Sports stats



ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly

March 10, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


At the top! After making 44 saves in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Augusta Lynx, Craig Kowalski has accumulated 25 wins on the season, best in the ECHL. Kowalski's 25 wins put him on pace to better his career best mark for wins in a season of 29 set during the 2006-07 season with the Florida Everblades. Kowalski also carries a 2.34 goals against average and a 0.920 save percentage both in the top ten in the league and both good for career bests.

Sharing the lead! With an assist in Saturday's 8-3 win over the Augusta Lynx, Jeff Campbell has once again pulled into a tie for the league lead in assists with 58. The Hensall, Ontario native has notched 58 assists in only 53 games, missing 7 games while on recall to AHL Norfolk. Campbell is also second in the ECHL in scoring, adding 19 goals for 77 points, second only to Cincinnati's David Desharnais.

A Career Year! Jeff Campbell is on pace to tally 71 assists on the season and total 94 points. Both marks would be career highs and Campbell has already set a career high in assists surpassing his total of 53 set in the 2005-06 season when he won the ECHL's most valuable player award.

Record Tying Night! With eight total goals scored in Saturday night's 8-3 win over Augusta, the Gladiators tied an all-time team high for goals scored in a game. Led by Chad Painchaud, who notched a hat trick, six different Gladiators scored goals. The total was also good for a season high. The previous season high for goals scored was seven, set on February 2, with a 7-3 win over the South Carolina Stingrays. The last time Gwinnett scored as many as eight goals was November 23, 2006 in an 8-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers.

Give that man a hat! In just his fourth game in Gwinnett this season and the second since being reassigned from the Chicago Wolves last Wednesday; Chad Painchaud notched his first career hat trick. Painchaud tallied two assists in Thursday night's 4-2 win over the Columbia Inferno in Columbia, before grabbing a hat trick in the first period and a half of play on Saturday night. Painchaud also notched a goal in his first game of the season with Gwinnett on November 9.

Back from the A! After being reassigned to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on March 5th, goaltender Dan Turple was reassigned back to Gwinnett on Saturday. Turple dressed for the Griffins on Wednesday and Thursday but did not see any ice time. So far this season, Turple has been to the AHL three times, first with Chicago from October 19 to November 1 when he did not see any playing time. Turple's next trip came when he was assigned to Grand Rapids on February 19. In that stint, Turple dressed for four games, seeing action in one. On the season, Turple is 12-10-2-1 with a 3.13 goals against average and a 0.905 save percentage.

Playing in Peoria! Just one game after returning from AHL Manitoba on February 29, defenseman Jim Jackson was recalled to the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL. Since being called up to Peoria, Jackson has played in all five of the Rivermen's games notching an assist while compiling 6 penalty minutes.

Last Week's Games:

March 4th, Charlotte 4, Gwinnett 3 - L Charlotte jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the Gladiators, a lead Gwinnett could not overcome. Charlotte took a 3-0 lead after the first period and added what proved to be the game winner just 25 seconds into the second period on the power play. Gwinnett got back within a goal with three markers of their own in the second period. Chad Denny notched a pair of goals for Gwinnett at the 16:45 mark and the 19:13 mark to get Gwinnett within a goal. Mike Hamilton got the Gladiators first goal of the game at 14:43 of the second period jamming the puck home on the short side for the goal. Despite out shooting the Checkers 18-2 in the third period, Gwinnett could get no closer in their third consecutive loss. The three straight regulation losses set a new season record for most consecutive regulation losses.

March 6th, Gwinnett 4, Columbia 2 - W Gwinnett snapped a three game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Columbia Inferno. Gwinnett grabbed a quick 2-0 lead on Columbia on goals by Brad Schell and Mike Hamilton but the Inferno chipped away at the Gwinnett lead cutting the lead in half before the end of the first period. Columbia evened the game with the only goal in the second period. Andy Brandt, on a second effort in the slot, gave Gwinnett a 3-2 lead 3:08 into the third period. Brad Schell added an insurance goal deflecting Jamie Milam's slap shot from the point past the Columbia netminder at 9:54 of the third period to give Gwinnett a 4-2 lead. Craig Kowalski made 26 saves in the win for Gwinnett. The Gladiators went 1-for-2 on the power play in the win.

March 8th, Gwinnett 8, Augusta 3 - W Chad Painchaud notched his first professional hat trick while Bryson Busniuk collected three assists to lead the Gladiators to an 8-3 win over Augusta. The Lynx scored first with a shorthanded goal six minutes into the contest. Gwinnett answered on the power play they gave the shorthanded goal up on. Chad Painchaud scored on the power play and then Andy Brandt gave Gwinnett a 2-1 lead, a lead the Gladiators would not relinquish. Painchaud collected his second goal of the game to give Gwinnett a 3-1 lead. Augusta scored before the end of the first period to leave Gwinnett with a 3-2 lead after one. Gwinnett posted two goals in the second period. Painchaud notched the hat trick in the second period while Ryan Mahrle gave Gwinnett a 5-2 lead after two periods. Gwinnett added three more goals in the third period. Jamie Milam, Joe Grimaldi, his first goal as a Gladiator, and Jeff Mason gave Gwinnett an 8-2 lead. Augusta got one late to make the final 8-3. Gwinnett went 3-for-6 on the power play while Craig Kowalski made 32 saves for Gwinnett in the win.

March 9th, Gwinnett 2, Augusta 1 - W Jeff Campbell notched his 19th goal of the season just 5:30 into the first period while Chad Denny scored what proved to be the game winner with just 43 seconds left in the first period. Gwinnett held the 2-0 lead on the Lynx till 5:40 of the third period when Augusta got on the board. Despite pulling the netminder in the final minute of play, Augusta could get no closer. Brad Schell finished with two assists while Guillaume Desbiens chipped in a helper as well. Craig Kowalski finished with 44 saves for Gwinnett in the win. Gwinnett went 0-for-3 on the power play in the contest.

This Week's Games: Tuesday, March 11th, @ Augusta, 7:05 p.m. - www.Accessnorthga.com Gwinnett is 6-1-1-0 on the season against the Augusta Lynx including two wins over the weekend, an 8-3 victory on Saturday and a 2-1 win on Sunday. Over the last four games between the Glaidtors and Lynx, the teams have combined for a total of 31 including an 8-6 slugfest on January 29 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Jeff Campbell leads Gwinnett against Augusta with 14 points on 4 goals and 10 assists while Chase Watson has 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points against the Gladiators.

Friday, March 14th, vs. South Carolina, 7:35 p.m. - www.Accessnorthga.com The Gladiators host the Sting Rays on Friday with a 3-2-0-1 record against South Carolina on the season. The last two meetings between the two teams resulted in polar opposites for the Gladiators, a 0-5 shutout on February 1 in South Carolina followed by a 7-3 Gladiator victory on February 2 in Gwinnett. Andy Brandt leads the Gladiators against South Carolina with 4 goals and 3 assists. Travis Morin has 3 goals and 5 assists against Gwinnett to lead the Sting Rays.

Saturday, March 15th, @ Columbia, 7:05 p.m. - www.Accessnorthga.com Gwinnett is 6-0-0-1 against the Inferno this season. In the last meeting between the two teams, Gwinnett came away with a 4-2 victory. Craig Kowalski also notched his first ECHL shutout of the season against the Inferno besting Columbia 2-0 on February 29. Gwinnett's lone loss to the Inferno came in a 4-3 shootout on February 10 in a game that was delayed nearly two hours as a result of bus problems for Columbia. Jeff Campbell leads Gwinnett against the Inferno with 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points. Owen Fussey has turned in the best numbers for the Inferno against Gwinnett with 2 goals and 3 assists.

The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Tuesday, March 11th as they travel to Augusta to take on the Lynx at 7:05 p.m. at the James Brown Arena. Catch all the play-by-play action in Tuesday's game online via AccessNorthGa.com on Access Radio streaming channel 3.

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary as the Premier 'AA' Hockey League in 2007-08, the ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in three states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league that has 25 teams in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08. The 25 teams includes the Mississippi (Biloxi) Sea Wolves, who return after missing two seasons in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the expansion Elmira (N.Y.) Jackals. The ECHL will play 900 games beginning Oct. 18 and concluding Apr. 5.

The Gwinnett Gladiators continue their fifth 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 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

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from March 10, 2008


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.

OurSports Central