Aeros Gameday

Published on December 22, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Seven things you need to know
- American Hockey League history could be made tonight, as Wolves RW Darren Haydar will look to extend his point streak to 31 games, tying the AHL record set by Binghamton's Mike Richard in 1987-88. Haydar has a point in each of his team's 30 games, and he finds himself leading the league with a whopping 61 points (18-43=61).
- Aeros RW Mattias Weinhandl has wasted no time making an impact in the team's lineup. One game after scoring a PPG on his first shot and registering eight shots on goal in San Antonio, Weinhandl assisted on C Bryan Lundbohm's SHG, which turned out to be the GWG in a 3-1 win over Manitoba 12/16. Weinhandl notched two points (1-1=2) in 12 games with the Wild this season. The Sweden native played 33 games in the AHL with Bridgeport from 2002-04.
- Houston has reached its magic number of three goals in each of its last two games, and that meant a victory as is often the case. The Aeros are 11-4-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, and just 1-10-0-1 when scoring two or fewer.
- The Aeros are 4-for-40 (10.0 percent) on the power play in their last seven games and rank 27th in the AHL at 12.1 percent. Houston is 0-for-9 on the man advantage in its last two home games.
- Houston currently ranks third in the AHL on the penalty kill at 87.1 percent. After allowing four goals on 12 chances for just a 66.7 percent kill rate in two games, the Aeros are 12-for-12 on the PK in their last two games. They'll need to be strong tonight against a Chicago team ranked fifth in the league on the power play at 20.9 percent. The Wolves have gone on 30 power plays - second most in the AHL - and have scored a league-high 48 PPG (26 more than Houston), so staying out of the penalty box will be key for Houston.
- Aeros third-year G Josh Harding has played in all but two of the Aeros' first 29 games, including each of the last seven. He has started all 14 of the Aeros' home games. In his last two games overall, he is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 gaa and a .975 save pct, stopping 79-of-81 shots. Harding ranks first in the AHL in games played (27) and minutes (1,598) and shots faced (830), and is second and saves (767). He is tied for fourth in wins (11). Harding ranks ninth in the AHL in gaa (2.37), and is fourth in save pct. (0.922). Harding is 11-7-2 with a 2.16 gaa and a .931 save pct. in his last 20 decisions since starting the season 0-5-1. Counting back to last season and including the playoffs, Harding has appeared in 36-of-38 games. The Aeros' record for most games played by a goalie in one season is 72 - set by Frederic Chabot in 1996-97 in an 82-game season. The AHL record is 74 - set by Baltimore's Mike O'Neill in 1995-96. O'Neill also made an AHL-record 2,005 saves that season. Harding is currently on pace to make 2,116 saves for the entire season, but that's if he keeps up his heavy workload.
- The Wolves are an impressive 13-3-0-0 on the road after last night's 4-3 victory in San Antonio. Chicago has outscored its opponents 85-49 on the road. Perhaps what's most impressive is that last night was the Wolves' first one-goal game on the road. Five of Chicago's 13 road wins have been by at least five goals.

Wolves at Aeros (Aeros are 38-28-14-4 all-time, Aeros are 23-9-8-2 at Houston)
- Tonight is the 85th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 43rd in Houston
- The Aeros have lost each of the last four meetings overall since winning five straight. The four-game regulation losing streak is tied for Houston's longest ever against Chicago (11/6/99-3/19/00). The Aeros were once winless in eight consecutive meetings (0-4-4-0) 12/28/03-10/20/04, but they picked up points in four of those eight games.
- Thirteen of the last 20 meetings in Houston have been decided by one goal or finished in a tie.
- Since joining the AHL in 2001-02, Houston is 20-19-9-4 overall versus the Wolves in the regular season.
- The teams meet three times in 12 days, with Houston traveling to Chicago 12/27 and 1/3.
- In the last meeting, 11/25 at Allstate Arena, rookie LW Brett Sterling tallied two goals and two assists and C Jared Ross scored twice as the Wolves routed the Aeros 7-3.
- The teams have met once at Toyota Center this season, with C Jared Ross and C Derek MacKenzie each scoring two goals in Chicago's 4-2 win 11/1.
- Wolves C Jared Ross has scored three of his four goals this season versus Houston.

Scouting the Aeros
The sixth-place Aeros (12-14-0-3) have 27 points, but are just three points behind Iowa for fifth place in the West...Houston plays four games next week, and eight in a 12 day stretch beginning 12/26...Team scoring leader RW Matt Foy has 24 points (12-12=24)...Next among forwards are a trio of rookies: LW Benoit Pouliot (12-4=16), C Ben Thomson (6-9=15) and RW Danny Irmen (7-6=13)...D Peter Ratchuk (3-11=14) and D Curtis Murphy (3-9=12) pace the blueline...G Josh Harding is 11-12-3 with a 2.37 gaa and a .924 save pct....Rookie G Tony Quesada, a Holy Cross product, is 0-2-0 with a 4.30 gaa and a .901 save pct.

Scouting the Wolves
Chicago (21-7-1-1), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, leads the West Division by eight points after last night's 4-3 victory in San Antonio...RW Darren Haydar, an early AHL MVP frontrunner, stretched his point streak to 30 games - within one of the AHL record - last night with a pair of assists...Haydar has a league-best 61 points (18-43=61)...Linemate C Jason Krog (19-33=52) is second in the AHL but is currently on recall to Atlanta...Rookie LW Brett Sterling is third in the league with 47 points (29-18=47), including a hat trick last night to give him a league-leading 29 goals in just 28 games...Sterling has scored 25 goals in his last 18 games, 10 of which are multi-goal games, while his 29 goals are a Wolves record by a rookie...D Jimmy Sharrow (3-13=16) and rookie D Nathan Oystrick (5-10=15) pace the blueline...G Fred Brathwaite is 10-2-1 with a 2.52 gaa and a .904 save pct....Brathwaite is 8-0-1 in his last nine decisions...G Michael Garnett is 10-6-0 with a 3.38 gaa and a .888 save pct.

2006-07 meetings (3rd of 8 meetings, Aeros are 0-2-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Houston)
November 1 Chicago 4 at Houston 2
November 25 Houston 3 at Chicago 7
Tonight Chicago at Houston
Wednesday Houston at Chicago
January 3 Houston at Chicago
February 17 Chicago at Houston
February 18 Chicago at Houston
March 7 Houston at Chicago

Saturday's game
Josh Harding made 38 saves and Josh Olson and Bryan Lundbohm scored first period goals, as the Houston Aeros earned their second straight win, 3-1 over the Manitoba Moose on Teddy Bear Toss Night at Toyota Center. Peter Olvecky snapped a 32-game drought without a goal for Houston.

Quick Hits
- Five of the Aeros' 12 victories have been in come-from-behind fashion.
- The Aeros are 4-4-0-3 in one-goal games. But after eight of their first 12 games were decided by one goal, just three of Houston's last 17 contests has been decided in that fashion.
- Thirty-one of Houston's 76 goals have come from rookies.
- Chicago is third in the league, accruing 24.6 PIM/game. Houston is tied for 20th at 18.9 PIM/game.
- The Wolves have drowned their opponents in the first period by a margin of 45-21, the best in the AHL.
- Chicago enters tonight's game averaging 4.77 gpg - more than two full goals per game more than Houston, and 0.84 more goals than any other AHL team.

Power play update
- Houston is 27th in the AHL with the man advantage at 12.1 percent.
- The Aeros are 4-for-40 (10.0 percent) on the power play in their last seven games.
- Houston is 0-for-9 with the man advantage in the last two contests.
- Chicago is 11th in the AHL on the PK at 83.2 percent.
- The Wolves have killed off 26-of-30 (86.7 percent) of their shorthanded chances in the last five games.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is third in the AHL on the PK at 87.1 percent.
- Opponents are 0-for-12 on the power play in the last two games.
- Chicago is fifth in the AHL on the power play at 20.9 percent.
- The Wolves are 9-for-38 (23.7 percent) with the man advantage in their last five games, including 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) in their last three.

Aeros/Wolves connections
- Chicago features former Aeros C Cory Larose, who tallied 120 points (50-70=120) in 136 games from 2001-03, and former Aeros RW Kyle Wanvig, who netted 113 points (57-56=113) in 239 games from 2001-05. Larose was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Henderson late in the 2002-2003 season, while Wanvig spent last season in Minnesota before signing a free agent deal with Atlanta. Larose's 50 goals place him 13th on the Aeros' all-time (IHL/AHL) list, while he is tied for 13th in points. Wanvig's 57 goals put him seventh on the team's all-time ledgers, while he ranks 17th with 113 points. Wanvig is also fifth on the team's PIM list with 485.
- Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.
- Aeros G Dieter Kochan was released from a PTO in October by Chicago, a day before signing with Houston. Kochan spent parts of two seasons in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization alongside Chicago C Steve Martins.
- Houston C Alex Leavitt was Chicago D Jim Fahey's teammate at the University of Wisconsin from 2001-03. Fahey played alongside Aeros D Shawn Belle last season in AHL Iowa.
- Wolves RW Darren Haydar played in Milwaukee from 2002-06. He was teammates with Aeros D Curtis Murphy, Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm and Aeros C Wyatt Smith. The Admirals were Calder Cup champs in 2004. Haydar and Aeros RW Joel Ward each hail from Toronto, Ont.
- Aeros LW Josh Olson was Chicago D Troy Milam's teammate in San Antonio in 2003-04.
- Aeros G Josh Harding and Chicago D Nathan Oystrick each hail from Regina, Sask. Oystrick and Aeros G Dieter Kochan each attended Northern Michigan University, albeit six years apart.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 22, 2006


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