ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

February 23, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Streaking Along: Forward Tom Zanoski posted a goal in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Mississippi Sea Wolves on February 21st to extend his point scoring streak to four consecutive games. The 4-game point scoring streak is the longest point scoring streak for Zanoski this season. He tied his career best for most consecutive games with at least one point with the goal on February 21st tying his original career high which occurred last season with Stockton when he had a point in 4 consecutive games.

From Atlanta: Netminder Dan Turple was assigned to the Gladiators by the Atlanta Thrashers this past week. Turple joined the Gladiators in time for the team's road trip to Mississippi. Turple posted 7 saves in 18 minutes of relief action in a 6-1 loss to the Sea Wolves on Friday night. Turple finished with 21 saves in a 4-3 shootout loss against Mississippi on Saturday night and posted his first win of the season in the ECHL making 38 saves in a 6-3 win over Florida on Sunday afternoon. Turple has also appeared in 13 AHL games with the Chicago Wolves this season.

Snapping a Streak: Gladiators forward Dan Sullivan notched his 9th assist of the season in a 4-3 shootout loss at Mississippi on February 21st. For Sullivan, it was the first point for the forward since he posted an assist for Gwinnett on January 23rd at Florida. The 11 game drought between points in a game was the longest for the forward this season. Sullivan added another assist in the Gladiators 6-3 win over the Florida Everblades on February 22nd. He now has 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 51 games this season for Gwinnett.

Posting the Winner: Defenseman Jeff Mason notched his third game winning goal of the season in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Mason has notched two of his three game winning goals of the year against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. He had the game winner for Gwinnett against Mississippi in a 3-2 win on December 14th. Mason's other game winning goal came in a 2-1 win over South Carolina on January 19th.

Multiple Point: Forward Dirk Southern notched his 5th multiple point game for the Gladiators in a 3-2 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on February 18th. The five multiple point games for the Winnipeg, Manitoba native tied his career high for most multiple point games in one season. Southern notched 5 multiple point games while with Augusta during his rookie campaign. He had 1 multiple point game last year in an injury shorthed season with Gwinnett.

Career Night: Forward Andy Brandt tied two career highs with his 2 goals and an assist for the Gladiators in Sunday's 6-3 win over the Florida Everblades. Brandt tied a career high for most goals in a game with the two goals tying his previous mark of 2 goals set in a 5-1 win over Charlotte on December 13, 2007. He also tied a career best with three points in Sunday's game. It's the third time the Wausau, Wisconsin native has posted three points in a game as he had three points on March 8, 2008 at Augusta and he also had three points with Gwinnett at Columbia on March 15, 2008.

Papa John's Top This Night: Friday, February 27th will be the fourth Papa John's / Coca-Cola "Top This" night of the regular season. Each time the Gladiators score a goal during the game on Friday - fans will receive one free topping on the basic "Gladiators Pizza Combo". The basic offer for the Gladiators Pizza Combo is one large cheese pizza and two (2) two 20 oz. Cokes for $11.99. From this basic offer the free toppings may be added depending on how many goals the Gladiators score.

Last Week's Games:

February 18th, Gwinnett 3, Mississippi 2 - W

Gwinnett took a 2-0 lead through two periods and held on for the 3-2 win. Dirk Southern posted his 7th goal of the season to give Gwinnett a 1-0 lead just 2:14 into the first. period. The Gladiators took a 2-0 lead in the second on Jordan Fox's 20th goal of the season. Mississippi got back into the game in the third with a pair of power play goals three minutes apart half way through the middle stanza. Jeff Mason notched his 8th goal of the season and third game winning goal of the year for the Gladiators on the power play at 15:29 of the third for Gwinnett. Josh Johnson notched 24 saves in the win for Gwinnett. The Gladiators got assists in the contest from Tom Zanoski, Southern and Fox.

February 20th, Mississippi 6, Gwinnett 1 - L

The Gladiators dropped a 6-1 decision to the Sea Wolves. Mississippi took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission. Mississippi posted a pair of power play goals in the second period to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission. The Sea Wolves extended their lead to 5-0 in the third chasing Gladiators starter Josh Johnson in favor of Dan Turple. Gwinnett got on the board on Tom Zanoski's 4th goal of the season from Scott Marchesi and Jordan Fox. The Sea Wolves rounded out the scoring with their third power play goal of the game for the 6-1 final. Mississippi converted 3 of 4 power play chances in the contest for the win.

February 21st, Mississippi 4, Gwinnett 3 - SOL

The Gladiators jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Sea Wolves on goals by Jordan Fox at 3:07 of the first period and by Tom Zanoski at 6:36 but couldn't hold on for the 4-3 shootout loss. Mississippi cut the lead in half before the end of the first period and tied the game at two in the second period. Mississippi took a 3-2 lead early in the third but Zanoski's second goal of the game tied the contest up with a little less than five minutes left in the third. After a scoreless overtime session, Mississippi defeated Gwinnett with a pair of shootout goals to one by Jeff Mason for Gwinnett. Dan Turple posted 21 saves in the shootout loss for Gwinnett. Pat Bateman, Brennan Turner, Dirk Southern, Adam Berti and Dan Sullivan had assists for Gwinnett in the contest.

February 22nd, Gwinnett 6, Florida 3 - L

Gwinnett jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on the Everblades just 22 seconds into the game on Myles Stoesz's 4th goal of the season. Florida answered at the 1:04 mark of the first to tie the game at one. Gwinnett rattled off the next four goals, Dirk Souther on the power play at 14:29 of the first period. Andy Brandt pushed the Gladiators lead to 3-1 scoring 56 seconds into the second period. Adam Berti extended the Gladaitors lead to 4-1 at 4:11 of the first period. Jordan Fox extended the Gladiators lead to 5-1 at 9:44 of the third period. Florida notched a pair of goals a minute apart with the first at 18:04 of the third and the second at 19:07 of the third to pull within 5-3. Brandt notched his second goal of the game into an empty net with 4 seconds left to put the contest away. Dan Turple made 38 saves for the Gladiators recording his first ECHL win of the season. Gwinnett got assist in the contest from Brandt, Travis Fuller, Fox, Jeff Mason, Dan Sullivan, Mike Looby, Berti, and Tuple.

This Week's Games:

Friday, February 27th vs. Charlotte Checkers, 7:35 p.m. - wdun.com

Gwinnett is 6-3-1 against Charlotte after posting a 2-1 overtime win over the Checkers on Febraury 15th. Gwinnett has won the last three meetings against the Checkers and Gwinnett is 4-1-1 against Charlotte at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Gladiators are led in scoring against the Checkers by Pat Bateman who has 12 points in 10 meetings this season from 5 goals and 7 assists for Gwinnett.

Sunday, March 1st @ South Carolina Stingrays, 5:05 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

South Carolina knocked off the Gladiators 9-3 in the last meeting between the two teams on February 14th. Despite the loss, the Gladiators are 5-3-1 against the Stingrays this season and posted four consecutive wins in the season series against South Carolina from January 3rd through January 27th. Jordan Fox has 10 points in 8 games with the Gladiators against South Carolina posting 4 goals and 6 assists to lead Gwinnett in scoring against the Stingrays.

Gwinnett returns to action on Friday, February 27th as they host the Charlotte Checkers at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 7:35 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 the Chicago Blackhawks 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 February 23, 2009


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