Quick trip to Chicago

Published on November 25, 2006 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Seven things you need to know
- Houston RW Matt Foy notched his first pro hat trick - and in fine style - in last night's 5-3 win over San Antonio. Foy tallied all three goals in the final 7:25, including the tying, winning and empty-net tallies to complete the natural hat trick. The Aeros have played 993 regular season games in franchise history, and Foy became just the second player to score three goals in a period, joining Greg Pankewicz. "Panky" accomplished the feat 12/29/99, in a 6-2 win over Long Beach. Pankewicz scored his three goals in a span of 8:28, so Foy's trio in just 6:17 bettered the old franchise mark by more than two minutes. Foy, the Aeros' leading scorer with 18 points (9-9=18), has scored all nine of his goals at Toyota Center. Last night he also moved into a tie for 20th place with Aeros assistant coach Cam Stewart on the Aeros' all-time point list with 107 (47-60=107) Foy is a single PIM away from becoming the seventh player in team history with 100 points and 300 PIM's. He would become the 16th player overall with 300 PIM's.
- Five of the Aeros' nine victories have been in come-from-behind fashion, but the way they rallied last night doesn't happen that often. Houston improved to 1-7-0-0 this season when trailing after two periods. The Aeros hadn't won a game when trailing after 40 minutes since 12/31/05, a 4-3 overtime win over San Antonio. Houston rallied from a two-goal deficit to win for the first time since 4/14/06, a 5-4 shootout win over Omaha.
- The Aeros have killed off 75-of-79 shorthanded chances (94.9 percent) in the last 13 games to move up to 89.1 percent, second-best in the AHL. Houston is 32-for-33 (97.0 percent) on the PK in the last seven games, as San Antonio snapped its run at 30 straight last night. Five of the Houston's 14 PPG allowed have come on 5-on-3's. The Aeros allowed a SHG in each of the season's first two games, but none since.
- Hardly a week goes by without another milestone for Aeros veteran D Curtis Murphy, and last night was a monumental one at Toyota Center. Murphy's third-period assist game him 400 points (123-277=400) in 612 professional games. Murphy is the Aeros' all-time leader among defensemen in goals (51), assists (127) and points (178). Counting the post-season, Murphy has played in 239 consecutive games since missing the 2003-04 season opener to attend Dan Snyder's funeral. He has played in 476 of a possible 477 games, counting both the regular and post-seasons, since the 2001-02 season. Murphy is tied for 15th among AHL blueliners this season with 10 points (2-8=10).
- Aeros third-year G Josh Harding has played in all but one of the Aeros' first 20 games. Harding ranks first in the AHL in games played (19), minutes (1,128), shots faced (576) and saves (530), and is tied for second in wins (eight). He has 57 more saves than the second place netminder, Manchester's Jason LaBarbera. Harding ranks 11th in the AHL in gaa (2.45), and ninth in save pct. (0.920). Harding is 8-4-0 with a 2.15 gaa and a .930 save pct. in his last 12 decisions since starting the season 0-5-1. Counting back to last season and including the playoffs, Harding has appeared in 28-of-29 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.
- Aeros rookie LW Benoit Pouliot was recalled by the NHL Minnesota Wild on Tuesday afternoon, but that hasn't stoped two other first-year Aeros from having big weeks. C Ben Thomson posted his third consecutive game with a goal and an assist last night, giving him six points (3-3=6) in three games, and also four goals in the last five games. RW Danny Irmen, meanwhile, added a goal - his second in two games. Twenty-seven of Houston's 55 goals have come from rookies, including 24 total from Pouliot, Thomson and Irmen. Irmen ranks second among active Aeros with 12 points (7-5=12), while Thomson is second with 11 points (6-5=11). Thomson's plus-six rating also leads all active Aeros.
- Houston has allowed a goal in the opening 2:34 of a period in each of its last five games, including four times in the opening 2:34 of the game. On 11/17, San Antonio's Randall Gelech scored 2:34 into the game. Last Saturday, it was Omaha's David Moss at 2:04. Sunday, Greg Moore gave Hartford an early lead at 2:03 of the opening period. Tuesday in San Antonio, Gelech scored a tie-breaking goal 1:12 into the second period, while the Rampage's Tyson Nash scored 44 seconds into last night's contest.

Aeros at Wolves (Aeros are 38-27-14-4 all-time, Aeros are 15-18-6-2 at Chicago)
- Tonight is the 84th all-time meeting between the Wolves and Aeros - 42nd in Chicago.
- Counting two post-season series, Houston is 5-15-3-2 in its last 25 trips to Allstate Arena, including losses in each of its last two trips.
- The Aeros have lost each of the last three meetings overall since winning five straight.
- Thirteen of the last 19 meetings in Houston have been decided by one goal or finished in a tie. Five of the last seven meetings overall have been one-goal games, with the other decided by two goals.
- Since joining the AHL in 2001-02, Houston is 20-18-9-4 overall versus the Wolves in the regular season.

Scouting the Aeros
The Aeros (9-10-0-1) snapped a three-game skid last night by rallying from two goals down for a 5-3 win over San Antonio at Toyota Center...The Aeros play a Friday home game, Saturday road game and Sunday home tilt for the second straight weekend...Houston has lost two straight on the road after winning four in a row...RW Matt Foy (9-9=18) has the team scoring lead, ahead of rookie LW Benoit Pouliot (11-4=15), who is currently on recall to the Minnesota Wild...D Curtis Murphy paces the blueline with 10 points (2-8=10)...G Josh Harding is 8-9-1 with a 2.45 gaa and a .920 save pct. this season...Rookie G Tony Quesada, a Holy Cross product, is 0-1-0 with a 2.01 gaa and a .944 save pct.

Scouting the Wolves
Chicago (13-5-1-0), AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, had its four-game winning streak snapped last night, 6-4 in Grand Rapids...Chicago C Jason Krog and RW Darren Haydar rank 1-2 in the AHL in scoring (Krog 15-24=39, Haydar 13-24=37)...However, Krog was recalled by NHL Atlanta yesterday...Haydar has a point in each of the Wolves' first 19 games...Rookie linemate LW Brett Sterling is tied for first in rookie scoring and tied for fifth overall with 26 points (16-10=26)...D Jimmy Sharrow paces the blueline with eight points (2-6=8)...G Michael Garnett is 8-4-0 with a 3.08 gaa and a .899 save pct...Garnett had won five straight decisions before last night...Veteran G Fred Brathwaite is 4-2-0 with a 2.82 gaa and a .885 save pct.

2006-07 meetings (2nd of 8 meetings, Aeros are 0-1-0-0 overall, First meeting at Chicago)
November 1 Chicago 4 at Houston 2
Tonight Houston at Chicago
December 22 Chicago at Houston
December 27 Houston at Chicago
January 3 Houston at Chicago
February 17 Chicago at Houston
February 18 Chicago at Houston
March 7 Houston at Chicago

Friday's game
Matt Foy recorded his first career hat trick, all in the game's final 7:25, and rookies Danny Irmen and Ben Thomson also scored, as the Houston Aeros rallied for a thrilling 5-3 victory over the San Antonio Rampage at Toyota Center. Josh Harding made 22 saves in his 100th Aeros game, and Curtis Murphy reached the 400-point mark for his pro career.

Quick Hits
- Aeros D Shawn Belle is in the midst of a breakout second season. He has an assist in three straight games - a career-high, and he already has eight points (1-7=8) this season after recording five (2-3=5) combined in 61 games for Iowa and Houston in 2005-06. Belle didn't post a game with back-to-back points all of last season.
- All but four of Houston's 20 games have been decided by one or two goals. The Aeros are 4-4-0-1 in one-goal games., and every game has typically been a nailbiter Houston has played 1215 minutes this season - and for 922 of those minutes (75.9 percent), it has been either a tie game, or one team has held a one-goal lead.
- Chicago is just 3-3-1-0 at home, but 10-2-0-0 on the road.
- The Wolves lead the AHL in PIM (543) and PIM/game (28.6) including an AHL-high 169 minor penalties.
- Chicago has outscored its opponents 29-10 in the first period. The plus-19 margin is tops in the AHL.
- The Wolves lead the league in scoring at 4.63 goals per game - more than a half goal ahead of Hershey (4.06).
- Eleven of Chicago's 13 wins have come by two or more goals, including five by five or more. Each of those five blowout wins, however, have come on the road.

Power play update
- Houston is 25th in the AHL with the man advantage at 12.3 percent.
- The Aeros are an improved 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) in the last six games overall, but they are 0-for-17 in the last three road games.
- Chicago is 18th in the AHL on the penalty kill at 81.9 percent, and the Wolves' four SHG tied them for fourth most in the league.
- The Wolves have killed off 25-of-31 shorthanded chances (80.6 percent) in the last five games, and Grand Rapids went 3-for-6 last night.

Penalty kill update
- Houston is up a season-high second in the AHL on the PK at 89.1 percent.
- The Aeros have killed off 75-of-79 shorthanded chances in the last 13 games for a stellar 94.9 percent PK rate. Houston has outscored its opponents 12-4 with the man advantage in that span, and two of the three PPG's allowed were on 5-on-3's.
- Houston had its streak of consecutive penalty kills snapped at 30 last night, but the Aeros are still 32-of-33 (97.0 percent) in the last seven contests.
- Chicago ranks seventh in the AHL on the power play at 20.1 percent, but the Wolves have allowed four SHG.
- The Wolves are 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) with the man advantage in the last five games.

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 last month 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.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 25, 2006


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