Sports stats



Aeros host Game 3 tonight; Rally towels to first 3,000

April 23, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The West Division Semifinals mark the fourth post-season meeting between the Aeros and Wolves since 1999. Each of the previous three occasions came in a conference final, and the winning team went on to claim the league championship. Houston, which played its first playoff series in 1995, has not faced any other opponent more than two times. The Aeros defeated Chicago in seven games in the 1999 IHL Western Conference Finals, but the Wolves have won the last two meetings - a 4-2 series win in the 2000 Western Conference Finals, and a five-game decision in the AHL's 2002 Western Conference Finals. Houston is 8-12 all-time in the post-season against Chicago, including a 3-6 home mark and a 5-6 road record. Despite the Wolves holding the advantage, they have outscored Houston just 57-54 in their post-season meetings. Houston is 1-2 in overtime versus Chicago, losing two straight games before Thursday's thrilling 2-1 victory.
· The Aeros won Game 2, 2-1 in overtime Thursday, and that could be a good sign for them. Houston has won nine previous OT games, and it is 8-1 in those series. The lone series loss was the 2001 Western Conference Semifinals against Manitoba, when the Moose followed Houston's OT win with two of its own en route to a seven-game win. Since joining the AHL, the Aeros have won four straight series when notching an OT win.
· Houston has been one of the AHL's hottest home teams in the second half of the season. The Aeros are unbeaten in regulation in their last eight (6-0-0-2) at Toyota Center, dating back to a 3-0 loss to Cincinnati 3/14. Houston is 10-1-0-2 in the last 13 at home since dropping a 2-1 decision to Chicago 2/19, and the Aeros are 13-2-0-2 in their last 17 since falling 5-3 to Milwaukee 2/4.
· The Aeros and Wolves have combined to go 1-for-25 on the power play in the first two games of the series, and it shouldn't come as a surprise based on recent history. The Wolves have gone without a goal on 33 straight PP opportunities in the last six meetings this season, and they are only 1-for-49 (2.0 percent) on the power play in their last seven games overall. The Aeros, meanwhile snapped an 0-for-39 post-season power play streak versus the Wolves with Mark Cullen's PPG Thursday. Houston is now 1-for-44 against Chicago dating back to the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
· Houston goalie Mike Smith made 33 saves Thursday in Game 2's OT victory, moving him to 3-0-0 with a 1.93 gaa versus the Wolves this season. Counterpart Josh Harding is 3-6-0 with a 3.15 gaa against Chicago, but 18-11-2 with a sparkling 1.74 gaa versus the remainder of the AHL. Smith has allowed two goals or less in seven of his last eight starts, and is 2-0-0 with a 2.44 gaa against the Wolves at Toyota Center. In Smith's last five Toyota Center appearances, including a no decision in relief, he is 4-0-0 with a 1.29 gaa. The Aeros finished seventh in the AHL in the regular season allowing a franchise-record 195 goals, and they have done it behind a 20-year-old (Harding) and a 23-year-old (Smith). The Aeros are one of only three AHL teams to have two goaltenders without any post-season action in the league. Lowell sports the young duo of Cam Ward and Brent Krahn, while Providence has Hannu Toivonen and Chris Madden. Toivonen, however, has 20 games of playoff experience in Finland. Harding set franchise records with a 2.01 gaa, fifth-best in the AHL, and a .930 save pct. in the regular season. Smith ranked 17th in the AHL with a 2.42 gaa. Houston was one of only three AHL teams with two goalies in the top 20 in gaa.

Wolves at Aeros (Aeros are 33-23-14-4 overall, Aeros are 20-7-8-2 at Houston in regular season; Aeros are 8-12 overall, 3-6 at Houston in post-season play)
· The teams each registered 12 points in 10 regular season meetings, with Houston going 5-3-0-2 and Chicago tallying a 5-3-1-1 mark.
· The Aeros and Wolves met last Friday at Toyota Center, with Brent Burns scoring twice and Mike Smith making 36 saves and notching two assists in a 5-2 Houston win.
· The Aeros outshot Chicago by an average of 35-28 in their 10 regular-season meetings and held the shot edge in eight of those contests, but the Wolves have outshot the Aeros in each of the first two games of the series.
· Fifteen of the last 30 meetings between Houston and Chicago have gone into overtime, including five of 12 this season. Eight of the 12 games this season have been decided by one goal, including the 2-1 Aeros win in Game 2.
· In an oddity that truly defines the Aeros/Wolves series, the team to score first won just four of the 10 meetings this regular season. In three games, the losing team has coughed up a two- or three-goal lead. Chicago has outscored Houston 15-10 in the first period this season, counting the post-season.

Series tied at 1-1
The Aeros are 5-4 all-time in best-of-seven series when splitting the first two games. The last time Houston split the first two games on the road was the 2003 Calder Cup Finals, a series the Aeros won over Hamilton in seven games. Chicago won Game 1, 4-1, but in the division semifinals of the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs, the team to win the opener won just four of eight series. Houston is 4-2 when taking a 2-1 series lead, and 2-2 when trailing 2-1.

Quick Hits
· Aeros winger Kyle Wanvig has picked a perfect time for his first four-game point streak of the season. Wanvig had goals in three straight games prior to assisting on Mark Cullen's PPG Thursday in Game 2. Wanvig's Game 1 goal was his seventh in the post-season with the Aeros, moving him into a seventh-place tie with Jean-Guy Trudel on the team's all-time playoff list. Brendan Yarema is sixth with nine goals.
· Second-year winger Matt Foy has assisted on two of Houston's three goals in the series, including Mikko Koivu's OT game-winner Thursday.
· Through the season's first 65 games, the Aeros allowed only 41 third-period goals, but in the last 17 games, they gave up 18. Houston finished second in the AHL with 57 third-period goals allowed. Hartford led the way with 49. In its 41 wins, Houston has allowed just 19 third-period goals, but in the remainder of its 41 games, counting the post-season, it has yielded 40. The Wolves have outscored the Aeros 3-0 in the third period of this series, and have outshot them 27-8.
· The Aeros have scored 50 goals in their last 11 wins, but just nine goals in their last 11 losses (0-8-0-3).
· The Aeros are 14-25-4-4 when allowing the first goal, but 27-4-2-2 when scoring it.

Harding unbeaten in last eight of regular season
· Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding missed 17 games due to a concussion, but he returned strong, going 15-9-2 to close the regular season
· Harding, who finished fifth in the league in gaa (2.01), was 6-0-2 with a 1.59 gaa in his last eight regular-season decisions.
· Harding is the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind WBS' Marc-Andre Fleury.
· Harding went 11-3-2 with a 1.76 gaa at home, but 10-13-1 with a 2.18 gaa on the road.

Smith strong too
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith appeared in 19 straight games - 17 of the appearances starts - from 11/26-1/25. Smith's 19-game run was a new franchise record, eclipsing Frederic Chabot's old mark of 15, set 12/8/99-1/21/00.
· Smith finished 17th in the AHL with a 2.42 gaa.
· Smith joins Frederic Chabot (seven) and Ryan Bach (five) as the lone Aeros netminders with five shutouts in a season, and his five overall trail only Chabot (18) and Derek Gustafson (six) for the most in team history.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder went 7-6-2 with a 2.58 gaa on the road but 12-11-1 with a better 2.30 gaa at Toyota Center. Each of Smith's five shutouts came at home. l In his last five Toyota Center appearances, including a no decision in relief, Smith is 4-0-0 with a 1.29 gaa.
· Smith notched two assists last Friday against Chicago, the first Aeros goalie ever to accomplish that in one game. He has four helpers overall, two more than any other Aero netminder had in any one season. Frederic Chabot had five in his Aeros career, but it took him 224 games to get there.

PP unit eighth
· The Aeros finished the regular season eighth in the AHL on the power play at 16.6 percent.
· Houston is 6-for-47 (12.8 percent) over its last nine games.
· The Aeros outscored their opponents 66-43 on the power play in the regular season and 1-0 in the post-season.
· Houston is 27-13-5-3 when scoring a PPG and 14-16-1-3 when not scoring a PPG.
· Chicago ranked 14th in the league on the penalty kill at 84.5 percent.
· The Wolves have killed off 39-of-41 (95.1 percent) shorthanded chances over their last seven games.
· Houston is 9-for-60 (15.0 percent) on the power play against Chicago in 12 games, with Kyle Wanvig registering two goals. At home, the Aeros are 6-for-31 (19.4 percent).

Houston third on PK, ties AHL record for fewest home PPG allowed
· Houston finished third in the league on the penalty kill at a franchise-record 88.0 percent, allowing only 43 goals, tied for the league lead and another club mark. The Aeros were 92.5 percent at home (149-161), tying an AHL record for fewest home PPG allowed with 12. Portland also allowed 12 in 2003-04.
· The Aeros have killed off 45-of-48 shorthanded chances (93.8 percent) over their last nine games.
· Houston is 28-16-2-4 when not allowing a PPG and 13-13-4-2 when allowing a PPG.
· Chicago ranked 10th in the AHL on the power play at 16.1 percent, but a much improved 19.5 percent at home - sixth in the league.
· The Wolves are only 1-for-49 (2.0 percent) on the power play in their last seven games.
· Chicago is 6-for-64 (9.4 percent) with the man advantage against the Aeros this season, including a 4-for-43 home mark (9.3 percent) and 2-for-21 (9.5 percent) on the road. The Wolves have gone without a goal on 33 straight PP opportunities in the last five meetings. Steve Maltais and Kip Brennan each have two PPG in the series. Chicago and Cleveland are the only two AHL teams with more than one PPG at Toyota Center this season.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 23, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Houston Aeros Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central