ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

Published on January 5, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


One Goal Affair: The Gladiators skated in their 16th one goal game in Saturday's 2-1 win over the South Carolina Stingrays. For the Gladiators, it was their seventh one goal win of the season as Gwinnett is 7-5-4 this season in one goal games. The Gladiators first loss in a one goal game came against the Charlotte Checkers in a 1-0 loss on November 23rd. Gwinnett was 5-1-4 in their first 10 one-goal games.

Penalty Shot: The Gladiators saw two more penalty shots in a 2-0 loss to the South Carolina Stingrays January 2nd. It was the 8th and 9th penalty shots that the Gladiators have participated in this season. Kevin Nastiuk stopped his first penalty shot of the season stopping Travis Morin in the second while Brad Schell was unsuccessful in the third period against Bobby Goepfert. The nine penalty shots this year is an all time season high for the Gladiators.

Not More Than 3: The Gladiators have not scored more than three goals in a game since posting a team record 9 goals in a 9-2 win over the Missisippi Sea Wolves on December 6th. Gwinnett has been shutout twice while posting 3 goals seven times and two goals four times during the past 13 games since setting the team record on December 6th. Gwinnett notched two goals in Saturday's win over South Carolina.

All Star: Gladiators forward Jordan Fox was selected to represent the Gladiators at the 2009 ECHL All Star Game in Reading, Pennsylania. Fox leads the Gladiators in scoring with 33 points in 32 games this season for the Gladiators. He has notched 14 goals and 19 assists on the year for Gwinnett.

Between the Pipes! Netminder Joe Fallon notched 20 saves and helped the Gladiators knock off the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday night at The Arena at Gwinnett Center. It was the first win for the netminder in his first start with the Gladiators since being assigned to Gwinnett by the Chicago Blackhawks. Fallon is now 1-0-0 with the Gladiators while he has posted a 2.45 goals against average and a .913 save percentage in 14 games in the ECHL this season.

A Helping Hand: Brennan Turner notched a pair of assists for the Gladiators in his first game with Gwinnett in a 4-3 loss to the Mississippi Sea Wolves on December 29th. It was the first multiple assist game of the defenseman's career. Turner has two assists in three games and is a +1 for the Gladiators since being assigned to Gwinnett.

Last Week's Games:

December 29th, Mississippi 4, Gwinnett 3 - L

The Gladiators comeback fell short against Mississippi as they dropped their 8th in the past 10 games. Mississippi took a 1-0 lead before Chris Cava tied the contest with his 3rd goal of the season. The Sea Wolves took a 2-1 lead on Gwinnett before the end of the first period and pushed their lead to 3-1 midway through the second. Gwinnett cut the lead to 3-2 on Jordan Fox's team leading 13th goal of the season at 13:04 of the second period. Scott Marchesi's 5th goal of the season tied the game at three just 4:35 into the third period but Mississippi scored on the only power play goal of the game at 16:40 of the third period for the win. Josh Johnson notched 25 saves for Gwinnett in the loss while the Gladiators went 0-for-8 on the power play in the loss.

January 2nd, South Carolina 2, Gwinnett 0 - L

Gwinnett dropped its second straight game as the Gladiators were shutout for the fifth time this season. Kevin Nastiuk finished with 34 saves in the loss, his sixth straight loss for Gwinnett. South Carolina took a 1-0 lead midway through the first and hung on till posting an empty net goal with half a minute remaining in the third period. Both teams were unsuccessful on penalty shot opportunities in the contest. Gwinnett went 0-for-7 on the power play in the loss.

January 3rd, Gwinnett 2, South Carolina 1 - W

Joe Fallon notched 20 saves and posted his first win in his first start with the Gladiators. Matt Siddall notched his fifth goal of the season with the Gladiators with six minutes left in the first period to give Gwinnett a 1-0 lead. Jordan Fox posted his 14th goal of the game with less than a minute left in the second to give Gwinnett a 2-0 lead. With the netminder pulled, South Carolina pulled within a goal with half a minute left in the third but could get no closer as Gwinnett hung on for the win. The Gladiators went 0-for-4 on the power play but outshot the Stingrays by a 31-21 margin in the contest.

This Week's Games:

Thursday, January 8th, vs. South Carolina Stingrays - 7:05 p.m. - WDUN.com

Gwinnett is now 2-2-1 against the Stingrays after posting a 2-1 win over South Carolina on January 2nd. Gwinnett has split the two games it has played in South Carolina this season. Gwinnett has not scored more than three goals in any of the five games they have skated in this season against South Carolina.

Friday, January 9th, @ Charlotte Checkers - 7:05 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

Gwinnett is 2-2-1 against the Checkers this season but have dropped both games in Charlotte that they have played in this season. Gwinnett has not lost consecutive games against the Checkers this season. Pat Bateman leads the Gladiators in scoring against the Checkers this season with 7 points off of 4 goals and 3 assists in five games.

Gwinnett continues action in the 2008-09 season on Thursday, January 8th as they host the South Carolina Stingrays again 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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