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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Renew NHL Affiliation with Phoenix

August 2, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


DULUTH, Ga. - The Gwinnett Gladiators announced Friday that the team will again be affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League and the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. Phoenix renewed the one-year affiliation agreement and will continue to provide young talent to Gwinnett.

"[Coyotes Vice President of Hockey Operations and Assistant General Manager] Brad Treliving and I had a lot of conversations about the philosophy Phoenix has," said Gladiators Team President Steve Chapman. "Being a smaller market team they have to focus on player development and that's something I thought was important for our organization."

This will be the third year in a row the two teams will work together. Last season the Gladiators roster featured seven different players assigned from the Coyotes at various points during the season: forwards Scott Arnold, Evan Bloodoff, Maxime Villemaire, defenseman Justin Weller, and goaltenders Louis Domingue, Mike Lee, and Mark Visentin.

Bloodoff finished third on the team in points with 38 in 52 games (20 goals, 18 assists), while Domingue and Lee combined to play 62 of the Gladiators 75 total games between the pipes last season. Weller appeared in 65 games for Gwinnett, while Arnold racked up 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 32 games.

"We are glad to once again have Gwinnett as our ECHL affiliate," said Treliving. "The Gladiators are a model franchise in the ECHL and we look forward to the continued development of future Coyotes in Gwinnett."

"I appreciate that Phoenix and Portland consider us an integral part of their system and keep us in mind when they can," said Chapman. "We've seen some good players come through here and that's a big thing for me."

The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the Premier "AA" Hockey League. All home games are played at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

The team's 11th season in Georgia kicks off on October 18th against division rival Greenville. For all the latest team news, contests, and more visit GwinnettGladiators.com, or like the Gladiators on Facebook (Facebook.com/GwinnettGladiators), and follow the team on Twitter (Twitter.com/GWTGladiators).

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