Sports stats

ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

November 3, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


On the Power Play: The Gladiators scored again on the power play in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Gwinnett has now scored on the man advantage in each game so far this season. The Gladiators finished 2-of-9 on the man advantage in Saturday's win. Gwinnett has notched 9 power play goal so far this season in five games.

In the net: Bruce Graham notched a pair of goals for the Gladiators on opening night against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. He added to his team lead in goals over the weekend notching a goal in Friday's 7-2 loss to Mississippi and then recorded the game winner for Gwinnett in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Sea Wolves. His four goals is tops on Gwinnett so far this season.

Scoring first: The Gladiators have scored first in four of five games this season. Gwinnett has jumped out to at least a 1-0 lead on their opponent in every game this season except last Friday's 7-2 loss to the Sea Wolves. Gwinnett lead 2-0 against Charlotte on Tuesday and posted a 2-0 lead on Mississippi on Saturday.

The Winner! Gwinnett has posted two wins this season in its first five games of the year. Bruce Graham has notched the game-winning goal for the Gladiators in both wins for Gwinnett. His two game-winning goals shares first in the ECHL with nine other players for most game-winning goals this season in the ECHL.

Shorthanded: Brandon Kaleniecki's shorthanded goal in Saturday's 7-2 loss to Mississippi moved him into a tie for second place for most shorthanded goals this season in the ECHL with one on the year. Andreas Jamtin of Charlotte leads the ECHL in shorthanded tallies with 2 on the season.

Closing in on 50: Andy Brandt is just 3 points shy of 50 in his professional career. The Wausau, Wisconsin native collected his first goal of the season for the Gladiators in Saturday's 5-4 win over Mississippi to push his total to 47 points in his professional career. He netted a combined 44 points over his first two seasons in the ECHL.

From Las Vegas: The Gladiators acquired defenseman Jim Jorgensen from the Las Vegas Wranglers for future consideration over the weekend. Jorgensen has appeared in 4 games this season with Las Vegas notching an assist before coming to Gwinnett.

Over the 800 Mark: Dan Sullivan notched his 800th penalty minute in his 7 year ECHL career as he had five minutes in the Gladiators 5-4 win on Saturday over Mississippi. The penalty minutes pushed his total over the 800 minute mark to 801 career ECHL penalty minutes. He also surpassed 800 penalty minutes in his pro career in the Gladiators 4-3 shootout loss to Charlotte on Tuesday.

Last Week's Games:

October 28th, Charlotte 4, Gwinnett 3 - SOL

The Gladiators opened up a 2-0 lead on the Checkers with a pair of goals midway through the first period by Pat Bateman and Jordan Fox. Gwinnett could not hold the lead as Charlotte rattled off three straight, one in the first and then two early in the second to take a 3-2 lead on the Gladiators. Two of the three goals came on the power play while the other marker came seconds after a Checkers man advantage opportunity expired. Josh Engel equalized the contest on the power play with a tally at 17:10 of the second period. The teams skated to a scoreless third period and overtime sending Gwinnett to its second consecutive shootout in as many games. Again, Gwinnett could not score in the shootout while Charlotte converted on two of five chances for the win. Kevin Nastiuk notched 28 saves in the losing effort for Gwinnett.

October 31st, Mississippi 7, Gwinnett 2 - L

The Gladiators gave up four power play goals and four first period goals to the Mississippi Sea Wolves in a 7-2 loss. Mississippi opened up a 5-0 lead on the Gladiators early in the second period before Bruce Graham's third goal of the season snapped the shutout bid. His marker came on a 5-on-3 Gwinnett power play. Mississippi added two more in the third while Brandon Kaleniecki notched his first goal of the season for the Gladiators shorthanded late in the final period. Charlie Effinger made 23 saves in the losing effort in his first pro start.

November 1st, Gwinnett 5, Mississippi 4 - W

The Gladiators held on for a 5-4 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday night. Gwinnett jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first period goals by Brandon Kaleniecki and Andy Brandt. The Sea Wolves answered in the second to cut the lead in half but the Gladiators posted the next two goals by Pat Bateman and Brad Schell to take a 4-1 lead to the locker room after the second period. The Sea Wolves didn't go away as they cut into the Gwinnett lead five minutes into the third to make it 4-2 but Bruce Graham scored his 4th goal of the season which proved to be the game winner a little over a minute later to give Gwinnett a 5-2 lead. The Sea Wolves posted two late goals to cut the lead to 5-4 but could get no closer. Kevin Nastiuk notched 21 saves while Gwinnett went 2-9 on the power play in the win.

This Week's Games:

Monday, November 3rd vs. Florida Everblades, 7:05 p.m. - WDUN.com

Friday, November 7th @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - WDUN.com

Saturday, November 8th @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

The Gladiators face the Everblades in the next three straight games concluding with a pair of games at the Germain Arena in Estero, Florida. Gwinnett is 25-10-4 all time during the regular season against the Everblades during the past five seasons. The Gladiators will battle the Everblades eight more times during the regular season following this three game series against Florida.

The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season on Monday, November 3rd at the Arena at Gwinnett Center as Gwinnett hosts the Florida Everblades 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 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.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics



ECHL Stories from November 3, 2008


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.

Other Recent Atlanta Gladiators Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central