Friday's Aeros Game Day

Published on January 29, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Houston Aeros at Manitoba Moose, 1/30

Aeros at Moose (Aeros lead series 34-14-10-0 all-time, 16-7-5-0 at Manitoba)

Tonight is the 59th all-time meeting between the teams, 29th for the Aeros on the road.

The teams split a two-game series in Houston in November, with the Aeros winning the first game 2-1 then falling in the second, 3-1.

In the last meeting, Fedor Fedorov's early third-period goal was the difference in a 3-1 Moose win November 4.

Houston has just one win in the last four meetings overall (1-2-1-0) and is winless in the last three trips to Manitoba (0-2-1-0). The Aeros' last win in Winnipeg was a 4-3 decision March 22, 2002.

The Aeros are 8-5-1-0 against the Moose, including a 3-2-1-0 mark in Manitoba, since moving to the AHL in 2001-02.

Since the Moose moved from Minnesota to Winnipeg, Houston is 26-12-8-0 versus the Moose.

Tonight is the third of four meetings this season, with the finale coming tomorrow.

2003-04 meetings (Third of four meetings, Series tied 1-1-0-0 overall, first meeting in Manitoba)

November 2: Manitoba 1 at Houston 2

November 4: Manitoba 3 at Houston 1

Tonight: Houston at Manitoba

Tomorrow: Houston at Manitoba

Last game – Joel Perrault and Pierre Parenteau scored 1:38 apart late in the second period and Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves, as the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks beat the Houston Aeros 3-1 at Toyota Center. Keith Aucoin also scored for Cincinnati, which snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) and broke of a fourth-place tie with the Aeros in the West Division. The Ducks, who picked up their first ever win in Houston in six attempts, now have 44 points, two more than the Aeros. Stephane Veilleux scored and Johan Holmqvist finished with 16 saves for the Aeros, who are 1-6-7-1 in their last 15 and were trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since before Christmas. Bryzgalov turned aside eight shots in the first, 12 in the second and five in the third to pick up just his second win in nine chances versus the Aeros (2-6-1).

Scouting the Aeros – Three days after trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since Christmas, the Aeros will look for their first road win of 2004. Houston is 0-4-2-0 on the road since January 1, and sports a franchise-record seven-game road winless streak (0-4-3-0). The Aeros have one win in their last 15 games (1-6-7-1). The Aeros' leading scorer is Stephane Veilleux (8+17=25), who moved past Kyle Wanvig (16+8=24) with a goal Tuesday against Cincinnati. Dan Cavanaugh has two goals in four games and is tied for third on the Aeros with 23 points (9+14=23). Cavanaugh is tied with Rickard Wallin (10+13=23), who hasn't played since January 9. Travis Roche, who has a goal and two assists in his last three games, leads the blueliners in points with 18 points (4+14=18), two better than Erik Reitz (3+13=16). Aeros captain Jason Marshall (5+10=15) and his 15 points are currently in Minnesota. Houston's leading rookie scorer is Mika Hannula (6+10=16) with 16 points, and Matt Foy (7+8=15) has 15 points. Last year's Calder Cup Most Valuable Player, goalie Johan Holmqvist, has started 37 of the team's first 47 games, going 13-18-5 with a 2.71 goals against average. Holmqvist is 1-5-3 in his last nine decisions, and the Aeros have one win in his last 10 starts. His backup is second-year netminder Kyle Kettles, who is 2-4-4 with a 2.19 goals against average. Kettles, who didn't dress in the last four games due to injury, has stopped 145 of 151 shots (96.0 percent) while going 2-0-4 in his last six starts. Kettles has just 10 goals of support in nine starts this season, and he has ties in each of his last four starts.

Scouting the Moose – After snapping a six-game winless streak (0-4-1-1) with a 4-2 win over Toronto on Saturday, Manitoba tries to notch back-to-back wins for the first time in more than a month, since winning a season-high three straight December 16-19. Against the Roadrunners, Fedor Fedorov notched a goal and an assist 12 seconds apart early in the first period as the Moose ran away with the victory. Manitoba is led in scoring by Brandon Reid with 33 points (10+23=33), while Pat Kavanagh is second with 25 (11+14=25). The Moose lost a strong punch from the blueline when Jaroslav Obsut (8+17=25) was recalled to the Canucks earlier this week. That leaves Kirill Koltsov (2+14=16) as the team's leading defensive scorer. Fedorov has a team-best 13 goals, including seven on the power play, and 24 points (13+11=24) in just 34 games. Tyler Moss and Alex Auld have split time in net this season, although Auld has spent much of the last two months in Vancouver. Moss is 10-12-5 with a 2.70 goals against average, while Auld is 6-9-1 with a 2.67 goals against average. Manitoba is one of five AHL teams with a losing record at home (9-10-3-0).

Aeros/Moose connections –

Manitoba's Dallas Eakins played two games with IHL Chicago in 1998-99. Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw was an assistant on that team.

Houston's Michael Schutte was a teammate of the Moose's Martin Grenier in Springfield in 2002-03.

Manitoba's Pat Kavanagh played with Houston's Darby Hendrickson for a short period of time in 1999-2000 in Syracuse. The Moose's Ryan Ready was also on that Crunch team. Kavanagh, Ready and Rene Vydareny were all Jan Vodrazka's teammates in 2000-01 in IHL Kansas City. Coaching both the 1999-2000 Syracuse team and the 2000-01 Kansas City squad was current Moose head coach Stan Smyl, who has been in the Vancouver organization as a coach or player since 1978-79.

The Aeros' Mark Cullen played three seasons with Manitoba's Justin Morrison at Colorado College. Aeros assistant coach Matt Shaw played for Colorado College in 1988-89 and was an assistant coach there from 1990-92

Houston head coach Todd McLellan coached Manitoba's Jaroslav Obsut in 1995-96 in WHL Swift Current, and Nathan Smith from 1998-2000. Obsut is currently in Vancouver.

Manitoba's Sean Pronger was a teammate of Houston captain Jason Marshall in Anaheim from 1995-98. Marshall is currently with Minnesota. Pronger also played for the IHL Aeros in 1998-99 (16gp, 11g, 7a, 18 pts) along with Aeros assistant coach Cam Stewart.

The Aeros' Stephane Veilleux played with Manitoba's Brandon Reid in 2000-01 with QMJHL Val d-Or.

Aeros 1-6-7-1 in last 15 – Houston has one win in its last 15 games (1-6-7-1) but also only seven regulation losses in the last 25 games (10-7-7-1, .560 win pct). The Aeros' snapped a franchise-record 13-game winless streak (0-5-7-1) January 24.

Houston hasn't won back-to-back games since a three-game winning streak from December 20-26, and the Aeros' last road win was December 23 in Utah.

The Aeros' 13-game winless streak (0-5-7-1) was five more than their previous franchise record eight-game streak (0-6-1-1), November 20-December 3 of this season.

Houston's 13-game winless streak was the longest in the AHL this season and was the longest in the league since Cleveland was winless in 13 straight from last March 15 through the end of the season.

Houston ran off a season-high seven straight games without a loss (3-0-4) December 20-January 2, including four straight ties December 27-January 2.

The Aeros' six-game winning streak December 5-17 was tied for the second-longest in the AHL this season.

In the season's first 20 games, Houston allowed a league-worst 3.36 goals per game. In the last 27 games, the Aeros are yielding just 2.00 goals per game. That has helped Houston move out of the basement to 2.72 goals against per game, 19th in the AHL.

‘O' looking to regroup –

After scoring seven combined goals in two games January 23-24, the Aeros came back with one goal Tuesday.

The Aeros have scored just 37 goals in 19 games (1.95 goals per game) since beating Norfolk 5-3 December 17.

Houston has been held to two goals or fewer in 14 of the last 19 games, including a scoreless streak of 178 minutes, 52 seconds that included back-to-back shutouts January 8-9.

In the last nine games, Houston is averaging only 1.56 goals per game.

Offensively in the AHL, the Aeros have slipped to 23rd at 2.26 goals per game.

Houston has scored one goal or fewer in 14 of its 47 games this season (29.8 percent).

Aeros in fifth – Houston has 42 points, two behind fourth-place Cincinnati in the West Division. The teams were tied prior to the Ducks' 3-1 win at Toyota Center Tuesday. The Aeros hold a two-point edge on sixth-place San Antonio, which has an important five games in hand on Houston. The Rampage plays host to Chicago tonight in its only game of the weekend. Houston's highest position this season was tied for third on December 28-29.

Aeros have outshot nine straight opponents – Houston enters tonight's game second in the AHL with 33.68 shots per game, and the Aeros have outshot each of their last nine opponents. The last team to outshoot Houston was Rochester (38-36) on January 4. The Moose rank 14th in the AHL in shots against (29.08 per game)

Five straight regulation games an irregularity – The Aeros haven't gone to overtime in any of their past five games, which is a story because from December 27-January 17, eight of 10 games went into the extra session. The Aeros, winless at 0-3-9 in overtime, are one of just three AHL teams without an extra session win. Houston's 12 OT non-wins are the most of those three teams. The Aeros went 8-3-7 in overtime last season, second in the league in extra session wins (Chicago, 11). Houston's 12 overtime games this season are still not even halfway to the franchise record of 26 shootout games in the 1998-99 season. The AHL record for overtime games is also 26, set in 2001-02 by both Albany and Rochester. The Aeros' nine ties are still nine short of the AHL/overtime era record, set in 1997-98 by St. John's. New Haven played to 20 ties in 1972-73, but that was before the AHL played overtime periods.

Holmqvist 1-5-3 in last nine – Last Saturday, Aeros netminder Johan Holmqvist picked up his first win since December 26 and came within 1:02 of his third shutout of the season. Holmqvist, who was the 2003 Butterfield Trophy winner as the playoff Most Valuable Player, then stopped 16 shots in a 3-1 loss to Cincinnati Tuesday.

From December 28-January 21, Holmqvist went 0-4-3 with a no decision and a 3.01 goals against average. His seven-decision winless streak was one more than his season-high, an 0-5-1 run from November 20-December 3, and one shy of his career-worst eight-game winless streak, an 0-5-3 span from December 6, 2002, to January 3, 2003.

Holmqvist went 6-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average and a .963 save percentage during a six-game winning streak December 5-17. The six-game winning streak set a new career-high.

The Aeros' netminder had a shutout streak of 189 minutes, seven seconds snapped December 17, just missing Frederic Chabot's 1996 team record mark of 193 minutes, 37 seconds.

In his 13 wins this season, Holmqvist is allowing 1.00 goals per game and sports a .962 save percentage. In his 23 non-wins, Holmqvist sports a 3.67 goals against average and a .870 save percentage. Holmqvist and the Aeros have just one win this season when yielding more than one goal.

Kettles unbeaten in last six starts – Rookie goalie Kyle Kettles is unbeaten in his last six starts (2-0-4) and has recorded a tie in each of his last four starts. Kettles was tagged with the loss in relief January 16 versus San Antonio, stopping eight of 11 shots in the third period of a 6-3 loss to the Rampage. Kettles, who has turned aside 145 of 151 shots (96.0 percent) in his last six starts, has lowered his goals against average from 3.65 to 2.19. The netminder picked up his first AHL shutout by making 20 saves in a January 9 game versus Worcester. Unfortunately for Kettles, his team didn't score either and he had to settle for a tie. Kettles is 2-4-4 this season but seemingly deserves a better fate. In his nine starts, the Aeros have scored just 10 goals and have been shut out twice. Kettles hasn't lost a game he started since falling 3-1 to Milwaukee on December 1.

Holmqvist 3-2-0 versus Moose – Houston goalie Johan Holmqvist is 3-2-0 with a no decision in six career games against Manitoba. Holmqvist's goals against average against the Moose is 2.63, and he sports a .906 save percentage. Kyle Kettles hasn't yet faced Manitoba.

Both Moose goalies have losing records vs. Aeros - Manitoba goalie Alex Auld is 2-3-0 with a 3.21 goals against average and a .885 save percentage versus Houston. Tyler Moss is 3-5-2 with a 2.90 goals against average and a .896 save percentage against the Aeros. Auld owns a win this season against Houston, making 27 saves in a 3-1 Moose win in Houston November 4. Moss made 28 stops in a 2-1 Aeros' win two days prior.

Penalty kill update –

Houston killed off its first 31 shorthanded chances this season. Since then, opponents are 26-for-179 (14.5 percent) on the power play.

The Aeros' overall 87.6 percent penalty kill rate (184-210) is tied for seventh in the AHL.

Houston has allowed two power play goals on 13 chances in the last four games (15.4 percent) after yielding four on 17 chances (23.5 percent) January 16-18.

Houston is winless (0-6-1-0) when yielding two or more PPG.

The Aeros have yielded no power play goals in 29 of their 47 games, and have points in all but eight of those games (10-8-8-3).

Manitoba is 33-for-253 (13.0 percent) on the power play, and its 253 chances trail only Houston's 274 for the AHL lead. Manitoba has yielded seven shorthanded goals, one off the league high.

Manitoba is 0-for-15 on the power play over the last four games and last scored a man-advantage goal January 14 against Grand Rapids. The Moose is 0-for-20 over its last five home games, having not scored a home power-play goal since December 29.

Power play update –

Houston enters tonight's game 30 of 274 on the power play (10.9 percent), 26th among 28 AHL teams.

The Aeros have gone 18-for-131 (13.7 percent) since Matt Foy snapped a streak of 37 straight unsuccessful power plays December 5, raising their percentage from 8.3 to 10.9.

Houston is 3-for-44 (6.8 percent) on the power play over its last nine games, and 1-for-32 (3.1 percent) in the last six games. That one goal was a 5-on-3 tally by Kevin Mitchell January 24 versus Syracuse.

Houston's 274 power plays are the most in the AHL. In order to put the Aeros' power-play totals in perspective, realize that they have an astounding 107 more power plays than in-state rival San Antonio, which has the fewest in the league.

The Aeros have just four wins in 23 games (4-12-6-1) when not scoring a power-play goal.

Manitoba ranks 24th among 28 AHL teams with an 82.4 percent kill percentage. At home, the Moose increase to 83.1 percent, 22nd in the AHL.

Manitoba has allowed three power play goals on 12 chances (75.0 percent kill rate) over its last four games.

Houston has one win when allowing more than one goal - The Aeros are an unbeaten in regulation 14-0-3-1 when allowing one goal or fewer this season, and December 17 was their only win (1-20-6-2) when yielding two or more, a 5-3 home victory over Norfolk.

Aeros have first goal in 15 of 23 games – Houston has scored first in 15 of its last 23 games, but in only three of the last nine games. January 24 marked the first time in eight games the Aeros scored first and won. Houston had been 0-3-4-0 in its last seven chances when taking a 1-0 lead. Houston is 7-3-5-0 in the last 15 when scoring first and 12-4-5-1 overall when scoring first. January 16 marked the Aeros' only home loss when scoring first (5-1-3-0).

But when not scoring first... - The Aeros are 3-16-3-2 when allowing the game's first goal, including a winless 0-9-2-0 mark on the road. By rallying for a 1-1 tie January 17 in San Antonio, Houston picked up just its second road point when allowing the first goal.

Aeros notch point when trailing after two – Houston rallied in the third period January 17 to force a 1-1 tie, marking the Aeros sixth point – third on the road – when trailing after two. The Aeros, who have yet to win when trailing after 40 minutes, are 0-17-5-1 overall in such situations and 0-9-3-0 away from Toyota Center. Houston is one of five AHL teams without a win when trailing after two periods, but its six points are the most among those five teams. Last season, the Aeros were second in the AHL with six wins when trailing after two periods. Grand Rapids led the circuit with seven.

Hoggan, Veilleux ironmen – Houston sports just two players who have played in each of the team's first 47 games – Stephane Veilleux and Jeff Hoggan. Veilleux's consecutive game streak is at 53 games dating back to last season, while Hoggan has played in 50 straight games.

Hendrickson plays in 600th pro game, closing in on other milestones – Aeros centerman Darby Hendrickson played in his 600th professional game December 30. Hendrickson, who spent eight full seasons in the NHL, has 193 points (96g, 97a) in his 612-game pro career. Hendrickson is four goals and three assists shy of 100 in his pro career in both those categories. Hendrickson played in his 100th AHL game December 27. He has 68 points (32g, 36a) in 114 career AHL contests.

All Mitchell does is score power play goals – Defenseman Kevin Mitchell's first goal in an Aeros uniform came Saturday on the power play, but that shouldn't be a surprise. In his three-year pro career, including ECHL totals, Mitchell has 19 goals - and an eye-popping 15 have come on the power play. Each of Mitchell's four AHL goals have been on the power play. Mitchell's last non power play goal came 13 months ago - on December 7, 2002, with ECHL Louisiana against Arkansas. Last season with the IceGators, Mitchell had 23 of his 34 points on the power play. With the Aeros, three of his seven points have come on the power play. Mitchell also has points in three straight games (1g, 3a) for the first time in his AHL career, and his two-point (1g, 1a) game January 24 versus Syracuse was the second of his AHL career. The other time was with Cleveland, versus Worcester, on March 16, 2003.

Roche gets 100, twice - Houston defenseman Travis Roche has two goals and eight assists in the last 12 games, and he reached a pair of milestones Saturday. Roche's assist on Kevin Mitchell's 5-on-3 game-winning goal in the second period was his 100th point as a pro, while his helper on Kyle Wanvig's third-period goal was his 100th point as an Aero. Roche has 101 points (31g, 70a) in 168 pro games, while he has 100 points (31g, 69a) in 158 Aeros games. Roche has one assist in 10 career games with the Minnesota Wild.

Cavosie tied with rookie season numbers - Marc Cavosie just played in his 43rd game of the season, and his five goals, 14 assists and 19 points are identical to the numbers he put up in his 2002-03 rookie season. Cavosie has five assists in the last seven games and he has three multi-point games, one better than his total from last season.

McLellan gets No. 100 – December 26, Houston head coach Todd McLellan joined current Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett as the only coaches in team history with 100 victories. McClellan is now 101-69-26-11 in his 2 ½-season reign with the club. McLellan will have to keep at it to top Tippett's 165-win total. Tippett coached the Aeros for 3 ½ seasons and - like McLellan - led his team to a championship, the 1999 Turner Cup. McLellan's overall pro coaching record is 144-101-33-11 in 3 ½ seasons. He coached IHL Cleveland in 2000-01 before coming to Houston. McLellan picked up his 100th victory in his 192nd game with the team, just five more games than it took Tippett to reach the plateau. McLellan coached his 200th game with the Aeros January 9. McLellan missed five games due to illness January 16-23.

Houston past halfway point – The Aeros passed the official midway point of the season with a 14-15-8-3 mark and now sport a 15-20-9-3 mark. Below is a breakdown of Houston's season so far in 10-game segments.

Games 1-10 3-6-1-0, 7 points GF: 23 GA: 33 PP: 6-62 (9.7%) PK: 37-40 (92.5%)

Games 11-20 2-5-1-2, 7 points GF: 26 GA: 35 PP: 6-60 (10.0%) PK: 51-60 (85.0%)

Games 21-30 7-3-0-0, 14 points GF: 24 GA: 17 PP: 8-69 (11.6%) PK: 43-47 (91.5%)

Games 31-40 2-1-6-1, 11 points GF: 18 GA: 19 PP: 7-49 (14.3%) PK: 29-33 (87.9%)

Games 41-47 1-5-1-0, 3 points GF: 15 GA: 24 PP: 3-35 (8.6%) PK: 24-30 (80.0%)

Houston's home winless streak over – It's been feast or famine at home for the Aeros, who recently had a nine-game unbeaten Toyota Center streak (6-0-3-0) and an 11-game home points streak (6-0-4-1) snapped.

The Aeros' 4-1 win over Syracuse January 24 snapped a six-game home winless streak (0-1-4-1). That marked the Aeros' season high and was two short of the franchise record, set from December 5-31, 1995.

The Aeros went 29 days between home wins December 26 and January 24.

Houston's six-game home winless streak was one shy of the AHL season high of seven, set by Albany from November 19-December 12.

Houston's nine-game home unbeaten streak, snapped January 8 in a 1-0 overtime loss to Hartford, was the second longest in the AHL this season, trailing only Bridgeport's 10-game run from October 25-December 17.

Houston started off its first season in Toyota Center just 2-6-1-1 but has improved to 9-8-5-2 at its new home. In the last 15 Toyota Center games, the Aeros have just two regulation losses and are 7-2-4-1.

Aeros winless in franchise-record seven straight on the road –

Houston is 0-4-3-0 in its last seven road games, one more than its previous season-high and franchise record-tying, 0-4-1-1 run from November 20-December 3.

Houston also went winless in six straight on the road from February 19-March 19, 2003 (0-4-1-1).

The Aeros' last win away from Toyota Center was a 2-1 decision in Utah December 23. Houston is 6-12-4-1 on the road this season.

Houston's seven-game road winless streak is two shy of Albany's current AHL season-high.

Aeros try for second January win – The Aeros are 1-6-4-1 in January, and they must win one of the two games in Manitoba to assure themselves of not recording the fewest wins in a month in team history (with a minimum of six games played). Even by sweeping the games against the Moose, Houston would tie several other Aeros squads with a three-win month, most recently November 2003 and October 2000.

Houston looks towards a West-laden schedule – After Saturday's game, the Aeros will play 20 consecutive games against the West Division, including their entire February slate of 15 games. Houston, which has already wrapped up its home schedule against everybody but the West, is 10-14-6-2 against the West Division. The Aeros have three non division games left after this weekend, from March 17-21 (one against Worcester, two versus Norfolk). Tonight, Houston will look for its first road win against the North Division, having gone 0-3-1-0, with the lone point a 2-2 tie in Rochester on November 26.

Quick hits

The Aeros have just two wins this season when allowing a goal in the third period. The Aeros are 13-3-6-2 when keeping their opponents off the board in the third, including an unbeaten in regulation 12-1-6-2 the last 21 times.

The Moose's Pat Kavanagh has 10 goals in 21 home games and just one in 25 road contests.

Manitoba has 29 fighting majors, third fewest in the AHL.

Manitoba has been outscored 44-31 in the first period, the second largest differential in the league. Houston is minus-seven (38-31) in the opening 20 minutes.

The Moose has won just four of its 14 one-goal games (4-8-0-2). Houston is 6-3-0-3 in such games.

Manitoba has led after one period at home just twice in 22 games.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2004


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