ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update for the Week of April 6th

Published on April 5, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Gladiators Weekly Update
FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 6TH


To the Playoffs! The Gladiators Clinched a berth in the 2009 Kelly Cup playoffs
with a 3-0 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night. The Gladiators have
now qualified for the post season in each of the team's six seasons in Gwinnett.
Gwinnett eneters the post season as the 4th seed in the ECHL's South Division and
will face the first place Florida Everblades in the best-of-7 Division Semi-Finals.
The series opens on Friday, April 10th in Florida at 7:30 p.m.

Blanked! Netminder Joe Fallon recorded his second professional shutout making 32
saves in a 3-0 win over Charlotte on Saturday night. Fallon notched his first
career professional shutout making 28 saves for Fresno in a 3-0 win over Las Vegas
on December 11th. The shutout was the first of the season for the Gladiators and
the first since Craig Kowalski notched 18 saves in a 2-0 win at Florida on March 29,
2008.

On the Power Play: Gwinnett has been on fire on the power play over the past five
games. The Gladiators have converted on 36.6% of their chances as they have gone
11-of-30 power play. During that span the Gladiators have also scored just 13 goals
- 11 of them coming on the power play.

Unbeaten after Two: The Gladiators took a 1-0 lead into the third period of
Saturday's 3-0 win over Charlotte and were able to hang on for the win. Gwinnett
finishes the 2008-09 season unbeaten in regulation when leading after two periods.
Gwinnett is now 22-0-1 on the year when leading after two periods.

Multiple Point Games: Adam Berti notched his 11th multiple point game this season
and his 10th with the Gladiators this year as he collected a goal and an assist in
the Gladiators 3-0 win at Charlotte on Saturday night. His 11 mulitple point games
this season are a career ECHL high for the forward.

Last Week's Games:
March 31st, Florida 4, Gwinnett 2 - L
Gwinnett took a 1-0 lead on the Everblades late in the first period on the power
play with Brandon Kaleniecki's 11th goal of the season. Florida answered 36 seconds
later to send the game tied at one to the first intermission. Florida took a 2-1
lead five minutes into the second period but Jeff Mason tied the game at two with
five minutes left in the second period on the power play. Florida scored twice in
the third to put the game away. Dirk Southern, Pat Bateman, Tom Zanoski and Adam
Berti notched assists for Gwinnett. The Gladiators got 23 saves from Joe Fallon in
the loss.

April 1st, Florida 6, Gwinnett 3 - L
Florida took a 2-0 lead on Gwinnett in the first before Dirk Southern notched his
13th goal of the season on the power play to get the Gladiators within a goal before
the end of the first period. Florida scored four second period goals to put he game
away, all even strength. A pair of goals by Jordan Fox, both on the power play, in
the third cut the Florida lead to 6-3. Fox's second goal game with just 5 seconds
left in the third. Fox finished with three points in the contest for Gwinnett. All
of the Gladiators goals came on the power play. Joe Fallon got the loss making 20
saved but was replaced by Josh Johnson after the Everblades 6th goal. Johnson
turned aside all 6 shots that he faced in relief.

April 3rd, South Carolina 4, Gwinnett 1 - L
Jordan Fox notched his 29th goal of the season 5:45 into the first period to give
Gwinnett a 1-0 lead on the Stingrays. South Carolina notched a pair of shorthanded
goals before the end of the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the first
intermission. Adam Berti was unsuccessful on a penalty shot chance 4:15 into the
second, which would have tied the game at two. South Carolina then added a goal in
the latter half of the second and notched a fourth goal in the third period. Joe
Fallon finished with 26 saves in the losing effort for Gwinnett while the Gladiators
went 0-for-6 on the power play in the contest.

April 4th, Gwinnett 3, Charlotte 0 - W
Brandon Kaleniecki notched the game's first goal on the power play and it held up as
the game winner at 15:34 of the first period. Joe Fallon notched 32 saves for the
first shutout of the season for the Gladiators. Adam Berti gave Gwinnett a 2-0 lead
at 2:08 of the third period. Dirk Southern added an empty net goal for Gwinnett
with 28 seconds left in the third. Jeff Mason notched a pair of assists in the win
for Gwinnett.

This Week's Games:
ECHL South Division Semifinals: #4 Gwinnett vs. #1 Florida
Game 1: Friday, April 10th, @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - wdun.com
Game 2: Saturday, April 11th, @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - wdun.com
Game 3: Thursday, April 16th, vs. Florida Everblades, 7:05 p.m. - wdun.com
Game 4: Friday, April 17th, vs. Florida Everblades, 7:35 p.m. - wdun.com
Game 5 (if necessary): Sunday, April 19th vs. Florida Everblades - 4:05 p.m. - WDUN,
News Talk 550
Game 6 (if necessary): Tuesday, April 21st @ Florida Everblades - 7:30 p.m. - wdun.com
Game 7 (if necessary): Wednesday, April 22nd @ Florida Everblades - 7:30 p.m. -
WDUN, News Talk 550

The Gladiators face the Everblades for the second time in team history in the post
season. Gwinnett posted a 3-games-to-1 series victory over the Everblades in the
2006 South Division Finals en route to the 2006 Kelly Cup Finals. Florida won the
season series against the Gladiators as Gwinnett finished 4-9-1 against the
Everblades this year. Gwinnett went 1-5-0 this season at the Germain Arena with the
Gladiators only win in Florida coming on January 23rd. Jordan Fox led the
Gladiators in scoring during the regular season against the Everblades with 10
points off of 3 goals and 7 assists. Matt Siddall's 5 goals led the Gladiators in
that category against Florida. Kevin Baker had 24 points for Florida against
Gwinnett during the season series this year. He notched 16 goals and 8 assists
against the Gladiators this season.

This Week's Practice Schedule:
Practices at the IceForum in Duluth are open to the general public. Arena at
Gwinnett Center practices are not open to the general public. Media members wishing
to attend practice at the Arena should contact the Gladiators PR staff at
770-497-5106 to facilitate building access.
Monday: 11 - 12:30 p.m., Arena at Gwinnett Center
Tuesday: 12:10 - 1:40 p.m., Ice Forum, Duluth
Wednesday: 12:10 - 1:40 p.m., Ice Forum, Duluth
Thursday: practice in Florida, 12:30 p.m.
Friday: game @ Florida
Saturday: game @ Florida
Sunday: day off

The Gladiators return to action on Friday, April 10th as they travel to Florida to
take on the Everblades at 7:30 p.m. in Game 1 of the Division Semifinals. Catch
all the play by play action on WDUN.com.

Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier 'AA' Hockey
League has grown into a coast-to-coast league that will have 23 teams in 16 states
and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Eighteen
of the 23 teams have played at least five years in their current city.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey
League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game last season,
marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the
league has averaged over 4,000 fans. The league has drawn over four million fans
each of the last five years and 11 times in the past 12 seasons.

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL -
season ticket packages are on sale now. In addition, the Gladiators offer several
unique multi-game ticket packages as well as discounted group rates, suite rentals,
and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to
gwinnettgladiators.com.

The Gladiators are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and play all home games
at the spectacular 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on
Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, where parking is always free.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics

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