Mullet Madness As Rochester Visits Houston

January 20, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Five things you need to know

Aeros C Erik Westrum (19-40=59) and RW Kirby Law (26-33=59) are tied for first 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. No two teammates have reached the 100-point plateau since a trio of Carolina Monarchs did it in 1995-96. Law has 10 points in the last four games alone (4-6=10), while Westrum has nine points (5-4=9) in that span. Law has a season-best 13-game point streak (12-14=26), and he has 34 points (16-18=34) in his last 17 contests alone. Law is second in the AHL in goals and assists. Rookie C Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with 41 points (19-22=41), while fellow rookie LW Roman Voloshenko leads all first-year players in goals (20-11=31). D Curtis Murphy ranks second among league defensemen with 36 points (7-29=36). Aeros RW and captain Kirby Law's 13-game point streak (12-14=36) is one off his career-high, set 2/24-3/30/01 with Philadelphia. The last Aero with a longer run was Brian Wiseman, who had a franchise-best 15-game streak 12/27/98-1/30/99. Law's point streak is tied for the longest active run in the AHL with Syracuse's Mark Hartigan. Law needs three more goals to tie Aeros special assistant to hockey Cam Stewart for 10th place on the team's all-time goal list with 54. Law has played in 142 consecutive AHL games - 121 with Houston. Law's 26 goals are six off his 2003-04 career-high, and he's only 14 points shy of his career-best total of 73, also set in 2003-04. Aeros D Curtis Murphy, named an All-Star last week for the seventh time in as many North American seasons, is on the verge of becoming the Aeros' all-time goal leader among defensemen. Murphy is tied with Jeff Tory for the top spot among blueliners with 42 tallies. Murphy's 137 points trail only Greg Hawgood's total of 145 for the most in team history among defensemen. Murphy has 19 points (4-15=19) in his last 17 games, including 10 points (4-6=10) in a six-game point streak to tie his career-high. Murphy has had three other six-game runs, the last coming 12/30/02-1/10/03 during Houston's Calder Cup season. Murphy ranks second among all AHL defensemen in points this season (7-29=36), and eighth among all players in assists. Houston is all the way up to second in the AHL in scoring at 3.76 gpg, trailing only Grand Rapids' 3.95 gpg. Since getting shut out 3-0 by Milwaukee 11/27, the Aeros have scored 78 goals in 17 games for a whopping 4.59 gpg average. Just twice since the shutout have the Aeros been held to fewer than three goals. The Aeros have scored 59 goals in 12 home games since the 11/27 loss for a 4.92 gpg average. Houston is on pace to score 300 goals for just the second time in team history. The Aeros scored a franchise-record 307 goals in 1998-99, but that came in an 82-game season. Houston averages 4.08 gpg at home (98 goals in 24 games), on pace for a new franchise-record of 163 goals. The Aeros put up 160 goals at home in 1998-99, in an 82-game season. Houston and Rochester rank tied for first and third, respectively, in the AHL in power play percentage. The Aeros have clicked on 21.6 percent of their chances, while the Americans are at 21.1 percent after leading the AHL for much of the season. Houston is 11-for-41 (26.8 percent) in the last seven games, scoring at least two PPG in six of the seven games. Despite their high ranking, the Americans are 2-for-30 (6.7 percent) with the man advantage in the last four games.

Amerks at Aeros (Aeros are 5-1-3-0 all-time, Aeros are 2-1-1-0 at Houston) The teams meet for the 10th time tonight - the fifth game in Houston. The Aeros won 5-3 in Rochester 12/9 behind four points (1-3=4) from RW Kirby Law and a pair of goals from LW Roman Voloshenko. Rochester defeated the Aeros 3-2 in its last trip to Houston 12/2/04 - the Amerks' only victory ever against the Aeros in nine tries. Houston and Rochester split two games last season, and the Amerks' 3-2 win at Toyota Center 12/2/04 was their first victory in the series. Houston started 4-0-3-0 against Rochester. The teams skated to three straight ties 1/31/03-1/4/04. Aeros G Seamus Kotyk is 4-3-2 with an impressive 2.05 gaa and a .943 save pct. in his career against Rochester.

Scouting the Aeros The Aeros (29-10-1-1) have the AHL's second-best winning percentage (.732), trailing only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (31-5-3-1=66, .825 pct)...The Aeros' West Division lead is two points over Milwaukee, but the Aeros have a game in hand...It's Houston's smallest division lead since 11/8, when it led Peoria 20 points to 18...Houston, which sports an AHL-high five All-Stars, has won 11 of 13 and 14 of 17 overall...The Aeros begin a stretch of seven games in nine nights in four cities tonight, including their first three-in-three since 12/9-12/11...C Erik Westrum has 59 points (19-40=59), as does RW Kirby Law (26-33=59)...The duo, which shares the AHL lead in points, also ranks 1-2 in assists, and Law's 26 goals are one off the AHL lead...C Patrick O'Sullivan is first in rookie scoring with with 41 points (19-22=41)...LW Roman Voloshenko (20-11=31) has the league lead in goals among rookies...D Curtis Murphy is second among AHL defensemen with 36 points (8-29=36)...G Josh Harding is 21-7-0 with a 2.63 gaa to rank first in the league in wins, tied for third in save pct. (.923) and tied for 11th in gaa...G Seamus Kotyk is 7-3-1 with a 2.80 gaa, while G Miroslav Kopriva is 1-1-0 with a 4.33 gaa.

Scouting the Americans Rochester (20-19-1-1), AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, has lost three of four and is 3-6-0-0 in its last nine...The Amerks lost 3-1 at home against Hamilton on Sunday despite outshooting the Bulldogs 35-26...Rochester has scored one goal or less in five of its last six losses....RW Chris Thorburn leads Rochester with 32 points (14-18=32)...D Nathan Paetsch is tops among the Amerks' blueliners with 31 points (5-26=31)...Three of Rochester's top six scorers are in the NHL...G Jean-Marc Pelletier is 11-6-0 with a 3.11 gaa, while G Michael Leighton is 8-12-1 but with a similar 3.15 gaa.

2005-06 meetings (2nd of 2 meetings, Aeros are 1-0-0-0 overall, First meeting at Houston) December 9 Houston 5 at Rochester 3 Tonight Rochester at Houston

Quick Hits The Aeros play game six of a seven-game homestand tonight. Houston has won 15 of 18 at home and is 18-4-1-1 at Toyota Center this season, 24-4-1-3 in the last 32 regular-season games there and 32-6-1-3 in the last 42. Houston's best home mark in team history was in 1998-99, when it was 32-6-3. The Aeros are in a stretch of games where they won't play outside the state of Texas for 37 days, until traveling to Chicago on Sunday. Houston plays its AHL-high 25th home game tonight. Houston has trailed at some point in 13 of its 29 victories, with four of the wins coming when trailing by two goals. The Aeros had 16 come-from-behind victories in 2004-05. They are an impressive 11-5-0-0 when allowing the game's first goal. Since finishing minus-three 12/10 at Hamilton, C Erik Westrum has posted an even rating or better in each of his last 13 games, going plus-15 in that span, including plus-13 in the last nine games. Westrum established a new career-high with his 19th goal 1/15 in just his 41st game. Aeros linemates C Erik Westrum and RW Kirby Law each have at least one point in each of the Aeros' 12 home games since getting shut out 11/27 by Milwaukee. Law has 24 points in that span, while Westrum has 23. The Aeros are 28-2-0-0 when scoring three goals or more, but 1-8-1-1 when scoring two or fewer. Three is also the magic number defensively, as Houston is 26-3-1-1 when allowing three of fewer goals and 3-7-0-0 when yielding four or more. Houston is 15-1-0-0 when outshooting an opponent. The Aeros are 11-0-0-0 when allowing 29 shots or fewer. The Aeros are 12-4-1-1 in one-goal games, and an impressive 18-5-1-1 in games decided by two goals or less. Thirteen of the Aeros' first 21 games were decided by one goal. Since then, however, just five of the last 20 games has been of the one-goal variety. The Aeros' plus-17 first-period margin (47-30) is tops in the AHL. Houston is 7-8-2-2 all-time in January at Toyota Center, and 10-14-4-2 in January over the last three seasons overall. Rochester has an AHL-low four one-goal victories (4-5-1-1).

Power play update Houston is tied for first in the league on the power play at 21.6 percent. The Aeros are 30-for-106 (28.3 percent) with the man advantage in the last 17 games. Houston is 11-for-41 (26.8 percent) in the last seven games, scoring at least two PPG in six of the seven games. The Aeros are 19-2-0-0 when scoring at least two PPG. Houston has scored two or more PPG in 11 of its last 16 games. Houston has been outscored on the power play just twice in its last 19 games. Rochester is ninth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 83.8 percent. The Amerks have killed off just 32-of-40 (80.0 percent) shorthanded chances in the last five games. Houston went 3-for-7 against Rochester in its 5-3 win 12/9. LW Roman Voloshenko tallied two PPG.

Penalty kill update Houston is fifth in the AHL on the penalty kill at 85.1 percent. The Aeros are a perfect 20-for-20 on the PK in the last four games since Grand Rapids went 5-for-10 on 1/6, and they've held their opponent without a PPG in six of the last seven games. Houston is 13-2-0-1 when not allowing a power play goal and 22-4-1-1 when allowing one power play goal or fewer. Staying off the PK is huge for the Aeros, who have seen four of their 10 regulation losses come when allowing 10 power plays or more. Rochester ranks third in the AHL on the power play at 21.1 percent. Despite their high ranking, the Americans are 2-for-30 (6.7 percent) with the man advantage in the last four games. Rochester was 0-for-5 on the power play against Houston 12/9.

Last Game (Sunday) Kirby Law tallied a goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 13 games, Matt Foy, Curtis Murphy and Erik Westrum each scored first-period power play goals and Seamus Kotyk made 29 saves, as the Houston Aeros defeated the San Antonio Rampage 4-1 at Toyota Center.

Aeros/Americans connections Rochester D David Cullen was an Aero in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, helping the team win the Calder Cup in 2003. Aeros D Curtis Murphy and D Erik Reitz were both Cullen's teammate. Houston G Seamus Kotyk, Rochester D Jeff Jillson and D Brandon Smith were teammates in Cleveland from 2001-03. Aeros C Erik Westrum played two seasons in Springfield with Rochester D Dan Focht, and three seasons in Springfield/Utah with G Jean-Marc Pelletier. Westrum shared part of one season in Springfield with Rochester D David Cullen. Focht and Aeros G Josh Harding each hail from Regina, Sask. Houston D Colin Peters was Rochester F Matt Hendricks' teammate for four seasons at St. Cloud State. Aeros D Erik Reitz and Rochester D Jeremy Swanson were teammates in OHL Barrie in 2001-02. Houston RW Matt Foy played with Rochester RW Mark Mancari and RW Scott Sheppard in OHL Ottawa in 2002-03. Aeros C Petr Taticek and Rochester C Kamil Kreps and Rochester D Jeremy Swanson were teammates in San Antonio in 2004-05.



American Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2006


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