Little has been seen or heard from the Thrashers’ front office, as the team prepares for its upcoming training camp. Their partners up north on I-85 have been plenty busy getting ready for the beginning of the ECHL season, however.
Last week the Thrashers’ Double-A affiliate announced the signing of two players for the 2008-09 season. First the team announced the signing of goaltender Charlie Effinger, who just ended his career at Miami University of Ohio. Last season, Effinger went a perfect 6-0 in his six starts for the Redhawks. During his time he posted a .912 save percentage and won all four games he started in conference play. Effinger’s best year came two seasons ago when he ranked first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in goals against along with save percentage. His conference-leading stats earned him CCHA best goaltender honors along with being Miami’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Along with Effinger, the Gladiators announced the signing of defensemen Josh Engel for the upcoming season. Engel, a rookie out of the University of Wisconsin, becomes the team’s fifth defensemen to be signed this offseason. A four-year star for the Badgers, Engel had his most offensively productive season last year with Wisconsin. In his senior campaign, Engel scored three goals along with five assists, leaving him with a career-best eight points to end the season.
GWINNETT SCHEDULE CHANGE
Not only did Gwinnett announce the signing of two players to the roster for next season, but the team also released its revised schedule for the 2008-09 season. The ECHL was forced to release a new schedule after the loss of the Pensacola Ice Pilots from the ECHL. In total, 15 of the Gladiators’ originally scheduled games changed, included two games at home. Gwinnett was scheduled to host South Carolina on Feb. 13, but that home game has been replaced with a home game against Florida on Jan. 14. On Feb. 13, the Gladiators will now travel to Augusta.
The second change to the home schedule regards the team’s last regular-season game at home. South Carolina was scheduled to visit on April 4, a game to be preceded by a trip for Gwinnett to Charlotte the previous evening. Now, however, the trip to Charlotte will follow a home game against South Carolina on April 3.
THRASHERS SCHEDULE
It’s hard to fathom with the football season just getting underway this week, but in only two weeks the Thrashers’ prospects will hit the ice for a few games in an event hosted by the Detroit Red Wings in Traverse City, Mich. Only two weeks later, the Thrashers will finally hit the ice as a team, as Atlanta travels to Nashville, Tenn., for the opening exhibition game of the season on Sept. 25.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
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