Aeros look to end road trip with four wins tonight

Published on November 6, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· The Aeros have won three straight against the Griffins, and they haven't won four straight versus them since a franchise-best five-game streak from 11/25/97-2/6/00.
· Grand Rapids goalie Joey MacDonald (two shutouts) joins former teammate Marc Lamothe and Jason LaBarbera as the lone netminders to shut the Aeros out more than one time in AHL play. Lamothe had two of his three blankings since 2001-02, and LaBarbera has three since then. Seven goalies have two or more shutouts versus Houston since 1994-95, and tonight MacDonald will look to join Lamothe and LaBarbara as the lone netminders with three. MacDonald is 5-5-0 with a 2.20 gaa against the Aeros, and his gaa is the fifth-best among AHL netminders versus Houston.
· Houston has scored just one goal in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, when John Erskine potted a goal at 18:13 of the second period 10/20 at Chicago. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have nine goals in this crucial time, including Niklas Kronwall's extra attacker goal last night.
· The Aeros have played six straight one-goal games, two off the franchise record, established twice previously.
· In just two other seasons have the Aeros emerged from a six-game or longer road trip with a winning record - 1998-99 and 2002-03, both championship campaigns. Houston is guaranteed to finish this trip above the .500 mark.

Griffins at Aeros (Aeros are 21-21-7-0 overall, Aeros are 9-13-2-0 at Grand Rapids)
· Tonight is the 50th all-time meeting between the teams - 25th in Grand Rapids.
· Houston went 5-5-0 against Grand Rapids in 2003-04 and was the only AHL team with five wins against the Griffins.
· The Aeros are 6-3-0 in the last nine meetings after a 1-6-0 and 2-7-1 stretch.
· Houston is 15-20-7 against Grand Rapids since starting off with a 6-1-0 mark.
· The Aeros have won three straight against the Griffins, and they haven't won four straight versus them since a franchise-best five-game streak from 11/25/97-2/6/00.
· Since joining the AHL, Houston is 13-14-6 against Grand Rapids, including a 6-9-2 road record.
· The Aeros are 3-6-0 in their last eight trips to Grand Rapids, but did win two straight there 11/19-12/12/03.

Scouting the Aeros Pierre-Marc Bouchard (3-7=10) leads the Aeros with 10 points through 11 games, including his team's first two-goal game of the season last night...Mark Cullen (2-5=7) has seven points...Houston has 14 players with at least one goal, and none with more than three...Veteran Ray Giroux (2-4=6), coming off his 200th AHL point last night, anchors the blueline...Rookie goalie Josh Harding is 2-4-1 with a 2.15 gaa, while Mike Smith is 3-1-0 with a 3.93 gaa.

Scouting the Griffins Grand Rapids was flying high a week ago, sporting a 5-0-0-0 mark after game one of a franchise-record, nine-game homestand...Since then, the Griffins have dropped three straight one-goal decisions, including last night's OT loss to the Aeros...Top Red Wings prospects Niklas Kronwall (4-7=11) and Jiri Hudler (5-5=10) pace the Griffins, with former Aero Blake Sloan (4-2=6) just off the pace...Hudler and Sloan each have three PPG...Joey MacDonald played every minute for the Griffins prior to last night, and he sports a 5-2-0 mark with a 1.84 gaa...Rookie Drew MacIntyre was admirable last night with 45 saves in his first live action in 49 weeks.

2004-05 meetings (Second of 8 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 at Grand Rapids) Last night: Houston 4 at Grand Rapids 3 (OT) TONIGHT: Houston at Grand Rapids November 12: Houston at Grand Rapids January 22: Grand Rapids at Houston January 23: Grand Rapids at Houston February 9: Houston at Grand Rapids March 25: Grand Rapids at Houston March 27: Grand Rapids at Houston

Friday's game Pierre-Marc Bouchard's second goal of the game 2:44 into overtime lifted the Houston Aeros to a thrilling, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena. Junior Lessard and Stephane Veilleux also scored for Houston, which got all four goals from Quebec natives. The Aeros trailed 2-0 entering the third period and improved to 3-1-0-1 on a season-long six-game road trip that ends tonight. Houston's Josh Harding outdueled fellow rookie Drew MacIntyre (45 saves) with 31 stops.

Quick Hits
· The Aeros went 0-28-7-1 last season when trailing after two periods, but they have two such wins already this season.
· Houston gave up a first-period goal in its first eight games, but in only one of the last three have the Aeros yielded an opening-period goal. Houston has allowed an AHL-high 16 first-period goals.
· Last season, Houston had 10 road wins and just three against teams above the .500 mark. Already, the Aeros have three road wins against teams with winning records.
· Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard has a hand in seven of the Aeros' 11 power play goals this season.

Road trip notes
· This is the ninth road trip of six or more games in Aeros history, and Houston is guaranteed to finish above the .500 mark on the trek for just the fourth time.
· The previous long road trips with above .500 records were in the 1998-99 and 2002-03 seasons - both championship campaigns. Houston was 6-2-0 on an eight-game road trip and 3-1-3 on a seven-game trip in 1998-99, and 5-1-1-1 in eight games in 2002-03.

Quite the "trip" Tonight the Aeros finish off a six-game road trip, and the combined record of all the opponents is 25 games over the .500 mark. Houston returns home tomorrow after a grand total of 7,318 miles for a game versus Syracuse, before heading out for two more road games next week in Grand Rapids (Friday) and Milwaukee (Saturday). The Aeros are in a stretch of 13 road games out of 15.

Career night for a pair of "D" He waited three games to do it, but veteran blueliner Ray Giroux notched his 200th AHL point last night on the first of his two assists. Fellow defenseman John Erskine tied his career-high with two points and set a new career-best with his two assists, including a helper on Pierre-Marc Bouchard's overtime game-winner. Giroux and Erskine finding the scoresheet has been very important to the Aeros in 2004-05. Houston is 4-0-1-0 when Giroux has a point and 3-0-0-0 when Erskine has a point.

It's all about support With his 2.15 gaa, Houston rookie goalie Josh Harding seemingly deserves better than his 2-4-1 record. The Aeros are averaging 2.17 goals per game when Harding gets the start. The 20-year-old has allowed two goals or less in four of his six starts. Mike Smith, meanwhile, has a 3.93 gaa, but his record is 3-1-0 largely because Houston scores 3.40 goals per game when he starts.

Getting better as they go Houston has allowed an AHL-high 16 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 five goals on 114 shots (.956 save percentage). Opponents do have two empty-net goals.

Boogaard in the box
· Houston's Derek Boogaard has a penalty in each of his first 10 games, the longest streak in the AHL this season.
· Boogaard has a team-high 42 penalty minutes.
· In his AHL rookie season in 2003-04, Boogaard had 207 penalty minutes, the most for an Aero since 2000-01.
· With one more PIM, Boogaard will be just the 20th player in Aeros history to notch 250 with the team.

First and last two minutes are crucial Houston has scored just one goal in the first or last two minutes of a period this season, when John Erskine potted a goal at 18:13 of the second period 10/20 at Chicago. The Aeros' opponents, meanwhile, have nine goals in this crucial time, including Niklas Kronwall's extra attacker goal last night.

How the Aeros were built
· The Aeros have a franchise record three first-round picks, plus five second-rounders and four third rounders. Kyle Wanvig was drafted twice, once in the second round by Boston and again in the third by Minnesota. All but four of Houston's players were drafted.
· Five Aeros have their NHL rights owned by the Dallas Stars - Mike Smith, Junior Lessard, Patrick Traverse, Marius Holtet and John Erskine.
· Houston had 15 players from Canada on its Opening Night roster, five from the United States and one each from the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Austria. Marius Holtet, a second-round pick by Dallas, is the highest drafted Norwegian player in NHL history.

Aeros/Griffins connections
· The Aeros' Stephane Veilleux and Grand Rapids' Danny Groulx played together in 1999-2000 with Victoriaville of the QMJHL.
· Houston's Rickard Wallin and the Griffins' Niklas Kronwall both hail from Stockholm, Sweden.
· Aeros defenseman Todd Reirden was teammates with Grand Rapids' Bryan Helmer briefly with the St. Louis Blues in the 1999-2000 season.
· The Aeros' Josh Harding (38th) and Marius Holtet (42) and the Griffins' Jiri Hudler (58th) were all selected in the second round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Houston's Pierre-Marc Bouchard went eighth overall in that draft.
· Houston's Kyle Wanvig and Grand Rapids' Derek Meech were teammates for two seasons with WHL Red Deer, including the team's 2001 Memorial Cup championship.
· The Griffins' Blake Sloan was an Aero from 1997-99 and 2000-01, totaling 44 points (17-24=44) in 165 games.
· Houston defenseman Patrick Traverse played 10 games for Grand Rapids during the Griffins inaugural 1996-97 season.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 6, 2004


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