Thankful to be Home

Published on December 2, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


Houston visited Norfolk for two games last week and now can spend most of December at home. The year ends with 13 games this month, 10 of which are at home. The "home" game on Sunday, December 8 will be played at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. home of the Aeros' NHL affiliate, the Minnesota Wild.

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Aeros split two games with Norfolk. NOVEMBER 29: In the first game, Norfolk came away the winner by a 5-4 score. The Aeros opened the scoring with a power play goal by Cory Larose at the 14:42 mark of the first. Norfolk tied less than a minute later. Houston regained the lead when Curtis Murphy scored a power play goal in the second. Jean-Guy Trudel tallied his team leading 10th shortly after, but Norfolk collected one in the second and two in the third to take the lead. However, Murphy tied the game midway through the final period with his second power play goal of the night. The last goal was Norfolk's as Igor Radulov capped off his hat-trick by scoring the game-winner. Derek Gustafson was in net for Houston and stopped 20 of 25 shots. Kyle Wanvig and Travis Roche both collected two assists for the Aeros. NOVEMBER 30: The Aeros defeated the Norfolk Admirals in the second game of a back-to-back to earn a split. After a scoreless first period, Curtis Murphy scored midway through the second to give Houston the lead. Hnat Domenichelli and Jeremy Stevenson collected the assists. Three minutes into the third, former Aero Brett McLean tied the game. Neither team could score again in regulation. In overtime, Aeros leading scorer Jean-Guy Trudel scored an unassisted goal to give the Aeros the extra point. G Dieter Kochan stopped 22 of 23 shots for Houston. The Aeros went 0 for 6 on the power play and blanked the Admirals on their five chances.

A QUARTER FOR YOUR THOUGHTS: Friday's game was the 20th for Houston, one-quarter of the way through the regular season. The Aeros started the season on fire, winning a club record eight straight. After the streak was broken in a close game at Utah (3-4L), Houston rattled off a five game unbeaten streak (4-0-1). However, in the past two weeks, the team is 3-4 including two consecutive games they were shutout. Houston is an impressive 6-1-1 at home and is 9-4 on the road.

BALANCING ACT: Of the 22 skaters currently on Houston's roster, 19 have collected a point this season. Jean-Guy Trudel leads with 24 points and 11 goals. Cory Larose is second with 20 points and first with 16 helpers. Curtis Murphy ranks first on the team in defensemen scoring with 17 points and is tied for third overall. His 10 goals rank second on the team. In the team's 15 wins, seven different players have scored the game-winning goal. Rickard Wallin and Trudel lead with three.

POWER PLAY WEALTH: The Aeros are also balanced on the power play scoresheet. Fifteen different players have collected at least one point with the man advantage. Cory Larose leads the way in assists and points with nine and 11, respectively. Jean-Guy Trudel and Kyle Wanvig are tied for first with four power play goals.

A MEMORABLE WEEK: RW Kyle Wanvig had an impressive ending to November. It started with an assist versus Hartford on Nov. 21. He then collected points in the next two games at Cleveland and Chicago. After returning home with the Aeros, he was recalled by the Wild and flew to Minnesota. He made his NHL debut on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks. He rejoined Houston for Friday's game and collected two assists. He had points in four straight games before being shutout on Saturday. Wanvig has passed last season's totals of 8-6-14 in 34 games. Wanvig has 8-9-17 in 19 games this season for Houston.

LEADING THE WAY: The Aeros have scored the first goal in nine games this season and have lost only once when striking first with a record of 7-1-1. The team also is very tough when leading after two periods. The team is 9-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes and 3-0-0 when tied after two periods.

BITS & PIECES: Houston ranks sixth in the league in penalty minutes per game at 24.6. They have outscored their opponents 51-38 in the final two periods this year. The Aeros rank fourth in goals for average at 3.48 and are 9th in goals against at 2.76. Houston is averaging 32.8 shots per game, 7th highest in the league, while allowing only 28.6 against, 5th best.

TRANSACTIONS: 11/25 - RW Kyle Wanvig recalled by Minnesota; 11/27 - LW Greg Crozier recalled by Minnesota and assigned to Albany (AHL); 11/28 - RW Kyle Wanvig reassigned by Minnesota.

NEWS AND NOTES:

* LW Jean-Guy Trudel continues to lead the team in points and goals with 11-13-24, ranks ninth (tied) in AHL scoring. He currently has a four-game point streak (3-2-5);

* C Cory Larose is first in assists and second in points on the Aeros with 4-16-20;

* D Curtis Murphy has goals in four of his last five games (5g). He leads Aeros' defensemen and ranks fifth (tied) among AHL blueliners in points (17). Leads d-men and ranks second on Aeros in goals with 10;

* RW Kyle Wanvig had a four-game point streak snapped on Saturday (1-4-5). He is tied for third on team with 8 goals and 17 points and leads with 56 penalty minutes;

* C Rickard Wallin ranks third on team in assists (12) and points (17) (tied);

* LW Hnat Domenichelli is tied for third on the team with 8 goals and has points in four of his last five games;

* LW Jeremy Stevenson has 3-3-6 in eight games played and is third on team with 40 PIM;

* G Derek Gustafson is tied for sixth in the league with eight wins. His 2.65 GAA is 17th in the AHL;

* The Power Play went 3 of 13 versus Norfolk and now 26 of 154/16.9%, ranking 14th;

* The Penalty Killing has remained steady over the past few weeks, allowing 2 goals on 12 chances against Norfolk, and is 121 of 143/85.3%, ranking 8th.

WILD WATCH: Minnesota ranks second in the Northwest Division with a record of 13-7-5 for 31 points. Marian Gaborik is tied for first in the NHL with 15 goals. The Wild have three road games this week. They visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, the Calgary Flames on Thursday, and wind up the Canadian road trip at the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

ICEGATOR UPDATE: Louisiana won all three games last week, pushing its regulation unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1) and claiming the best record in the Southern Conference at 14-5-3 for 31 points in 22 games. The IceGators play three games this week: Friday and Saturday versus the Arkansas RiverBlades and they visit the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Sunday.

UPCOMING GAMES

Wednesday 12/4 VS GRAND RAPIDS

The Griffins return to Houston to open the team's busiest month at home. The Aeros have nine games at Compaq Center.

FRIDAY 12/6 VS WILKES-BARRE

Houston hosts the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the first time. The Penguins are the farm team for Pittsburgh.

SUNDAY 12/8 VS MILWAUKEE

At Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN
The Aeros head north and take the ice as the home team in their parent club's building. The Milwaukee Admirals are the opponents for this 'home' game.

THURSDAY 12/12 VS BRIDGEPORT

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers come to Houston for their first visit to the Lone Star State. Last season was the team's first and they advanced to the Calder Cup Finals.

FRIDAY 12/13 VS BRIDGEPORT

Houston wraps up the two game set versus the Islanders' farm team. Bridgeport currently is the top team in the East Division.

ON THE AIR: Houston Aeros games can be heard on AM 700 "The Voice" KSEV this season. Sunday's game from Minnesota will be televised on KTBU-55. Aeros games are also available via the internet at www.aeros.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 2, 2002


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