Bring out the Boys/Happy Hour tonight

Published on March 9, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Seven things you need to know
- The Aeros enter tonight's game with 89 points - just three points off last season's total, and a magic number for clinching a playoff spot of 11 points. That's a combination of points won by the Aeros, and points lost by Iowa. The Stars, who can reach 99 points by winning their remaining 19 games, are in San Antonio tonight. Houston holds a four-point lead (89-85) over second-place Milwaukee, which is idle tonight. The Aeros do have two games in hand.
- Houston LW Patrick O'Sullivan continues his push towards a possible Rookie of the Year title. O'Sullivan, who last week became the first player ever to win back-to-back AHL Rookie of the Month Awards, tallied his new team record third hat trick of the season in Tuesday's 5-4 shootout win against Chicago. O'Sullivan leads all rookies in goals (39) and points (72). His 39 goals place him third in the AHL. Many rookies go through peaks and valleys, but O'Sullivan has been the exception. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native hasn't gone back-to-back games without a point since 11/6 and 11/9. Since then, O'Sullivan has racked up 65 points (36-29=65) in just 46 games. O'Sullivan has points in 10 of his last 11 games, with 18 points (11-7=18) in that span. O'Sullivan has an eye-popping 20 goals in the last 21 games, including five goals in a three-game goal streak. His 39 goals are the second-most in a single season in team history, trailing only Jeff Christian's total of 45 in 1998-99. O'Sullivan's next goal will make him just the second rookie to hit the 40-goal plateau in 15 seasons, since 1990-91. Rochester's Thomas Vanek potted 42 in 2004-05.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law (34-54=88) leads C Erik Westrum (30-56=86) for the top spot in the AHL's points race. They and are trying to become the first duo from the same team to finish 1-2 in the league's scoring race since Paul Gardner (112 points) and Jody Gage (99) turned the trick for Rochester exactly 20 seasons ago - in 1985-86. No two teammates have reached the 100-point plateau since a trio of Carolina Monarchs did it in 1995-96. Brian Wiseman holds the top two single-season point totals in Aeros' history, notching a team-record 109 points in 1998-99 and 98 in 1997-98. LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring and tied for fifth overall with 72 points (39-33=72). O'Sullivan has team rookie records in goals, assists and points. LW Roman Voloshenko (28-18=48) is tied for second among first-year players in goals and tied for ninth in points.
- The Aeros are concluding their 15th set of back-to-back games against one opponent, and they are going for their ninth sweep. They are 12-1-1-1 in Game 1, and 11-3-0-0 in Game 2. Houston has swept eight of 14 opponents in back-to-back sets, including the last two and five of the last seven.
- Houston is 19-5-1-2 for 41 points in 27 one-goal games, while Chicago is 9-6-3-7 for 28 points in 25 such games. Houston's 19 one-goal wins are tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the most in the AHL, and only Cleveland has fewer wins (7-6-2-2) in one-goal games than the Wolves.
- The Aeros pulled off yet another come-from-behind win Tuesday against Chicago. Houston has trailed at some point in 19 of its 43 victories, with six of the wins coming when trailing by two goals. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. They are an impressive 15-9-0-0 when allowing the game's first goal.
- Houston is a league-best 25-5-1-2 at home for a .803 points percentage. The Aeros would have to win their remaining seven home games to tie the franchise record for wins, set in 1998-99, when they went 32-6-3, albeit with 41 home games. The Aeros' 25 home wins are tied for the third most in team history. Houston last won 25 games at home in 2002-03 (25-10-4-1).

Wolves at Aeros (Aeros are 36-24-14-4 all-time, Aeros are 22-8-8-2 at Houston)
- Tonight is the 79th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 41st in Houston. The teams play three times in a nine-day stretch, and Houston plays five of its final 19 games against Chicago.
- Chicago earned a five-game win over the Aeros in the 2005 West Division Semifinals en route to the Calder Cup Finals.
- The Aeros have won three straight versus Chicago for the first time since 2/10-3/3/01, and they haven't won four in a row against the Wolves since a five-game run 4/9/95-1/11/97.
- Since joining the AHL, Houston is 18-15-9-4 versus Chicago, including a 12-5-5-2 home record and a 6-10-4-2 road mark.
- Prior to Tuesday's game, Houston and Chicago had played seven straight games that ended in regulation, since 14 of 23 regular-season meetings went to OT or a shootout from 1/9/03-2/12/05. It was the first stretch that long without OT or a shootout since 1/24/99-3/19/00.
- Twelve of the last 17 meetings in Houston have been decided by one goal or finished in a tie.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (43-16-1-2) have the AHL's best points percentage (.718) and best home points percentage (.803)...RW Kirby Law has 88 points (34-54=88), two up on C Erik Westrum (30-56=86) for the top spot in the AHL...C/LW Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring and tied for fifth overall with 72 points (39-33=72)...LW Roman Voloshenko (28-18=46) is tied for second in goals and tied for ninth in points among rookies...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with 53 points (10-43=53)...G Josh Harding and his 27-8-0, 2.64 gaa and .923 save pct. were recalled by the Minnesota Wild yesterday...G Seamus Kotyk is 12-7-2 with a 2.94 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 4-2-0 with a 2.86 gaa.

Scouting the Wolves
Chicago (25-26-3-7), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, is unbeaten in regulation in the last four games (3-0-0-1) and and is 7-2-1-1 in its last 11 to draw within four points of fourth-place Omaha for the final West Division playoff spot, with a game in hand...LW Ramzi Abid paces Chicago and is 16th in the AHL with 60 points (28-32=60)...D Mark Popovic leads the blueline with 29 points (9-20=29)...Rookie G Tuomas Tarkki is 12-6-4 with a 2.93 gaa, while G Michael Garnett is 5-9-3 with a 4.24 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (5th of 8 meetings, Aeros are 3-1-0-0 overall, Aeros are 2-1-0-0 at Houston)
October 25 Chicago 5 at Houston 1
January 22 Houston 4 at Chicago 0
January 28 Chicago 4 at Houston 5
Tuesday Chicago 4 at Houston 5 (SO)
Tonight Chicago at Houston
March 15 Houston at Chicago
March 24 Houston at Chicago
April 15 Houston at Chicago

Quick Hits
- Houston is tied for third in the AHL in scoring at 3.69 gpg. Since getting shut out 3-0 by Milwaukee 11/27, the Aeros have scored 153 goals in 38 games for a 4.03 gpg average. Houston is trying to score 300 goals for just the second time in team history. The Aeros scored a franchise-record 307 goals in 1998-99, but that came in an 82-game season. This season Houston is on pace for 295 goals.
- In their last 12 victories, the Aeros have outscored their opponents 25-11 in the first period. In the last 27 games overall, Houston has a 39-21 goal margin in the opening 20 minutes, and overall on the season the Aeros are an AHL-best plus-29 (74-45). Houston has trailed after one period just four times in its last 22 games, but in each of the last two contests. It's the first time the Aeros have trailed after one period in back-to-back games since 11/17-11/18.
- The Aeros are 41-4-0-1 when scoring three goals or more, but they are 2-12-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 37-4-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 6-12-0-1 when yielding four or more.
- Houston is 13-3-0-0 when allowing 29 or fewer shots this season, but also an impressive 10-1-1-0 when yielding 40 or more.
- The Aeros are 19-5-1-2 in one-goal games, and an impressive 26-9-1-2 in games decided by two goals or less. Houston has seen 12 of its last 15 games be decided by one or two goals, going 8-3-0-1.
- Murphy's Mission, benefiting I Have a Dream ®, started off in strong fashion last week when D Curtis Murphy picked up a combined four assists for $400. An anonymous local donor is giving $300 per Murphy goal and $100 per assist to the charity. The "I Have a Dream"® Program helps children from low-income areas reach their education and career goals by providing a long-term program of mentoring, tutoring, and enrichment with an assured opportunity for higher education. A home hat trick at any point of the program will net the foundation a whopping $10,000. Murphy, who last month became the top defenseman goal and point scorer in team history, is set to complete the scoring trio with his next assist. His 109 helpers with the Aeros are tied with Greg Hawgood for the top spot on the team's ledgers. Murphy ranks second among AHL blueliners with 53 points (10-43=53), and his assist total ties his career-high. Murphy is averaging a point per game since New Year's. Murphy has 27 points (7-20=27) in 27 games in 2006.

Power play update
- Houston is second in the league on the power play at 21.1 percent.
- The Aeros are 57-for-241 (23.7 percent) with the man advantage in the last 38 games.
- Houston is 18-for-70 (25.7 percent) on the power play in its last 11 games after going without a PPG in two straight games for the first time this season.
- The Aeros are 23-5-0-1 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 19 of its last 37 games.
- Houston has been outscored on the power play just six times in its last 40 games.
- Chicago is 19th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 81.6 percent.
- The Wolves have allowed seven goals on 34 power play chances in the last six games for a 79.4 percent kill rate.
- Houston is 5-for-33 (15.2 percent) on the power play against Chicago this season.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is fourth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.5 percent.
- In the last 21 games, Houston is 128-of-145 (88.3 percent) on the PK.
- Houston is 21-4-0-2 when not allowing a power play goal and 33-9-1-1 when allowing one power play goal or fewer.
- Chicago ranks tied for 18th in the AHL on the power play at 16.1 percent.
- The Wolves are 16-for-44 (36.4 percent) with the man advantage in the last seven games, scoring at least two PPG in each game.
- Chicago is 4-for-35 (11.4 percent) on the power play against Houston this season.

Aeros/Wolves connections
- Wolves D Travis Roche was an Aero from 2001-04, racking up 120 points (35-85=120) in 185 games.
- Wolves assistant coach Marty Howe won a pair of AVCO Cups with the WHA Houston Aeros in 1974-75.
- Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.
- Houston D Curtis Murphy attended the University of North Dakota for two years with Chicago D Nick Naumenko.
- Aeros C Erik Westrum and Wolves LW Ramzi Abid both played for Springfield in 2001-02 and 2002-03.
- Aeros RW Kirby Law played most of three seasons alongside Chicago D Francis Lessard at AHL Philadelphia from 1999-2002.
- Chicago RW Billy Tibbetts notched eight assists in eight regular season games and played one playoff game for Houston in 2003-04.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2006


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