ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Second Annual Pink in the Rink this Weekend

February 11, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


The Gwinnett Gladiators continue the fight against women's cancer as they skate on pink ice for the 2nd annual "Pink in the Rink" Weekend this Saturday and Sunday at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, partnering with numerous organizations to help raise money and awareness for Women's Cancer Research. In addition, the Gladiators will be wearing special limited-edition purple and grey Gwinnett County Relay for Life jerseys as part of the two-game event.

Organizations participating in the Gladiators "Pink in the Rink" Weekend include The American Cancer Society, Emory Eastside, The Sport of Giving and The Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.

These and other organizations sold Gladiators fundraising tickets to help raise money for their cause, which included the opportunity to receive a portion of the proceeds from the team-sponsored fundraising efforts during the weekend.

In addition to the annual special jersey auction to follow the Gladiators Sunday afternoon contest against Charlotte, the team, in conjunction with the participating organizations, will be collecting donations for special "Pink in the Rink" Weekend t-shirts. The Gladiators are asking for a minimum donation of $10 per shirt. The Gladiators will also skate with pink sticks during warm ups on both days and will auction the special pink hockey sticks beginning on Monday, February 16th.

With a 3-game attendance total of 20,508, last season's first Annual "Pink in the Rink" weekend incorporated the distinctive Breast Cancer Awareness pink color theme to the ice surface at The Arena at Gwinnett Center, as well as limited-edition commemorative player jerseys and sticks. The event was capped off with the Gladiators 5th Annual live post-game jersey auction, conducted following Sunday's final game of the weekend.

Again this season, all the proceeds from the specialty jersey auction of the purple and grey Gwinnett County Relay for Life Jerseys will be exclusively reserved for charitable donation as the Gladiators have done in previous seasons. Last year's auction of the game-worn "Pink in the Rink" black-with-neon-pink accented jerseys tallied a record $56,625. As a result of overwhelming community and corporate support, an astonishing $89,499.35 was raised through a variety of team-sponsored fundraising efforts and activities during last season's Pink in the Rink Weekend.

The Gladiators will also skate on pink ice during the games over the weekend. It will be the second consecutive season that the Gladiators will skate on pink ice and the third time in team history that the team has skated on colored ice during a home game. The ice was dyed green for St. Patrick's Day on March 17th during the 2006-07 season.

Fans who wish to participate and make a donation to the Gladiators fundraising efforts will have the opportunity to stop by one of the organization's tables on the main concourse at either of the games to make a donation. In addition, the Gladiators will be holding a 50/50 raffle both games with a portion of the proceeds to be given to the cause.

The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season at the Arena at Gwinnett Center as they host the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 7:05 p.m.

Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has grown into a coast-to-coast league that will have 21 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Eighteen of the 23 teams have played at least five years in their current city.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game last season, marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans. The league has drawn over four million fans each of the last five years and 11 times in the past 12 seasons.

The Gwinnett Gladiators open their sixth season as a proud member of the ECHL in October of 2008 - 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 February 11, 2009


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