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Busy holiday week starts in San Antonio

November 21, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Seven things you need to know
- Hardly a week goes by without another milestone for Aeros veteran D Curtis Murphy, and tonight could be a monumental one. Murphy enters play tonight with 399 points (123-276=399) in 610 professional games. Murphy is the Aeros' all-time leader among defensemen in goals (51), assists (126) and points (177). Counting the post-season, Murphy has played in 237 consecutive games since missing the 2003-04 season opener to attend Dan Snyder's funeral. He has played in 473 of a possible 474 games, counting both the regular and post-seasons, since the 2001-02 season. Murphy is tied for 15th among AHL blueliners this season with nine points (2-7=9), including four assists in his last six games.
- The Aeros have killed off 70-of-73 shorthanded chances (95.9 percent) in the last 11 games to move up to 89.3 percent, second-best in the AHL. Houston is a perfect 22-of-22 on the PK in the last four games. Five of the Houston's 13 PPG allowed have come on 5-on-3's, including two of the three PPG in the last 13 games. So, the Aeros have allowed just one 5-on-4 PPG in the last 11 contests. The Aeros have been shorthanded 122 times - fifth most in the league.
- Aeros third-year G Josh Harding got a well-deserved day off Saturday in Omaha, after playing in 16 consecutive games to begin the season. Harding was back at it Sunday, although he had his five-game win streak snapped against Hartford. Harding ranks first in the AHL in games played (17), minutes (1,008), shots faced (527) and saves (488), and is tied for third in wins (seven). He has 74 more saves than the second place netminder, Manchester's Jason LaBarbera. Harding ranks tied for eighth in the AHL in gaa (2.32), and tied for sixth in save pct. (0.926). He has allowed two or less goals in nine of his last 12 games. Harding is 7-3-0 with a 1.89 gaa and a sparkling .941 save pct. in his last 10 appearances. Counting back to last season and including the playoffs, Harding has appeared in 26-of-27 games. The Aeros' record for most games played by a goalie in one season is 72 - set by Frederic Chabot in 1996-97 in an 82-game season. The AHL record is 74 - set by Baltimore's Mike O'Neill in 1995-96. O'Neill also made an AHL record 2,005 saves that season. Harding has played in 98 games with the Aeros. Only Chabot (224) has reached the 100-games played mark in an Aeros sweater.
- Aeros rookie LW Benoit Pouliot continued his hot streak with yet another goal Sunday against Hartford. Pouliot has nine points (6-3=9) in his last six games, since missing three contests. His 11 goals tie him for second among all AHL rookies and tied for eighth among all players. He is 10th in rookie scoring with 15 points (11-4=15), and Friday his third GWG moved him into a tie for the AHL lead. Three of Pouliot's goals have tied games, and five have given the Aeros the lead. Last season, it took AHL Rookie of the Year Patrick O'Sullivan, then with Houston, 25 games to reach 11 goals. Pouliot reached that total in just 15 games thanks to nine goals in his last 10 contests.
- Houston RW Matt Foy, who earlier this month became the 24th player to reach 100 points as an Aero, is three PIM's from becoming the seventh player in team history with 100 points and 300 PIM's. Foy has 104 points (44-60=104) in 187 games with Houston, and would become the 16th player overall with 300 PIM's.
- San Antonio has allowed a league-high 27 first-period goals, while Houston ranks fourth in the AHL scoring 22 first-period goals. The Rampage has also yielded an AHL-worst 29 goals in the second period, but is stingy in the third, allowing just 13 - four off the best total in the league.
- Houston has been forced to play catch up lately, having allowed a goal in the opening 2:34 of all three games over the weekend. Friday, San Antonio's Randall Gelech scored 2:34 into the game. Saturday, it was Omaha's David Moss at 2:04. Sunday, Greg Moore gave Hartford an early lead at 2:03 of the opening period. Houston is 4-6-0-0 when allowing the first goal, and 4-3-0-1 when scoring first.

Aeros at Rampage (Aeros are 33-8-6-3 overall, Aeros are 12-6-4-3 at San Antonio)
- Tonight is the 51st all-time meeting between the teams - 26th in San Antonio.
- Houston is winless at 0-2-0-1 in the last three meetings at AT&T Center. It's tied for the Aeros' longest winless streak at San Antonio. They were 0-0-2-1 from 11/23/03-1/17/04, and 0-2-1-0 from 1/4/03-3/11/03.
- The Aeros are 18-3-2-1 in the last 24 overall meetings.
- Since a three-game winless slide in the series 12/27/03-1/17/04, the Aeros have unleashed a 23-4-3-2 mark.
- Aeros G Josh Harding is 11-2-1 with a 1.91 gaa and a .937 save pct. in his career against the Rampage.
- Houston got two goals and an assist from LW Benoit Pouliot in a 4-1 win over San Antonio at Toyota Center last Friday.
- San Antonio rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4, shootout win at home 10/15, in the teams' only other meeting at AT&T Center this season. C Yanick Lehoux had a goal and three assists for San Antonio. Lehoux has posted eight points (5-3=8) in six career games versus the Aeros.
- The teams are in a stretch where they play three times in eight days, including a meeting at Toyota Center on Friday. The Aeros are 14-0-2-0 in the last 16 home meetings.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (8-9-0-1) have lost two in a row for the first time since 11/1-11/3...The Aeros play four games this week, continuing with another three-in-three set that features a Friday home game, Saturday road game and Sunday home tilt...Rookie LW Benoit Pouliot (11-4=15) and RW Matt Foy (6-9=15) are tied for the team lead in scoring...D Curtis Murphy paces the blueline with nine points (2-7=9)...G Josh Harding is 7-8-1 with a 2.32 gaa and a .926 save pct. this season...Rookie G Tony Quesada, a Holy Cross product, got his first start Saturday in Omaha and turned in an impressive performance, stopping 34-of-36 shots and not allowing a goal in the final 42-plus minutes in a 3-0 loss.

Scouting the Rampage
San Antonio (6-11-0-0), AHL affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes, has lost three of four overall, but has won three straight home games, including a 3-1 decision over Hartford on Saturday...The Rampage is in a stretch where it plays 11-of-13 games at home...C Yanick Lehoux leads San Antonio with 16 points (7-9=16), ahead of rookie RW Bill Thomas (4-9=13)...D Bryan Helmer paces the blueline with six points (4-2=6), but has missed six games due to injury...Helmer could return Friday...G Josh Tordjman, summoned from ECHL Stockton last week, is 1-1-0 with a 2.00 gaa and a .920 save pct...G Mike Morrison, who has appeared in one game, is 0-1-0 with a 12.01 gaa and a .758 save pct.

2006-07 meetings (3rd of 12 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-0-1 overall, Aeros are 0-0-0-1 at San Antonio)
October 15 Houston 4 at San Antonio 5 (SO)
November 17 San Antonio 1 at Houston 4
Tonight Houston at San Antonio
Friday San Antonio at Houston
December 14 Houston at San Antonio
December 26 San Antonio at Houston
December 29 Houston at San Antonio
December 30 San Antonio at Houston
January 7 San Antonio at Houston
January 14 Houston at San Antonio
April 14 Houston at San Antonio
April 15 San Antonio at Houston

Sunday's game
Dwight Helminen scored the game-winning goal with 27 seconds left in regulation, and veteran agitator Dale Purinton scored a pair of goals, leading the Hartford Wolf Pack to a 4-3 victory over the Houston Aeros at Toyota Center. The game featured four fights and three ejections in the first period alone. Josh Harding made 28 saves and Benoit Pouliot scored his team-leading 11th goal for Houston. Matt Foy and Ben Thomson added a goal and an assist apiece.

Quick Hits
- Aeros D Shawn Belle has six points (1-5=8) in 17 games in this, his second season. That betters his point total (2-3=5) in 61 games for Iowa and Houston last season.
- Twenty-three of Houston's 49 goals have been scored by rookies. Aeros LW Benoit Pouliot has 11, including nine in his last 10 games, RW Danny Irmen has five goals and C Ben Thomson has four.
- All but four of Houston's 16 games have been decided by one or two goals. The Aeros are 4-4-0-1 in one-goal games., and every game has typically been a nailbiter Houston has played 1095 minutes this season - and for 823 of those minutes (75.2 percent), it has been either a tie game, or one team has held a one-goal lead.
- San Antonio has allowed a league-worst 69 goals for an average of 4.06 goals per game.
- The Aeros are 5-4-0-1 on the road, but just 3-5-0-0 at Toyota Center. Houston joins Milwaukee, Albany and Bridgeport as AHL teams with winning records on the road but a losing mark at home.

Power play update
- Houston is up to 24th in the AHL with the man advantage at 12.7 percent.
- The Aeros are an improved 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) in the last three games, but are 0-for-10 in their last two road games.
- San Antonio is 26th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 77.1 percent, having allowed a league-high 27 PPG.
- The Rampage has allowed 12 PPG on 44 chances in its last six games for just a 72.7 percent PK rate. San Antonio has yielded at least one PPG in each of those six games.
- Houston is 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) with the man advantage versus the Rampage this season.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is up a season-high second in the AHL on the PK at 89.3 percent.
- The Aeros have killed off 70-of-73 shorthanded chances in the last 11 games for a stellar 95.9 percent PK rate. Houston has outscored its opponents 11-3 with the man advantage in that span, and two of the three PPG's allowed were on 5-on-3's.
- In the last five games, Houston has killed off all 27 of its shorthanded opportunities.
- San Antonio ranks sixth in the AHL on the power play at 20.2 percent, including 21.3 percent at home.
- The Rampage is 5-for-20 (25.0 percent) on the power play in the last five games.
- San Antonio is 2-for-9 (22.2 percent) with the man advantage versus the Aeros this season.

Aeros/Rampage connections
- Rampage D Matt Jones enrolled at the University of North Dakota in 2001-02, a season after Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm left campus, and four after Aeros D Curtis Murphy graduated.
- Rampage D Travis Roche spent three seasons (2001-04) with the Aeros, winning a Calder Cup in 2003. Roche put up 120 points (35-85=120) in 185 games with Houston. Roche also went to UND, at the same time as Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm.
- Rampage D Nick Martens is an alum of the University of Michigan, as is Aeros assistant coach Cam Stewart.
- Houston D Shawn Belle, C Alex Leavitt and San Antonio LW Tyson Nash all hail from Edmonton, Alta.
- Aeros C Wyatt Smith attended the University of Minnesota from 1995-99, and then Rampage C Jeff Taffe was a Gopher from 1999-2002. Smith was also drafted in the ninth round by Phoenix in 1997.
- Houston LW Josh Olson played for San Antonio from 2002-05, while RW Joey Tetarenko skated with the Rampage in 2002-03.



American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2006


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