According to The Houston Chronicle, one of the toughest decisions the Wild will face involves newcomer Tony Virta, who leads the Aeros with 55 points. Virta’s contract includes an option that will allow Minnesota the opportunity to renew over the summer.
“I would not exercise the option unless I thought he could play at the NHL level,” said Wild GM Doug Risebrough. “I’m trying to look at our lineup and find a way to say, ‘This guy deserves a chance,’ because he has been arguably the best player (in Houston).”
Aeros goaltender Jamie McLennan is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and has spent the entire season in Houston while Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson have been strong between the pipes for the parent club. If he isn’t moved before the March 19th trade deadline, he will have the opportunity to sign with another NHL club this off-season.
Approximately 50 percent of the Wild’s 50-man roster is under contract for next season. That leaves some very important decisions ahead for the National Hockey League club, as they will have to decide who is staying, who is leaving, and who will be arriving.
Crucial time of year
Nine of the Aeros’ 13 remaining games will be played against West Division rivals Chicago, Milwaukee, Utah and Grand Rapids, including a crucial two game homestand on Thursday and Friday against Utah, a team they lost 6-2 on Saturday night. In their last 10 games, the Aeros are 4-2-2-2.
The Aeros currently sit 3rd in the West Division, good for 5th overall in the Western Conference, with an overall record of 31-22-9-5, five points behind first place Grand Rapids.
Gustafson doing his part
Cory Larose is having a career year with 27 goals and 23 assists in 65 games, but he’s crediting his goal-scoring prowess to an unlikely source.
“Gussie (goalie Derek Gustafson) puts tape around my stick before each game and for whatever reason it’s paying off,” Larose said after scoring his 27th goal of the season. “Whatever works, right?”
In his rookie AHL season, the University of Maine product is pushing to be a contender for a spot in Minnesota next season. If he cracks the NHL squad’s roster out of training camp in September, the only question that will remain is, who will tape his sticks?
News & Notes:
. Aeros D Travis Roche will miss a minimum of two weeks after dislocating his left thumb during a fight with Utah Grizzlies player Gavin Morgan on Saturday night. As Roche attempted to grab Morgan’s jersey for leverage, his thumb snapped out of socket when it jammed into his opponents’ chest. To make matters worse, the Aeros lost the game 6-2.
. D Mike Crowley will make his debut for the Aeros on March 17 against the Milwaukee Admirals. Crowley has been sidelined the entire season with a severed achilles’ tendon. The Bloomington, Minn. native was acquired by the Wild in an off-season trade with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
“It feels the best it has since I got here, but I won’t be 100 percent,” Crowley said. “If I wait for that, it would be next training camp (in September) before I would play.”
. The Aeros assigned C Cory Cyrenne to the East Coast League’s Louisiana Ice Gators on Monday. The Winnipeg, Manitoba product registered one assist in four games after being recalled on March 1.
Houston Aeros Statistics: As of Wednesday, March 13, 2002
No. PLAYER POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW OT
17 Virta, Tony RW 64 25 30 55 2 29 5 1 5 0
9 Larose, Cory C 65 27 23 50 19 71 4 2 2 0
14 Murphy, Curtis D 67 11 34 45 13 67 5 0 3 1
19 Beaufait, Mark C 50 11 31 42 11 28 6 1 0 0
15 McLean, Brett C 65 22 18 40 -14 67 8 0 1 0
10 Carter, Shawn C 61 20 17 37 4 68 10 0 4 0
7 Roche, Travis D 58 13 21 34 2 105 6 0 0 0
24 Veilleux, Stephane LW 64 11 17 28 2 101 0 2 3 0
31 Simicek, Roman C 39 11 12 23 0 35 2 0 2 0
20 Yarema, Brendan C 64 12 10 22 2 130 1 2 3 1
22 Bolibruck, Kevin D 56 3 15 18 12 57 1 0 1 1
18 Cavanaugh, Dan C 57 3 15 18 -1 31 0 0 1 0
21 Laplante, Darryl C 31 11 6 17 3 57 2 0 1 0
25 Cullen, David D 45 3 14 17 -16 8 1 0 1 1
XPark, Richard C 13 4 10 14 7 6 1 1 1 0
26 Wanvig, Kyle RW 34 6 7 13 -7 43 1 0 2 0
XBordeleau, Sebastien C 16 4 7 11 -6 23 1 0 0 0
2 Matteucci, Mike D 57 2 9 11 9 112 0 0 0 0
37 Nycholat, Lawrence D 59 2 8 10 6 70 1 0 0 0
44 Cull, Trent D 61 1 9 10 -2 127 0 0 0 0
36 Shmyr, Jason LW 63 2 3 5 -7 148 0 0 2 0
XBrown, Bobby F 15 0 4 4 -1 5 0 0 0 0
XLabenski, Greg D 7 0 2 2 0 25 0 0 0 0
XCyrenne, Cory C 7 0 2 2 -1 0 0 0 0 0
XPerry, Randy D 7 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0
XAronson, Steve RW 9 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
29 McLennan, Jamie G 43 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
XGusmanov, Ravil RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
XPayette, Andre LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
XHarlton, Tyler D 16 0 0 0 -6 2 0 0 0 0
34 Gustafson, Derek G 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BENCH 67 16
TOTALS 67 203 323 526 1429 55 9 31 5
OPPONENT TOTALS 67 201 333 534 1488 65 7 27 3
No. GPI MIN AVG W L T SO GA SV%
34 Gustafson, Derek 32 1686:01 2.70 12 10 6 4 76 .906
29 McLennan, Jamie 43 2389:17 2.94 19 17 3 3 117 .896
TEAM TOTALS 67 4092:14 2.95 31 27 9 7 201 .896
OPPONENT TOTALS 67 4092:14 2.98 27 31 9 3 203 .902
X - No longer on Team
Statistics provided by theahl.com.
