DULUTH , Ga. – As the seconds ticked off of the clock at the Gwinnett Center at the end of the December 31 game versus the Wheeling Nailers, the Gwinnett Gladiators looked like a team that was ready for the new year, or at least a new month, after going 2-11-1 in December. Thanks to their dreadful December in which the Glads only earned five points, they finish 2010 looking up from the bottom at the rest of the South Division, a division that they were leading only a month earlier with a 12-5-4 record. The Gladiators decline started with a 7-1 stomping issued by the Greenville Road Warriors on December 2, at the Bi-Lo Center. The two teams would face each other three more times during the month with the same result every game and the Road Warriors outscoring the Glads 17-3 in their four meetings. Also contributing to the Gladiators woes was divisional opponents South Carolina, with three wins, and Florida, with two wins, resulting in a 0-9 record against the South Division in December. The Gladiators only other opponent during the month was the Wheeling Nailers, who earned two wins against Gwinnett at the War Memorial Arena on December 10 and 11, by outscoring the Glads 15-5 in the two meetings. Wheeling’s trip to the Gwinnett Center to wrap up the month was a mixed bag for the Glads. The two teams would face each other three times over a four night period and would result in two wins and a loss for Gwinnett. The series started on December 28, with a Gwinnett 4-3 win in a shootout, to break the 11 game losing streak that the team was mired in, but the team would lose team captain, Sam Roberts to a cheap shot from Joey Haddad, who received a one game suspension for his actions. The star of the game for Gwinnett was goalie Edward Pasquale, who was reassigned from Chicago (AHL) by the Atlanta Thrashers, with 49 saves in his first outing for the Glads. He followed up that performance the next night with 35 more saves to lead Gwinnett to a 5-2 win, which also featured the return of fan favorite Tom Zanoski from Lake Erie (AHL). When the two teams met on New Year’s Eve to wrap up the series, you could cut the tension in the arena with a knife with the return of Haddad from his suspension. From the opening drop of the puck to the eventual fight between Haddad and Tim Miller toward the end of the third period, you could tell that revenge was on the minds of the Gladiator players and fans. The Nailers also had revenge on their mind, but did it on the scoreboard, taking a 4-1 win and wrapping up the Gladiators’ dreadful December by handing them their 11 loss of the month. Despite their rough month and their 14-15-1-4 record, the Gladiators are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and are poised to make a strong run on the second half of the season with the new additions to the team and ECHL All Star Aaron Bendickson leading the way. Contact the writer: David.Stewart@ProHockeyNews.com
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