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Stars Finish Strong at Home

February 12, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Iowa Chops News Release


THE STARS TELESCOPE - A LOOK AHEAD

Tuesday, Feb 11 and Wednesday, Feb 12

Stars at Manitoba Moose

MTS Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Both games at 7:30 pm CST

Broadcasts: Jim Erickson online and on B2 Video at iowastarshockey.com

The Stars meet the Moose twice this week in Winnipeg as they begin a four game road trip and a stretch where they play 10 of 13 on the road. These games with the Moose will also close out the teams' four game season series. The two clubs split the two meetings at Wells Fargo Arena earlier this season. The Stars shutout the Moose 4-0 on Nov. 30 but then fell 4-3 on Dec. 4. In these two games Tuesday and Wednesday, the Stars will be trying to win for the first time in their history at the MTS Center. The Stars are 0-4-0-0 and have been outscored 15-6 by the Moose in the games above the border. Overall, the Stars are 3-6-0-1 all-time against Manitoba. The Moose are in second place in the North Division with 56 points and a 26-20-2-2 record. In their last game on Sunday, Manitoba had a three-game winning streak snapped 2-0 at Chicago. In their last 8 games, the Moose are 5-2-0-1. Center Brad Moran leads the Moose with 36 points and 24 assists. Michael Grabner paces the club in goals with 15. All-Star goalie Drew MacIntyre's 2.17 GAA is fifth lowest in the AHL.

Friday, Feb. 15 and Sunday, Feb. 17

Stars at Houston Aeros

Toyota Center, Houston, TX

Friday's game at 7:35. Sunday's game at 4:05

Broadcasts: Jim Erickson online and on B2 Video at iowastarshockey.com

The Stars make their second and final visit to Houston as they play a pair against the Aeros. The Aeros are one of the teams that the Stars are looking to catch for playoff positioning in the West Division. Entering this week, Houston is in 5th place with 57 points and a 26-19-2-3 record. If the season ended today, the Aeros would make the playoffs by virtue of having more standings points than the fourth place club in the North Division. The Stars trail the Aeros by seven points while Milwaukee and Quad City are six points up on the Stars. The Aeros had a four-game win streak halted on Sunday when they were blanked 1-0 in Toronto. They will be returning home from a six-game road trip when they host the Stars this weekend. The Stars are 4-2-0-0 versus the Aeros through the first six games of the season series. The Stars are 1-1-0-0 in Houston this season and are 6-1-0-0 there over the last two seasons. Center Adrian Foster and Defenseman Eric Reitz share the Aero's team scoring lead with 28 points apiece. Foster leads with 12 goals on the season while Reitz has the team lead in assists with 20.

STARS RECAP

Saturday, February 9

Stars 1, Peoria 0 @ Wells Fargo Arena

The Stars snapped a two game skid Saturday night in Des Moines as they took down the Peoria Rivermen 1-0. Tobias Stephan made 26 saves in a shutout effort, and Marty Sertich had the only goal, as the Stars finished out a four game home stand, and a stretch were they played 11 of 12 at home. The first two periods of play were hard fought physical play highlighted by a pair of fights and close chances. The Stars' Brett Westgarth went two rounds, first with Mike Glumac and then with Hans Benson, both ending with takedowns by Westgarth. Neither team was able to find the scoring touch early on though, despite quality chances. The Stars hit the pipes twice, while the Rivermen's best chance came after they had beat goalie Tobias Stephan, only to have Ethan Graham slide across the crease to save a goal. Marty Sertich finally let the nearly 6000 fans at Wells Fargo erupt as he found the back of the net 10:39 into the 3rd period to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. After some sustained pressure in Peoria's end, Graham worked the puck to Chris Conner who eventually found Sertich camped out in the slot in front of Peoria's net. Sertich then turned towards goal and fired a shot past the right leg of Chris Beckfor-Tseu, the Peoria netminder. Peoria continued to press over the final nine plus minutes of the game, and managed one of their best scoring chances of the game, as a puck deflected off of Stephan's shoulder and then back towards the net, but it was once again cleared away by a defenceman. In the end, there would be no tying goal for Peoria as the Stars took down one of the league's top team at home, 1-0.

Friday, February 8

Stars 0, Chicago 3 @ Wells Fargo Arena

The Iowa Stars outshot the Chicago Wolves 31-22 on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena but were unable to capitalize on the advantage as the Wolves shut out the Stars 3-0. Defensive play dominated the first period as each team went scoreless. Joel Kwiatkowski would open the scoring for the Wolves with a power play goal at 6:56 in the second period off assists from Grant Lewis and Jason Krog. The wolves would go 2 for 8 on the power play by the end of the night. The second power play goal came with just ten seconds left in the second period when Alexandre Giroux lit the lamp off a pass from Bryan Little. The story of the night for the Stars was that they were 0 for 9 on the power play. Penalties abounded for both teams and the Stars saw several opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net with the man advantage. Rookie, James Neal returned to the ice for Iowa after missing 15 games with a knee injury. In his first game back Neal found himself in the penalty box on three occasions accruing 6 PIM. The Wolves final goal was an empty netter with one second left in the period.

IN THE COMMUNITY: Out and Around Des Moines & Neighboring Communities

STARS PROMOTIONS/APPEARANCES:

Þ Monday, Feb. 18 - Jim Erickson hosts the Stars Power Play from Scooter & Babs live from 7-8 PM on KRNT 1350 AM.

Þ Saturday, Feb. 16 - Bring the coupon from the Des Moines Register to Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino between noon and 7 PM and Prairie Meadows will buy you a ticket to the Iowa Stars game on February 21. In addition, there will be a drawing at 7 PM for 17 Iowa Stars autographed jerseys!

Þ Friday, Feb. 22 - Join Iowa Stars and the Apprentice Hockey League's five remaining contestants for an unforgettable night of Stars & Bars! Check out the AHL link at www.iowastarshockey.com for more information.



American Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2008


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.

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