Aeros Weekly

Published on January 31, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


The Houston Aeros enter the week of Jan. 31, 2011, winners in eight of their last 10 games and tied for the No. 1 spot in the West Division and Western Conference. Houston is locked in a three-way tie with Oklahoma City and Milwaukee. Each club entered the All-Star Break with 60 points.

LAST WEEK

The Aeros won a pair of 4-3 decisions, starting with an overtime win at Syracuse on Wednesday and finishing with a shootout victory over Abbotsford on Saturday.

AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC

Defenseman Maxim Noreau will represent the Aeros at the AHL All-Star Classic in Hershey, Pa. The event includes the AHL Skills Competition on Sunday, Jan. 30 (2 p.m. CST) and the All-Star Game on Monday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. CST. The game will be televised live on both FSN Houston and Southwest. For a full listing of TV availability, visit THEAHL.COM.

AEROS AT A GLANCE

RECORD: 28-19-1-3, 60 pts.

HOME: 14-6-1-1

ROAD: 14-13-0-2

STANDING: T1, West Division

STREAK: Lost 1

PP: 16.6% (19th).........................PK: 84.8% (7th)

PPG: 38....................................................SHG: 4

AEROS GOALIES: Anton Khudobin is 15-9-1 with a 2.54 GAA and .911 SV%. Khudobin has won four of his last five starts. With the Jan. 28 SO win over ABB, Khudobin is now 5-1 in shootouts. He has won four straight shootout decisions and six-straight extra time decisions. In addition Khudobin is 4-0 at home in the extra-extra and 7-2 overall in extra time games including overtime decisions/ Matt Hackett is 11-11-2 with a 2.47 GAA and .913 SV%. He is 3-1-1 in his last five decisions.

LAST GAME QUICK LOOK: Chad Rau scored the decisive goal in the fifth shootout round to help lead the Houston Aeros to a 4-3 win over the Abbotsford Heat before 5,862 on Friday night at Toyota Center. J.M. Daoust, Carson McMillan and Patrick O ‚¬â„¢Sullivan also scored for the Aeros, who closed the month of January with a 10-2-0-1 record including a 5-0-0-1 mark at home. The Aeros have won eight of their last 11 overall and have points in seven consecutive home games (6-0-0-1) dating back to Dec. 26. Maxim Noreau, who will represent the Aeros at the AHL All-Star Classic on Sunday and Monday in Hershey, Pa., registered a pair of assists for his ninth multi-point game of the season. Goaltender Anton Khudobin made 21 saves and added four more stops in the shootout.

ALMOST RECORD-SETTING JANUARY: The Aeros played 13 games in January with seven of those games at home. They finished the month with a 10-2-0-1 record, the best month by an Aeros team since 2002-03, and went 6-0-0-1 at home. It ‚¬â„¢s just the sixth time the Aeros have won 10 more games in one month. The Aeros won 11 games in January of 2003 and tied a record for most wins in a month set in December of 1998.

HOMEBOYS: Houston has points in seven-straight at home dating back to Dec. 26 ‚¬Â¦They have also won 11 of 15 at home dating back to a Nov. 21 victory over Texas. Six of those wins have been decided by one goal; four have been decided by two goals.

AEROS TIDBITS: The Aeros have won four of their last five games ‚¬Â¦Houston is 23-7-0-3 when scoring first this season and 16-0-0-0 when scoring four goals ‚¬Â¦The Aeros held ABB to three first period shots on Jan. 28, a new season low for an opponent ‚¬Â¦The Heat and Aeros have gone to the shootout in all three games so far in the four-game season series ‚¬Â¦Houston is now 1-0-0-2 vs. the Heat this season ‚¬Â¦Overall the Aeros are 7-3 in shootouts ‚¬Â¦ J.M. Daoust ‚¬â„¢s goal 16:56 into the first was his 300th pro point and 133rd pro goal in his 402nd pro game ‚¬Â¦Jon DiSalvatore ‚¬â„¢s assist on O ‚¬â„¢Sullivan ‚¬â„¢s third period power play goal was his 399th point as a pro. The goal was O ‚¬â„¢Sullivan ‚¬â„¢s 296th pro point.

AEROS ROSTER MOVES: F Cody Almond was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 26 ‚¬Â¦G Josh Tordjman was loaned to BAK on Jan. 20 ‚¬Â¦G Anton Khudobin was reassigned by MIN on Jan. 20.

TURNSTILE TIDBITS: Through 22 home games, the Aeros are sixth in the AHL with an average attendance of 6,131 ‚¬Â¦The 10,552 on hand for the Jan. 1 game was the largest crowd for an Aeros contest since Dec. 3, 2009, when 11,291 watched the Aeros and Rampage at Toyota Center.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

TEXAS STARS

ALL-TIME AEROS RECORD: 10-8-1-0 (6-4-0-0 at home, 4-4-1-0 at Texas)

SEASON RECORD: 6-1-0-0 (4-0-0-0 at home, 2-1-0-0 at Texas)

SERIES NOTES: The Aeros have earned 13 of a possible 14 points vs. the Stars this season...Houston has won two of the last three games in extra time. Cody Almond had the winners in both games, a 4-3 OTW at TEX on Dec. 4 and a 4-3 SOW at home on Dec. 26...The teams play 12 total times this season and meet again on Feb. 8 at TEX.

PP: 8/21 (25.8%)......................PK: 27/33 (81.8%)

THE ROAD TO MINNESOTA

The Aeros, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, will host the Peoria Rivermen, top affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 12. The game is being held as continuation of the Minnesota Wild ‚¬â„¢s 10th Anniversary Season. The Aeros currently feature three Minnesota natives ‚¬" Jarod Palmer (Fridley), Chad Rau (Eden Prairie) and Nate Prosser (Elk River).

WHAT THE BIG CLUB ‚¬â„¢S UP TO

The Wild resumes play after the NHL All-Star break with a game on Tuesday at home against the Los Angeles Kings. Both the Wild and Kings have 55 points and sit one point out of the final playoff spot in the NHL ‚¬â„¢s Western Conference. The Wild ‚¬â„¢s last outing was a 4-2 win over Chicago on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Chuck Kobasew each had a goal and an assist for the Wild, which won for the 14th time on the road with a comeback victory over the Hawks. Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom stopped 31 of 33 shots to pick up his second win in three games since coming back from a hip injury. The Wild won for the first time this season after trailing entering the second period.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

SWEETHEART OF A DEAL: Get four vouchers good for any game and one bonus voucher for as low as $52. Call 713-974-7825 to find out more.

SUPERPACKS!: Get four Center Ice tickets, an autographed puck and free parking for $100. Call 713-974-7825 to order.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2011


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