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Aeros in Norfolk tonight

December 30, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Houston, which ended a 4-3-1-0 homestand last night, is playing its first road game since 11/24, a 3-0 loss in Chicago. The Aeros' 36 days without a road game are the most in franchise history. The previous record was 31, from 12/31/99-2/1/00, when the team had a nine-game homestand. Houston's eight road wins this season are two off its entire total from 2003-04.
· Houston, which is second in the AHL on the power play at 20.8 percent, went 12-for-43 (27.9 percent) on its homestand, with at least one goal in each contest. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-trying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 16-for-57 (28.1 percent) over their last 11 games and 20-for-76 (26.3 percent) in their last 15 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 20-8 on their respective man advantages. On the eight-game homestand, Houston scored 12 of its 23 goals on the power play.
· The Aeros have been fighting it a bit in the second period over their last three games. Houston enjoys an 8-1 advantage in the first and third periods plus overtime/shootout over its last three games, but it has been outscored 8-2 in the second period, including a 4-0 margin last night to Milwaukee. The Aeros have been outscored 24-19 in the second, and their 19 goals in the stanza are tied for the second fewest in the AHL. Syracuse has 18 second-period goals.
· The Aeros have played only four games since December 3. The rest of the division, meanwhile, has been busy, playing the following number of games: Milwaukee (12), Grand Rapids (11), Chicago (11), San Antonio (14), Cincinnati (10) and Utah (12).
· Last night, the Aeros welcomed defenseman Ray Giroux and center Pierre-Marc Bouchard back into the lineup. Giroux missed the last eight games due to injury, while Bouchard was out for nine games. Giroux is a three-time AHL All-Star, while Bouchard had a team-best 16 points (5-11=16) in just 18 games at the time of his injury. Houston is still playing without Josh Harding, the Minnesota Wild's top goalie prospect. The 20-year-old has missed the last six games with a concussion suffered 11/28 versus Utah and is expected to start skating sometime after the New Year.

Aeros at Admirals (Aeros are 7-3-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-2-0-0 at Norfolk)
· Tonight is the 11th all-time regular-season meeting between the teams - fifth in Norfolk.
· Houston won 2-0 and 4-3 in a shootout in games 12/16 and 12/18 at Toyota Center.
· The Aeros went 3-1-0-0 last season against the Admirals, sweeping two home games, then splitting a two-game set in Norfolk.
· Since dropping the first meeting 5-4, the Aeros are 7-2-0-0 against Norfolk.
· Three of the four meetings in Norfolk have been decided by one goal.
· The Aeros won 5-3 in their last game in Norfolk, 3/21/04, despite getting just one shot in the third period - an empty net goal.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston kicks off a three-game road trip tonight, a trek that continues tomorrow night in Norfolk and next Saturday in Milwaukee...Stephane Veilleux (11-8=19) and Mark Cullen (6-13=19) are the team's leading scorers...Veilleux has a team-best 11 goals, including five in the last six games...Houston has 19 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (5-8=13), Erik Reitz (0-11=11) and Zbynek Michalek (2-8=10) anchor the blueline...Mike Smith is 10-6-0 with a 2.75 gaa, while Josh Harding (5-7-1, 2.01 gaa) has missed the last six games with a concussion.

Scouting the Admirals
Norfolk has gone 3-7-0-11 in its last 11 since a 14-7-1-2 start and went 2-3-0-1 on a six-game road trip that ended last night with a big 2-1OT win in Philadelphia...The Admirals, who open up a six-game homestand tonight and play 15 of their next 17 at The Scope, have been shut out in two of their last six games...Rookie Rene Bourque leads the way for Norfolk with 21 points (11-10=21), while former Aero Marty Wilford is the team's leading defensive scorer with 16 points (1-15=16)...Top goalie prospect Craig Anderson (8-1-1, 1.74 gaa) is out following hip surgery earlier this month, leaving Michael Leighton (6-10-1, 2.31) and Adam Munro (3-4-1, 2.73) to tend the nets...Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Bruce Cassidy is coaching in place of Trent Yawney, who tonight serves game No. 8 of a 10-game AHL suspension.

2004-05 meetings (Third of four meetings, Houston is 2-0-0-0 overall, First meeting at Norfolk)
December 16: Norfolk 0 at Houston 2
December 18: Norfolk 3 at Houston 4 (SO)
Tonight: Houston at Norfolk
Tomorrow: Houston at Norfolk

Last game
Andrew Hutchinson scored twice, Darren Haydar added a goal and three assists and Aero-killer Simon Gamache contributed four assists, all in a four-goal second period, as the Milwaukee Admirals shook off a slow start to beat the Houston Aeros 4-1 at Toyota Center. Brian Finley made 16 of his 31 saves in a frantic first period and Dan Hamhuis also scored for defending Calder Cup champion Milwaukee. Brent Burns scored a power play goal for Houston.

Quick Hits
· Aeros defenseman John Erskine enters tonight's game with 999 career penalty minutes, including a team-high 130 this season.
· The Aeros have scored a first-period goal in each of their last eight games, and in 11 of 12. Houston has outscored its opponents 34-28 in the first this season.
· The Admirals have allowed 17 first-period goals, second fewest in the AHL. But in the third, Norfolk has yielded 35 tallies, fifth most in the league.
· Norfolk has played a league-low 11 home games (8-3-0-0), while playing a league-high 24 road games (9-11-1-3). The Admirals have played 23 of their last 30 on the road.
· The Admirals are 7-1-0-0 at The Scope in one-goal games, and seven of their eight home wins have come by one goal.
· Houston, which lost 4-1 last night to Milwaukee, is 1-2-0-0 this season following losses of three or more goals.
· The Aeros are an impressive 8-3-1-0 when playing their second or third consecutive game this season.

Smith's streak snapped
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith was pulled after two periods last night, snapping a 3-0-0 streak with a 1.62 gaa since losing three straight games to tie a career-high.
· Smith is 10-3-0 when allowing zero or one goal in the first period, but he's 0-3-0 with a no decision when yielding two or more.
· Smith's OT loss to San Antonio 12/3 was his first ever in the AHL post-regulation. He is now 3-1 in OT and 3-0 in shootouts, and he went 3-1 in shootouts with ECHL Lexington in 2002-03.
· His three shootout wins are one off Jason LaBarbera's league-best total of four.
· The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is a perfect 4-0-0 with a 2.77 gaa on the road.

Aeros approaching 2003-04's road win total
· 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). Road win No. 9 came in the Aeros' 38th game (9-21-6-2), 3/21 at Norfolk.
· The Aeros have won six of nine on the road, improving to 8-5-1-1 away from Houston this season. The Aeros were 5-8-1-1 in 2003-04 through their first 15 road games.
· 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 6-3-1-1 in one-goal road games, and their six one-goal road wins are just one off the league lead, despite not playing away from Toyota Center in more than a month.
· The Aeros won three straight on the road 11/19-11/23, the first time they've done that since 1/22-1/25/03. 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).

PP unit keeps rolling
· Houston, which is second in the AHL on the power play at 20.8 percent, went 12-for-43 (27.9 percent) on its homestand, with at least one goal in each contest. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-trying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 16-for-57 (28.1 percent) over their last 11 games and 20-for-76 (26.3 percent) in their last 15 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 20-8 on their respective man advantages. On the eight-game homestand, Houston scored 12 of its 23 goals on the power play.
· The Aeros are 13-6-2-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-4-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 31-17 on the power play.
· The Aeros have allowed seven shorthanded goals, the last by Norfolk's Quintin Laing 12/18. That total has them three behind Manchester's league-high 10 SHG allowed.
· Norfolk ranks eighth in the league on the penalty kill at 87.6 percent, but it is first at 95.1 percent at home.
· The Admirals have killed off 17-of-20 shorthanded chances (85.0 percent) percent over their last five games.

Houston seventh on the PK
· Other than a 2-for-4 power play performance by Milwaukee 11/13, Houston has been rock solid to move into seventh place in the AHL at 87.7 percent.
· The Aeros have killed off 82-of-90 (91.1 percent) shorthanded chances over the last 19 games, and went 28-for-31 (90.3 percent) on the just completed homestand.
· Houston is 9-5-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-6-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for eighth in the AHL with four SHG.
· Norfolk ranks 22nd in the AHL on the power play at 13.7 percent. At home, the Admirals rank 28th and last at 8.6 percent.
· The Admirals are 3-for-28 (10.7 percent) with the man advantage in their last five games.

First and last two minutes are crucial
Houston has scored just seven goals in the first or last two minutes of a period this season. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have 19 goals in this crucial time, including Darren Haydar's tally with 0.2 seconds left in the middle period last night. Houston is 1-5-0 this season when allowing a goal in the opening two minutes of a period.

Aeros/Admirals connections
· The Admirals' Marty Wilford played 45 games for the IHL Aeros in the 1999-2000 season, notching nine assists and 30 penalty minutes.
· Houston head coach Todd McLellan and the Admirals' Trent Yawney were teammates in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons with WHL Saskatoon. Yawney is currently serving a 10-game AHL suspension.
· Admirals goalie Craig Anderson and Aeros defenseman Todd Reirden each hail from suburban Chicago.
· Houston's Todd Reirden was teammates with Norfolk's Mike Brown in AHL Cincinnati in 2002-03.
· Aeros winger Kyle Wanvig and Norfolk's Jim Vandermeer were teammates from 1999-2001 with WHL Red Deer, and helped the Rebels to the 2001 Memorial Cup over Houston's Stephane Veilleux. Vandermeer and Aeros captain Kirby Law spent three seasons in the Flyers organization.

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