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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

April 9, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs Open Saturday: The Gwinnett Gladiators finished the 2006-07 regular season in third place in the ECHL's South Division with a 41-24-7 record. Gwinnett will open the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Saturday night on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the Arena at Gwinnett Centet at 7:35 p.m. against the #2 seed Texas Wildcatters in the best-of-five South Division Semi-Finals. Here's the complete schedule for the South Division Semi-Finals:

#3 Gwinnett @ #2 Texas

Game 1: April 14 @ Gwinnett, 7:35 p.m.

Game 2: April 15 @ Gwinnett, 4:05 p.m.

Game 3: April 18 @ Texas, 8:00 p.m.

Game 4: April 20 @ Texas, 8:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Game 5: April 22 @ Texas, TBD (if necessary)

All Rookie Team! Colton Fretter and Jamie Milam were named to the ECHL All Rookie Team on Wednesday. Fretter currently leads ECHL rookies in scoring with 64 points despite being on the injured reserve since February 15th. Fretter set a new Gladiators team record for goals in a season with 35 while he was also named the ECHL Rookie of the Month for October. Milam leads all rookie defenseman in power play goals with 13 and he was named the ECHL Rookie of the Month for February as he finished the month with 13 points.

ECHL First and Second Team! Brad Schell and Jon Awe were named to the All ECHL 1st Team on Thursday while Scott Mifsud was named to the All ECHL 2nd Team. Schell currently leads the ECHL in scoring with 110 points setting a new all time team record for point in a season. His 85 assists is also a new all time team record for Gwinnett in that category. Jon Awe leads all Gladiators blue liners with 55 points while setting a new ECHL record for power play goals by a defenseman in a season breaking the old mark of 16. Scott Mifsud currently ranks second in scoring in the ECHL with 92 points trailing only teammate Brad Schell.

ECHL Rookie of the Year: Forward Colton Fretter was named the ECHL Rookie of the Year on Saturday. Fretter becomes the second Gladiator to win the Award joining Kevin Doell who was named the ECHL Rookie of the Year during the 2003-04 season. Despite missing the final seven weeks of the regular season, Fretter finished the season with 36 goals and 32 assists for 68 points in 51 games with the Gladiators to lead all rookies in scoring.

ECHL Defenseman of the Year: Gladiators defenseman Jon Awe was named the ECHL Defenseman of the Year on Sunday. Awe becomes the first Gladiator to garner the award. He finished the 2006-07 season with 56 points off of 24 goals and 32 assists to rank second in scoring among ECHL defensemen. Awe also set a new ECHL Skill Competition record for hardest shot recording 102.2 MPH slap shot. In addition, Awe set a new ECHL record for most power play goals by a defenseman in one season posting 18 on the year.

Getting some Help: Gladiators forward Chad Painchaud tied his career high for assists in a game as he notched 3 helpers for the Gladiators in Saturday's 5-4 loss at Pensacola. Painchaud posted his first 3 assist night while collecting a career high 4 points for the Gladiators in a 5-1 win over Columbia on March 17th. For Painchaud, Saturday's 3 assists was his 16th multiple point game of the season.

Back to Back: Jim Jackson notched back-to-back 2-goal games for the Gladaitors this past weekend. Jackson had 2 goals for the Gladiators in Friday's 4-2 win over South Carolina and then again in Saturday's 5-4 loss at Pensacola. It was the first time in his career that he posted back-to-back 2-goal games. Jackson finsihed the season with four 2-goal games and 7 multiple point games for the Gladiators.

Finishing a Streak: Colton Fretter returned to the Gladaitors line up over the weekend after missing 7 weeks with a leg injury. He picked up right where he left off pushing his on going point scoring streak to 18 consecutive games. Fretter finishes the season with the second longest point scoring streak at 18 games, one game shy of the ECHL season leader Scott Mifsud who had a point in 19 straight games for the Gladiators. Fretter's streak begain on January 6th and he finished with 31 points off of 16 goals and 15 assists for the Gladiators.

Last Week's Games:

April 3rd, Charlotte 4, Gwinnett 1 - L

Gwinnett set a new ECHL record for power play goals as Luke Erickson posted a power play goal, the Gladiators 116th of the season in the loss. Gwinnett gave up a hat trick to Charlotte's Mark Lee who scored the deciding game winning goal shorthanded early in the second period. Dave Caruso made 33 saves in the losing effort. Andy Contois and Chad Painchaud had assists for Gwinnett in the loss.

April 6th, Gwinnett 4, South Carolina 2 - W

Joel Stepp collected his second game winning goal of the season for the Gladiators midway through the third period. Gwinnett fell behind 1-0, but was able to post the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead in the third. South Carolina cut the Gladiators lead to one goal before Jim Jackson collected an empty net goal with just 4 seconds left in the third period. Colton Fretter, in his first game back in over a month, scored the Gladiator s first goal in the opening period before Jim Jackson gave Gwinnett a 2-1 lead. Dave Caruso finished with 32 saves for the win. Gwinnett kept pace with Charlotte and stayed in third place in the South Division with the win.

April 7th, Pensacola 5, Gwinnett 4 - L

Gwinnett fell behind 4-0 early in the second period as they gave up a pair of shorthanded goals and a pair of power play goals to the Ice Pilots. Gwinnett battled back to tie the game at 4-4 off of a pair of goals from Joel Stepp and Jim Jackson. Colton Fretter posted a pair of assists while Chad Painchaud posted three helpers in the loss. Dave Caruso made 36 saves for Gwinnett in the loss. Gwinnett finished in third place in the South Division as Charlotte lost in regulation in Columbia. The Gladiators added to their power play goal record notching two of their four goals on the power play.

This Week's Games:

ECHL South Division Semi-Finals

vs. #2 Texas Wildcatters

Game 1: @ Gwinnett, Saturday, April 14th, 7:35 p.m. - wdun.com

Game 2: @ Gwinnett, Sunday, April 15th, 4:05 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

Game 3: @ Texas, Wednesday, April 18th, 8:00 p.m. - wdun.com

Game 4: @ Texas, Friday, April 20th, 8:30 p.m. - wdun.com

Game 5: @ Texas, Sunday, April 22nd, TBD - wdun.com

The Gwinnett Gladiators are 3-4-1 this season against the Texas Wildcatters and are 0-3-1 in four games this sesaon at the Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas. Texas won the last two meetings, both in Texas, by a goal. Special teams could play a huge factor in the series as Gwinnett and Texas rank 1-2 respectively on the power play while Texas ranks 6th on the penatly kill while the Gladaitors rank 14th. Brad Schell, who is currently on recall to Chicago of the American Hockey League, led all players in the season series in scoring with 12 points for Gwinnett. Texas netminder Matt Yeats has posted the decision in all 8 games of the season series going 5-3-0 for the Wildcatters while posting a 2.85 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fourth season as a proud member of the ECHL as they open the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs on Saturday, April 14 against the Texas Wildcatters on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 7:35 p.m. Season tickets 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 on the Your Best Rate Financial Home Ice 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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