Law Hits 500th AHL Game Tonight

Published on December 28, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know:

Aeros RW and captain Kirby Law is set to join some prestigious company tonight when he plays in his 500th American Hockey League game. Law will become just the 11th player currently in the AHL with 500 games played in the league. The active leader in AHL games played is Dennis Bonvie (717). Former Aero Steve Bancroft, now in Omaha, is also on the list with 502 games played. Law's teammate, D Scott Ferguson, has played 494 games in the AHL. Law has 372 points (178-194=372) and 929 penalty minutes in 499 career AHL games.

Aeros C Erik Westrum (13-33=46) and RW Kirby Law (20-24=44) rank first and second overall in the AHL in scoring. They are trying to become the first duo from the same team to finish 1-2 in the league's scoring race Paul Gardner (112 points) and Jody Gage (99) turned the trick for Rochester exactly 20 seasons ago - in 1985-86. Westrum carries a career-best nine-game point streak (3-11=14) into tonight's game. That ties the longest point streak in the Aeros' AHL history - Rastislav Pavlikovsky had points in nine straight 2/1-3/11/03. The last Aero with a 10-game point streak was Brett Harkins, from 2/27-3/18/01. Law has notched at least two points in eight of his last 11 games, and he has 19 points (10-9=19) in his last nine contests alone. Law leads all AHL players with 20 goals. Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko, who is currently playing for Team Russia in the World Junior Championships, has 30 points (19-11=30), tied for third among AHL rookies. Aeros rookie C Patrick O'Sullivan has 23 points (12-11=23) in his last 17 games to move into a tie for third among AHL rookies with 30 points (15-15=30).

The Aeros have won six straight home games to tie the second-longest run in team history. Houston has won in dominating fashion, outscoring its opponents 35-13 in the run. The Aeros last won six straight at home two seasons ago, 12/5-12/26/03. The longest home winning streak in franchise history is eight games, set from 11/6-12/11/98, during the team's Calder Cup season. Only Milwaukee (eight) and Portland (seven) have strung together more consecutive home wins this season. Houston, 14-2-1-1 at Toyota Center this season, is 20-2-1-3 in its last 26 regular-season home games, and 28-4-1-3 in the last 36. The Aeros' .833 home points percentage ranks second in the AHL this season (Manchester, .846). Houston is on pace for 31 home wins, which is one behind the team record set in 1998-99. Beginning with their 12/16 game vs. Peoria, the Aeros won't travel out of the state of Texas - away from Toyota Center or SBC Center in San Antonio - for a span of 37 days, until they go to Chicago 1/22.

If their power play was supposed to slow down when D Kurtis Foster and his 101 mph slapshot was summoned by NHL Minnesota 11/16, no one told the Aeros. Houston is in a tie for third in the league on the power play at 21.0 percent. Houston has at least two PPG in each of its last four games, going 9-for-28 (32.1 percent) in that span. The Aeros are 18-for-57 (31.6 percent) with the man advantage in the last nine games, having scored at least one PPG in each of the games to establish a season-high. Houston's 51 PPG are more than halfway to the team record of 94, set in 1998-99.

Since missing five games due to injury in late October and early November, Aeros second-year G Josh Harding is 13-3-0 with a 2.22 gaa to move to 18-6-0 with a 2.52 gaa on the season. Harding, who leads the AHL with 18 victories, has 39 wins with the Aeros, the most of any goalie since the team joined the AHL in 2001-02. Harding, a native of Regina, Sask., is an amazing 33-1-1 in his last 35 decisions when the Aeros score three goals or more in support of him. Harding's 18 victories through the Aeros' first 33 games puts him on pace for 44 wins this season. In 2004-05, current Buffalo Sabre Ryan Miller became the first AHL goalie to reach 40 wins since Gerry Cheevers set a league-record with 48 in 1964-65. Miller had 41 "W"'s last season.

Stars at Aeros (Aeros are 1-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 at Houston)

Tonight is the second ever meeting between the Aeros and Stars, who are in their first season as the Dallas Stars' AHL affiliate. Houston won the first game, 5-3, on 11/3 behind a goal and an assist each from C Erik Westrum and D Kurtis Foster. RW Vojtech Polak led the Stars with two goals and an assist.

Tonight is a homecoming for four Iowa Stars players who spent the 2004-05 season in Houston. The Aeros had a partial affiliation deal with the Dallas Stars. Goalie Mike Smith, defenseman Patrick Traverse and forwards Junior Lessard and Marius Holtet all suited up for the Aeros last season. Smith went 19-17-3 with a 2.42 gaa and won Houston's lone playoff game. Traverse tallied 15 points (6-9=15) in 72 games, but he's injured and not expected to play tonight. Lessard, the 2004 Hobey Baker winner, tied for 12th on the Aeros' roster with 22 points (11-11=22) in 71 games. Holtet notched 12 points (7-5=12) in 54 games. Iowa also features David Oliver, a member of the Aeros' 1999 Turner Cup winning team. Also, Houston's Clayton Stoner and Iowa's Shawn Belle were defensive partners for three full seasons at WHL Tri City. Iowa's Jamie Johnson attended training camp with the Aeros in 2003-04.

Scouting the Aeros The Aeros (23-8-1-1) have won five straight to tie a season-high...Their last six-game run was from 12/5-12/17/03...Houston's 48 points trail only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (25-3-2-1=53) for the league lead...The Aeros' West Division lead is four points over Milwaukee, which has one game in hand...A victory tonight would give the Aeros more wins (24) than any other season in franchise history through 34 games...C Erik Westrum has 46 points (13-33=46) to lead the AHL in points and assists...RW Kirby Law is second in the league with 44 points (20-24=44) and is first in goals...Rookie LW Roman Voloshenko is tied for second in the AHL with 19 goals, and he ranks tied for third among league rookies in points (30)...Voloshenko is currently playing in the World Junior Championships...Rookie C Patrick O'Sullivan is also for third among first-year players in points with 30 (15-15=30)...D Curtis Murphy is third among AHL defensemen with 26 points (3-23=26)...G Josh Harding is 18-6-0 with a 2.52 gaa to rank first in the league in wins, third in save pct. (.924) and 11th in gaa...Harding is 23-6-1 in his last 30 regular-season games, and one of the losses was in OT...G Seamus Kotyk is 4-2-1 with a 3.23 gaa.

Scouting the Stars Iowa (16-12-1-1), AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, owns the AHL's longest winning streak at six games after a 3-2 home win over Peoria on Monday that moved the Stars to 10-1-1-1 in their last 13 games...Iowa has won four straight road games, having not lost away from Des Moines since 11/25 in Omaha...C Toby Peterson leads Iowa in scoring with 22 points (9-13=22)...With former Aero D Patrick Traverse and his 13 points (1-12=13) out for the last month due to injury, D Mario Scalzo paces the blueline with 11 points (2-9=11)...G Dan Ellis is 9-5-0 with a 2.50 gaa, while former Aero G Mike Smith is 7-8-1 with a 2.47 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (2nd of 10 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 overall, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 at Houston) November 3 Iowa 3 at Houston 5 Tonight Iowa at Houston January 12 Iowa at Houston January 13 Iowa at Houston January 26 Houston at Iowa February 17 Houston at Iowa February 18 Houston at Iowa February 23 Iowa at Houston March 25 Houston at Iowa April 16 Houston at Iowa

Quick Hits Houston LW Josh Olson has 11 points (5-6=11) over his last 12 games. His five-game point streak (2-4=6) is a career-high. Aeros D Curtis Murphy has six assists in a five-game point streak, tying a season-high, and he has nine assists overall in his last nine games. His five-game assist streak ties C Erik Westrum's team season-high. Murphy has 127 points with Houston, tied with Mike Yeo and David Oliver for seventh place on the team's all-time list. Murphy ranks third among all AHL defensemen in points this season (3-23=26), and his 23 assists put him tied for second among blueliners and tied for seventh among all players. Houston RW Matt Foy has eight points (3-5=8) in a four-game point streak. Aeros D Dustin Wood snapped an 84-game goal-less streak Monday. It marked his first goal since 1/18/04 vs. Milwaukee. Houston hasn't allowed a third-period goal in any of its last three games, and it has outscored its opponents 11-2 in the final 20 minutes of its five-game winning streak. The Aeros are 22-1-0-0 when scoring three goals or more, but 1-7-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 20-2-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 3-6-0-0 when yielding four or more. Houston is 12-1-0-0 when outshooting an opponent. The Aeros are 7-0-0-0 when allowing 30 shots or fewer. The Aeros are 10-2-1-1 in one-goal games, and an impressive 13-3-1-1 in games decided by two goals or less. Thirteen of the Aeros' first 21 games were decided by one goal. Since then, however, just one of the last 12 games has been of the one-goal variety. Houston has trailed at some point in 11 of its 23 victories. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. The Aeros have allowed the first goal in three of their last five victories. They are an impressive 9-4-0-0 when allowing the game's first goal. Houston has scored in 14 straight regulation periods, including seven periods with two or more goals. The Aeros have scored four goals in a period in two of their last three games. The Aeros are 14-2-0-0 when having less PIM's than their opponent, including a 10-1-0-0 home mark.

Power play update Houston is tied for third in the league on the power play at 21.0 percent. The Aeros are 18-for-57 (31.6 percent) with the man advantage in the last nine games, having scored at least one PPG in each of the games. That's Houston's longest stretch of the season with a PPG. The Aeros are 15-1-0-0 when scoring at least two PPG, with the lone loss coming 11/18 in Manitoba. Iowa is 19th in the league on the penalty kill at 82.5 percent. The Stars have killed off 41-of-46 (89.1 percent) of their shorthanded chances in their six-game winning streak. Houston went 2-for-9 with the man advantage against Iowa 11/3.

Penalty kill update Houston has moved into a tie for seventh in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.0 percent. The Aeros have killed off 65-of-69 shorthanded chances (94.2 percent) in their last 13 home games. Houston has allowed just 10 PPG on 111 chances at Toyota Center this season, good for a 91.0 percent kill rate. Houston is 9-1-0-1 when not allowing a power play goal and 18-3-1-1 when allowing one power play goal or fewer. Iowa is 25th in the AHL on the power play at 12.9 percent. The Stars are 6-for-50 (12.0 percent) with the man advantage during their six-game winning streak. Iowa went 1-for-7 on the power play against Houston 11/3.

Last Game (Monday) Kirby Law scored two goals to take over the AHL goal lead with 20, Erik Westrum added three assists to pad his advantage in the AHL points race, and former Phoenix prospect Dustin Wood snapped an 84-game goal-less streak, as the Houston Aeros rolled to a 7-1 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Toyota Center. Former Rampage forward Petr Taticek added a goal and two assists, Patrick O'Sullivan and Joel Ward also scored and Bryan Lundbohm and Curtis Murphy each supplied two assists for Houston, which got 27 saves from Josh Harding.

Aeros/Stars connections Houston's Clayton Stoner and Iowa's Shawn Belle were defensive partners for three full seasons at WHL Tri City. Aeros defenseman Erik Reitz spent the 2001-02 season at OHL Barrie along with Iowa's B.J. Crombeen. Iowa's David Oliver played two seasons with the Aeros, totaling 62 points (34-28=62) in 82 games. He was a member of the Aeros' 1999 Turner Cup winning team. Houston's Erik Westrum and Iowa's Toby Peterson each hail from Minneapolis, Minn.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2005


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