ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Acquire Timberlake, Jackson and Jarosz

Published on March 2, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators have acquired forward Devin Timberlake, defenseman Dallas Jackson, and goaltender Bobby Jarosz from the Reading Royals in exchange for defenseman Sam Roberts.

Timberlake, 25, has seven goals and seven assists in 35 games during his rookie season this year with the Royals. He was also held pointless in two AHL games with the Providence Bruins. The Port Alberni, BC native scored two goals in six games with Providence last season after he finished his four-year career at Brown University.

While at Brown, Timberlake scored 19 goals and assisted on 42 more in 110 career games. He was a team captain his final two seasons and was a co-recipient of the Patrick S. Jones Memorial Trophy for his drive and enthusiasm during his senior year.

Jackson, 21, earned two goals and seven assists in 30 games with Reading this season. A rookie out of Edson, Alberta, Jackson spent his last five seasons in the WHL where he amassed 30 goals, 70 assists and 173 penalty minutes in 174 games. In the 2009-2010 season, he led defensemen with the Prince George Cougars in goals with 11, assists with 18 and points with 29.

Jarosz, 23, played in just one game for the Royals after he was acquired in a trade with the South Carolina Stingrays on February 19th. He stopped 32 of 35 shots for Reading in a win against Trenton on February 23rd.

The Crystal Lake, Illinois native also spent time with AHL Hershey and the Arizona Sundogs of the CHL this season. He made one start with the Wheeling Nailers in the 2009-2010 season. Jarosz played college hockey at Michigan State where he won a National Championship in 2007.

Roberts, 26, scored two goals and added ten assists in 49 games for the Gladiators this year, his second season with Gwinnett. As a rookie and alternate-captain in 2009-2010, Roberts was named to the ECHL All-Star and All-Rookie teams, with ten goals and 30 assists in 70 games.

The St. John's, NF native skated three seasons in the QMJHL and then spent four years at St. Francis Xavier before joining Gwinnett.

‚¬Å“This is a trade that was tough to make in one sense, but one that we believe will bring a great deal of depth to the team as we make our playoff push, ‚¬Â said Gladiators Head Coach Jeff Pyle. ‚¬Å“Sammy's a great person and a solid team guy, but to get quality, you have to give up quality. We had to build some depth to help our other lines. Jackson provides us with a young and skilled defenseman and, with Atlanta trading McIntire, we had to find another goalie. ‚¬Â

As ECHL roster limits are not commiserate with carrying three goaltenders for long periods of time, the trade of Gladiators goaltender Billy Sauer to the Las Vegas Wranglers was precipitated. Over the past weekend, Atlanta called up goaltender Drew MacIntyre from the Chicago Wolves and was then subsequently traded to the Montreal Canadians. The result of this has created a loss of a contracted goalie in Gwinnett.

‚¬Å“This is life at the minor league professional level, ‚¬Â said Gladiators President Steve Chapman. ‚¬Å“One day you are loaded at one position and the next day you are scrambling to try and fill the gaps caused by player development. It would be nice to simply have a complete roster to work with all season, but that's not what minor league sports are about. It's about giving guys a chance to get better and see where it takes them. For better or for worse, that leaves us to try and put the best team on the ice that we can. Sometimes that calls for tough decisions. I tell Jeff all the time - this ain't checkers, it's chess. He has to play it the way it unfolds. ‚¬Â

The Gladiators have won each of their past four games and are currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the top eight teams qualifying for the post season.. The Gladiators return to home ice at The Arena at Gwinnett Center for two games against the Trenton Devils this Saturday, March 5th and Sunday, March 6th. Saturday night is $ 5.00 Adult Replica Jersey Night and Sunday is a Kroger Family Sunday with a special ticket offer of 4 tickets, a Kroger meal and other items for only $ 50.

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

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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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