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Aeros Game Day

February 27, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Tonight's game is Internet only and can be heard at www.aeros.com beginning at 7 p.m. The Aeros return home Saturday to open up a five-game homestand against the Rampage at 7 p.m. The first 3,000 fans will receive hockey puck bottle openers.

Houston Aeros at San Antonio Rampage, 2/27

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

· Tonight the Aeros conclude a four-game road trip. Starting with tomorrow's home game against San Antonio, which begins a five-game homestand, Houston plays 11 of its final 17 games at Toyota Center. The Aeros play six of their final 18 against the Rampage.

· Houston head coach Todd McLellan is two wins shy of 150 in his pro career (148-110-35-11).

· Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux carries a five-game point streak (1+4=5) into tonight's game – one off his season- and career-best. Veilleux's 13 goals have tied his career-high, set in his rookie season of 2001-02.

· San Antonio has scored five goals in its last four games, all losses, and has lost five straight overall, getting outscored 24-8 in the process.

· The Aeros are 0-7-2-0 in their last nine road games, two more than their previous franchise record.

Aeros at Rampage (Aeros lead all-time series 10-4-3-1, Aeros are 3-2-3-1 at San Antonio)

· Tonight is the 19th all-time meeting between the teams – 10th in San Antonio.

· The road team has emerged victorious in one of the first six meetings between the teams this season – a 6-3 win by San Antonio at Toyota Center January 16.

· Houston is winless in three straight meetings overall (0-1-2-0) since winning two straight against the Rampage.

· The Aeros have one win in the last seven trips to SBC Center (1-2-3-1) since winning in their first two visits there.

· The last four series meetings in San Antonio have gone into overtime, with the Aeros sporting a 1-1-2 mark. The last two games have both ended in a 1-1 tie.

· The Aeros were 8-3-1-0 against San Antonio in 2002-03, the Rampage's first year.

· This is the seventh of 12 meetings this season.

· Of the four games this season that haven't ended in ties, the team scoring first has won just one – a 4-0 shutout by Houston on December 13.

· The teams finish off the home-and-home series tomorrow in Houston.

2003-04 meetings (Seventh of 12 meetings, Aeros 2-1-2-1 overall, 0-0-2-1 at San Antonio) November 23 – Houston 4 at San Antonio 5 (OT) December 13 – San Antonio 0 at Houston 4 December 26– San Antonio 1 at Houston 2 December 27 – Houston 1 at San Antonio 1 (OT) January 16 – San Antonio 6 at Houston 3 January 17 – Houston 1 at San Antonio 1 (OT) Tonight – Houston at San Antonio Tomorrow – San Antonio at Houston March 12 – San Antonio at Houston March 13 – Houston at San Antonio March 26 – Houston at San Antonio March 27 – San Antonio at Houston

Last game – Rickard Wallin tied the game with 4:37 left in regulation with the help of newcomer Brent Burns, helping the Houston Aeros to a 3-3 deadlock with the red-hot Milwaukee Admirals at Bradley Center. Mika Hannula and Marc Cavosie also scored and Kyle Kettles made 17 saves for Houston, which moved to 52 points, tied with Cincinnati for fourth in the West Division. Houston added Burns, an 18-year-old first-round draft pick, prior to the game. Burns, who last played January 31, was assigned from Minnesota for conditioning and picked up two penalty minutes prior to helping out on Wallin's goal. Former Aeros Jay Henderson and Curtis Murphy each scored and Wade Flaherty finished with 28 saves for the Admirals, who failed to win for just the third time in 13 games (10-2-1-0). Mathieu Darche also scored for Milwaukee.

Scouting the Aeros – Houston continues through one of its busiest, and most important, stretches of the season tonight. Houston is playing its 14th of 20 straight games against the West Division, including all 15 in February. Houston is 3-8-2-0 in the first 13 games against its division brethren. The Aeros' leading scorer is Stephane Veilleux (12+26=38), who is eight points ahead of Travis Roche (6+24=30) and 10 ahead of Dan Cavanaugh (10+18=28) and Kyle Wanvig (19+9=28). Aeros captain Jason Marshall (7+12=19) and his 19 points were returned from Minnesota February 5. Marshall, who turned 33 this week, has tied a career-high with his seven goals. Last season's Calder Cup Most Valuable Player, goalie Johan Holmqvist, started 48 of the team's first 61 games, going 17-24-6 with a 2.64 goals against average, but he was recalled to Minnesota earlier this week when Dwayne Roloson's father died. Kyle Kettles is 2-6-5 with a 2.75 goals against average but has deserved a better fate, as the Aeros have scored only 18 goals in his 12 starts. Frederic Cloutier is 0-2-0 with a 4.60 goals against average with Houston after spending most of the season with ECHL Louisiana.

Scouting the Rampage – San Antonio has never been so happy to see its SBC Center home. The Rampage wrapped up a 12-game, rodeo-induced, road trip (4-8-0-0) Wednesday with a 6-2 loss in Milwaukee, the team's second straight defeat by the Admirals. Milwaukee outscored San Antonio 11-3 in those two games. Since beating the Aeros 6-3 at Toyota Center January 16, the Rampage has won four of 18 games (4-13-1-0) but is still within four points of the fourth-place Aeros and Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in the West Division. Wednesday, the Admirals scored three goals 1:14 apart midway through the first period and the Rampage never recovered, despite power-play goals from Gregory Campbell and Lukas Krajicek. Most of San Antonio's struggles can be attributed to losing the team's two leading scorers, Eric Beaudoin (20+22=42) and Mike Green (12+23=35) to Florida. In the meantime, Dennis Shvidki has stepped up to lead the active players in scoring at 39 points (13+26=39). Lee Goren has 34 points (17+17=34) in 40 games in an injury-plagued season. The Rampage blueline is led by Michel Periard (5+19=24) and got a lift Wednesday with the return of Krajicek (2+8=10) from the Panthers. Goalie Travis Scott leads the AHL in saves, and he's 18-20-5 with a 2.49 goals against average. San Antonio brought in former first-round pick Brent Krahn to lighten the load earlier this month, and he has gone 2-4-0 with a 3.97 goals against average. Scott had played 10 straight games prior to Krahn's arrival.

Aeros/Rampage connections

· Houston defenseman Erik Reitz played alongside the Rampage's Matt Dzieduszycki for two seasons with OHL Barrie (1999-2001). In the 1999-2000 season, San Antonio's Denis Shvidki was also on the team.

· San Antonio's Paul Elliott was a teammate of Houston netminder Kyle Kettles in Medicine Hat in 1999-2000. Kettles also played with the Rampage's Sean O'Connor in Moose Jaw in 2001-02.

· Houston defenseman Travis Roche played alongside San Antonio's Lee Goren for one season at North Dakota.

· Rampage goalie Simon Lajeunesse (injured) was Stephane Veilleux's teammate in 2000-01 with Val d'Or, and Chris Bala's teammate in each 2001-02 (Grand Rapids) and 2002-03 (Binghamton).

· San Antonio defenseman Kyle Rossiter played the 1999-2000 season with Houston's Chris Heid in Spokane.

Aeros wrap up road trip –

· The Aeros, playing their final contest in a four-game road trip, are winless in nine straight on the road (0-7-2-0) since January 30, two more than their previous franchise-record (0-4-3-0), set from December 27-January 23.

· With a win, tie or overtime loss tonight, Houston can pick up points in back-to-back road games for the first time since tying San Antonio December 27 and Cincinnati January 2.

· The Aeros' nine-game road winless streak is the longest current streak in the AHL and is five off Albany's league season-high.

· Houston is now 7-19-6-1 on the road, including a 1-11-5-0 mark in the last 17 games since December 23.

· The Aeros' 19 road losses are the most in the AHL.

· Houston is two road defeats off its franchise record of 21, set in 1995-96, with seven games left.

To be so young – Last night, Brent Burns became the 12th first-round draft pick to suit up with the Aeros. The 18-year-old, selected 20th overall in 2003, was assigned by Minnesota on a conditioning assignment Thursday. Teammate Jason Marshall was also a first round pick, some 14 years earlier. The last first-round draft picks to suit up for the Aeros prior to this season were Tom Chorske, Nick Stajduhar, David Wilkie and Zarley Zalapski, all in 2000-01. The highest ever draft pick to play for the Aeros was Sylvain Turgeon, who was the No. 2 overall pick by Hartford in 1983. Burns, Cleveland's Milan Michalek and Manitoba's Ryan Kesler are 2003 first-rounders currently in the AHL.

Aeros, Ducks, Rampage in a playoff dog-fight – Houston has 52 points, tied with Cincinnati for fourth place and four more than San Antonio in the West Division. Cincinnati, which has six games in hand on the Aeros, hosts Philadelphia tonight, is in Chicago tomorrow and Cleveland on Sunday. San Antonio has seven games in hand on Houston and is in Chicago on Sunday after the home-and-home with Houston. Houston and the Rampage meet six times in the Aeros' last 18 games. The Aeros have the most advantageous schedule left – they have just five games left against teams with a better than .500 record. Cincinnati, meanwhile, still has 15 road games left and also 16 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 – 52 points (18 games left, 11H, 7R) GR (3H/0R), MIL (1H/0R), UTA (2H/0R), SA (3H/3R), CIN (2H/1R), WOR (0H/1R), NOR (0H/2R) Cincinnati – 52 points (24 games left, 9H, 15R) CHI (2H/2R), MIL (0H/2R), PHI (1H/0R), CLE (4H/3R), UTA (1H/2R), GR (0H/2R), SA (0H/2R), HOU (1H/2R) San Antonio – 48 points (25 games left, 13H, 12R) CLE (0H/1R), MIL (2H/1R), 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

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 148-110-35-11 in 3 ½ seasons as a head coach, counting his time with IHL Cleveland in 2000-01. He has gone 105-78-28-11 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.

Not comeback artists – Houston is one of four AHL teams without a win when trailing after two periods (0-24-6-1). The Aeros are also the only AHL team that is winless when trailing after one period (0-21-2-2). Since 1994-95, just one team – Manchester in 2001-02 – has gone through a season without a win when trailing after one period. The Monarchs did, however, get wins when trailing after two. Last season, the Aeros were second in the AHL with six wins when trailing after two periods. Grand Rapids led the circuit with seven.

"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 48 games, compared to 62 last season.

· The defenseman's goal and assist February 18 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 establishes new career-high in points, ties career-high in goals –

· Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux has eclipsed his career-high in points and has also tied his career-mark in goals. Veilleux has 38 points (13+25=38) in just 62 games, while he posted 35 points (13+22=35) in 77 games in his rookie season of 2001-02. He passed his point total in the 60th game, February 21 in Chicago.

· Veilleux has points in five straight games (1+4=5), one off his season- and career-high.

· Veilleux has 17 points (7+10=17) in the last 22 games. He has an assist in seven of the last nine games and a point in 11 of the last 13 contests and 13 of 16.

· He had points in a career-best six straight games (3+4=7) February 3-13, including goals in three straight (February 3-6).

· The winger is the only Aero to have played in each of Houston's first 62 games, and he carries a consecutive game played streak of 68 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 Aeros with four were Mario Chitaroni in 1994-95 and Hnat Domenichelli last season.

Holmqvist earns call up – The Minnesota Wild recalled Aeros goalie Johan Holmqvist Wednesday. Holmqvist is expected to back up former Aero Manny Fernandez until Dwayne Roloson returns home from his father's funeral. Holmqvist is 17-24-6 with a 2.64 goals against average for the Aeros this season, his best goals against average in his four North American seasons. Holmqvist, acquired from the New York Rangers on March 11, 2003, for Lawrence Nycholat, is 0-3-0 with a 4.31 goals against average in the NHL, all with the Rangers. Holmqvist hasn't yet appeared in a game with the Wild. With Holmqvist in Minnesota, the Aeros have Kyle Kettles (2-6-5, 2.75 goals against average) and Frederic Cloutier (0-2-0, 4.60 goals against average) tending the nets. The pair have been teammates before – with ECHL Louisiana during the first half of the 2002-03 season before Cloutier earned a promotion to the Aeros. The Aeros are one of four AHL teams who have two active goalies born in 1981 or later. Binghamton, Chicago and Manitoba are the others.

Kettles 0-3-5 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 seven straight starts (0-2-5) and eight appearances (0-3-5) since his last win, a 26-save effort in a 2-1 win over Utah December 23. He does, however, have points in five of his last eight games.

· 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 18 goals in Kettles' 12 starts this season, including 12 goals in his first 10 games.

Holmqvist 3-3-1 against Rampage – Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist, currently in Minnesota, is 3-3-1 with a 2.86 goals against average in eight career games versus San Antonio. Holmqvist is 2-1-0 with a 2.44 goals against average this season against the Rampage, including a no decision. Kyle Kettles has started against the Rampage twice, with both games ending in a tie. Kettles is 0-1-2 with a 2.00 goals against average versus the Rampage, with the loss coming in relief of Holmqvist January 16 at Toyota Center. Frederic Cloutier has never faced San Antonio.

Scott 2-2-2 versus Aeros – San Antonio's Travis Scott is 2-2-2 with a 2.46 goals against average against the Aeros, with all six games coming this season. In his two wins versus Houston, his team has scored a total of nine goals. In the other four games, San Antonio has mustered three goals. Former first-round pick Brent Krahn has never faced Houston.

Aeros try to gain points in two straight – Last night, the Aeros avoided tying their season high with a fourth straight loss. Houston now looks for points in two straight games for the first time since beating Utah in two straight February 3 and 5. Houston has five wins in its last 30 games (5-15-9-1) and is just below the .500 mark the last 40 games (14-16-9-1) to fall a season-low 10 games under the .500 mark.

· 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 3.40 goals per game. In the last 42 games, the Aeros have yielded just 2.60 goals per game. The defensive streak has helped Houston move out of the basement to 2.85 goals against per game, 22nd in the AHL.

Looking for O –

· Houston is averaging 2.44 goals per game over the last 18 games to improve to 2.29 goals per game, 23rd in the AHL.

· The Aeros have scored 73 goals in 34 games (2.15 goals per game) since beating Norfolk 5-3 December 17.

· Houston has been held to two goals or fewer in 22 of the last 33 games (66.7 percent), including a scoreless streak of 178 minutes, 52 seconds that included back-to-back shutouts January 8-9.

· Houston has scored one goal or fewer in 17 of its 62 games this season (27.4 percent) and two goals or less in 38 of 62 games (61.3 percent).

Penalty kill update –

· The Aeros' overall 86.4 percent penalty kill rate (247-286) is 13th in the AHL, after spending much of season in the upper half of the top 10.

· Houston killed off its first 31 shorthanded chances this season. Since then, opponents are 39-for-255 (15.3 percent) on the power play.

· Opponents are 4-for-20 (20.0 percent) on the power play over the last four games and have scored 10 man-advantage goals in the last 11 games.

· The Aeros have yielded no power play goals in 33 of their 62 games, and have points in all but nine of those games (12-9-9-3).

· 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.

· San Antonio is fifth in the league on the power play at 16.8 percent, but the Rampage's 208 chances are by far the fewest in the AHL. At home, San Antonio's ranked just 15th at 15.4 percent.

· The Rampage is 15.0 percent (3-for-20) in six games against Houston while allowing a pair of shorthanded goals (Jeff Hoggan and Travis Roche).

· San Antonio is 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) on the power play in its last five games, with both goals coming in a 2-for-5 performance against Milwaukee Wednesday.

Power play update –

· Houston enters tonight's game 42 of 349 on the power play (12.0 percent), tied for 22nd among 28 AHL teams.

· The Aeros have gone 30-for-206 (14.6 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 12.0.

· Houston is 0-for-20 on the power play over its last four games after going 3-for-6 February 18.

· In the last eight games, the Aeros have one game with at least one power play goal, going 3-for-32 (9.4 percent) in the process.

· Houston's 349 power plays are the most in the AHL, 18 more than second-place Manitoba and a whopping 141 more than San Antonio. The Aeros also led the league in 2002-03 with 514 chances.

· The Aeros have only five wins in 32 games (5-19-7-1) when not scoring a power-play goal.

· The Rampage rank 20th in the AHL with an 84.7 percent penalty kill.

· Houston is an impressive 20.8 percent (5-for-24) versus San Antonio this season, with Christoph Brandner potting two man advantage goals January 16 at Toyota Center.

· San Antonio has allowed more than one power play goal in two of four games, killing off just 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) in that span.

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 (2-29-8-2) when yielding two or more.

Aeros have scored first in just one of 10 games – Houston has scored first in only one of its last 10 games (February 16) and in seven of the last 24 games. Houston is 14-6-5-1 overall when scoring first. The Aeros haven't scored first on the road in their last seven games.

But when not scoring first... - The Aeros are 5-23-5-2 when allowing the game's first goal, including a winless 0-15-4-0 mark on the road. By rallying for a 3-3 tie last night in Milwaukee, Houston picked up its fourth road point when allowing the first goal.

West to be won or lost in February – Tonight, the Aeros play game 14 of a stretch of 20 consecutive games against the Western Division, including all 15 February games. Houston, which has already wrapped up its home schedule against everybody but the West, is 13-22-8-2 against its division, including a 6-14-5-1 road mark. The Aeros have three non-division games left, from March 17-21 (one against Worcester, two versus Norfolk).

Aeros still winless in OT – The Aeros, winless at 0-3-11 in overtime, have played just two extra sessions 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). The Aeros' 11 ties are still seven short of the AHL/overtime era record, set in 1997-98 by St. John's. San Antonio, meanwhile, is an unbeaten 4-0-6 in overtime, joining Grand Rapids (6-0-8) as the only unbeaten in OT teams.

Aeros play second of three-in-three – When playing either their second or third straight games this season, the Aeros have five wins in 23 games (5-12-5-1). Houston is 4-9-3-1 when playing the second of two straight games, while it is 1-3-2-0 when finishing off the third game in three nights. The Aeros have one more three-in-three left after this weekend – March 26-28, but all three of those games are in Texas – two at home, one in San Antonio. Houston last won a game in which it played the prior night January 24 against Syracuse.

Quick hits

· Houston has yielded at least one goal in 11 straight regulation periods.

· Eric Beaudoin and Mike Green, who have accounted for 15 of the Rampage's 41 scoring points against Houston this season, are both up with Florida. They are also a combined plus-17 versus the Aeros. Josh Olson (two goals) is the only San Antonio player on the active roster with more than one goal Houston this season.

· The Aeros have outshot the Rampage 210-179 in their six meetings, or by an average of 8.2 shots per game.

· Neither San Antonio nor Houston has scored a first period goal in the last four games.

· With the trade of Darby Hendrickson to the Avalanche and the addition of 18-year-old Brent Burns, the Aeros' average age has dropped from 24.0 to 23.4.

· Tonight the Aeros play the 400th road game in franchise history, having gone 190-160-44-5. Houston will play its 400th home game and 800th overall game March 8 against Grand Rapids.

· San Antonio has outshot only seven opponents at home.

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