Aeros in Chicago tonight, will give away $2500 in cash Friday

Published on November 24, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know

  • The Aeros have won three straight - all on the road. Houston has won three straight on the road for the first time since 1/22-1/25/03, and the Aeros haven't won four straight road games since going 5-0-0-0 to open up the 2002-03 road slate (10/18-10/24/02).
    • Houston last won four straight overall during a season-long six-game run 12/5-12/17/03.
  • Houston, 8-4-1-1 on the road this season, won only 10 road games (10-22-6-2) in 2003-04, and didn't record its eighth road victory until 2/27 at San Antonio in its 34th road game (8-19-6-1). No. 9 didn't come until 3/21 in Norfolk in the Aeros' 38th road game. (9-21-6-2).
  • Houston is winless in its last nine trips to Allstate Arena (0-5-2-2), one shy of its 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.
  • Aeros center Mark Cullen and left wing Stephane Veilleux each need two points to become the 18th player in team history to reach 100.
  • Twelve of the last 20 meetings between these teams have gone into overtime, including both this season.


    • Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 29-20-13-4 overall, Aeros are 12-14-5-2 at Chicago)
  • Tonight is the 67th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 34th in Chicago.
  • Houston is winless in its last nine trips to Allstate Arena (0-5-2-2), one shy of its 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's longest road winless streak against an opponent is when the team lost 10 straight at Bradley Center in Milwaukee from 3/22/95-11/25/00.
  • The Wolves handed Houston a 5-4 overtime loss in Chicago 10/20, but the Aeros rebounded for a 4-3 home OT decision four days later.
  • 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 four wins in the last 18 matchups (4-6-5-3), but they have points in 12 of those games
  • The Wolves have four former Aeros on the roster - Travis Roche and Cory Larose are the top two point-getters in AHL Aeros history, while Greg Hawgood and Brendan Yarema also play for Chicago.
  • Chicago's Steve Maltais has an astounding 57 points (29-28=57) in 60 career games versus the Aeros, the most of any opposing player in each of the three scoring categories.


    • Scouting the Aeros
    Houston is 10-4-0-1 in its last 15 games and has won three straight, all on the road...Pierre-Marc Bouchard (5-11=16) is Houston's leading scorer, while Mark Cullen (4-9=13) and Stephane Veilleux (6-7=13) are just off the pace...Houston has 18 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (3-7=10) and Erik Reitz (0-8=8) anchor the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 4-6-1 with a 1.93 gaa, while Mike Smith is 7-2-0 with a 2.81 gaa.

    Scouting the Wolves
    Chicago has won two of three since a season-long four-game winless slide (0-3-0-1)...The Wolves blanked Cincinnati 3-0 Saturday behind 27 saves from Kari Lehtonen, who improved to 6-6-1 with a 2.65 gaa...Veteran Steve Maltais paves the Wolves way with 17 points (8-9=17), ahead of Brad Larsen (6-7=13)...Maltais and Larsen each have three PPG's...Former Aero Travis Roche is Chicago's leading defensive scorer with 10 points (4-6=10).

    2004-05 meetings (Third of 10 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-1-0 overall, Aeros are 0-0-1-0 at Chicago)
    October 20: Houston 4 at Chicago 5 (OT)
    October 24: Chicago 3 at Houston 4 (OT)
    TONIGHT: Houston at Chicago
    January 9: Chicago at Houston
    February 2: 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

    Tuesday's game
    Matt Foy forced overtime with 4:54 left in regulation and Marc Cavosie scored the deciding shootout goal, lifting the Houston Aeros to 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Barons at National City Rink in Gund Arena. Christoph Brandner also scored, Erik Reitz had his second straight two-assist game and Mike Smith made a season-high 38 saves for the Aeros

    Quick Hits
  • Houston is 7-3-1-1 in one-goal games, tied with Philadelphia (7-1-0-0) for the league lead in one-goal victories. In 2003-04, the Aeros were 8-6-0-4 in such games.
  • The Aeros are 6-3-1-1 in one-goal road games. Only Manchester (four) has more than three one-goal road wins.
  • The Aeros are 8-2-0-0 when playing the second or third game of back-to-back situations. Last season, Houston was 11-13-6-2 in those situations.
  • Houston has not lost a road game in which it has led. The Aeros are 8-0-0-0 when taking a lead away from Toyota Center.
  • Chicago is one of three teams that are winless when outshooting an opponent (0-3-0-1). Only Springfield (one) and San Antonio (three) have outshot their opponents fewer times then the Wolves.


    • Reitz has four assists in last two games
  • Aeros defenseman Erik Reitz has tied his career-high for assists in a game in each of his last two contests, 11/20 at Syracuse and 11/23 at Cleveland.
  • Reitz has eight assists in 17 games this season. Last season, Reitz tallied career-bests 19 helpers and 24 points in 69 contests.
  • Reitz' eight points rank him second among all Aeros defensemen.


    • ‘C' is for Cullen and consistent
  • Aeros centerman Mark Cullen is tied for second on the Aeros with 13 points (4-9=13), and he has points in 11 of his 19 games.
  • Cullen has at least one point in six of the last nine games, including a trio of two-game point streaks.
  • Cullen began the season on a three-game point streak (1-3=4) 10/16-10/23.


    • Cullen, Veilleux in a race of their own
  • Aeros center Mark Cullen and left wing Stephane Veilleux are in a race to become the 18th player in team history with 100 points.
  • Cullen and Veilleux are tied for 18th on the team's all-time point list with 98.
  • Veilleux has 11 points (5-6=11) in his last 11 games.
  • Dan Cavanaugh is next on the ledger with 90 points.


    • Cavanaugh has four points in last five games
  • After notching two goals and no assists in his first 13 games, Dan Cavanaugh has points in three of the last five games, with four points (1-3=4) in that span.
  • Cavanaugh notched his first GWG of the season 11/19 in a 2-1 win at Rochester.


    • It's all about support
    With his 1.93 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 4-6-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 2.10 goals per game when Harding gets the start. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in seven of his 10 starts. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 2.81 gaa, but his record is 7-2-0 and Houston scores 3.30 goals per game when he starts. Smith has tightened up in his last two games, allowing only three total goals. Smith isn't complaining about the support. In his 16 losses over two seasons with Utah, the Grizzlies scored 25 goals for him.

    It's not "Hard" to figure out his talent with these stats
  • Aeros rookie netminder Josh Harding sports a 1.93 gaa, seventh best in the AHL and tops among rookies.
  • Since falling to 0-3-0 October 23, the 20-year-old Harding, the second youngest goalie in the AHL behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Marc-Andre Fleury, is 4-3-1 with a 1.52 gaa.
  • Harding is the first Aeros rookie netminder ever with two shutouts.
  • Harding has stopped an eye-popping 112-of-118 shots in the third period for a .949 save percentage.
  • Harding made 40 saves 11/6 for his second shutout in three starts. He joined Frederic Chabot as the lone Aeros goalies with 1-0 road wins, and his 40 saves trail only Chabot's 43 on 2/15/97, versus Long Beach for most in a shutout.


    • Smith is no slouch either
  • Aeros goalie Mike Smith won four straight decisions 10/24-11/13 before falling 6-4 to Edmonton 11/14. He has rebounded with back-to-back wins 11/19 at Rochester and last night in Cleveland, when he made a season-high 38 saves.
  • Smith's four straight wins tied his career high, set 11/28-12/7/03. Currently, he's won six of seven decisions.
  • Smith, who spent the past two seasons with an offensively-challenged Utah team, is above the .500 mark in the AHL at 20-18-0.


    • Aeros PPG streak snapped
  • Houston, which is eighth on the power play at 18.1 percent, had its streak of five straight games with at least one PPG snapped last night. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-trying four PPG Saturday in Syracuse, are 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) in the last six games.
  • The Aeros are 8-4-1-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-3-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
  • Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has a hand in 11 of the Aeros' 19 PPG this season. He has been on the ice for 13 of the 19, including 11 of the last 14.
  • The Aeros have allowed an AHL-high five shorthanded goals, including a pair by Syracuse's Alexander Svitov Saturday.
  • Chicago is tied for 16th on the penalty kill at 84.8 percent.
  • The Wolves have killed off 31-of-35 (91.4 percent) shorthanded chances over their last five games, with three of the PPG coming 11/19 vs. Cincinnati, which went 3-for-10. Chicago has gone shorthanded an astounding 21 times over the last two games.


    • Houston 12th on the PK
  • Other than a 2-for-4 power play performance by Milwaukee 11/13, Houston has been rock solid to move to 12th in the AHL at 86.4 percent.
  • The Aeros have killed off 50-of-55 (90.9 percent) shorthanded chances over the last 10 games.
  • Houston is 5-4-0-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-3-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
  • The Aeros are tied for third in the AHL with four SHG.
  • Chicago ranks 18th in the AHL on the power play at 13.3 percent.
  • The Wolves are 4-for-25 (16.0 percent) on the power play over their last five games.


    • Back to the west
  • Tonight Houston returns to facing a West opponent for the first time in six games, the Aeros' longest streak of out-of-division opponents this season.
  • The Aeros played 12 of their first 20 games against non-division opponents, and only 12 non-division games remain.
  • The Aeros are 6-5-0-1 versus non West Division foes, including 6-4-0-0 against the North. Houston is 5-1-0-0 versus North opponents on the road.
  • Houston is 5-2-1-0 against its West brethren.


    • What's on tap
  • Tonight is Houston's final game of a five-game road trip, and the Aeros' last road game until 12/30. Houston is 3-1-0-0 on the trek.
  • The Aeros are wrapping up a stretch of 13 road games out of 15 before beginning a season-long, eight-game homestand beginning Friday and Sunday against Utah.
  • Starting Friday, Houston plays 13 of 16 games and 20 of 25 at home.


    • Aeros approaching 2003-04's road win total
  • The Aeros have won six of eight on the road, and their eight wins and 18 road points trail only Manitoba's nine and 19 for the AHL lead.
  • Each of Houston's first nine road games was decided by one goal, tying the franchise record originally set 1/27-3/1/97. The Aeros are now 6-3-1-1 in one-goal road games, and they have a league-best six wins and 14 points in one-goal road games.
  • The Aeros have won three straight on the road for the first time since 1/22-1/25/03, and the Aeros haven't won four straight road games since going 5-0-0-0 to open up the 2002-03 road slate (10/18-10/24/02).
  • The Aeros, 8-4-1-1 on the road this season, were 4-8-1-1 in 2003-04 through their first 14 road games.
  • Houston won only 10 road games all of last season (10-22-6-2), and didn't record its eighth road victory until 2/27 at San Antonio in its 34th road game (8-19-6-1).


    • Toyota Center is home, but Aeros may not recognize it
  • The Aeros, who tonight finish a stretch of 13 games out of 15 on the road, are 3-3-0-0 on home ice, but they are 2-1-0-0 since a 1-2-0-0 start.
  • Houston is 3-0-0-0 when scoring first at home, but 0-3-0-0 when giving up the first goal.
  • The Aeros open up an eight-game homestand this Friday and Sunday versus Utah.


    • Getting better as they go
    Houston has allowed an AHL-high 22 first-period goals this season, but the goalies get downright stingy after that, especially in the final 20 minutes. In the third period, Aeros goalies have allowed only 11 goals on 201 shots (.945 save percentage). Opponents do have four empty-net goals. Houston's save percentage increases from .883 in the first period to .926 in the second and .945 in the third.

    First and last two minutes are crucial
    Houston has scored just four goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, the latest coming Friday night on Dan Cavanaugh's game-winning goal with two minutes left in the first period. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 12 goals in this crucial time.

    Attendance up 24 percent
    Houston is averaging 4,985 fans per game through six home games, a 24.4 percent increase over the same span in 2003-04, when the Aeros increased their average attendance for the first time in team history.

    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 centerman Brendan Yarema had 31 points (18g, 13a) in 77 games with the Aeros 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 Matt Foy and Chicago's Adam Smyth were teammates with OHL Ottawa in 2002-03.
  • 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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    American Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2004


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