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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly Update

December 5, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gladiators return home for the weekend after a three games on the road against the Florida Everblades as the Gladiators went 1-0-2-0 and picked up four points. Gwinnett now leads the South just two points ahead of the South Carolina Stingrays at 27 points. The Glads prepare to take on the Greenville Road Warriors Wednesday in Greenville and South Carolina Stingrays this weekend at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Gwinnett is currently 10-6-5-2.

Greenville Road Warriors Preview:

Gwinnett will be taking on the Road Warriors (11-8-0-0) for the third time this season on Thursday in Greenville, each team with a win and a loss. In their last match-up, Nikita Kashirsky was the leader for the Glads with two goals and two assists. The Glads will need to keep an eye on Greenville's Brendan Connolly who is one of the top ten scorers in the ECHL with 22 points on the season.

South Carolina Stingrays Preview:

The Gladiators will play the South Carolina (12-8-0-1) in a two game set this weekend. The Glads are 1-2-1-0 against the Stingrays. These two teams are neck-and-neck for the top spot in the South Division, with 27 points and 25 points. The Glads Joey Haddad and Will Colbert were leaders each collecting four points in their past four match-ups against South Carolina.

Last Week's Results:

Wednesday, November 30: Gwinnett, 6, Florida, 3

The Gwinnett Gladiators used four third period goals to cruise to a 6-4 win over the Florida Everblades on Wednesday night at the Germain Arena in Estero, FL. Nikita Kashirsky collected his fourth goal of the season, which proved to be the game winner, at 6:27 of the third period. Goaltender Marc Cheverie posted his first win for Gwinnett since October 21st and improved to 3-1-3-2 on the season for the Gladiators.

Friday, December 2: Gwinnett, 3, Florida, 4 (OTL)

The Florida Everblades held on for a 4-3 overtime win over the Gwinnett Gladiators Friday night in Florida. Mike Beca scored the game winner for Florida in the extra frame. Gwinnett overcame a three goal first period deficit to earn a point in the overtime loss Saturday.

December 3: Gwinnett, 3, Florida, 4 (OTL)

David Rutherford won the second consecutive overtime game for the Florida Everblades over the Gwinnett Gladiators 4-3 on Saturday night in Estero, Florida. With the point in the overtime loss, Gwinnett remains in first place in the ECHL's South Division with 27 points. Defenseman David Strathman had a goal and an assist for Gwinnett in their league leading 9th overtime game of the season.

News & Notes:

Nothing Runs like a Cheverie: Cheverie is one of the top 20 goalies in the ECHL. In the past three games against the Florida Everblades he has averaged 30 saves with a win and two overtime losses for the Glads. He currently ranks eighteenth in the ECHL with a .902 goals against average.

Overtime! The Glads lead the league in games going to overtime. Gwinnett is 0-5 in OT, with all of the losses on the road. Gwinett has gone into a league leading nine games passed regulation. Gwinnett has posted a 2-0-5-2 record in games passed regulation this season.

Comebacks: The Glads have made three big comebacks in the past four games to pick a point in overtime. The first major comeback for Gwinnett was last Saturday, November 26 against the South Carolina Stingrays. They were down 2-0 and 4-2 before falling in overtime to the Stingrays. The past two consecutive games, the Glads were down 3-0 and 2-0 with comebacks in both to put the Glads to push the team into overtime and help pick up a point.

Lucky Number 3: Gwinnett has scored eight total goals in the last three games in the third period. This is almost a third of the goals that the Glads have scored in the first twenty games this season, giving Gwinnett a total of 29 goals in the third period.

Penalty Minutes: The Gladiators and the Everblades had a total of 68 penalty minutes in the third period alone in Wednesday's game at the Germain Arena. The third period total topped the combined penalty minutes total of 48 of both Friday and Saturday's games.

Pat Galivan: Pat Gakivan notched his tenth goal of the season Friday against the Florida Everblades. This put him at 42 career goals, making him eight goals away from the big 50 mark! Galivan would be the eighth player for the Gladiators to score 50 goals in his career.

Upcoming Events:

Sing for Santa: The Gladiators will host "Sing for Santa" their first game back in the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Saturday, December 10 & 11. Gwinnett will be hosting a concert featuring local middle school choirs singing classic Christmas songs. The children will be performing during the first intermission to get the fans in the Christmas spirit.

Kroger Family Sunday: The Gladiators will be hosting their second Kroger Family Sunday of the 2011-12 season on December 11. Fans can get four Premium/Corner Level Tickets, a Kroger Family Meal Deal and a $5 merchandise coupon for only $50.

Friendly Friday: Fans can get a great deal on a ticket and concessions at one low price on Friday, December 30 at the Arena Gwinnett Center. One may purchase a corner level seat in section 115 and a hotdog at the concession for $20 (children are $15).

The Gladiators are the ECHL Affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres and the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League and are members of the ECHL, the Premier "AA" Hockey League and play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

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