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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Sign Veteran Cava

September 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators announced today that they have signed defenseman Chris Cava for the 2008-09 season.

Cava becomes the first veteran signed by the Gladiators for the upcoming season. He has appeared in 398 career ECHL games over the past 9 ECHL seasons with Mississippi, Trenton, Phoenix, San Diego, Columbia, Roanoke and Toledo.

The Thunder Bay, Ontario native has spent a majority of his professional career with Mississippi skating with the Sea Wolves from 2002 through 2005 and again last year. He had a career best 29 points with Mississippi during the 2004-05 season.

Cava ranks 14th all time in penalty minutes in the ECHL with 1341 while he is second only behind Lance Galbraith among active players entering the 2008-09 season. Former Gladiators captain Cam Brown ranks 1st all time with 2425 penalty minutes during his 14 year ECHL career.

The blueliner tied a career high for assists last year recording 22 for the Sea Wolves. He also had his best post season as he collected a goal and 4 assists for 5 points with Mississippi in four Kelly Cup Playoff games against Texas.

Prior to turning pro, Cava played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with Kitchener, Ottawa, Toronto and Plymouth. In 242 career junior games, Cava collected 8 goals and 45 assists for 53 points.

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 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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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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