Aeros wrap up homestand tonight against defending champs

December 29, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


The Aeros will take donations tonight of non-perishable food items, blankets, pillows and cash to be donated to the victims of the massive earthquake that spawned deadly tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean. Donations will be collected at the Houston Aeros Charities Table behind section 107. Donations will be handed over to the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Five things you need to know
· Aeros winger Stephane Veilleux has five goals over his last five games. Veilleux had five PPG in his first three seasons in Houston, and he has five already this season. His 11 AHL goals are two off his career-high set last season.
· Houston, which is second in the AHL on the power play at 21.0 percent, is 11-for-36 (30.6 percent) in the first seven games of 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 15-for-50 (30.0 percent) over their last 10 games and 19-for-69 (27.6 percent) in their last 14 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 19-7 on their respective man advantages. Milwaukee, meanwhile, has allowed three PPG in each of its last two games.
· The Aeros (15-10-2-1) are five games over the .500 mark for the for the first time since finishing their Calder Cup championship season 47-23-7-3. Last season after 28 games, Houston was 11-13-2-2. The Aeros are also in search of their first four-game winning streak since a six-gamer from December 5-17 of last season.
· Milwaukee netminder Brian Finley owns more wins against the Aeros than any active AHL netminder. Finley is 8-3-1 with a 2.43 gaa versus Houston, including a stellar 7-1-0 mark in 2003-04. Milwaukee's Simon Gamache has 23 points (12-11=23) in 20 career games versus the Aeros.
· The Aeros have played only three games since December 3. The rest of the division, meanwhile, has been busy, playing the following number of games: Milwaukee (11), Grand Rapids (11), Chicago (10), San Antonio (13), Cincinnati (10) and Utah (12).

Admirals at Aeros (Aeros are 27-27-6-1 overall, Aeros are 14-12-4-1 at Houston)
· Houston and Milwaukee, the last two Calder Cup champions, meet for the 62nd time tonight - 32nd in Houston.
· The Aeros play three of their next six games against the Admirals.
· Houston snapped an 0-7-1-1 winless streak versus Milwaukee with a 5-2 win at Bradley Center 11/13 behind a goal and an assist from Marius Holtet, snapping the Admirals' 17-game regulation unbeaten streak.
· Houston went 1-7-1-1 against Milwaukee in 2003-04, including an 0-4-0-1 home mark and a 1-3-1-0 road record. The Admirals outscored the Aeros 36-19 over the last nine games.
· Since the teams joined the American Hockey League prior to the 2001-02 season, Houston has a 16-14-2-1 mark versus Milwaukee.
· Milwaukee outscored the Aeros 22-9 in Houston in its first five games at Toyota Center.
· Houston is winless in the last five home meetings (0-4-0-1) and hasn't won a home game against Milwaukee in the regular season since 3/15/03, a 4-2 decision. That ties the Aeros' longest home winless streak against Milwaukee, a 0-3-2 stretch from 10/16/99 to 1/17/02.

Scouting the Aeros
Houston finishes off an eight-game homestand tonight, hoping to improve on a 4-2-1-0 mark, three straight wins and four games without a loss in regulation (3-0-1-0)...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 five games...Houston has 19 players with at least one goal...Nineteen-year-old Brent Burns (4-8=12), Erik Reitz (0-11=11) and Zbynek Michalek (2-8=10) anchor the blueline...Mike Smith is 10-5-0 with a 2.61 gaa, while Josh Harding (5-7-1, 2.01 gaa) has missed the last five games with a concussion.

Scouting the Admirals
Milwaukee has lost three straight for the first time since 12/11-12/14/2003, most recently dropping a 4-3 decision to San Antonio on Monday...The Admirals are 2-6-0-0 after a 16-3-2-1 start...Simon Gamache paces the Ads with 39 points (16-23=39), while Andrew Hutchinson (5-18=23) is the team's leading defensive scorer.

2004-05 meetings (Second of 10 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 overall, First meeting at Houston)
November 13: Houston 5 at Milwaukee 2
Tonight: Milwaukee at Houston
January 8: Houston at Milwaukee
January 11: Milwaukee at Houston
January 25: Milwaukee at Houston
February 4: Milwaukee at Houston
February 5: Milwaukee at Houston
February 10: Houston at Milwaukee
March 10: Houston at Milwaukee
April 5: Houston at Milwaukee

Last game
Mikko Koivu's three-point night included a power play and shorthanded goal, leading the Houston Aeros past the San Antonio Rampage 5-2 at Toyota Center. Rickard Wallin added a power play goal and an assist and Todd Reirden and Stephane Veilleux also scored for Houston, which tied a season-high with its third straight win. Mike Smith made 23 saves in winning his third straight.

Quick Hits
· Aeros defenseman John Erskine enters tonight's game with 993 career penalty minutes, including 124 this season, third among AHL defensemen.
· The Aeros have scored a first-period goal in each of their last seven games, and in 10 of 11. Houston has outscored its opponents 33-28 in the first this season.

Smith has three straight wins
· Aeros goalie Mike Smith is 3-0-0 with a 1.62 gaa since losing three straight games to tie a career-high. His career-best for consecutive wins is four, set 11/28-12/7/03 and tied 10/24-11/13 of this season.
· Smith is 10-2-0 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 4-0-0 with a 2.77 gaa on the road but 6-5-0 with a better 2.54 gaa at home.

PP unit keeps rolling
· Houston, which is second in the AHL on the power play at 21.0 percent, is 11-for-36 (30.6 percent) in the first seven games of 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 15-for-50 (30.0 percent) over their last 10 games and 19-for-69 (27.6 percent) in their last 14 games, a span that has seen them outscore their opponents 19-7 on their respective man advantages.
· The Aeros are 12-6-2-0 when scoring a PPG and 3-4-0-1 when not scoring a PPG.
· Houston has 14 players with at least one PPG, tied with Philadelphia for tops in the AHL.
· Overall, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 30-16 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.
· Milwaukee ranks ninth in the league on the penalty kill at 86.7 percent.
· The Admirals are only 9-for-15 (60.0 percent) on the penalty kill over their last two games. San Antonio went 3-for-7 on the power play Monday, after Chicago was 3-for-8 Sunday.

Houston 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 fifth place in the AHL at 88.1 percent.
· The Aeros have killed off 79-of-86 (91.9 percent) shorthanded chances over the last 18 games, and are 25-for-27 (92.6 percent) on the homestand.
· Houston is 9-5-1-1 when not allowing a PPG and 6-5-1-0 when allowing a PPG.
· The Aeros are tied for eighth in the AHL with four SHG.
· Milwaukee ranks seventh in the AHL on the power play at 18.3 percent, and it has an AHL-high 20 road PPG's.
· The Admirals are 1-for-26 on the power play over their last three games.
· Milwaukee is one of three teams (Cleveland, Chicago) to score more than one PPG in a game versus the Aeros this season.

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 18 goals in this crucial time. Houston is 1-5-0 this season when allowing a goal in the opening two minutes of a period.

Aeros/Admirals connections
· Houston's Stephane Veilleux and the Admirals' Simon Gamache were two of the leading scorers for QMJHL Val d'Or from 1999-2001.
· Houston defenseman Erik Reitz played two seasons (1999-2001) with Milwaukee goalie Brian Finley at OHL Barrie.
· Milwaukee's Dan Hamhuis and Houston's Derek Boogaard were teammates for two seasons with WHL Prince George in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.
· Houston's Junior Lessard (2004) and Milwaukee's Tony Hrkac (1987) each won the Hobey Baker Award for being college hockey's top player, albeit 17 years apart. Hrkac and Houston's Todd Reirden were teammates with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2001-02.
· Milwaukee's Cam Severson played parts of two junior seasons for Houston head coach Todd McLellan in Swift Current. Severson was also teammates with Houston's Todd Reirden for the past two seasons in Cincinnati.
· Houston's captain Kirby Law was teammates with Milwaukee's Brad Tiley from 2000-2003 at AHL Philadelphia.
· Milwaukee's Jeremy Yablonski and Houston's Kyle Wanvig were junior teammates in WHL Kootenay in 1998-99.





American Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2004


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