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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly

March 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


A Top 4 Finish! With six games remaining in the 2007-08 regular season, the Gladiators have clinched at least a top 4 finish in the ECHL's South Division after posting a 6-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night. Gwinnett can finish no lower than 4th place in the South Division after the win and will have home ice advantage in at least the first round of the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Gladiators have already announced their first two home playoff games with Game 1 on Tuesday, April 8th at 7:05 p.m. and Game 2 on Thursday, April 10th at 7:05 p.m. with both games at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

In Second: The Gladiators kept pace with the South Carolina Stingrays over the weekend and remain in sole possession of second place in the ECHL's South Division. Gwinnett won two of three games and posted 4 points to stay two points ahead of the South Carolina Stingrays in the race for second place in the division. Both teams have six games remaining in the regular season.

Another to 20! Rookie forward Mike Hamilton notched his 20th goal of the season in the Gladiators 4-1 win over the Florida Everblades on Thursday night. He added his 21st goal of the season in Friday's 6-2 win over Charlotte. Hamilton becomes the third player this season on the Gladiators to notch 20 or more goals this season. He joins Lou Dickenson (28) and Jeff Campbell (22) with 20 or more goals on the sesaon. The Gladiators season record for most 20 or more goal scorers in one season is 7 as Brad Schell (25), Scott Mifsud (26), Colton Fretter (36), Mike Vigilante (25), Jon Awe (24), Chad Painchaud (22) and Jamie Milam (22) all finished with more than 20 goals last year during the 2006-07 season.

Four in a Row: Matt Anderson scored the Gladiators lone goal in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Augusta to extend his point scoring streak to 4 straight games, the longest current ongoing point scoring streak on the Gladiators. For Anderson, it is the second longest point scoring streak of his career. He collected a point in six straight games from January 11th to January 21st finishing that streak with 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points. Anderson has 4 goals and 4 assists and 8 points during his current point-scoring streak.

At the Top: Goaltender Craig Kowalski continues to lead the league in wins. He notched his 27th win of the season on Thursday night against the Florida Everblades and sits two wins ahead of Joel Martin of Elmira who ranks second with 25 wins on the year. Kowalski is just two wins shy of tying a career high for wins in a season as he collected 29 wins during the 2006-07 season with the Florida Everblades. He is also five wins shy of tying the Gladiators record for most wins by a goaltender in one season. The Gladiators record is 32 wins currently held by Sean Fields set during the 2005-06 season.

Milestone: Jeff Campbell set a new career high for points in a sesaon with three points in the Gladiators 6-2 win over Charlotte on Friday night. Campbell surpassed his old career high of 83 points on Friday after tying his mark with a pair of points, both assists, in Thurday's 4-1 win over Florida. Campbell currently has 86 points on the season off of 22 goals and 64 assists. Campbell currently ranks third all time on the Gladiators for most points in one season behind Brad Schell (110) and Scott Mifsud (94).

New Additions: The Gladiators signed defenseman Scott Marchesi in time for the Gladiators 4-1 win on Thursday against the Florida Everblades. The rookie out of Sacred Heart University appeared in all three games this weekend for Gwinnett. He was even in all three games. In addition, the Gladiators added Walker McDonald for Friday's game in Charlotte and Saturday's contest in Augusta. McDonald collected an assist for the Gladiators in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Augusta.

Last Week's Games: March 20th, Gwinnett 4, Florida 1 - W The Gladiators overcame a 1-0 deficit to post a 4-1 win over Florida and move into sole possession of second place in the ECHL's South Division. After giving up the game's first goal just 1:39 into the second period, Gwinnett answered with three second period goals to take a commanding 3-1 lead into the final period. Jeff Mason equalized the game at one at 6:08 of the second while Bryson Busniuk's 4th goal of the season gave the Gladiators a 2-1 lead at 16:42 of the second period. Tomas Pospisil rounded out the scoring in the second period just 22 seconds later giving Gwinnett a 3-1 lead. Mike Hamilton rounded out the scoring with Gwinnett's second power play goal of the game with 1:39 left in the third period. Jeff Campbell and Matt Anderson each finished with a pair of assists while Jamie Milam, Brad Schell, Ryan Mahrle and Pospisil each had a helper in the win. Craig Kowalski finished with 47 saves in the win for Gwinnett.

March 21st, Gwinnett 6, Charlotte 2 - W Jeff Campbell notched his 22nd goal of the season and chipped in two assists to lead the Gladiators to the win. Charlotte took a 1-0 lead in the first and after the Gladiators tied the game at one on a goal by Bryson Busniuk, took a 2-1 lead in the second period on the Gladiators. Mike Hamilton notched his 21st goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 before the end of the second period. Gwinnett scored four times in the third period en route to the 6-2 win over Charlotte. Jamie Milam scored what proved to be the game winner at 3:19 of the third period while Matt Anderson, Campbell and Tomas Pospisil rounded out the scoring for Gwinnett in the win in the third period. Dan Turple finished with 30 saves for Gwinnett in the win. The Gladiators went 3-for-6 on the power play.

March 22nd, Augusta 2, Gwinnett 1 - L Matt Anderson notched his 13th goal of the season for the Gladiators at 13:39 of the first period to give the Gladiators a 1-0 lead. Augusta tied the game at 1-1 in the second and posted the game winner with 30 seconds left in the third period. Walker McDonald had an assist on Anderson's goal for Gwinnett. The Gladiators gave up both goals to the Lynx on the power play while going 0-for-2 on the man advantage in the loss. Craig Kowalski made 39 saves in the losing effort for Gwinnett.

This Week's Games: Wednesday, March 26th @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - WDUN, News Talk 550 Friday, March 28th @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - AccessNorthGa.com Saturday, March 29th @ Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - AccessNorthGa.com Gwinnett leads the season series against the Everblades with a 3-0-0 record. The Gladiators have not faced the Everblades in Estero yet this season. Mike Vigilante, Derek Nesbitt - who remains in the AHL with Rockford - and Jeff Campbell all have 5 points this season with the Gladiators against the Everblades. Craig Kowalski has started all three games for the Gladiators against the Everblades posting a 1.33 goals against average and a .965 save percentage.

This Week's Practice Schedule: Practices at the IceForum in Duluth are open to the general public. Arena at Gwinnett Center practices are not open to the general public. Media members wishing to attend practice at the Arena should contact the Gladiators PR staff at 770-497-5106 to facilitate building access. Monday: 12:10 - 1:30, Ice Forum, Duluth Tuesday: practice in Florida Wednesday: Game @ Florida Thursday: practice in Florida Friday: Game @ Florida Saturday: Game @ Florida Sunday: day off

The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season on Wednesday, March 26th as they travel to Florida to take on the Everblades at the Germain Arena at 7:30 p.m. Catch all the play-by-play action in Wednesday's game on WDUN, News Talk 550.

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.

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