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Houston Clinches Division Title

March 31, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


The Houston Aeros played four games last week, including three in a row against Utah. The Aeros clinched the N. R. (Bud) Poile Trophy as the West Division champions. Houston is guaranteed to finish first or second in the Western Conference as the South Division leader cannot catch the Aeros. The final game for Houston is Saturday at Compaq Center against conference leader Grand Rapids. The game could decide who finishes first in the Western Conference as Houston trails the Griffins by four points with games Wednesday and Friday.

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

MARCH 26: The Chicago Wolves defeated the Aeros 7-4 on Wednesday after scoring the last five goals of the game. Chicago tallied first, 58 seconds into the game. Houston answered with a power play goal by Jean-Guy Trudel and then a goal by Mark Cullen. However, Chicago scored with 40 seconds left in the period to knot the game at two. In the second, the Aeros collected power play goals by Marc Cavosie and Rickard Wallin to take the lead. The momentum shifted to the Wolves midway through the period and they never looked back. They scored a four-on-four goal and a power play goal before the end of the second and added three more in the third. Houston went 3 for 6 on the power play and Chicago was 2 for 8.

MARCH 28: The Houston Aeros defeated the Utah Grizzlies in the first of three consecutive games by a score of 3-2. Houston opened the scoring with a goal by Tony Tuzzolino at 2:43 of the first. Utah tied the game on a goal by Steve Gainey at the 15:01 mark of the second. In the third, Greg Hawgood scored a power play goal for Utah to give them a 2-1 lead, 3:50 into the period. Houston responded with a goal by Travis Roche at 12:47. Then 90 seconds later, Mark Cullen collected the game-winning goal. Jean-Guy Trudel had two assists in the game. G Johan Holmqvist stopped 23 of 25 shots for the win.

MARCH 29: Five different players scored for Houston in the 6-0 victory over the Grizzlies. Johan Holmqvist earned his first shutout as an Aero with a 28-save performance. The game started off with several excellent chances for both teams in the first 10 minutes. Dan Cavanaugh opened the scoring at the 13:47 mark of the first when he scored an unassisted shorthanded goal. Houston then collected power play goals from Erik Reitz and Mark Cullen before the end of the first. In the second period, Travis Roche and Stephane Veilleux scored for Houston. The only goal in the third period was scored by Cavanaugh, his second of the night, on the power play at 18:04.The Aeros were 3 for 8 on the power play and stopped Utah on all three of their chances.

MARCH 30: On Sunday, the series switched to Compaq Center and with it the outcome. Utah downed the Aeros 4-2 to prevent the sweep. The Grizzlies scored first on the power play. Hnat Domenichelli tied the game just over a minute later but Utah collected another power play goal with 45 seconds left in the opening period. The Grizzlies extended their lead with a goal midway through the second period. Houston drew within one on Curtis Murphy's goal, but the Grizzlies iced the game with a power play/empty net goal. Derek Gustafson turned away 33 of 36 shots for Houston as the Aeros were outshot 37 to 24.

HOWE BIG: Saturday's game vs. Grand Rapids is big. It could decide the Western Conference Champion, and that's only the beginning. It's also the final regularly scheduled game at Compaq Center. To celebrate, the Aeros will retire, Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe's jersey number 9. Mr. Hockey will be joined by members of the WHA AVCO Cup Champion Aeros. Dallas Stars Head Coach Dave Tippet and Stars assistant coaches Mark Lamb and Brian Wiseman will be on hand to represent the IHL Aeros Turner Cup Championship team.

DOWN THE BACKSTRETCH THEY COME!: Houston wrapped up the West Division crown on Saturday. Chicago trails Houston by 8 points with four games remaining and the Aeros hold the tiebreaker (wins). Houston trails Grand Rapids by four points for first in the Western Conference. Both teams have three games left and play in game #80 for each on Saturday at Compaq Center.

TOUGH ROW TO HOE: Houston has the fourth best record in the league, trailing Hamilton, Grand Rapids and Providence. However, the Aeros have by far had the hardest schedule. Houston has played only 12 games against teams with records below .500 and has gone 10-1-1-0 in those games. Grand Rapids has faced 22 opponents under .500 with the Griffins going 18-3-1-0. In comparison, 30 of Providence's opponents have losing records (21-4-2-3). League-leader Hamilton has had the easiest road, playing 49 games against teams under .500 (31-14-3-1).

WHAT A LINE!: Linemates Jean-Guy Trudel and Hnat Domenichelli have been on fire recently. Since Domenichelli returned to the line-up seven games ago, he's collected 3g-10a-13p, including five points in the past two games. Trudel struggled while Domenichelli was sidelined for eight games, but has put that behind him. Trudel has collected 4g-10a-14p in his last nine games.

ADIOS, ROAD: The road portion of the Aeros regular season is done. Houston finished with a record of 22-13-3-2, 49 points away from Compaq Center. The 22 wins are tied for third best in Aeros history with the Turner Cup-winning team of 1998-99. Two Aeros teams racked up 23 road wins (1996-97 & 1997-98).

THE LEADERS: Several Houston Aeros are among AHL leaders. Houston's top scorer, LW Jean-Guy Trudel has moved into first in the league in scoring with 82 points and is third in assists (53). Curtis Murphy leads AHL defensemen with 22 goals and is second in points with 51 points (22g-29a). D Travis Roche is in 7th place (14g-32a-46p) and fifth in goals among defensemen. Mark Cullen is tied for 14th in scoring (20g-23a-43p) among AHL rookies. G Derek Gustafson is tied for fourth in the league with 23. Johan Holmqvist is tied for 20th with a 2.64 GAA.

FIRST OUT OF STARTER'S BLOCK: Scoring the first goal is extremely important to Houston. When the Aeros score first, they are an impressive 30-3-2-1. The team knows how to play with the lead as they are 29-1-1-2 when leading after one period of play and 33-2-3-1 when leading after two periods.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT: Houston ranks second in the league with an average of 34.4 shots per game. They also are ranked second defensively, allowing only 26.8 shots against. The Aeros set a new record for most shots in one season (2,584 - 1998-99; 2,651 - 2002-03). They also are on pace to allow the fewest shots in one year in team history (2,173 - 1999-00; 2,062-2002-03).

RECENT TRANSACTIONS: None

NEWS AND NOTES:

* LW Jean-Guy Trudel has 4-10-14 in the past nine games;

* LW Hnat Domenichelli has 3-10-13 in the last eight games;

* D Travis Roche has 3-4-7 in the past eight games;

* C Mark Cullen has 3-1-4 in the past four games;

* D Curtis Murphy has 1-2-3 in the past four games;

* G Johan Holmqvist has stopped 51 of 53 shots in his last two starts with one shutout;

* The Aeros Power Play was stopped on seven chances Sunday and for the season is 83 of 489/17%, ranks 12th;

* The Aeros PK allowed 3 goals on 7 chances Sunday. Overall it's 346 of 416 (70)/83.2%, ranking 16th.

WILD WATCH: The Minnesota Wild have clinched a playoff berth for the first time in the club's three-year history. They currently are in seventh place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 40-26-10-1, 91 points. They play four games in the final week of the regular season. They host Calgary tonight, before traveling to Columbus for a game on Wednesday and then to Toronto on Thursday. The regular season finale is Sunday at home versus Columbus.

ICEGATORS REPORT: The Louisiana IceGators finished the 2002-03 regular season in a tie for first in the Southwest Division with a record of 40-20-12, 96 points. They will be seeded second due to the tiebreaker (wins). Shawn McNeil finished fourth in the league in points (40-51-91). Rookie G Kyle Kettles was fifth in GAA (2.61), tied for first with five shutouts, and fourth in save percentage (.919). The IceGators play Arkansas in the Southwest Division Semi-finals. Game 1 is Wednesday in Louisiana and Game 2 is Thursday. Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) will be in Arkansas on Saturday and Sunday. If the series goes to a Game 5, it will be back in Louisiana on Wednesday, April 9.

UPCOMING GAMES

WEDNESDAY 4/2 VS SAN ANTONIO

The Aeros host San Antonio Wednesday and on Friday as well. Houston is undefeated against the Rampage at Compaq Center, going 4-0 thus far.

FRIDAY 4/4 VS SAN ANTONIO

Houston faces off against San Antonio in the final weekend of the regular season. A visit by Grand Rapids closes out the 2002-03 regular season on Saturday.

SATURDAY 4/5 VS GRAND RAPIDS

The Aeros close out the 2002-03 regular season with a game against conference leader Grand Rapids. Houston trails the Griffins by four points in the conference, and has struggled against Grand Rapids recently.

ON THE AIR: Houston Aeros games can be heard on AM 700 KSEV "The Voice" with "The Voice of the Aeros" Ken Double calling the action. The games are also available via the internet at www.aeros.com. The game against the Grand Rapids Griffins will be televised on KTBU "The Tube" at 7:30 PM. Troy Gamble will join Ken Double in the broadcast booth.

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