ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Make Roster Changes

Published on December 28, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators announced today that they have made nine roster changes as they have traded three players and have been assigned five players and placed one player on the injured reserve.

Gwinnett has traded foward Bruce Graham to the Bakersfield Condors for future consideration and deal defensemen Jim Jorgensen and Preston Briggs to the Stockton Thunder for future consideration. Gwinnett has been assigned forwards Adam Berti and Adam Hobson as well as defenseman Jean-Claude Sawyer and goaltender Joe Fallon from their NHL affiliate the Chicago Blackhawks. In addition, Gwinnett has been assigned defenseman Brennan Turner from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. Also, Myles Stoesz has been placed on the 3-day Injured Reserve.

Graham ranked third in scoring on the Gladiators with 20 points off of 10 goals and 10 assists in 25 games this season with Gwinnett. Briggs posted three points off a goal and two assists in 28 games this season with Gwinnett. He also collected 20 penalty minutes while with the Gladaitors. Jorgensen was acquired in a trade with Las Vegas on October 31st. In 24 games between the Gladiators and the Wranglers, Jorgensen collected a goal and four assists for five points.

All four players assigned by the Blackhawks and the IceHogs appeared with the Freson Falcons this season. Hobson ranked fifth in scoring with Fresno this season posting 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 26 games this season with the Falcons. He split time last season between Pensacola and Rockford finising his rookie season with a combined 11 goals and 9 assists for 20 points in 49 games last year.

Berti skated in two games with the Blackhawks last year but did not register a point in his two appearances. He spent a majority of the 2007-08 season with Rockford posting 2 goals and 5 assists in 42 AHL games last year. He collected 12 points in 48 games during his rookie campaign with AHL Norfolk in the 2006-07 season. He skated in 29 games this season with Fresno posting 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points.

Sawyer has spent a majority of the 2008-09 season with the Rockford Ice Hogs appearing in 14 games and collecting 3 goals and an assist in the AHL. He posted a goal and 2 assists in 6 games with Fresno this season. Sawyer was drafted by Minnesota in the 5th round of the 2004 NHL Draft with the 161st overall pick.

Fallon appeared in 13 games this season with the Falcons notching a 2.57 goals against average and a .911 save percentage while going 8-4-1 and collecting one shutout. A rookie out of the University of Vermont, Fallon has also appeared in one game with Rockford notching a 1.68 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

Drafted by the Blackhawks in the 5th round of the 2005 NHL draft with the 134th overall pick, Turner played in 29 games with Fresno posting 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points. Following his junior season at Yale last year, Turner joined the IceHogs and appeared in 4 games and notched 14 penalty minutes in the AHL.

All five players should be available for the Gladiators as they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Monday, December 29th at 7:05 p.m.

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 open their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL in October of 2008 - 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 the Chicago Blackhawks 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.

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