Professional Sports

Neil Rackers gained a measure of redemption and sent the Atlanta Falcons to another loss in their demoralizing season.

Derek Nesbitt notched two assists to bring his total to 28 on the season and climb closer to the league lead in assists and Jon Awe scored his third goal in the last two games, but it was not enough as the Gwinnett Gladiators fell to the Pensacola Ice Pilots 6-5 Saturday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa each scored in the shootout to give the Thrashers a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Gwinnett Gladiators goalie Craig Kowalski and defenseman Jamie Milam were both selected to their first All-Star game.

Joe Johnson took over down the stretch, leading the Atlanta Hawks to their season-high fourth consecutive victory.

If owner Arthur Blank hires a coach whose personality is directly opposite from Bobby Petrino's, DeAngelo Hall wants to return to the Atlanta Falcons next year.

ATLANTA -- Todd White's power-play goal 47 seconds into the third period broke a tie and helped the Atlanta Thrashers snap the Ottawa Senators' winning streak at six, with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Jon Awe notched a pair of goals for the Gladiators while Derek Nesbitt had a pair of assists but it wasn't enough for the Gladiators in a 5-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Thursday night at the Charlotte Bobcats' Arena. With the loss, Gwinnett's seven game winning streak is snapped as the Gladiators fall to 18-6-1 on the year.

MIAMI -- The Miami Heat may protest what they believe was a scoring error in an overtime loss at Atlanta. Shaquille O'Neal fouled out with 51 seconds remaining in Miami's 117-111 loss last night. But statsheets distributed immediately after the game showed the Miami center with five fouls.

FLOWERY BRANCH -- Warrick Dunn doesn't want his career to end with a whimper. The three-time Pro Bowl running back, who last month became just the 22nd NFL player to rush for 10,000 career yards, has too much pride to leave the Atlanta Falcons in such disrepair.