Sports stats



ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators home opener to benefit hurricane evacuees

October 14, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators announced today that the ECHL, Salvation Army and the Gladiators have teamed up to help raise awareness and funds for those affected by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Mississippi and Hurricane Rita in Beaumont, Texas.

"The devastation of the two storms has hit very close to home," said Gladiators General Manager Steve Chapman. "The devastation along the Gulf Coast has prevented two teams in our league from being able to play the upcoming season. In Texas, their home arena is hosting thousands of evacuees, while in Mississippi, the surrounding community was literally obliterated. The arena that the Sea Wolves play in was significantly damaged by the tidal surge. Being associated with these areas through our league and through the former home of our franchise in Mobile, Alabama, we feel a strong sense of commitment to helping the people of these areas rebuild their lives."

On the Gladiators October 21st Opening Night game vs. Charlotte, both the Gladiators and the Checkers will team together in an effort to raise money for the Salvation Army to assist the people of the Gulf Coast. The goaltenders from both of the teams will don identical jerseys specially designed to recognize the on-going efforts to rebuild the areas hit by the recent hurricanes. Each jersey will have an embroidered Salvation Army patch on the left chest and the jerseys have a red body with lace at neck and trimmed with navy blue and white stripes on the sleeves and on the waist. In honor of the location of the ECHL league team and surrounding area that was hit hardest by the storms, "Mississippi" is written diagonally across the front.

Following the game, fans may bid on the special "Hurricane Relief" jerseys of their home team goaltenders - or the jerseys of any ECHL team's goaltender - through a special on-line auction accessible through the ECHL website (www.echl.com) and the Gladiators website (www.gwinnettgladiators.com). All of the proceeds from the league-wide jersey auction will be donated to the national chapter of the Salvation Army earmarked for Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief efforts.

In addition to the jerseys, special limited edition game pucks will be used on Opening Night. The pucks will again feature the Salvation Army logo and the words "ECHL Opening Night Hurricane Relief." Goal-scoring pucks and five game-used pucks from each period of each home opener will be collected and will be auctioned off through the special on-line auction. Again, all of the proceeds from the league-wide Opening Night puck auction will be donated directly to the Salvation Army.

In addition to these league-wide initiatives, The Gladiators will host a family displaced by the hurricanes on Opening Night and the local chapter of the Salvation Army will also be at the game collecting monetary donations for Hurricane relief.

"The storm affected people across all demographics," said John Zanders, Regional Resources Development Director of the Salvation Army Georgia division. "Our biggest need is financial support for our normal support services and for hurricane relief."

Since the Hurricanes, The Salvation Army has served over 2.6 million hot meals, distributed over 44,000 household cleaning kits, has ministered through Pastoral Care to over 170,000 individuals, begun helping with 188,000 social services cases and has assisted over 608,000 individuals.

Fans can make a donation to the Salvation Army by logging on to their website at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ or by phone at 1-800-SAL-ARMY.

The Gwinnett Gladiators open the 2005-06 ECHL season at the Arena at Gwinnett Center hosting the Charlotte Checkers on October 21st. The Gladiators offer several ticket packages for different needs as well as group outings, suites and birthday parties. For more information call 770-497-5100 or log on to gwinnettgladiators.com.

The Gladiators play all 36 home games at the Arena at Gwinnett Center located on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth and are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from October 14, 2005


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.

OurSports Central