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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

March 30, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Playoffs: The Gwinnett Gladiators control their own destiny as they battle for the fourth and final Kelly Cup Playoff berth in the ECHL's South Division. Gwinnett currently sits in fourth place in the ECHL's South Division with four games remaining while the fifth place Mississippi Sea Wolves have three games remaining. Gwinnett's magic number is 1.5 and can clinch with a win and an overtime loss or a loss and an overtime loss by Mississippi.

One More to 50: Forward Pat Bateman notched his 50th point of the year for the Gladiators in Gwinnett's 5-2 win over South Carolina on March 28th. He collected an assist, his 26th of the year, to give him 50 points on the season. Bateman's 50 points is a new career high for the Calgary, Alberta native. He needs one goal for 25 on the season with Gwinnett.

Team High! The Gladiators tied a team high for most shots in a period in Thursday night's 4-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers. Gwinnett posted 27 shots in the third period in the contest to tie the team high of 27 originally set against the Checkers on Febraury 15th.

On the Power Play: Gwinnett notched 4 goals on the power play in Saturday's 5-2 win over the South Carolina Stingrays. It was the third time this season that the Gladiators have scored 4 or more power play goals in a game this year and it was the 13th time this season that the Gladiators have scored multiple power play goals in a game.

Leading after 2: The Gladiators remain unbeaten in regulation this season when leading after two periods. The Gladiators took a 3-2 lead on the South Carolina Stingrays into the second intermission and hung on for the 5-2 win over South Carolina on March 28th. Gwinnett is now 21-0-1 when leading after two periods this season.

Last Week's Games:

March 26th, Charlotte 4, Gwinnett 2 - L

Gwinnett dropped a 4-2 decision to the Checkers. After a scoreless tie, Gwinnett had a chance to take a 1-0 lead on a penalty shot by Jordan Fox 2:35 into the second period. Charlotte notched three straight goals before the end of the second period to take a 3-0 lead. Charlotte pushed their lead to 4-0 early in the third to put the game out of reach. Gwinnett got on the board on Pat Bateman 24th goal of the season. Jeff Mason then cut the Charlotte lead in half with his 13th goal of the season at 16:05 of the third period. Gwinnett netminder Joe Fallon posted 36 saves in the loss for Gwinnett.

March 27th, South Carolina 6, Gwinnett 1 - L

Gwinnett allowed a pair of goal within the first 7 minutes of the contest and could not overcome the early deficit in a 6-1 loss to the Stingrays. South Carolina led 2-0 after the first period and took a 4-0 lead on Gwinnett with a pair of goals within the first 10 minutes of the second period. Brandon Kaleniecki with his 9th goal of the season got the Gladiators on the board 18:36 of the second period. South Carolina answered less than a minute later to take a 5-1 lead to the second intermission. The Stingrays rounded out the scoring just 1:03 into the third. Joe Fallon replaced starter Josh Johnson after the Stingray's 4th goal of the contest as both netminders finished with 11 saves for Gwinnett. Andy Brandt and Travis Fuller had assists for Gwinnett in the contest.

March 28th, Gwinnett 5, South Carolina 2 - W

Gwinnett notched four of the five goals on the power play and got a 25 save performance from Joe Fallon to lift Gwinnett to the 5-2 win. South Carolina scored first on the power play but Gwinnett answered on Dirk Southern's 12th goal of the year. Adam Berti gave the Gladiators their first lead of the game early in the second period. South Carolina tied the contest up before Tom Zanoski gave Gwinnett a 3-2 lead half way through the second. Gwinnett got goals from Brandon Kaleniecki and Jordan Fox, the only goal not scored on the power play in the contest, to round out the scoring in the third. Fox, Kaleniecki and Berti all finished with a goal and an assist in the win.

This Week's Games:

Tuesday, March 31st, @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

Wednesday, April 1st, @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

After losing the first four games of the season series to Florida, Gwinnett has won the last two meeting of the season series against the Everblades notching a pair of 6-3 wins over Florida on February 22nd and March 15th. The Gladiators are 4-3-1 in the last eight meetings against the Everblades. Matt Sidall leads the Gladiators in scoring against Florida with 8 points off of 5 goals and 3 assists.

Friday, April 3rd, vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:35 pm. - WDUN, News Talk 550

Gwinnett snapped a 4 game losing skid against the Stingrays with a 5-2 win over South Carolina on March 28th in the last meeting between the two teams. Gwinnett is now 6-6-1 against the Stingrays and are 4-3-1 against the Stingrays at the Arena at Gwinnett Center this year. Jordan Fox has 14 points to lead the Gladiators in scoring against the Stingrays this year.

Saturday, April 4th @ Charlotte Checkers, 7:00 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550

Gwinnett has dropped the last three games against the Checkers but lead the season series with an 8-5-1 record. Gwinnett is 2-5-0 this season at Charlotte this year. Pat Bateman has 8 goals and 8 assists to lead the Gladiators in scoring against the Checkers this year. Josh Johnson has posted a 2.14 goal against average in 7 games against the Checkers this year.

The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season on Tuesday, March 31st as they travel to Florida to take on the Everblades at 7:35 p.m. at Germain Arena in Estero, Floirda. Catch all the play by play action on WDUN, News Talk 550.

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 continue their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL - 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.

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