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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly

April 14, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Get out the Brooms! The Gladiators completed the sweep of the Charlotte Checkers with a 2-1 win on Saturday night at the Extreme Ice Center finishing the series outscoring the Checkers by a 10-2 margin. It was the second time in team history that the Gladiators have swept a playoff series. The Gladiators swept the South Carolina Stingrays in the opening round of the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs in three straight games.

Game 3: Game 3 of a Gladiators playoff series continues to be the deciding factor in a series. Gwinnett won 3 game of their Division Quarterfinal series against the Charlotte Checkers, clinching the series 3-0. Gwinnett has now played in 11 Kelly Cup Playoff series and the winner of Game 3 in those series has gone on to win all 11 playoff series. Gwinnett has never won a game 3 and gone on to lose the series nor have the Gladaitors lost game 3 and gone on to win a series.

Gladiators Await an Opponent: The Gladiators have advanced to the South Division Semifinals following the sweep of the Charlotte Checkers in the Division Quarterfinals. With the South Division reseeded following the Quarterfinal round, the Gladiators will have to wait until all the divisional quarterfinal rounds are complete to determine a Semifinal opponent. With two other series complete, the second round picture is coming into focus. Texas defeated Mississippi 3-games-to-1 while Columbia completed the sweep of Florida 3-0. Augusta, who travels to South Carolina for game 3 tonight, leads the best-of-five series with the Stingrays 2-games-to-0. If Augusta hangs on to win the series, the Gladiators will face the Columbia Inferno in the Division Semifinals. If South Carolina comes back to win their series against Augusta, the Gladiators will face the Stingrays in the Division Semifinals. If necessary, Game 4 of the Augusta-South Carolina series is Tuesday while Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday.

First Playoff Shutout! With Tuesday night's 4-0 blanking of the Charlotte Checkers, Craig Kowalski has added his name once again to the Gwinnett Gladiators record books, this time by recording the first shutout in Gwinnett Gladiators playoff history. Kowalski stopped all 27 shots the Checkers offered in the contest to take the 4-0 win and give Gwinnett a 1-0 lead in the series. Kowalski last played the Checkers in the playoffs on April 14 of last season when he was with the Florida Everblades. The results of that contest were similar as he recorded 32 of 32 saves to notch a 4-0 shutout then as well. On his career, Kowalski is now 5-0-0 against Charlotte in the playoffs with a goals against average of 2.10 and a save percentage of 0.930 and 2 shutouts.

Into the Lead! With an assist in the Gladiators 4-0 win over Charlotte in Game 1 of the Division Quarterfinals, Brad Schell moved into first place for most assists in a post season career on the Gladiators. Schell entered the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs with 16 assists sharing first with Troy Milam for most carrer assists in the playoffs with the Gladiators. Schell notched three more assists for Gwinnett in Game 2 of the series pushing the record to 20 assists in a Gladiators post season career. With three assits in the first 3 games of the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs, Jeff Campbell moved into a tie with Troy Milam for second place with 16 assists.

One Shy! Jeff Campbell needs one point to tie the Gladiators record for most points in a post season career in team history. He currently sits at 25 points, which is good for first among the Gladiators after notching 4 points in the Gladiators first round sweep of Charlotte. Campbell sits just one point behind Jason Elders for the all time team record of 26 career post season points. Elders amassed 26 points in five playoff seasons with the Mobile Mysticks from 1996 through 2000. Brad Schell, with his four points in the first round against Charlotte moved into 2nd place on the Gladiators and 3rd place all time in team history. Schell has 23 career post season points while with Gwinnett.

Another First! With an assist on Brad Schell's second period goal against the Checkers on Tuesday night, rookie defenseman Scott Marchesi notched his first professional point. The 6-foot and 200-pound Marchesi joined the Gladiators on March 20 following his senior season at Sacred Heart University. Marchesi played in Gwinnett's final nine regular season games finishing with a -1 plus/minus rating. In four seasons at Sacred Heart, Marchesi played in 138 games tallying 51 points on 14 goals and 37 assists. He was also an Assistant captain for the Pioneers during the 2007-08 season and helped lead the team to the Atlantic Hockey Final Five.

Last Week'S Games: April 8th, Gwinnett 4, Charlotte 0 - W Craig Kowalski notched the first shutout in Gladiators post season history making 27 saves in the win. Gwinnett broke a scoreless tie late in the first period on a goal by Matt Anderson. Gwinnett added a pair of markers in the second period by Tomas Pospisil and Brad Schell. Gwinnett rounded out the scoring just 4:51 into the third on a power play goal by Mike Hamilton. Gwinnett went 1-for-6 on the power play in the win. Chad Painchaud, Scott Marchesi, Hamilton, Anderson, Pospisil and Jeff Campbell each finished with one assist in the win.

April 10th, Gwinnett 4, Charlotte 1 - W Gwinnett got all four goals from defensemen and Craig Kowalski notched 37 saves for his second consecutive win helping Gwinnett to a 2-0 series lead on the Checkers. Jamie Milam opened the scoring half way through the first period. The Gladiators pushed their lead to 2-0 after two periods on a second period goal by Jeff Mason. Mason's first marker of the game proved to be the game winner for Gwinnett. Charlotte snapped a 5 period shutout with a goal just 17 seconds into the third to cut the Gwinnett lead to 2-1. Jim Jackson answered at 8:06 of the 3rd period while Jeff Mason's second goal of the game gave Gwinnett the 4-1 lead. Brad Schell and Jeff Campbell each finished with 3 assists while Guillaume Desbiens notched a pair of helpers for the Gladiators in the win.

April 12th, Gwinnett 2, Charlotte 1 - W Playing at the Extreme Ice Center, the Checkers practice facility for Game 3, the Gladiators and Checkers both got a slow start to the game as the first period ended scoreless. Gwinnett broke the 0-0 tie on Mike Hamilton's second goal of the post season, redirecting Jeff Mason's slap shot from the point for the go ahead power play goal at 6:35 of the second period. Gwinnett pushed the lead to 2-0 at 15:49 of the middle period on a goal by Jim Jackson. Charlotte got within a goal with 5 minutes left in the third period but could get no closer. Dan Turple finished with 23 saves for his first playoff win while the Gladiators went 1-for-3 on the power play.

Upcoming Games: The Gladiators are awaiting the completion of the remaining ECHL South Division Quarterfinal Series (Augusta vs. South Carolina) to determing their opponent for the second round of the playoffs. Gwinnett will either face South Carolina or Columbia in the ECHL South Division Semifinals. Gwinnett will be the higher seed with home ice against Columbia and be the lower seed against South Carolina. If Augusta defeats South Carolina, Gwinnett will face Columbia, if South Carolina wins, Gwinnett will face South Carolina.

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: 10:30 - 11:15; Arena at Gwinnett Center Tuesday: TBD Wednesday: TBD Thursday: TBD Friday: TBD Saturday: TBD Sunday: TBD

The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season with Game 1 of the Division Semifinals. Log on to the Gladiators website, www.gwinnettgladiators.com for the latest on the Gladiators next round playoff series.

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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ECHL Stories from April 14, 2008


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