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Aeros in Chicago tonight trying to snap Allstate skid

February 2, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The Aeros, 10-7-1-1 on the road this season, can eclipse their 2003-04 road win total in just their 20th tilt away from Toyota Center. The Aeros went 10-22-6-2 on the road last season.
· Houston's Mikko Koivu, selected to the PlanetUSA All-Star Team last week, had his seven-game point streak snapped Saturday. Koivu is tied for second on the team with 24 points (12-12=24), despite missing 12 games due to an appendectomy in late October. Koivu's seven-game point streak was the best for an Aero since Rastislav Pavlikovsky had a nine-game streak from 2/1-3/11/03.
· Coming into Saturday's game against Chicago, Houston had been outscored 22-12 in the first and last two minutes of a period this season. That all changed as the Aeros scored all three of their goals in this critical time. Christoph Brandner scored with 1:47 left in the second period, Pierre-Marc Bouchard evened things up 40 seconds into the third and Brent Burns got the game-winner with 50.7 seconds remaining in regulation.
· Houston is an amazing 10-2-0-0 when getting outshot, or the shots are even. The Aeros, meanwhile, are just 10-15-2-2 when outshooting an opponent. Aeros goalies don't mind work - they are only 3-10-1 when seeing 23 shots or less, but 17-9-1 when seeing 24 or more. The Aeros, who have outshot their last three opponents 129-61, have totaled double-digits in shots in each of their last 10 periods and in 23 of their last 27 over the last nine games.
· The Aeros are winless in their last 10 trips to Allstate Arena (0-6-2-2), tied for their longest winless streak in an opposing building. The Aeros' last win in Chicago was a 5-4 overtime affair 1/15/03, and their last regulation win was 4/7/02, a 4-3 victory. Houston lost 10 straight at Bradley Center in Milwaukee from 3/22/95-11/25/00.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 30-21-13-4 overall, Aeros are 12-15-5-2 at Chicago)
· Tonight is the 69th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 35th in Chicago.
· Houston is 2-1-1-0 this season against the Wolves, with both non wins coming at Allstate Arena.
· The Aeros went 1-5-4 against Chicago in 2003-04, including a 1-1-3 home mark and an 0-4-1 record on the road.
· The Aeros have just five wins in the last 20 matchups (5-7-5-3), but they have points in 13 of those games.
· The Wolves have three former Aeros on the roster - Travis Roche and Cory Larose are the top two point-getters in AHL Aeros history, while Greg Hawgood also plays for Chicago.
· Twelve of the last 22 meetings between Houston and Chicago have gone into overtime, and Saturday's was decided in the final minute of regulation.
· This marks the second straight meeting between Houston and Chicago. This season, the Aeros are 3-4-0-0 in the first of back-to-back meetings, but 5-2-0-0 in the second.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston has only one regulation loss in its last five games (3-1-0-1) after losing four of five...Stephane Veilleux (14-14=28) is the Aeros' leading scorer, but a balanced attack has seen six players reach the 20-point plateau...Houston has 20 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (6-10=16) anchors a well-balanced blueline that includes four players with 13 points or more...Mike Smith is 14-11-1 with a 2.43 gaa, while Josh Harding (6-7-1, 2.01 gaa) returned from a 17-game absence Saturday.

Scouting the Wolves
Chicago's three-game winning streak was snapped Saturday in Houston...The Wolves have split their last four home games...J.P. Vigier, who spent the entire 2003-04 season in the NHL and was a 10-goal scorer for Atlanta, leads the Wolves with 43 points (17-26=43)...Former Aeros Travis Roche (9-20=29) and Greg Hawgood (2-26=28) pace the blueline...First-half AHL MVP Kari Lehtonen is 22-14-1 with a 2.33 gaa, while Michael Garnett is 4-3-0 with a 3.03 gaa.

2004-05 meetings (Fifth of 10 meetings, Aeros are 2-1-1-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-1-0 at Chicago)
October 20: Houston 4 at Chicago 5 (OT)
October 24: Chicago 3 at Houston 4 (OT)
November 24: Houston 0 at Chicago 3
Saturday: Chicago 2 at Houston 3
Tonight: Houston at Chicago
February 12: Houston at Chicago
February 18: Chicago at Houston
February 19: Chicago at Houston
March 9: Houston at Chicago
April 15: Chicago at Houston

Last game
Brent Burns snapped a tie with 50.7 seconds left in regulation and Josh Harding made a triumphant return to the lineup by making 17 saves, as the Houston Aeros rallied from two goals down to defeat the Chicago Wolves 3-2 in front of 9,590 at Toyota Center. Christoph Brandner, returning from a 16-game injury break, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored goals for Houston.

Quick Hits
· Tonight the Aeros play game four of a six-game stretch against Milwaukee, Chicago and Grand Rapids, the teams who owned the top three winning percentages in the West when the run began.
· The Aeros have allowed 26 third-period goals, tied with Rochester for fewest in the AHL. No other team has yielded fewer than 31.
· Chicago has allowed 44 first-period goals, tied for the fifth most in the AHL. But the Wolves have scored 48 times in the opening 20 minutes, third in the league.
· Aeros captain Kirby Law enters tonight's game with 999 career PIM's in 504 games.
· The Aeros have had 16 power play chances in their last three games while allowing only six in that span.
· Houston hasn't lost a lead on the road. The Aeros are a perfect 10-0-0-0 when leading on the road.

Smith establishes franchise mark
· 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 recorded his third shutout of the run and fourth overall 1/19, making 39 saves in a 2-0 win over Edmonton. It marked the third-highest save total for an Aeros goalie in a shutout, trailing only Chabot's 43 and Josh Harding's 40. Smith is one of five Aeros goalies ever with four shutouts in a season.
· Smith is 14-7-1 when allowing zero or one goal in the first period, but he's 0-4-0 with a no decision when yielding two or more.
· Smith is 3-1 in his AHL career in OT and 3-1 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 6-1-0 with a 2.37 gaa on the road but 8-10-1 with a 2.46 gaa at Toyota Center.
· In 19 home games, Smith has allowed 36 goals in the first two periods but just seven in the third.

Harding back
· Aeros 20-year-old rookie goalie Josh Harding missed 17 games due to a concussion, but he returned back to stop the final 17 shots sent his way Saturday versus Chicago.
· Harding is 6-4-1 with a 1.74 gaa since an 0-3-0 start to his pro campaign.

PP unit fifth
· The Aeros are fifth in the league on the power play at 18.6 percent.
· Houston is 5-for-20 (25.0 percent) in the last four games on the man advantage after an 0-for-9 stretch. In their last 24 games, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 30-13 on the power play.
· The Aeros are 16-10-2-1 when scoring a PPG and 4-7-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 41-22 on the power play.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, the last by Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18.
· Chicago is 19th in the league on the penalty kill at 81.6 percent and has allowed 52 PPG, second-worst in the league.
· The Wolves have allowed a PPG in eight of their last nine games (76.5 percent, 39-of-51). Chicago has been shorthanded an AHL-high 283 times (98 more than Houston).

Houston fifth on PK
· Houston is fifth in the league on the penalty kill at 88.1 percent.
· Houston has killed off 58-of-64 shorthanded chances in the last 16 games (90.6 percent).
· The Aeros have killed off 124-of-137 (90.5 percent) of their shorthanded chances over the last 31 games.
· Houston is 13-9-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 7-8-1-1 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for eighth in the AHL with six SHG, all by different players. Only Lowell and Manchester also have six different players with a SHG.
· Chicago is seventh in the league on the power play at 18.0 percent.
· The Wolves are 6-for-32 (18.8 percent) with the man advantage in the last seven games. Chicago's 272 PP opportunities are fourth most in the AHL.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored 15 goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, including three goals Saturday. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 22 goals in this crucial time. Houston is 1-7-0 this season when allowing a goal in the opening two minutes of a period.

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 was John Erskine's teammate in Utah in 2001-02 and 2002-03, and Erskine played alongside Kyle Rossiter in Utah in 2001-02.
· Chicago's Colin Stuart played two seasons with Houston's Mark Cullen at Colorado College.
· Wolves assistant coach Marty Howe won a pair of AVCO Cups with the WHA Houston Aeros in 1974-75.
· Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.
· 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 over the Aeros' Stephane Veilleux.
· Chicago defenseman Jeff Dwyer and the Aeros' Ray Giroux each went to Yale.
· Chicago's Brad Larsen played for Aeros head coach Todd McLellan for three junior seasons with WHL Swift Current from 1994-1997.
· Houston's Todd Reirden totaled 15 points (3-12=15) in 88 games over two seasons with IHL Chicago from 1995-97.
· Chicago's Kari Lehtonen and Tommi Santala and Houston's Mikko Koivu all hail from Finland.
· Aeros winger Derek Boogaard played two seasons of juniors at Prince George with Chicago's Tim Wedderburn, who spent the 2003-04 season in Utah with Houston's Mike Smith.

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