ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

Published on February 1, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


More Lineup Shuffles: With Tom Zanoski still with Lake Erie of the AHL, Patrick Galivan and Chris Higgins were recalled last week to Chicago and Syracuse respectively. With their departure came the additions of defenseman and former Gladiator Phil Youngclaus and forward Mike McLean, who was assigned by AHL Milwaukee.

Leader: Forward Adam Berti (11 goals, 27 assists) leads the team with 38 points and ranks tied for 32nd among all league skaters.

New Year Blues: The Gladiators finished January 5-8-1-1, the first month with a losing record all season.

Streakers: Forward Scott Mifsud has a 4-game point streak with 3 goals and 2 assists, while forward Dan Sullivan has a 3-game point streak with four assists.

Shorties: The Gladiators have allowed shorthanded goals in three straight games for a total of seven on the season. Meanwhile, Aaron Brocklehurst notched the Gladiators' first 5-on-3 shorthanded goal of the season in their 7-5 loss to Elmira on Saturday night.

Special Teams: The Gladiators dropped out of first place in the conference for power play percentage for the first time in two months after scoring just three times in 21 power play opportunities in four games last week. They now own the second-ranked power play in the conference with a 20.6% success rate. The Gladiators do however still own the best road power play percentage in the conference, going 29 for 119 (24.4%) away from home. Additionally, the Gladiators boast the league's best penalty killing unit on road ice, killing off 113 of 128 (88.3%) opposition man-advantages.

Northern Exposure: Gwinnett is just 6-8 against teams from outside the South Division.

High-Jacked: Two of the three highest amounts of goals allowed in a game by the Gladiators have come at the hands of the Elmira Jackals, who completed a 3-game season sweep of Gwinnett with two wins last week with a total score of 26-9 over the three tilts.

Stingy: The Gladiators are 12-0 when holding opponents to less than three goals.

Cellar: The Gladiators remain in last place in the South Division with 45 points through 44 games. They are currently seven points out of third place in the South Division and five points out of a playoff berth.

Sin Bin: Forward Dan Sullivan eclipsed the 1,000 penalty minute mark for his career with seven minutes in the box in Gwinnett's 8-1 loss to Elmira on Friday night. He now has 1,002 career penalty minutes since making his pro debut with the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters in 2002.

Lighting the Lamp: Forward Scott Mifsud has moved into 4th place in all time goals by a Gladiator with 58. He is just 12 short of Mike Vigilante, who played with the Gladiators from 2003 until 2008 and has 70 and currently sits in third place.

Last Week's Games: January 27, Gwinnett 4, Reading 1 - W Chris Higgins and Matt Francis scored first period goals, and Matt Siddall added a third for the Gladiators in the second period before Matt Marquardt got the Royals on the board at 6:12 of the middle stanza, making it 3-1. Tim Miller restored the Gladiators' three-goal lead at 13:12 of the period, and the teams went scoreless in the third, and the Gladiators snapped a four-game losing streak. The Gladiators finished 1-3 on the power play, and Danny Taylor had 38 stops in the win.

January 29, Elmira 8, Gwinnett 1 - L Justin Donati and Olivier Proulx scored first period goals for the Jackals to take a 2-0 lead into the second period. Scott Mifsud pulled the Gladiators to within one with a goal 4:01 into the second period, but the Jackals rattled off six unanswered goals in the second and third periods to beat Gwinnett 8-1 in the second blowout of the Gladiators in as many games between the teams. David Brown took the loss for the Gladiators, making just 26 saves.

January 30, Elmira 7, Gwinnet 5 - L The Gladiators assumed the lead just 1:26 into the contest on Jason Lawrence's 10th goal of the season, but it was 2-1 in favor of Elmira at the end of the first. The Gladiators then got goals from Michael Forney and Matt Caruana in the second to take a 3-3 tie into the final period. But the Jackals would score three goals within the first six minutes of the third period, and the Gladiators couldn't catch up, ultimately losing 7-5 with Justin Donati's empty-netter with just 12 seconds remaining. Gwinnett finished 0-7 on the power play.

January 31, Gwinnett 3, Reading 2 - W Tim Miller gave the Gladiators the early lead with his 6th goal of the season on an assist from Matt Francis 6:10 into the opening period, and Scott Mifsud scored at 15:35 to take a 2-1 lead over the Royals entering the second period. The Royals pulled even at two with a goal at 15:33 of the second off the stick of Ben McLeod, but Scott Mifsud notched his second goal of the night just 1:05 later to put the Gladiators up 3-2, and the third period was scoreless for the second game in a row between the two teams, as the Gladiators moved back above.500 on the season.

This Week's Games:

Friday, February 5th vs. Toledo Walleye - 7:35 p.m. - WDUN.com

Saturday, February 6th vs. Toledo Walleye - 7:05 p.m. - WDUN.com

The Gladiators return home to the Arena at Gwinnett Center for the first time in over two weeks, as they take on the Toledo Walleye for the first time ever on Friday and Saturday nights. Previously, the franchise was known as the Toledo Storm, and the Gladiators last met them in the 2006 American Conference Finals, beating them 4 games to 1 to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals.

The Gladiators continue their 7th season in the ECHL at home on Friday, February 5th vs. the Toledo Walleye at 7:35 p.m. The Gladiators are the AA affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets and play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 1, 2010


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