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Aeros ring in New Year in Norfolk

December 31, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know
· Houston, which is second in the AHL on the power play at 20.4 percent, has a PPG in nine straight games, going 13-for-50 (26.0 percent) in that span. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-tying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 17-for-64 (26.6 percent) over their last 12 games and 21-for-83 (25.3 percent) in their last 16 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 21-8 on their respective man advantages. Houston has scored 13 of its last 25 goals on the power play and has scored 40 percent of its goals this season with the man advantage. The Aeros have been outscored 50-38 in 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 situations.
· The Aeros have been fighting it a bit in the second period over their last four games. Houston has been outscored 9-2 in the second period, including a 4-0 margin Wednesday versus Milwaukee. The Aeros have been outscored 25-19 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.
· Houston is 3-3-0-0 all-time in New Year's Eve contests, last playing at Kansas City in the 1999-2000 season. The Aeros lost that game 5-4.
· The Aeros have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the fourth time this season. They haven't dropped three straight since 2/20-2/22/04.
· Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux has six goals over his last seven games. Veilleux had five PPG in his first three seasons in Houston, and he has six already this season. His 12 AHL goals are one off his career-high set last season, and eight of his tallies have been Houston's first goal.

Aeros at Admirals (Aeros are 7-4-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-3-0-0 at Norfolk)
· Tonight is the 12th all-time regular-season meeting between the teams - sixth 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 7-3-0-0 against Norfolk.
· Three of the five meetings in Norfolk have been decided by one goal.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston continues a three-game road trip which concludes next Saturday in Milwaukee...Stephane Veilleux (12-8=20) and Mark Cullen (6-14=20) are the team's leading scorers...Veilleux has a team-best 12 goals, including six in the last seven 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 seven games with a concussion.

Scouting the Admirals
Norfolk has won two straight since a 2-7-0-1 stretch...The Admirals are playing game two of a six-game homestand, and they play 15 of their next 17 at The Scope...Rookie Rene Bourque leads the way for Norfolk with 22 points (12-10=22), 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 (7-10-1, 2.29) 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. 9 of a 10-game AHL suspension.

2004-05 meetings (Fourth of four meetings, Houston is 2-1-0-0 overall, Houston is 0-1-0-0 at Norfolk)
December 16: Norfolk 0 at Houston 2
December 18: Norfolk 3 at Houston 4 (SO)
Last Night: Houston 2 at Norfolk 5
Tonight: Houston at Norfolk

Last game
Quintin Laing and Shawn Thornton each tallied a goal and an assist, as the Norfolk Admirals cruised by the Houston Aeros 5-2 at The Scope. Michael Leighton made 31 saves, and Rene Bourque, Mike Brown and Eric Nickulas also scored for Norfolk, which reached the five-goal plateau for just the second time this season and has won two straight. Stephane Veilleux and Kirby Law each scored and Kyle Kettles stopped nine-of-12 shots for Houston, which has lost two straight for the first time since December 2-3.

Quick Hits
· Houston's Erik Reitz and Norfolk's Shawn Thornton fought for the third time in the past two seasons last night. Thornton picked up an instigator and misconduct on the play, which happened at 20:00 of the third period.
· Last night marked the first time in nine games the Aeros didn't score a first-period goal. Houston has outscored its opponents 34-31 in the first this season.
· Houston is just 8-11-2-1 when outshooting an opponent, but it is 7-1-0-0 when getting outshot or the shots are even.
· The Admirals have allowed 17 first-period goals, second fewest in the AHL. But in the third, Norfolk has yielded 37 tallies, third most in the league.
· Norfolk has played a league-low 12 home games (9-3-0-0), while playing a league-high 24 road games (9-11-1-3).
· The Admirals are 7-1-0-0 at The Scope in one-goal games, and seven of their nine home wins have come by one goal.
· Houston, which has dropped back-to-back three-goal decisions, is 1-3-0-0 this season following losses of three goals.
· The Aeros are an impressive 8-4-1-0 when playing their second or third consecutive game this season.
· Aeros defenseman John Erskine went over the 1,000-career PIM plateau last night.

Smith's streak snapped
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith was pulled after two periods Wednesday 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 10 on the road, but have lost two straight. Houston is 8-6-1-1 away from Houston this season.
· Each of Houston's first nine road games were 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 20.4 percent, has a PPG in nine straight games, going 13-for-50 (26.0 percent) in that span. The Aeros, who had a franchise-record-tying four PPG 11/20 in Syracuse, are 17-for-64 (26.6 percent) over their last 12 games and 21-for-83 (25.3 percent) in their last 16 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 21-8 on their respective man advantages. Houston has scored 13 of its last 25 goals on the power play and has scored 40 percent of its goals this season with the man advantage. The Aeros have been outscored 50-38 in 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 situations.
· The Aeros are 12-8-2-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-4-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 32-17 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.
· The Admirals have killed off 23-of-27 shorthanded chances (85.2 percent) percent over their last six games.

Houston tied for fifth on the PK
· Other than a 2-for-4 power play performance by Milwaukee 11/13, Houston has been rock solid to move into a tie for fifth place in the AHL at 87.9 percent.
· The Aeros have killed off 85-of-93 (91.4 percent) shorthanded chances over the last 20 games.
· Houston is 9-6-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-6-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are seventh in the AHL with five SHG.
· Norfolk ranks 23rd in the AHL on the power play at 13.5 percent. At home, the Admirals rank 28th and last at 8.2 percent.
· The Admirals are 3-for-31 (9.7 percent) with the man advantage in their last six 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 20 goals in this crucial time, including one tally 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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