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Aeros Weekly

November 18, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


LAST WEEK: Houston suffered its first home loss of the season and its first losing streak as it fell to Milwaukee at home and then Grand Rapids on the road.

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Aeros were shutout in both games this week, suffering their first back-to-back losses. NOVEMBER 14: The Aeros hosted the Milwaukee Admirals at Compaq Center and suffered their worst loss of the season, and first shutout, 5-0. Center Greg Koehler led the way for Milwaukee collecting a natural hat trick and adding an assist. Koehler scored two power play goals in the first and then even strength in the second. G Jan Lasak stopped 27 of 27 shots to become the first goalie this season to keep the Aeros off the scoresheet. G Dieter Kochan started the game for Houston and allowed three goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Derek Gustafson who finished the game stopping 16 of 18. NOVEMBER 15: The Griffins took advantage of the fact the Aeros traveled Friday morning and scored their first goal just 1:55 into the game, by Tim Skarperud. Houston fired more shots through the remainder of the period but the only other goal scored was by Bryan Adams for the Griffins. After a scoreless second, Houston put on the pressure in the third, firing 12 shots, but none could find the back of the net. Mark Mowers scored the final goal for the Griffins. The star of the game was Griffins goalie Marc Lamothe. He stopped all 34 shots Houston threw at him, many in spectacular fashion. Derek Gustafson, turned away 22 of 25 for Houston. Both teams were 0 of 6 on the power play.

WHERE THEY STAND: Houston had its five-game unbeaten streak broken, but remains first in the Western Division. Milwaukee is four points behind the Aeros with a record of 8-2-4-1 for 21 points. The Aeros have fallen out of first in the league and Western Conference as the Norfolk Admirals have passed them. Norfolk is 12-2-1-2 for 27 points.

SCORELESS STREAK: After being shutout by Milwaukee on Thursday and in Grand Rapids on Friday, the Aeros have gone 124:02 without a goal. The last one Houston scored was by Cory Larose on Sunday, November 10 versus San Antonio in a 5-1 win. The Aeros were shutout twice in a row last season on March 2 versus Providence (6-0L) and Grand Rapids (0-0T).

WELCOME TO THE BOX: The Aeros started the season with a pair of games against Utah and racked up their two highest penalty minute totals, 74 and 41. Since then the Aeros have settled down, but still rank eighth in the league in penalty minutes at 24.1 per game for a total of 386 minutes in the sin bin. Houston's opponents have behaved even worse as they have 462 penalty minutes in 16 games (28.9 average).

EVERYBODY IN THE ACT: The Houston Aeros have points from twenty different players, with Jean-Guy Trudel leading the team with eight goals and 19 points. Kyle Wanvig and Hnat Domenichelli are right behind tied with seven goals. Cory Larose has been the most generous player with 15 assists. In 16 games played, there have been six players score multiple-goal games, with Domenichelli accomplishing that feat twice.

TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT: The Aeros have outshot their opponents in 11 of their 16 games and boast a 10-1 record in those contests. When the opponent leads in shots on goal, Houston is .500 (2-2-1). Houston has taken 549 shots this season and allowed only 449. It doesn't seem to matter too much to the Aeros who scores first. Houston is 5-0-1 when getting the first goal and 7-3-0 when the opponent strikes first.

SCHOOL DAYS: With the Aeros playing back-to-back games in the latter part of the week, last week and this week, they are taking the opportunity to visit numerous schools in the Houston area. Along with Chilly, the Aeros mascot, players are visiting several elementary schools to discuss the importance of reading and character. The school kids also receive bookmarks that proclaim "Reading Is Cool!"

TRANSACTIONS: 11/14 - D Remi Royer loaned to Florida Everblades (ECHL);

11/15 - LW Tony Tuzzolino assigned to Louisiana (ECHL).

NEWS AND NOTES: * LW Jean-Guy Trudel continues to lead the team in points with 8-11-19, ranks sixth (tied) in the league in scoring;

* C Cory Larose is second in points with 2-15-17 and second in the league in assists, tied for 16th in points;

* D Curtis Murphy leads Aeros' defensemen and ranks sixth among AHL blueliners with 5-7-12 and is tied for first in goals;

* D Lawrence Nycholat has recorded two 3-game point streaks, and he leads the Aeros with a plus-10;

* LW Hnat Domenichelli and RW Kyle Wanvig are tied for third on the team with 7-5-12;

* D Erik Reitz leads Aeros rookies with 3-5-8 in 14 games;

* C Mark Cullen is top among Aeros rookies with 4 goals in 12 games;

* G Derek Gustafson had his 7 game winning streak snapped on Friday, but still is tied for league lead in wins. His 2.33 GAA is 10th in the AHL;

* G Dieter Kochan is 5-2-1 and ranks 20th in GAA (2.66); * The Power play has struggled recently, going 0 of 13 over the past two games, and now is 20 of 121/16.5%, ranking 13th;

* The Penalty Killing remained steady and is 91 of 106/85.8%, ranking ninth.

WILD WATCH: Minnesota leads the Northwest Division with a record of 11-5-3 for 25 points, trailing conference leader Dallas by three points. The Wild have three games this week. They host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, travel to play the Washington Capitols on Thursday and return home to host the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

ICEGATOR UPDATE: Louisiana has posted a record of 8-5-2 for 18 points in 15 games. They currently rank third in the East Coast Hockey League's Southwest Division. Shawn McNeil is second in the league with 12 goals. G Kyle Kettles ranks 10th in GAA (2.54). The IceGators play four games this week; visiting the Mississippi SeaWolves on Tuesday, then hosting the Baton Rouge Kingfish and the Columbus Cottonmouths twice over the weekend.

UPCOMING GAMES

Thursday 11/21 VS. HARTFORD

The Wolf Pack makes its lone visit to Houston. Last season the teams played four times and both teams won twice, including a split in each building.

Friday 11/22 AT CLEVELAND

The Aeros make their second and final visit to Cleveland to take on the Barons in the middle game of a three-in-three. Houston won the first game, 3-2, on October 23.

Saturday 11/23 AT CHICAGO

Houston makes its first visit to the scene of last season's ending heartbreak, Chicago. The Aeros lost to the eventual Calder Cup Champions four games to one in the Western Conference Finals.

Friday 11/29 AT NORFOLK

Houston travels to Norfolk for the first ever match-up between the two franchises in an early season Western Conference showdown. This game is the first of a back-to-back set.

Saturday 11/30 AT NORFOLK

Through the six weeks of the season, Houston and Norfolk have been the top two teams in the AHL. Norfolk makes its only visit to Houston on Dec. 19 & 21.

ON THE AIR: Houston Aeros games can be heard on AM 700 "The Voice" KSEV this season. The game from Cleveland and Friday's Norfolk match-up will be joined in progress at 7:00 PM Central. All Aeros games are also available via the internet at www.aeros.com.



American Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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