Atlanta Gladiators

The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia, in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. The Gladiators play their home games at Infinite Energy Arena.

Atlanta Gladiators
2019–20 ECHL season
City	Duluth, Georgia
League	ECHL
Conference	Eastern
Division	South
Founded	1995
Home arena	Infinite Energy Arena
Colors	Navy blue, gold, light blue
Owner(s)	Danor Vienna LLC[1]
General manager	Jeff Pyle
Head coach	Jeff Pyle
Affiliates	Boston Bruins (NHL) Providence Bruins (AHL)
Website	www.atlantagladiators.com
Franchise history
1995–2002	Mobile Mysticks
2003–2015	Gwinnett Gladiators
2015–present	Atlanta Gladiators
Championships
Division Championships	3 (2005–06, 2011–12, 2012–13)
Conference Championships	1 (2005–06)

The franchise originated as the Mobile Mysticks in 1995. The team suspended operations in 2002 and moved to Duluth in 2003 where they were originally known as the Gwinnett Gladiators. They were the South Division and American Conference champions in 2006, falling four-games-to-one to the Alaska Aces in the Kelly Cup finals.

In 2015, the Gladiators became the affiliate of the Boston Bruins and their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.[2] They also changed their name to the Atlanta Gladiators that same year.[3]

History

Birth of the Gladiators

The franchise originated as the Mobile Mysticks who played in Mobile, Alabama, from 1995 to 2002. It suspended operations in 2002 due to declining attendance. After a year off, Toby Jeffreys, the owner of the Mysticks, relocated his franchise to Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 2003 and was rebranded the Gwinnett Gladiators. He then sold minority stakes of the franchise to local business owners to create Gwinnett County Hockey, LLC.[4] Jeff Pyle—who served as the Mysticks' head coach starting in 1998—returned to the franchise for their first season.

The Gladiators made an appearance in the 2006 Kelly Cup Finals, losing to the Alaska Aces in five games.

On July 13, 2011, Pyle was named head coach of the American Hockey League's Texas Stars.[5] The Gladiators announced on August 3, 2011, that John Wroblewski, former assistant coach for the Wheeling Nailers, had been selected to take Pyle's place as the team's head coach. The Gladiators won the ECHL South Division in the two years of Wrobelski's tenure.[6]

On August 7, 2013, Wroblewski was hired by the AHL's Rochester Americans as an assistant coach. Rick Emmett, a former defenseman for the Gladiators, took over as head coach.[7]

Emmett was relieved of his duties as head coach on December 2, 2014. At the time, assistant coach, and former Gladiator captain, Andy Brandt was named the interim head coach.[8] Brandt would remain the interim head coach through the remainder of the 2014–15 season before being named to head coach on March 21, 2015.[9] Former Valpellice Bulldogs head coach Mike Flanagan also joined the coaching staff in December 2014, serving as the team's assistant coach.[10]

Rebranding as Atlanta Gladiators

On September 9, 2015, the Gladiators organization announced that they would be known as the Atlanta Gladiators to expand their brand to include the entire Atlanta metropolitan area.[11] As part of the name change, the Gladiators updated their “primary” and “wordmark” logos to reflect the Atlanta designation. The rest of the Gladiators logos remained the same, as did the team colors.

After two seasons as head coach, Andy Brandt left to take the associate coaching position with St. Norbert College in 2017. The Gladiators would then hire two-time Kelly Cup winning coach Chuck Weber as his replacement.[12]

During the 2017–18 season, the franchise was purchased by Virginia-based ownership group called Danor Vienna LLC, headed by real estate developer P. Daniel Orlich.[1] Head coach Weber left after one season to take an assistant coaching position with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) NCAA Div. I men's team in order to be closer to home.[13] Jeff Pyle was then brought back as head coach and general manager after leaving for the AHL in 2011.[14][15]

In 2019, the Gladiators updated their primary colors from garnet and black to navy blue and gold.[16]

Affiliations

The Gladiators served as the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers and their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves from their inception in 2003 until 2011, when the Thrashers franchise moved to Winnipeg and the Gladiators ended their affiliation with the franchise. The team also served as an affiliate for the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2008–09 season and for the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2009–10 season.[17][18]

On August 17, 2011, the Gladiators announced their affiliation with the Phoenix Coyotes and the Portland Pirates for the 2011–12 season.[19] They later announced an affiliation agreement with the Buffalo Sabres, and their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.[20] That affiliation lapsed at the end of the 2011–12 season, leaving the Gladiators affiliated exclusively with Phoenix for the 2012–13 season.[21] The Gladiators would carry that affiliation through the end of the 2014–15 season.

On August 6, 2015, the Gladiators announced a two-year affiliation deal with the Boston Bruins and their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.[2] In February 2017, the Gladiators and Bruins extended their affiliation for another two seasons[22] and then added fifth season for 2019–20.[23]

Season-by-season record

Regular season										Playoffs
Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	Standing	Year	Wild Card Round Conf. 1st round (2006–08)^§	1st round Conf. Quarterfinals	2nd round Conf. Semifinals	3rd round Conf. Finals	Kelly Cup
2003–04	72	42	22	0	8	92	248	193	3rd, Central	2004	No WC game in Western Conf.	W, 3–2, MIS	W, 3–1, LOU	L, 1–3, IDA	—
2004–05	72	40	24	1	7	88	241	202	3rd, South	2005	—	W, 3–1, MIS	L, 1–3, CHR	—	—
2005–06	72	50	15	0	7	107	304	208	1st, South	2006	BYE	W, 3–0, SC	W, 3–1, FLA	W, 4–1, TOL	L, 1–4, AK
2006–07	72	41	24	5	2	89	289	256	3rd, South	2007	BYE	L, 1–3, TX	—	—	—
2007–08	72	44	23	2	3	93	247	198	3rd, South	2008	W, 3–0, CHR	L, 2–3, SC	—	—	—
2008–09	72	31	35	1	5	68	214	246	4th, South	2009	—	L, 1–4, FLA	—	—	—
2009–10	72	31	33	5	3	70	243	277	4th, South	2010	—	Did not qualify
2010–11	72	30	34	3	5	68	203	250	4th, South	2011	—	Did not qualify
2011–12	72	41	20	7	4	93	214	200	1st, South	2012	—	L, 1–3, SC	—	—	—
2012–13	72	43	26	2	1	89	211	191	1st, South	2013	—	W, 4–0, SC	L, 2–4, CIN	—	—
2013–14	72	29	38	3	2	63	203	227	5th, South	2014	—	Did not qualify
2014–15	72	20	45	3	4	47	174	263	7th, East	2015	—	Did not qualify
2015–16	72	34	31	5	2	75	189	224	4th, South	2016	—	Did not qualify
2016–17	72	27	37	6	2	62	234	278	6th, South	2017	—	Did not qualify
2017–18	72	32	35	2	3	69	205	229	4th, South	2018	—	L, 0–4, FLA	—	—	—
2018–19	72	31	30	8	3	73	197	211	5th, South	2019	—	Did not qualify
2019–20	61	29	28	2	2	62	200	230	4th, South	2020	—	Season cancelled

• ^§The ECHL used an unbalanced playoff format from the 1998–99 season to the 2003–04 season and again from the 2005–06 season to the 2007–08 season which resulted in five rounds.

Players

Current roster

Updated May 14, 2020.[24][25]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Contract
8		Nick Bligh	C	R	27	2018	Boston, Massachusetts	Gladiators
1		Sean Bonar	G	L	29	2017	Delta, British Columbia	Gladiators
23		Greg Campbell	D	L	25	2020	Oakville, Ontario	Gladiators
48		Anthony Collins	RW	R	30	2019	Langley, British Columbia	Gladiators
4		Jake Flegel (A)	D	R	28	2018	Ajax, Ontario	Gladiators
20		Chris Forney	D	L	25	2019	Thief River Falls, Minnesota	Gladiators
16		Thomas Frazee	RW	R	30	2019	Vancouver, British Columbia	Gladiators
6		Robbie Hall	D	L	28	2019	Schaumburg, Illinois	Gladiators
74		Zachary Malatesta (A)	D	L	24	2017	Boston, Massachusetts	Gladiators
59		Eric Neiley	RW	R	28	2019	Warminster Township, Pennsylvania	Gladiators
33		Chris Nell	G	L	25	2019	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Gladiators
28		Logan Nelson	C	R	26	2019	Rogers, Minnesota	Gladiators
17		Derek Nesbitt (C)	RW	L	38	2015	Egmondville, Ontario	Gladiators
27		Luke Nogard	C	L	26	2020	Mississauga, Ontario	Gladiators
19		Avery Peterson	C	L	25	2019	Grand Rapids, Minnesota	Gladiators
55		Josh Thrower	D	R	24	2019	Squamish, British Columbia	Gladiators

Notable players

Matt Anderson Adam Berkhoel Cam Brown Kevin Doell Louis Domingue Mike Dunham Chris Durno

Atlanta Gladiators vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots (circa 2005) Patrick Dwyer Ryan Garbutt Michael Garnett Simon Lajeunesse Mike Lee Adam Munro Pascal Pelletier

References

1. "Atlanta Gladiators sold to Virginia-based businessman". Gwinnett Daily Post. March 20, 2018.
2. "Bruins and Gwinnett Gladiators Enter into ECHL Affiliation Relationship". Boston Bruins. August 6, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
3. "Glads Become ATL Gladiators". AtlantaGladiators.com. Atlanta Gladiators. September 9, 2015. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
4. "Local Businessmen Join Gladiators Ownership Group". OurSportsCentral.com. May 16, 2003.
5. Press release (July 13, 2011). "Gwinnett's Pyle named head coach of AHL's Texas Stars". ECHL. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
6. Press release (August 3, 2011). "Wroblewski named Gladiators head coach". ECHL. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
7. "Emmett Named Head Coach". Gwinnett Gladiators. August 7, 2013. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
8. "Official Website - Gwinnett Gladiators". www.atlantagladiators.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
9. "Official Website - Gwinnett Gladiators". www.atlantagladiators.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
10. "Official Website - Gwinnett Gladiators". www.atlantagladiators.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
11. "Official Website - Atlanta Gladiators". www.atlantagladiators.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-14. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
12. "Atlanta Gladiators name Chuck Weber head coach". axs.com. August 25, 2017.
13. "Atlanta Gladiators in search of new head coach after Chuck Weber resignation". Gwinnett Daily Post. June 5, 2018.
14. "Atlanta Gladiators bring back winningest coach in franchise history". Gwinnett Daily Post. July 6, 2018.
15. "Gladiators Name Jeff Pyle as Head Coach". OurSportsCentral.com. July 13, 2018.
16. "The New Look Atlanta Gladiators". OurSports Central. August 6, 2019.
17. Michael Wagner (December 28, 2008). "Chicago Blackhawks Name Gwinnett Gladiators Their New ECHL Affiliate". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
18. Bart Logan (August 25, 2009). "Blue Jackets & Gladiators Become ECHL affiliates". firethecannon.com. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
19. Press release (August 17, 2011). "Glads sign affiliation agreement with Phoenix". Gwinnett Gladiators. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
20. Press Release (September 20, 2011). "Second Affiliate Added". Gwinnett Gladiators. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
21. Press release (August 7, 2012). "Glads back with Phoenix". Gwinnett Gladiators. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
22. "Gladiators Extend Affiliation Agreement with Boston Bruins". Atlanta Gladiators. February 15, 2017. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
23. "Gladiators Re-Up with Eastern Conference Champs". OurSports Central. August 15, 2019.
24. "Official Site - Atlanta Gladiators: Team Roster". January 21, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
25. "Atlanta Gladiators Roster". Elite Prospects. Retrieved January 21, 2020.

External links

• Official Atlanta Gladiators site
• Archive of ECHL standings and statistics