ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

Published on March 29, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


500 Club: Gladiators head coach Jeff Pyle coached his 500th game with the Gladiators in Gwinnett's 6-2 loss to Florida on Sunday afternoon. Now in his seventh season with the team, he is the only head coach in the history of the Gladiators.

Still Alive: The Gladiators can still clinch a playoff berth by winning each of their four remaining regular season games and having either Reading or Toledo lose all three of their respective games in regulation.

Rookie Net Minders: In the Gladiators' Sunday afternoon loss to Florida, goalies at both ends of the ice made their professional debut. Adrien Lemay made 29 saves for the win in his pro debut with the Everblades, while Drew Rosen, a Brown University product, played just under seven minutes in the game for his first pro action.

4 or More: Gwinnett is 25-5-2-3 when scoring at least four goals in a game.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Defenseman Drew Paris leads all ECHL defensemen with 194 shots on goal.

Home Sweet Home: After wrapping up their road schedule at Charlotte on Tuesday, the Gladiators close out the season with three straight home games.

Killers: Despite owning the league's worst home penalty kill numbers, the Gladiators have killed off 21 of their last 24 penalties on home ice. Additionally, teams are just 4-for-40 on the power play against the Gladiators in the past nine games.

Heating Up: Forward Matt Francis leads all Gladiators with 21 points on 13 goals and eight assists in the past 15 games.

Blueliners: All-Star Drew Paris leads all rookie defensemen and is tied for fourth among all defensemen with 43 points, while teammate and fellow All-Star Sam Roberts is tied for second among rookie defensemen with 40 points.

Special Teams: The Gladiators continue to own the league's top power play unit, going 80-for-347 on the season, good for 23.1 percent. The Gladiators also own the league's top road penalty kill unit, killing off 157 of 182 (86.3%) opponent power plays away from home.

Leading After Two: The Gladiators are 20-3-1-1 when leading after two periods of play.

A Little Berti: Forward Adam Berti leads the team with 56 points on 14 goals and 42 assists. He became the first player on the team to reach 40 assists by picking up three in last Sunday afternoon's game against Trenton. Tom Zanoski leads the team with 25 goals.

Less than 3: The Gladiators are 16-0 when holding opponents to fewer than three goals.

Last Week's Games:

- March 24, Reading 6, Gwinnett 3 - L

The reading Royals scored early and often, lighting the lamp twice in the first, thrice in the second, and added a shorthanded empty netter with 10 seconds remaining. Gwinnett had power play goals from Matt Francis in the first and Drew Paris in the second, and Tom Zanoski added a goal in the midst of a Gladiators record-tying three goals by both teams in 40 seconds, but the Gladiators couldn't close the gap, dropping a crucial game in the playoff hunt. David Brown made just 23 saves on 28 shots in the loss.

- March 27, Gwinnett 4, Florida 2 - W

After surrendering the first goal in the first period, the Gladiator buckled down defensively to take a 1-1 tie into the third period. Patrick Galivan gave the Gladitors their first lead with a power play goal 23 seconds into the third period. Florida tied it eight minutes later, but Matt Caruana and Matt Francis scored 11 seconds apart midway through the period to give the Gladiators a 4-2 lead that held up. David Brown made 27 saves in his second win in three starts for the Gladitors.

- March 28, Florida 6, Gwinnett 2 - L

The Gladiators twice rallied from one-goal deficits to tie the game, but Florida scored four unanswered goals, two each in the second and third periods, to roll over the Gladiators 6-2. Brandon Buck finished with two goals, and Ryan Lang had three assists to lead the Everblades. Adrien Lemay made 29 saves for the win in his professional debut. Gwinnett finished 1-for-8 on the power play, while Florida went 1-for-5.

This Week's Games:

Tuesday, March 30th @ Charlotte Checkers - 7:00 p.m. - WDUN.com

Wednesday, March 31st vs. South Carolina Stingrays - 7:05 p.m. - WDUN.com

Friday, April 2nd vs. South Carolina Stingrays - 7:35 p.m. - WDUN.com

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

The Gladiators wrap up their road schedule with a Tuesday night game at Charlotte before returning home to The Arena at Gwinnett Center for three straight match ups on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday against South Carolina to close out the season.

Check out the Atlanta Gladiators Statistics

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ECHL Stories from March 29, 2010


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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