Veteran Hrkac Returns To Aeros, Wild Recalls Earl

March 3, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Houston Aeros News Release


HOUSTON - Houston Aeros General Manager Jim Mill announced today the American Hockey League (AHL) club has signed forward Tony Hrkac (HUHR-kihs) to a standard player contract (SPC).

"Tony [Hrkac] enhances an already strong leadership group in Houston," Mill said. "He's won a Stanley Cup, a Calder Cup and helped the Aeros drive to the Western Conference Finals last Spring."

In total, Hrkac has recorded 968 points (329-639=968) in 1,297 professional games in the NHL, AHL and International Hockey League (IHL) combined. In addition, Hrkac has scored 87 points (31-56=87) in 123 playoff games including 41 games at the NHL level. He won the Calder Cup with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2004 scoring 20 points (8-12=20) in 22 games. Hrkac will wear No. 25 with the Aeros. This will be his 20th professional season.

Hrkac, 43 (7/7/66), skated in 31 total games with the Aeros last season registering four points (2-2=4) in 12 regular season contests and 14 points (4-10=14) in 19 playoff games. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound native of Thunder Bay, Ont. was drafted in the second round (32nd overall) in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues. He has played in a total of 758 National Hockey League (NHL) games with 371 points (132-239=371), and was a member of the Stanley Cup winning Dallas Stars in 1999. Hrkac played collegiately at the University of North Dakota where he won a national championship and received the Hobey Baker Award a

s the top collegiate hockey player

during the 1986-87 season.

Also today, Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled left wing Robbie Earl from the Houston Aeros.

Earl, 24 (6/2/85), has recorded five goals in 22 games over three separate recalls with the Wild this season. He ranks second on the team with a plus-4 rating and the Wild is 14-5-3 with him in the lineup. Earl scored his first two career NHL goals Nov. 15 in Carolina after making his Minnesota debut Nov. 13 at Washington. He has tallied 13 points (6-7=13) in 34 games with the Aeros. The 5-foot-11, 197-pound native of Chicago, Ill. recorded nine points (4-5=9) in 33 regular season games last season with Houston and added nine points (5-4=9) in 20 playoff contests after being acquired from Toronto in exchange for Ryan Hamilton on Jan. 21, 2009. He was originally selected by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round (187th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

The Aeros continue the State Farm Lone Star Faceoff tonight as they travel to San Antonio to take on the Rampage in a 7:00 p.m. affair at AT&T Center. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Plus (Comcast channel 76) as well as ahllive.com. Listen to Joe O'Donnell's broadcast on 1070 AM-KNTH and follow the interactive in-game blog on aeros.com.



American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2010


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