streak by making 25 saves in a 4-1 win over league-leading Grand Rapids Wednesday. He surrendered three goals on 26 shots in a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee Friday night.

Overall in his last 19 decisions, Holmqvist – the 2003 Butterfield Trophy winner as the playoff Most Valuable Player – is 5-10-4.

February 7, Holmqvist made his 50th appearance with the Aeros. He sports a 22-26-6 mark with Houston.

From December 28-January 21, Holmqvist went 0-4-3 with a no decision and a 3.01 goals against average, one game shy of his career-long winless streak.

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 17 wins this season, Holmqvist is allowing 1.06 goals per game and sports a .961 save percentage. In his 31 non-wins, Holmqvist sports a 3.52 goals against average and a .874 save percentage. Holmqvist and the Aeros have just two wins this season when yielding more than one goal.

Holmqvist leads the AHL in minutes played (2,823) by 250 minutes and is second in saves (1,173). He established a new career-high in minutes Wednesday, and he's just 78 saves away from his career-high 1,251. Both marks were set in the 2001-02 season. Holmqvist has played in 48 games – tied with his career-high in 2001-02.

Kettles 0-2-4 since December 23 –

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. Kettles has yielded just 10 goals though in those six appearances.

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 2-5-4 against Chicago – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist sports a 2-5-4 career mark with a 3.19 goals against average and a .898 save percentage against Chicago. This season, Holmqvist is 1-4-4 with a 2.80 goals against average and a .900 save percentage versus the Wolves. Kyle Kettles hasn't yet faced Chicago.

Lehtonen 1-1-1 versus Aeros – Chicago's 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. Michael Garnett has faced the Aeros the last two games, going unbeaten (1-0-1) with a 1.92 goals against average and a .940 save percentage.

Aeros looking to win two of three – The Aeros snapped out of a six-game (0-5-1-0) winless streak Wednesday, and tonight they look for their second win in three games. Houston has five wins in its last 27 games (5-13-8-1) and is at the .500 mark the last 37 games (14-14-8-1).

The Aeros' 13-game winless streak (0-5-7-1) December 27-January 23 was five more than their previous franchise record eight-game streak (0-6-1-1), November 20-December 3 of 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 won six straight December 5-17, outscoring their opponents 18-6 in the process.

In the season's first 20 games, Houston allowed a league-worst 3.36 goals per game. In the last 39 games, the Aeros have yielded just 2.31 goals per game. The defensive streak has helped Houston move out of the basement to 2.78 goals against per game, 20th in the AHL.

Looking for O –

Houston is averaging 2.47 goals per game over the last 15 games.

The Aeros have scored 66 goals in 31 games (2.13 goals per game) since beating Norfolk 5-3 December 17.

Houston has been held to two goals or fewer in 21 of the last 30 games (70.0 percent), including a scoreless streak of 178 minutes, 52 seconds that included back-to-back shutouts January 8-9.

Offensively in the AHL, the Aeros are 22nd in the AHL at 2.29 goals per game.

Houston has scored one goal or fewer in 16 of its 59 games this season (27.1 percent) and two goals or less in 37 of 59 games (62.7 percent).

Aeros still winless in OT – The Aeros, winless at 0-3-10 in overtime, have played just one extra session since needing overtime in eight of 10 games from December 27-January 17. Houston is one of two AHL teams without an overtime win, joining Utah (0-3-4). The last teams to go through a season without an overtime win were Hamilton and Hartford last season. The Aeros went 8-3-7 in overtime in 2002-03, second in the league in extra session wins (Chicago, 11). Houston's 13 overtime games this season are halfway to the franchise record of 26 shootout games in the 1998-99 season. The Aeros' 10 ties are still eight short of the AHL/overtime era record, set in 1997-98 by St. John's. Houston, Providence and Worcester each have 10 ties this season.

Penalty kill update –

Houston killed off its first 31 shorthanded chances this season. Since then, opponents are 36-for-238 (15.1 percent) on the power play.

The Aeros' overall 86.6 percent penalty kill rate (233-269) is 11th in the AHL, after spending much of season in the upper half of the top 10.

Opponents are 7-for-39 (18.0 percent) on the power play in the last eight games.

The Aeros have allowed 16 power-play goals in 87 chances (81.6 kill rate) in the last 19 games.

The Aeros have yielded no power play goals in 32 of their 59 games, and have points in all but eight of those games (12-8-9-3).

Houston has eight shorthanded goals, including a franchise record tying four by Stephane Veilleux, and is tied for ninth in the AHL in that category. Veilleux's four shorthanded tallies are tied for the league lead.

Chicago is down to ninth in the AHL on the power play at 15.9 percent.

The Wolves are 0-for-19 over the last five games on the power play and haven't scored a man-advantage goal since going 1-for-8 February 11 against Houston.

The Wolves are 8-for-51 (15.7 percent) on the power play versus Houston this season, with Kurtis Foster and Steve Maltais recording two goals apiece. Chicago has scored eight of the 37 man advantage goals against the Aeros in 2003-04.

Power play update –

Houston enters tonight's game 42 of 335 on the power play (12.5 percent), 22nd among 28 AHL teams.

The Aeros have gone 30-for-192 (15.6 percent) since Matt Foy snapped a streak of 37 straight unsuccessful power plays December 5, raising their percentage from a season-low 8.3 to 12.5.

Houston went 0-for-6 on the power play last night after going 3-for-6 Wednesday in its second three power-play goal and period of the season.

The Aeros are 12-for-62 (19.4 percent) on the power play over their last 11 games, after a stretch of 1-for-32 the previous six.

Houston's 335 power plays are the most in the AHL, 20 more than second-place Manitoba. The Aeros also led the league in 2002-03 with 514 chances.

The Aeros have only five wins in 29 games (5-17-6-1) when not scoring a power-play goal.

The Wolves rank 16th on the penalty kill at 85.9 percent, but are just 84.6 at home, 19th in the league.

Chicago has killed off 23-of-28 shorthanded chances (82.1 percent) over the last five games and allowed two power-play goals last night to Utah, ranked last in the AHL..

Houston is 8-for-54 (14.8 percent) on the power play this season against Chicago, with Kyle Wanvig leading the way with four goals.

Houston has two wins when allowing more than one goal - The Aeros are an unbeaten in regulation 17-0-3-1 when allowing one goal or fewer this season, and December 17 and January 30 were their only wins (2-27-7-2) when yielding two or more.

Aeros have scored first in just seven of 21 games – Houston has scored first in only seven of the last 21 games. Houston is 14-6-5-1 overall when scoring first. The Aeros are 7-2-3-0 at home when scoring first, including a loss Monday against Grand Rapids.

But when not scoring first... - The Aeros are 5-21-4-2 when allowing the game's first goal, including a winless 0-13-3-0 mark on the road. By rallying for a 2-2 tie February 11 in Chicago, Houston picked up just its third road point when allowing the first goal.

West to be won or lost in February – Tonight, the Aeros play game 11 of a stretch of 20 consecutive games against the Western Division, including all 15 February games. Starting February 6, nine straight games are against the top three teams in the division, Grand Rapids, Chicago and Milwaukee. That stretch ends tonight, and the Aeros have gone 1-6-1-0 in that span. Houston, which has already wrapped up its home schedule against everybody but the West, is 13-20-7-2 against its division, including a 6-12-4-1 road mark. The Aeros have three non-division games left, from March 17-21 (one against Worcester, two versus Norfolk).

Houston at 59-game mark – The Aeros passed the official midway point of the season with a 14-15-8-3 mark and now sport an 19-27-10-3 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 51-59 2-6-1-0, 5 points GF: 19 GA: 26 PP: 8-39 (20.5%) PK: 32-38 (84.2%)

Quick hits

Houston is one of four AHL teams without a win when trailing after two periods (0-22-5-1). Their 28 attempts are the most of any of those teams. The Aeros are also winless when trailing after one period (0-18-1-3), and they are the only AHL team without a win when trailing after both one and two periods.

The Aeros, who are second in the AHL in shots per game (33.24), are 6-14-1-0 when having fewer than 30 shots. With 30 or more, Houston is at the .500 mark (13-13-9-3).

Houston is eight games under .500 against its former International Hockey League opponents (11-19-4-1), but the Aeros are an even .500 (8-8-6-2) versus the rest of the AHL.

Chicago's Steve Maltais has 23 goals in 57 games against Houston, including 12 on the power play and three game-winners. Teammate Greg Hawgood has eight of his 12 career goals versus the Aeros with the man advantage.

Chicago has outscored Houston 9-5 in the first period of their meetings this season.

Houston's Mark Cullen has scored six of his 29 career goals against Chicago. He has nine points (6+3=9) in 14 career games versus the Wolves.

Houston has scored eight shorthanded goals, while Chicago has allowed eight.

Houston's Stephane Veilleux has assisted on seven of Kyle Wanvig's 19 goals this season, the most of any player combination on the Aeros. Veilleux has helped out on five of Rickard Wallin's 10 tallies.

Kyle Wanvig has four power play goals versus Chicago this season and six of his 19 goals versus the Wolves.

Houston has been outshot 109-79 by Chicago in the first period this season, but has outshot the Wolves 229-158 over the final two stanzas.

The Wolves have scored the game's first goal 34 times, trailing only Grand Rapids (36) for the league lead.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2004


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