Sports stats



Houston tries to cool off red-hot Wolves

December 27, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Eight things you need to know
- The Aeros have allowed 14 total goals in their last two games against Chicago - three shy of the most goals yielded against an opponent in two straight meetings. Orlando won 7-5 and 10-1 in the 1995-96 season. The most goals scored versus the Aeros in three straight meetings is 21 - Cincinnati 12/22/95-3/9/96.
- Houston needed extra time last night to pull out its 3-2 SO win over San Antonio. The Aeros built a 2-0 lead in the second period, and led 2-1 in the waning seconds before the Rampage's Jeff Taffe tied the game up with 1.8 ticks left on the clock. Houston has been outscored 3-0 in the third period in its last three games, and has "won" the third period on the scoreboard just once in its last nine games. The Aeros have scored 22 third-period goals all season - one behind Albany for the AHL low.
- The Aeros got two big pieces of their lineup back last night. C Jason Morgan returned after missing 22 games due to call-ups and injuries. Morgan was recalled to Minnesota 10/28, but in his fourth game with the Wild, he suffered a deep bruise that required surgery to relieve the pressure. He last played for the Aeros 10/27 - his eighth game - and picked up his first point of the season last night. Morgan returned wearing the "A" for alternate captain. Also, rookie LW Benoit Pouliot returned after missing the last four games with a lower body injury. Pouliot has played in just 11 of the Aeros' last 21 games due to injuries, illness and a call-up to Minnesota. Pouliot picked up on assist on D Ryan Stokes' goal.
- The Aeros have lost each of the last five meetings with Chicago since winning five straight. The five-game regulation losing streak is Houston's longest ever against the Wolves. The Aeros were once winless in eight consecutive meetings (0-4-4-0) 12/28/03-10/20/04, but they picked up points in four of those eight games. Houston's longest ever regulation losing streak against an opponent is seven games, versus Denver/Utah, from 3/19/95-1/24/97.
- Counting two post-season series, Houston is 5-16-3-2 in its last 26 trips to Allstate Arena, including losses in each of its last three trips since a 6-5 win 3/15/06. The Aeros are 15-19-6-2 all-time in Rosemont for a .452 points percentage. Houston has a lower percentage in just one other building - .449 in Milwaukee's Bradley Center.
- Aeros G Josh Harding is 4-8-0 with a 3.49 gaa and a .869 save pct. in 12 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. Two of Harding's four victories versus the Wolves have come in shootouts. His Chicago counterpart, G Fred Brathwaite, is 4-0-1 with a 2.57 gaa in his career against Houston.
- Aeros third-year G Josh Harding has played in all but two of the Aeros' first 31 games, including each of the last 10. Harding ranks first in the AHL in games played (29) and minutes (1,722), and is second in shots faced (878) and saves (807). He is tied for third in wins (12). Harding ranks 11th in the AHL in gaa (2.47), and tied for fifth in save pct. (0.919). Harding is 12-8-2 with a 2.32 gaa and a .924 save pct. in his last 22 decisions since starting the season 0-5-1. Counting back to last season and including the playoffs, Harding has appeared in 38-of-40 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.
- Houston was outscored 7-5 Friday against Chicago, and it's very unusual for the Aeros to lose that type of game. Counting last night's 3-2 SO win over San Antonio, the Aeros are 12-5-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, and just 1-10-0-1 when scoring two or fewer.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 38-29-14-4 all-time, 15-19-6-2 at Chicago)
- Tonight is the 86th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 43rd in Chicago.
- Since joining the AHL in 2001-02, Houston is 20-20-9-4 overall versus the Wolves in the regular season.
- The teams meet again at Allstate Arena 1/3.
- Former Aeros RW Kyle Wanvig scored two goals, including the GWG with 2:24 left in regulation, in a 7-5 Wolves win at Toyota Center last Friday.
- In the last meeting in Chicago, 11/25, rookie LW Brett Sterling tallied two goals and two assists and C Jared Ross scored twice as the Wolves routed the Aeros 7-3.
- Wolves C Jared Ross has scored three of his four 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 gone seven straight meetings without extra time. Just once in the last 15 games have they gone to OT/SO - a 5-4 Houston SO victory at Toyota Center 3/7/06.

Scouting the Aeros
The sixth-place Aeros (13-15-0-3) have 29 points, five points behind Iowa and Milwaukee for fourth place in the West, and just six behind third-place Peoria...Houston plays four games this week, and eight in a 12 day stretch beginning last night...Team scoring leader RW Matt Foy has 25 points (13-12=25)...Next is a pair of rookies: LW Benoit Pouliot (12-5=17) and C Ben Thomson (6-11=17) and veteran D Peter Ratchuk (4-12=16)...D Curtis Murphy (4-10=14) is on Ratchuk's heels...G Josh Harding is 12-13-3 with a 2.47 gaa and a .919 save pct....Rookie G Tony Quesada, a Holy Cross product, is 0-2-0 with a 4.30 gaa and a .901 save pct.

Scouting the Wolves
Chicago (24-7-1-1), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, leads the West Division by 12 points after last night's 5-4 OT victory in Milwaukee...It marked Chicago's fourth straight win overall, moved the Wolves to 6-0-0-1 in their last seven and was their 10th win in 12 games...RW Darren Haydar, the early AHL MVP frontrunner, stretched his point streak to 33 games - the AHL record - and has a league-best 67 points (19-48=67) - 15 more than any player...Linemate C Jason Krog (19-33=52) is second in the AHL but is currently on recall to Atlanta...Rookie linemate LW Brett Sterling is third in the league with 50 points (32-18=50), including a league-leading 32 goals in just 31 games...Sterling has scored 28 goals in his last 20 games, 10 of which are multi-goal games, while his 32 goals are a Wolves record by a rookie...Rookie D Nathan Oystrick (6-11=17) and D Jimmy Sharrow (3-13=16) pace the blueline...G Fred Brathwaite is 11-2-1 with a 2.69 gaa and a .900 save pct....Brathwaite is 9-0-1 in his last 10 decisions...G Michael Garnett is 12-6-0 with a 3.26 gaa and a .890 save pct.

2006-07 meetings (4th of 8 meetings, Aeros are 0-3-0-0 overall, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 at Chicago)
November 1 Chicago 4 at Houston 2
November 25 Houston 3 at Chicago 7
December 22 Chicago 7 at Houston 5
Tonight Houston at Chicago
January 3 Houston at Chicago
February 17 Chicago at Houston
February 18 Chicago at Houston
March 7 Houston at Chicago

Tuesday's game
Josh Harding made 22 saves and stopped Jeff Taffe in the final shootout round after Taffe forced overtime with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, and defenseman Shawn Belle scored the deciding shootout goal, as the Houston Aeros defeated San Antonio 3-2 to improve to 16-0-2-0 in their last 18 Toyota Center meetings with the Rampage. Ryan Stokes and Matt Foy scored a goal apiece in regulation for the Aeros.

Quick Hits
- Five of the Aeros' 13 victories have been in come-from-behind fashion.
- The Aeros are 5-4-0-3 in one-goal games. But after eight of their first 12 games were decided by one goal, just four of Houston's last 19 contests has been decided in that fashion.
- Thirty-two of Houston's 84 goals have come from rookies.
- Aeros G Josh Harding allowed six goals in last Friday's 7-5 loss to Chicago, dropping him to 26-2-0 lifetime when receiving five or more goals of support. The only other loss happened 1/6/06, a 6-5 home loss to Grand Rapids.
- Aeros rookie C Ben Thomson has an assist in each of his last two games, and four over his last four. In his last six games, Thomson has five helpers. He is tied for third on the team with 17 points (6-11=17).
- The Wolves have drowned their opponents in the first period by a margin of 48-26, the best in the AHL.
- Chicago enters tonight's game averaging 4.76 gpg - more than two full goals per game more than Houston, and more than 0.75 goals more than any other AHL team.

Power play update
- Houston is up to 26th in the AHL with the man advantage at 12.8 percent.
- The Aeros are 7-for-55 (12.7 percent) on the power play in their last nine games.
- Houston is 27th and last in the league on the power play on the road, at just 9.1 percent and with only eight goals in 15 games.
- Chicago is 12th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 82.4 percent.
- The Wolves have killed off 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) of their shorthanded chances in the last five games.
- Houston is 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) on the power play against Chicago this season.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is third in the AHL on the PK at 87.0 percent.
- Opponents are 2-for-26 (7.7 percent) on the power play in the last four games.
- Chicago is fourth in the AHL on the power play at 21.3 percent.
- The Wolves are 9-for-38 (23.7 percent) with the man advantage in their last five games, including a 4-for-10 performance last night in Milwaukee.
- Chicago is 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) on the power play against Houston this season, but the Wolves went 4-for-8 in the lone meeting at Allstate Arena, 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.
- Houston C Alex Leavitt was Chicago D Jim Fahey's teammate at the University of Wisconsin from 2001-03. 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.



American Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Houston Aeros Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central