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 Glads Unveil New Jerseys Tuesday, October 09, 2012 In honor of their 10th year in Gwinnett, the Gladiators have decided to commemorate the anniversary by introducing a new maroon jersey for the 2012-2013 season. Fans in attendance at this past Sunday’s pre-season game were privy to a special sneak peek at the new sweaters, seen below. The Gladiators will wear them for Opening Weekend before their designation on road games as the "dark" sweater option per ECHL mandate. At the midway point of the season, member teams will switch their jerseys, and the Gladiators will finish the 2nd half of the year wearing their maroon sweaters at home. In homage to the history of hockey, the jerseys have a decidedly vintage feel complete with lace-up neck and "Gwinnett" across the chest. "This is a special year for us," said Gladiators President and General Manager Steve Chapman. "We wanted to do something to celebrate our decade in Gwinnett, but also breathe some new life into our look with a fresh jersey design."  The jerseys will not be available for purchase until doors open on Opening Night - Friday, October 19th. Fans who wish to purchase a replica of the maroon sweaters may do so at the special MAROON JERSEY TABLE that will be located in the main lobby of The Arena at Gwinnett. There are only 250 replica jerseys available this season. (180 Adult in Sizes S - 2XL, 70 Youth in Sizes S/M & L/XL) No authentic jerseys were manufactured for retail this season. The only way to purchase an authentic maroon sweater will be via our jersey auction at the conclusion of the Gladiators regular season. Christina Johnson, Gladiators Director of Merchandise, noted that she "received a great response to the jerseys at the pre-season game Sunday. Our team - and fans - seemed to really love the design and are excited about having something different on the ice." She also took the opportunity to explain the lack of in-stock jerseys for the upcoming season: "Our contract with SP Apparel, who has been our jersey manufacturer since year two, comes to an end at the conclusion of the 2012-2013 season. As such, Chappy (Pres/GM Steve Chapman) and I discussed the situation when we placed our order back in March. Next season, we’ll be under contract to ONLY sell jerseys manufactured by our new jersey supplier. Any leftover SP jerseys would be rendered unable to be sold. Not wanting to find ourselves saddled with a surplus of jerseys, we decided to err on the side of caution in regards to ordering. While it’s not our ideal situation, it does add quite a bit of extra value to the jerseys will we have for the season. It’s created quite a very limited edition scenario for our fans." The game worn jerseys will also include both an ECHL 25th Anniversary Season patch and a Gladiators 10th Anniversary patch, in addition to the customary Kroger sponsorship patch. While the Gladiators 10th Anniversary patches will be available for sale in the Team Store, the ECHL 25th Anniversary patches will only be available on the game-worn jerseys auctioned at the end of the season. 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. |
