The Gladiators will open the 2013-14 season at the Arena at Gwinnett Center with a pair of back-to-back games against the Greenville Road Warriors on Friday, Oct. 18 and Saturday, Oct. 19. Gwinnett will open the season on home ice for the first time since the 2009-2010 season. The duration of the 2013-2014 ECHL regular season has been extended one calendar week this year with the Gladiators regular season finale set for Saturday, April 12 against the Elmira Jackals.
Many Gladiators game promotions which have become annual traditions are slated to continue during the 2013-2014 season. For the 11th consecutive season, the Gladiators will play on Thanksgiving Night/Thursday, Nov. 28, followed by a new annual home matchup tradition on Black Friday when Gwinnett will host Evansville on Friday, Nov. 29. Gwinnett will again host the annual "Kids Day Out" matinee matchup to commemorate the MLK Jr. Holiday on Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. Of the Gladiators 36 home matchups during the 2013-14 season, a total of 27 games are designated for weekends on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The established 7:05 p.m. start time designation for all games on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays will remain unchanged. However, the start time for Friday night games has been revised to now commence a half-hour earlier at 7:05 p.m. as well. In addition, for the first time in 10 seasons, Sunday games will also see a significant change from the previously established 4:05 p.m. start time and will now begin 2 hours earlier at 2:05 p.m. Gladiators holiday games will begin at 6:05 p.m. to include Thanksgiving and Black Friday as well as games on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27. The Gladiators will play a special afternoon game at 2:05 p.m. following the New Year's Holiday on Thursday, Jan. 2, and the only Monday game on the MLK Jr. Holiday will continue slated for its traditional midday start time of 12:30 p.m.
"The change in start times is an effort to provide the most appealing and opportune game times for families and fans to enjoy our games," said Gladiators President Steve Chapman. "We tested a 2:05 Sunday start time in February this past season and received an overwhelmingly positive response. In particular, fans with school-aged children found that the 2:05 start allowed them to have the kids home in the late afternoon with plenty of time to prepare for school the next day. An earlier start also ties in more effectively with our extremely popular Kroger Family Sunday Deal, allowing families the opportunity to redeem and enjoy that free Kroger chicken dinner immediately after a game. The move to 7:05 on Fridays is similar in nature, with the added benefit of a more consistent and easily recognizable start time assignment for the majority of Gladiators game dates."
The Gladiators 13-14 schedule is highlighted by action against 2013 Kelly Cup Champion Reading with a pair of games against the Royals on Friday, February 21st and Saturday, February 22nd. Former Gladiators Head Coach Jeff Pyle will make four appearances at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in his new position behind the bench for the Evansville Ice Men, with games on November 28th, November 29th, December 1st and February 28th. Gwinnett will host 26 games against South Division opponents Greenville, South Carolina, Orlando and Florida. In addition to Evansville, Elmira and Reading, non-divisional teams that will make a trip to Duluth, GA include Wheeling and Kalamazoo. Gwinnett's road schedule includes games at Elmira, Fort Wayne, Reading, Toledo, Kalamazoo, Evansville and Cincinnati, as well as away matchups at all divisional rival home venues.
The Gladiators are the ECHL Affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League and are members of the ECHL, the Premier "AA" Hockey League and play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.
Gwinnett Gladiators 2013-14 Schedule
Fri., Oct. 18, 2013 Greenville
Sat., Oct. 19, 2013 Greenville
Sat., Oct. 26, 2013 at Orlando
Sun., Oct. 27, 2013 at Orlando
Wed., Oct. 30, 2013 Orlando
Fri., Nov. 1, 2013 at South Carolina
Sat., Nov. 2, 2013 at South Carolina
Sun., Nov. 3, 2013 South Carolina
Fri., Nov. 8, 2013 at Greenville
Sat., Nov. 9, 2013 Greenville
Mon., Nov. 11, 2013 at Greenville
Thu., Nov. 14, 2013 Florida
Fri., Nov. 15, 2013 Florida
Sun., Nov. 17, 2013 at South Carolina
Tue., Nov. 19, 2013 at South Carolina
Fri., Nov. 22, 2013 at Greenville
Sat., Nov. 23, 2013 Greenville
Thu., Nov. 28, 2013 Evansville
Fri., Nov. 29, 2013 Evansville
Sun., Dec. 1, 2013 Evansville
Fri., Dec. 6, 2013 Kalamazoo
Sun., Dec. 8, 2013 at Greenville
Fri., Dec. 13, 2013 South Carolina
Sun., Dec. 15, 2013 Orlando
Fri., Dec. 20, 2013 South Carolina
Sat., Dec. 21, 2013 at South Carolina
Thu., Dec. 26, 2013 South Carolina
Fri., Dec. 27, 2013 Wheeling
Sun., Dec. 29, 2013 at Ft Wayne
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013 at Evansville
Thu., Jan. 2, 2014 South Carolina
Fri., Jan. 3, 2014 at South Carolina
Sat., Jan. 4, 2014 Florida
Tue., Jan. 7, 2014 at South Carolina
Fri., Jan. 10, 2014 Orlando
Sat., Jan. 11, 2014 Orlando
Tue., Jan. 14, 2014 at Evansville
Wed., Jan. 15, 2014 at Cincinnati
Fri., Jan. 17, 2014 at Kalamazoo
Sat., Jan. 18, 2014 at Kalamazoo
Mon., Jan. 20, 2014 Wheeling
Fri., Jan. 24, 2014 at Orlando
Sat., Jan. 25, 2014 at Orlando
Thu., Jan. 30, 2014 Orlando
Sat., Feb. 1, 2014 Orlando
Fri., Feb. 7, 2014 at Florida
Sat., Feb. 8, 2014 at Florida
Sat., Feb. 15, 2014 at Orlando
Sun., Feb. 16, 2014 at Orlando
Fri., Feb. 21, 2014 Reading
Sat., Feb. 22, 2014 Reading
Sun., Feb. 23, 2014 South Carolina
Tue., Feb. 25, 2014 Evansville
Fri., Feb. 28, 2014 Florida
Sat., Mar. 1, 2014 Florida
Sun., Mar. 2, 2014 Florida
Fri., Mar. 7, 2014 at Florida
Sat., Mar. 8, 2014 at Florida
Thu., Mar. 13, 2014 at Greenville
Fri., Mar. 14, 2014 South Carolina
Sat., Mar. 15, 2014 at South Carolina
Mon., Mar. 17, 2014 at Elmira
Wed., Mar. 19, 2014 at Reading
Fri., Mar. 21, 2014 at Ft Wayne
Sat., Mar. 22, 2014 at Toledo
Sun., Mar. 23, 2014 at Toledo
Fri., Mar. 28, 2014 at Greenville
Sat., Mar. 29, 2014 Greenville
Fri., Apr. 4, 2014 Greenville
Sat., Apr. 5, 2014 at Greenville
Wed., Apr. 9, 2014 Elmira
Sat., Apr. 12, 2014 Elmira
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