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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Gladiators Weekly

April 21, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Game 3! The Gladiators return home tonight for game three of the South Division Semi-Finals. In five postseasons in Gwinnett, the team is 7-4 all-time in game threes. Gwinnett has picked up one loss in game three in each of the previous postseasons. The Gladiators have played in one game 3 this postseason, knocking off the Chrlotte Checkers by a 2-1 score at the Extreme Ice Center in Indian Trail, NC on April 12.

Down 2-0! After dropping the first two games of this series to the South Carolina Stingrays, the Gladiators return home down 2-0. The only other time in Gwinnett postseason history that the team has been down by 2 games came in the 2006 Kelly Cup Finals when the Gladiators lost to the Alaska Aces 4 games to 1. In that series, Alaska won the first two games of the series in Anchorage and Gwinnett came home down 2-0. The Gladiators then dropped game 3 in Gwinnett before taking game four by a 6-1 score on home ice. Gwinnett went on to lose the game five and the series by a 3-4 score.

Facing Elimination! Coming into tonight's game, Gwinnett is one game away from elimination from the 2008 Kelly Cup PLayoffs. In the previous four postseasons, Gwinnett has faced elimination 6 times and is 2-4 in those games. The Gladiators are 1-1 when facing elimination in games played in Gwinnett. Those games both came in the 2006 Kely cup Finals against Alaska. Gwinnett's other win when faced with elimination came in game 5 of the 2004 Central Division Semi-Finals against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Going in to the game, the Gladiators and Se wolves were tied at 2 games apiece. Gwinnett won the game by a 2-1 margin in overtime and took the series 3 games to 2. Gwinnett has also never been swept in a playoff series and has recorded only two sweeps. One sweep came in the 2006 South Division Seim-Finals against the South Carolina Stingrays while the second came in this season's South Division quarter finals against the Charlotte Checkers.

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 12 Kelly Cup Playoff series and the winner of Game 3 in those series has gone on to win all 12 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.

Losing at Home! Going into tonight's game, Gwinnett has lost only one playoff series in the Arena at Gwinnett Center. That loos came to the Alaska Aces in the 2006 Kelly Cup Finals. The Gladiators lost the first two games of the series in Alaska. They then dropped game three at home, but won game four before dropping game five and the series in Gwinnett. The other postseason series that the Gladiators have lost have all ended on the road.

Scoring Defenseman! With three goals so far in the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs, defenseman Jimmy Jackson is just two goals shy of tying the record for goals by a defenseman in a single postseason. The record of five is currently held by Rick Emmett who accomplished the feat in teh 2004 playoffs and by Jon Awe who did it in the 2006 playoffs. Jackson has also notched three goals in two prior postseasons with the Gladiators and needs only one more to tie Rick Emmett's total or 7 career postseason goals with Gwinnett.

Helping out! With three assists in Saturday night's 4-5 overtime loss to the South Craoloina Stingrays, Mike Hamilton set a Gladiators record for most assists by a rookie in a playoff game. Hamilton also tied the record for most assists by any player in a playoff game. That record was set by Brad Schell in Gwinnett's 4-1 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on April 10 in the South Division Quarterfinals this season. Before SChell set the current mark, the record stood at 2 by several players, most recently Guiallaume Desbiens on April 10 of this season and Jon Awe on April 14 of last season against Texas.

A Shorty! Matt Anderson's shorthanded goal against the South Carolina Stingrays in Saturday night's 4-5 overtime loss landed him in the Gwinnett record books. Anderson recorded only the fourth shorthanded goal in Gwinnett postseason history. The others came from Steve Slonina in the 2004 postseason and from Jeff Campbell and Cam Brown in the 2006 postseason. All four players are tied for the all-time team lead in shorthanded goals in the playoffs.

Top of the List! With five points on five assists so far in this postseason, Jeff Campbell has pulled into a tie with Jason Elders for most postseason points in a Gwinnett Gladiators/Mobile Mysticks career. Campbell now has 8 goals and 18 assists for 26 points in four postseasons with the Gladiators. Brad Schell also has notched three assists in this postseason to overtake Troy Milam and take over the all-time lead in postseason assists with 19.

Transactions: The Gladiators released forward Chad Painchaud on Sunday. The forward posted an assist in four game in the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs with Gwinnett. The Gladiators activated Lou Dickenson off the Injured Reserve (IR) on Monday.

Last Week'S Games: April 18th, Gwinnett 2, South Carolina 5 - L Following a three-game sweep of the Charlotte Checkers and nearly a week of waiting while the Stingrays finished their first-round series with the Augusta Lynx, the Gladiators traveled to the North Charleston Arena to take on South Carolina on Friday night. Gwinnett got goals from Ryan Mahrle and Jimmy Jackson, but dropped the 5-2 decision to the Sting Rays. The Gladiators jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Jackson's third goal of the postseason at the 2:39 mark of the first period, but South Carolina answered a minute later. Mahrle's marker at 6:21 of the first put Gwinnett up 2-1, but it was all South Carolina from there as the Stingrays scored four unanswered goals to take the 5-2 win.

April 19th, Gwinnett 4, Charlotte 5 - OTL The Gladiators and Stingrays traded the lead back and forth for the whole game, forcing overtime. Nate Kiser finally posted the game winner for South Carolina in overtime. Gwinnett struck first with an early goal from Guillaume Desbiens but South Carolina answered back before the first period ended. Matt Anderson notched a shorthanded goal at the 5:19 mark of the second period but SOuth Carolina tied the game again, then the Stingrays took their first lead of the game at the 16:25 mark of the second. Anderson tied the game at three on his second goal of the contest early in the third period. South Carolina retook the lead at 4-3 at the 7:49 mark of the third period, but Tomas Pospisl pulled Gwinnett back even at the 15:35 mark of the third period forcing overtime. Kiser notched the game winner at the 8:06 mark of the overtime and the Stingrays took the win.

This Week's Games - South Division Semifinals #3 Gwinnett vs. #2 South Carolina Game 3: Tues., April 21 @ Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m. Game 4: Thurs., April 22 @ Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m. (if necessary) Game 5: Sat., April 23 @ South Carolina, 7:00 p.m. (if necessary)

The Gladiators face the South Carolina Sting Rays in the postseason for second time in team history. The Gladiators and the Stingrays faced off in the American Conference South Division Semi-Finals in 2006 as Gwinnett took a 3 games to none decision in the series marking the Gladiators' first ever playoff sweep. The Gladiators finished the season series with the Stingrays this year with a 3-3-1 record while South Carolina finished 4-3-0 against the Gladiators. Andy Brandt and Lou Dickenson each had seven points to lead the Gladiators against the Stingrays. Brandt notched 4 goals and 3 assists while Dickenson had 2 goals and 5 assists. Travis Morin lead the way for the Stingrays with 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points. In the first two games of this series, South Carolina took two victories with four Stingrays recording three points, lead by Travis Morin with 3 goals. Gwinnett was lead in the series by Matt Anderson's 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points.

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: Game vs. South Carolina Tuesday: Game vs. South Carolina (if necessary) Wednesday: Game @ South Carolina (if necessary) Thursday: TBD Friday: TBD Saturday: TBD Sunday: TBD

The Gladiators continue their fifth anniversary season with Game 3 of the Division Semifinals on Monday April 21, hosting the South Carolina Stingrays at the Arena at Gwinnett Center at 7:05 p.m.

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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