Summerour Middle School in Norcross
5/14/2008

Berkmar Middle School in Lilburn
5/16/2008

GLADIATORS 2008 PLAYOFF MARCH

Updated April 23rd 2007-2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs WINNER TAKE ALL TONIGHT IN CHARLESTON! Gladiators Take Game Four with 3-0 Win To Force Deciding Game Five Game 5 Viewing Party tonight at Bogey's Remember the great line from Animal House? The one where Bluto goes - Over? Did you say "Over?" Nothing is over until we decide it is. Well - with last night's dominating 3-0 win over the South Carolina Stingrays, the Glads have forced a deciding Game 5 in the South Division Semi-Finals. Whoever wins tonight's game in North Charleston will advance to take on the winner of the Texas Wildcatters/Columbia Inferno in the South Division Finals. In last night's victory, the Gladiators opened up the scoring in the second period on a power play goal by defenseman Jamie Milam. Milo's shot hit South Carolina goalie Josh Johnson, flipped past him and then slid slowly into the net to give the Glads the first lead of the game. Gwinnett then added two more goals in the period - one from defenseman Scott Marchesi (his first professional goal) and another from Bryson Busniuk. The last two goals added extra insurance, but the first one was the only one necessary as Gladiator goaltender Craig Kowalski stoned the Stingrays and posted his second shut-out of the post-season So, it's winner take all in Charleston, South Carolina tonight. If you would like to come out and enjoy the game with the Gladiators staff and fans - please come join us tonight at Bogey's Sports Pub on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Bogey's will be broadcasting the game live beginning at 7:00 PM. Game 1: Friday, April 18th South Carolina 5 Gwinnett 2 Game 2: Saturday, April 19th South Carolina 5 Gwinnett 4 (OT) Game 3: Monday, April 21th Gwinnett 4 South Carolina 1 Game 4: Tuesday, April 22nd Gwinnett 3 South Carolina 0 Game 5: Wednesday, April 23rd @ South Carolina 7:05 PM Should the Gladiators advance, their opponent in the South Division Finals will be either the Texas Wildcatters or the Columbia Inferno. Texas currently leads that series 2 games to 1, with Game 4 to be played tonight in Columbia. Scheduling for that series has yet to be finalized, but please stay tuned to www.gwinnettgladiators.com for additional information. The 2007-2008 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoff Format: The top eight teams in the South Division will qualify for the playoffs this season. The format was expanded in the South this season for a few reasons. The first was to ensure parity. As there are only nine teams in the National Conference (West) and eight teams make it, the Board of Governors of the ECHL decided that it would be decidedly unfair to only take the top four from the nine team South Division. By doing so, the league could potentially have seen a fifth place South Division team with a record of 31-27-14 record (76 points) miss the playoffs while a fourth place team in the Pacific Division with a record of 28-38-6 (62 points) would have made the playoffs. The other reason to expand the playoffs in the South Division was to do away with the Best-of-Three Wild Card round. For the past several seasons, four teams in the South Division have been forced to play a quick Best-of-Three playoff series in the four days following the conclusion of the regular season and then to quickly go right into a Best-of-Five Division Semi-Finals series. In this scenario, some teams were often forced into a situation where they would have to play five straight playoff games in seven games. This obviously created a playing advantage for the rested higher-seeded team beyond simple home ice advantage. By going to the eight team format, that disparity would be eliminated. As such, the Gladiators path to the Kelly Cup would go like this: Division Quarter-Finals: #1 vs. #8, #2 vs. #7, #3 vs. #6 and #4 vs. #5 (Best of Five) Division Semi-Finals: (Best of Five) Division Finals: (Best of Five) Conference Finals: (Best of Seven) Kelly Cup Finals: (Best of Seven) 2007-2008 Kelly Cup Playoff Ticket Information If you are a paid Gladiators Full Season Ticket Holder, you already have tickets to the first six potential home playoff games included in your ticket package. If you have a Full Season Ticket Holder booklet, the first Gladiators home game of the Kelly Cup Playoffs is labeled as both "Playoff Game A" and as "Home Playoff Game #1" on your tickets to avoid confusion. The second home game is labeled as "Playoff Game B" and "Home Playoff Game # 2." This format continues for each subsequent home playoff game. If you ordered tickets after the deadline to receive a booklet, the first home playoff game is labeled as Playoff Home Game A. The second home playoff game is labeled as Playoff Home Game B. This format continues for each subsequent home playoff game. As a Gladiators Full Season Ticket Holder, you also have the opportunity to sign up for our Pay as We Play program to ensure your exact seats for any potential Gladiators home playoff game beyond the first six home games. All you need to do is to simply fill out a Pay as We Play sign-up sheet and provide a credit card for payment. You will then be provided tickets to all potential Gwinnett Gladiators home playoff games beyond the six games and you will only be billed for them as they become a reality. You will not be billed for any games that are not played. This is the best and most convenient format that we can offer to ensure that you retain your regular seats for all Gladiators home playoff games and it eliminates the hassle of pre-paying and standing in line game-by-game for tickets. To insure your exact seating location, you must take advantage of this offer by our final regular season home game on Saturday, April 5th. After this date, we cannot guarantee your exact Full Season Ticket Holder locations will be available. If you are a Gladiators Ticket Package Holder (Weekender, Half-Season, Game of the Month, Hockey Night in Gwinnett, Super Fan 7-Game Plan, Holiday Package, Pink Pack or Flex Book Holder), you also have the opportunity to sign up for the Pay as We Play program. In this case, the billing would begin with the first home game of the Gladiators Kelly Cup Playoff run instead of the seventh game. Again, you will not be billed for any games that are not played. In all Ticket Package Holder situations, we will attempt to get you your exact season ticket seats. In some cases, due to overlap of plan dates and locations, comparable seats will be selected. Seat locations will be held on a first come-first serve basis until Saturday, April 5th. Click here for more information. If you are a Gladiators Full Season Ticket Holder or Ticket Package Holder and you would like to take advantage of the Pay as We Play program, please contact our offices at 770-497-5100 or via email at hockey@gwinnettgladiators.com. You can also download the Pay as We Play form by clicking here. Simply fill out the form and drop it off at the next Gladiators home hockey game (at the Georgia Lottery Fan Info Booth) or at our offices or you may fax back to 770-497-5101. If you are not a Gladiators Full Season Ticket Holder or Ticket Package Holder, but you would still like to get involved, there are two other packages that you should consider. The first is our Race 4 the Cup package. Fans that purchase this package will receive the Gladiators final regular season home game on April 5th plus the first three Gladiators home playoff games. Ticket plan prices start as low as $ 36.00. For more information, simply click here. Seating locations are subject to availability and you will need to select your games at the time of purchase. The second opportunity is our simple 3-game, 6-game, 9-game and 12-game Kelly Cup Playoff Ticket Packages. Fans may purchase tickets to all potential Gladiators home playoff games through these various plans in advance. Should any tickets be unused due to games not being scheduled - the credit balance would be applied to any 2008-2009 Gladiators Season Ticket Plan of your choice. Plans start as low as $ 27.00. For more information, simply click here. Seating locations are subject to availability and you will need to select your games at the time of purchase.