Busy week begins in Chicago

Published on January 4, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Nine things you need to know

Aeros D Curtis Murphy registered a goal and two assists Saturday against San Antonio, his first three-point game since 4/15/06, against Chicago. Murphy has seven points (2-5=7) over his last seven games to move to 18 points (5-13=18) this season - moving him into a tie for 13th among AHL defensemen.

Aeros RW Matt Foy's next game played will be the 200th of his Aeros career. He'll become the 15th player in team history with 200 games. Foy has posted 116 points (53-63=116) with the Aeros, ranking tied for 16th all-time in team history in points, 13th in goals and 21st in assists. Foy's 15 goals have tied his career-high in just 28 games. Foy posted 15 goals in 51 games last season. Fourteen of Foy's 15 goals this season have come at Toyota Center. His other goal also came in Texas - at AT&T Center in San Antonio 12/14.

Houston LW Roman Voloshenko has points in each of his last three games, with two goals and an assist in that span. It's Voloshenko first three-game point streak since 3/23-3/25/06.

The Aeros have been falling behind early lately, having been outscored 6-1 in the first period of their last three games. The Aeros have faced a 2-0 deficit in four of their last five games. The beginning of periods have also been problematic. In Houston's last two games, it has allowed a goal in a period's opening minute three times.

Counting two post-season series, Houston is 6-16-3-2 in its last 27 trips to Allstate Arena, although a victory tonight would be the Aeros' second straight in Rosemont. The Aeros are 16-19-6-2 all-time at Allstate Arena for a .465 points percentage, their third lowest in a visiting building.

Tonight's game features one of the top power plays in the AHL versus one of the best penalty kill units. Chicago is second in the league on the power play at 21.6 percent, including a stellar 10-of-35 (28.6 percent) with the man advantage in their last five games. Houston, meanwhile, is third in the AHL on the PK at 87.2 percent. Lately, the Aeros have been even better. Opponents are 3-for-38 (7.9 percent) on the power play in the last seven games.

Aeros third-year G Josh Harding has played in all but four of the Aeros' first 34 games, but has missed two straight games with the flu. But, Harding still ranks second in the AHL in games (31), minutes (1,787), shots faced (919) and saves (845). Harding is tied for eighth in gaa (2.49) and fourth in save pct. (.919).. Harding is 13-8-2 with a 2.34 gaa and a .925 save pct. in his last 23 decisions since starting the season 0-5-1. Counting back to last season and including the playoffs, Harding has appeared in 39-of-43 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.

Aeros G Josh Harding is 5-8-0 with a 3.43 gaa and a .876 save pct. in 13 career appearances against Chicago. Against the rest of the AHL, he is 58-29-6 with a 2.25 gaa and a .930 save pct. Three of Harding's five victories versus the Wolves have come in shootouts. His Chicago counterpart, G Fred Brathwaite, is an unbeaten in regulation 4-0-2 with a 2.61 gaa in his career against Houston.

The Aeros played their league-high seventh shootout last Wednesday in Chicago, and they are tied for the league lead with four shootout wins. Aeros G Josh Harding improved to 3-3 this season in shootouts - he has appeared in a league-high six shootouts, and his three wins are tied for the league lead. Second-year D Shawn Belle has scored the deciding shootout goal in each of the last two shootouts. LW Roman Voloshenko is 5-for-10 in shootouts, having taken a league-high 10 shots. The Aeros are the lone AHL team to not have a game decided in OT.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 39-29-14-4 all-time, 16-19-6-2 at Chicago)

Tonight is the 87th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 44th in Chicago

Since joining the AHL in 2001-02, Houston is 21-20-9-4 overall versus the Wolves in the regular season.

In the last meeting in Chicago, 12/27, RW Mattias Weinhandl posted a goal and two assists, and the Aeros scored four shootout goals in Houston's 4-3 win.

Wolves C Jared Ross has scored three of his five goals this season versus Houston.

The teams once played 14 OT/SO games out of 20 from 1/9/03-2/12/05, so it's rather remarkable they have played just two OT/SO games in the last 16 meetings.

Scouting the Aeros

The sixth-place Aeros (14-17-0-3) have 31 points and have lost two straight after winning four of five...They are seven points behind Iowa and Milwaukee, which are tied for fourth place in the West Division...Houston is in a stretch where it plays eight games in a 12-day stretch...The Aeros fly home in the morning to play host to Peoria...Team scoring leader RW Matt Foy has 27 points (15-12=27)...Next is rookie LW Benoit Pouliot (12-6=18) and veteran D Curtis Murphy (5-13=18), and rookie C Ben Thomson (6-11=17)...G Josh Harding is 13-13-3 with a 2.49 gaa and a .919 save pct....Rookie G Tony Quesada, a Holy Cross product, is 0-4-0 with a 4.62 gaa and a .881 save pct.

Scouting the Wolves

Chicago (25-8-1-2), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, leads the West Division by 11 points and sports the Western Conference's best record despite a 1-1-0-1 mark in its last three games...The Wolves lost RW Darren Haydar, the early AHL MVP frontrunner, to a recall to NHL Atlanta on Monday...Haydar, however, was reassigned late yesterday...Haydar has an AHL record 36-game point streak and has a league-best 75 points (22-53=75) - 22 more than any player...Rookie linemate LW Brett Sterling is second in the league with 53 points (34-19=55), including a league-leading 34 goals in just 34 games...Linemate C Jason Krog (19-33=52) is third in the AHL but is also currently on recall to Atlanta...Rookie D Nathan Oystrick (7-12=19) and D Jimmy Sharrow (4-14=18) pace the blueline...G Fred Brathwaite is 11-3-2 with a 2.85 gaa and a .895 save pct....G Michael Garnett is 13-6-0 with a 3.25 gaa and a .893 save pct..

2006-07 meetings (5th of 8 meetings, Aeros are 1-3-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-1-0-0 at Chicago)

November 1 Chicago 4 at Houston 2

November 25 Houston 3 at Chicago 7

December 22 Chicago 7 at Houston 5

December 27 Houston 4 at Chicago 3 (SO)

Tonight Houston at Chicago

February 17 Chicago at Houston

February 18 Chicago at Houston

March 7 Houston at Chicago

Saturday's game

Yanick Lehoux had a goal and two assists, and Donald MacLean, Bill Thomas, Jeff Taffe and Tyler Redenbach each tallied a goal and an assist, as San Antonio held on to defeat Houston 6-4 to earn its first regulation victory at Toyota Center since January 16, 2004. Matt Foy scored twice, Curtis Murphy had a goal and an assist and Roman Voloshenko also scored for the Aeros.

Quick Hits

Six of the Aeros' 14 victories have been in come-from-behind fashion.

The Aeros are 6-5-0-3 in one-goal games. But after eight of their first 12 games were decided by one goal, just six of Houston's last 22 contests has been decided in that fashion.

The Aeros are 13-6-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, and just 1-11-0-1 when scoring two or fewer.

The Wolves have drowned their opponents in the first period by a margin of 53-28, the best in the AHL.

Chicago enters tonight's game averaging 4.69 gpg - nearly two full goals per game more than Houston, and more than 0.69 goals more than any other AHL team.

The Wolves are an eye-popping 21-3-3-0 within the West Division, but 4-5-0-0 against the rest of the AHL.

Power play update

Houston is 26th in the AHL with the man advantage at 12.9 percent.

The Aeros are 0-for-8 on the power play in their last two games after scoring five PPG in their previous three games.

Chicago is 17th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 81.8 percent.

The Wolves have allowed eight goals on 34 shorthanded chances (76.5 percent) in their last five games.

Houston is 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) with the man advantage against Chicago this season.

Penalty kill update

Houston is third in the AHL on the PK at 87.2 percent.

Opponents are 3-for-38 (7.9 percent) on the power play in the last seven games.

Chicago is second in the AHL on the power play at 21.6 percent.

The Wolves are 10-of-35 (28.6 percent) with the man advantage in their last five games.

Chicago is 6-for-32 (18.8 percent) on the power play against Houston this season, with four of those PPG coming 11/25.

Aeros/Wolves connections

Chicago features former Aeros C Cory Larose, who tallied 120 points (50-70=120) in 136 games from 2001-03, and former Aeros RW Kyle Wanvig, who netted 113 points (57-56=113) in 239 games from 2001-05. Larose was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Henderson late in the 2002-2003 season, while Wanvig spent last season in Minnesota before signing a free agent deal with Atlanta. Larose's 50 goals place him 13th on the Aeros' all-time (IHL/AHL) list, while he is tied for 13th in points. Wanvig's 57 goals put him seventh on the team's all-time ledgers, while he ranks 17th with 113 points. Wanvig is also fifth on the team's PIM list with 485.

Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant coach under John Anderson in Chicago in 1998-99.

Aeros G Dieter Kochan was released from a PTO in October by Chicago, a day before signing with Houston. Kochan spent parts of two seasons in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization alongside Chicago C Steve Martins.

Chicago D Jim Fahey played alongside Aeros D Shawn Belle last season in AHL Iowa.

Wolves RW Darren Haydar played in Milwaukee from 2002-06. He was teammates with Aeros D Curtis Murphy, Aeros C Bryan Lundbohm and Aeros C Wyatt Smith. The Admirals were Calder Cup champs in 2004. Haydar and Aeros RW Joel Ward each hail from Toronto, Ont.

Aeros LW Josh Olson was Chicago D Troy Milam's teammate in San Antonio in 2003-04.

Aeros G Josh Harding and Chicago D Nathan Oystrick each hail from Regina, Sask. Oystrick and Aeros G Dieter Kochan each attended Northern Michigan University, albeit six years apart.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2007


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