ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

Published on November 28, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


On the Plus Side: Defenseman Jeff Dwyer may not lead the Gladiators in plus/minus ranking, but the defenseman has recorded even or better in every game he has appeared in this season with Gwinnett. Dwyer was a +3 for the Gladiators in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Pensacola Ice Pilots and is currently a +5 on the season. Dwyer was even in two games last season with Gwinnett.

On the Power Play: The Gladiators scored a season high 3 power play goals in Friday's 8-7 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays. It was the first time that the Gladiators scored three power play goals in a game since recording three goals on the man advantage in a 3-1 win over the Louisiana IceGators on December 15, 2004. Adam Smyth had a power play goal in each of those games, scoring the game winner for Gwinnett against the IceGators and tying up the game at 7-7 on the power play late in the third period Friday night.

50 for Durno: Chris Durno picked up two goals for the Gladiators in Tuesday's 5-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers for his 9th and 10th goals of the season. His second goal of Tuesday's game was also his 50th goal of his Gladiators career moving the forward into sole possession of 6th place all time in a Gwinnett/Mobile career. Durno added his 11th and 12th goals of the season in Saturday's 7-1 win over Pensacola. The Scarborough, Ontario native passed Bobby Stewart (49) in Tuesday's game and now needs just 2 more goals to move into a tie with Rob Atkinson for 5th all time at 54 career goals. Jason Elders holds the team record for career goals with 226 in seven seasons with the Mysticks in Mobile.

Spreading the Wealth: With the 7-1 win over the Pensacola Ice Pilots on Saturday night, the Gladiators improved to 8-3-2 on the season. Seven different players have picked up game winning goals for the Gladiators with Chris Durno the only player to post two game winners so far this season. Guillaume Desbiens, Danny Eberly, Brad Schell, Scott Mifsud, Jeff Campbell and Pascal Pelletier have also picked up game winning goals for the Gladiators.

From Chicago: Defenseman Jim Sharrow was assigned to the Gladiators on Wednesday and picked up his first professional point, an assist, for the Gladiators in Friday's 8-7 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays. Sharrow has now appeared in three games with the Gladiators since being sent down from the AHL and is a +2 for Gwinnett.

Last Week's Games: 2-1-1, 5 pts.

November 22nd, Gladiators 5, Charlotte 1 - W

Chris Durno extended his point scoring streak to 9 games with 2 goals and an assists in the Gladiators win. Guillaume Desbiens had the game winner midway through the second period while Jeff Campbell pushed his assists streak to 7 games with a helper on the game's first goal posted by Ryan Fultz. Scott Kelman and Brad Schell each finished with 2 assists in the win. Derek Nesbitt posted a power play goal for Gwinnett to push the team's power play goal streak to 9 straight games with at least one goal on the man advantage. Sean Fields made 31 saves for Gwinnett in the win.

November 24th, Augusta 3, Gladiators 2 - SOL

Derek Nesbitt recorded a shorthanded goal and an assist while Pascal Pelletier posted his 7th goal of the season in the shootout loss to Augusta. Sean Fields made 26 saves in the loss and falls to 7-1-1 on the season. The Gladiators streak of 9 consecutive games with a power play goal came to a halt in the loss while Chris Durno didn't pick up a point for the first time since October 21st while Jeff Campbell didn't record an assist in the shootout loss breaking his streak at 7 games.

November 25th, South Carolina 8, Gladiators 7 - L

Gwinnett used 7 different goal scorers in the game but couldn't get past the Stingrays as South Carolina scored the game winner with 6 seconds left in the third period. Scott Mifsud and Derek Nesbitt each finished with a goal and an assist while Chris Durno and Pascal Pelletier posted two assists for Gwinnett in the loss. The Gladiators scored three power play goals while out shooting the Stingrays 53-31 in the game. There were 6 lead changes in the game that saw 9 goals combined scored during the first period.

November 26th, Gladiators 7, Pensacola 1 - W

Chris Durno and Pascal Pelletier each had 2 goals and an assist to lead the Gladiators past the Ice Pilots. Jeff Campbell posted the game winner 23 seconds into the second period scoring a shorthanded goal unassisted for the tally. Campbell also had an assist in the win. Gwinnett led 6-0 late in the third period before Pensacola snapped Fields' shutout bid. The netminder finished with 33 saves in victory. Jeff Dwyer had two assists, Scott Kelman had a goal and an assist, Brad Schell and Guillaume Desbiens each had an assist while Scott Mifsud had a goal in the victory for Gwinnett. Gwinnett is now 3-0-0 this season against Pensacola.

This Week's Games:

Friday, December 2nd, @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

Saturday, December 3rd, @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - wdun.com

The Gladiators lead the season series 2-0-0 after back-to-back wins at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on November 11th and 12th. The Gladiators have outscored Florida by a combined 8-3 margin. Every player on the Gladiators has an even or better plus minus rating against the Everblades in two games this season. Steve Slaton leads the Gladiators in scoring against the Everblades with 4 points off of 2 goals and 2 assists.

This Week's Practice Schedule:

Practices at the IceForum in Duluth are open to the general public. Arena at Gwinnett Genter practices are not open to the general public. Media members wishing to attend practice at the Arena should contact the Gladiators PR staff at 770-497-5106.

Monday: 12:10 - 1:40 p.m., Ice Forum - Duluth

Tuesday: 12:10 - 1:40 p.m., Ice Forum - Duluth

Wednesday: 12:10 - 1:40 p.m., Ice Forum - Duluth (bus leaves midnight for Florida)

Thursday: Practice in Florida

Friday: Game @ Florida, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday: - Game @ Florida, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday: - day off

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue the 2005-06 ECHL season at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Tuesday, November 15th as they host the Pensacola Ice Pilots at 7:05 p.m. 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

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ECHL Stories from November 28, 2005


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