ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

Published on December 29, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Comeback! The Gladiators recorded their fourth 2-goal, come-from-behind victory of the season in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Florida Everblades. Gwinnett has put together two of their comeback wins in the third period this season. Gwinnett has posted 2-goal comeback wins on Dayton on November 19th, South Carolina on December 2nd, Mississippi on December 14th and against Florida on December 27th.

A Season Best! Dan Sullivan posted a season high for the forward as he notched his first multipule point game of the year. He had a goal and an assist for the Gladiators in a 3-2 win over Florida on Saturday night. Sullivan has 23 career multiple point games during his ECHL career.

A New Affiliate: The Gladiators added a new NHL and AHL affiliate on Saturday as the Gladiators will serve as the ECHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL and the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL for the remainder of the 2008-09 season. Chicago's previous ECHL agreement with the Fresno Falcons ended when Fresno ceased operations on Dec. 22. The Gladiators will continue to serve as the ECHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers.

From the Affiliates: The Gladiators were assigned five players from their new affiliates on Sunday. Gwinnett has been assigned forwards Adam Berti and Adam Hobson as well as defenseman Jean-Claude Sawyer and goaltender Joe Fallon from their NHL affiliate the Chicago Blackhawks. In addition, Gwinnett has been assigned defenseman Brennan Turner from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. All five players skated with the Fresno Flacons during the 2008-09 season.

Dealt: In addition to the players assigned to Gwinnett, the Gladiators made three trades over the weekend. Gwinnett has traded foward Bruce Graham to the Bakersfield Condors for future consideration and dealt defensemen Jim Jorgensen and Preston Briggs to the Stockton Thunder for future considerations.

A First! Forward Travis Fuller posted his 3rd goal of the season in a 4-3 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays on December 26th. It was Fuller's first goal with the Gladiators since being acquired in a trade with the Augusta Lynx on December 1st. Since being acquired by the Gladiators, he has posted a goal and 5 assists and is even in 12 games with Gwinnett.

Also Back: Defenseman Josh Engel returned to Gwinnett this week after appearing in three games with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Engel was called up to Providence for the second time this season on December 12th and was a +1 while posting 2 penalty minutes while with Providence.

On pace: Gladiators forward Jordan Fox is on pace to set a new career high for most points in a professional season. The forward has notched 30 points for the Gladiators in 29 games averaging 1.03 points per game and is on pace to finish the year with 75 points. His previous professional best for most points in a season was 63 points notched last year while appearing in 8 AHL games with Albany and 60 games with IHL Flint.

Last Week's Games:

December 26th, South Carolina 4, Gwinnett 3 - L

After falling behind 2-0 after the first period to the Stingrays, the Gladiators battled back to tie the game in the third at two. Travis Fuller's first goal as a Gladiator at 4:07 of the second period cut the South Carolina lead in half in the second period. Dan Sullivan then notched his 4th goal of the season at 11:34 of the third to tie the game at two but after taking a penalty, South Carolina regained the lead just 17 seconds later. The Stingrays would add another marker shorthanded later in the third to take a 4-2 lead. Gwinnett would get one back with just 55 seconds left in the third to make the final 4-3. Kevin Nastiuk made 29 saves in the loss for Gwinnett. The Gladiators went 0-for-9 on the power play while giving up two power play goals in the loss.

December 27th, Gwinnett 3, Florida 2 - W

The Gladiators posted their fourth 2-goal come-from-behind victory with the win over the Everblades. Florida took a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal early in the first and pushed their lead to 2-0 midway through the second setting the stage for the Gladiators comeback. Dan Sullivan's 5th goal of the season cut the Florida lead to 2-1 heading into the third. Chris Cava's 3rd goal of the season on the power play tied the game at two while Travis Fuller's second goal in as many games for Gwinnett proved to be the game winner for the Gladiators just 28 seconds after Cava tied the game at 12:49 of the third period. Josh Johnson made 22 saves in the win for Gwinnett as the Gladiators went 1-for-12 on the power play in the win.

This Week's Games:

Monday, December 29th vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves, 7:05 p.m. - wdun.com

The final meeting of the month of December against the Mississippi Sea Wolves as the two teams have already squared off six times during the month. Gwinnett is 5-4-1 against Mississippi this season in ten meetings so far. Gwinnett won the last matchup on December 14th by a 3-2 score.

Friday, January 2nd @ South Carolina Stingrays, 7:05 p.m. - wdun.com

Saturday, January 3rd vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:05 p.m. - wdun.com

Gwinnett dropped a 4-3 decision to the Stingrays in the last meeting between the two teams on December 26th. Gwinnett has played the first three meetings against the Stingrays to one goal differentials including a shootout loss to South Carolina at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on November 15th. Brad Schell and Jordan Fox both have 4 points for the Gladiators against the Stingrays this season in three games.

The Gladiators return to action on Monday, December 29th as they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves at the Arena at Gwinnett Center 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 21 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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