Two for Thursday; Gladiators Make Two Additions to Roster

March 6, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL) Gwinnett Gladiators DULUTH, Ga. - The Gwinnett Gladiators made a couple moves on Thursday, signing rookie goaltender Josh Unice and forward Will MacDonald. In a corresponding move, goaltender Nick Niedert was released.

Unice (pronounced you-nis), 24, was a third round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks (#86 overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and also attended training camp with the then-Atlanta Thrashers in 2009. The Holland, OH native will make his pro debut with Gwinnett after he finished his senior campaign at the University of Western Ontario this season with a 16-4 record, 2.56 goals against average, and a .927 save percentage. Unice was also named the top goaltender in the OUA West division for the second time in his career. In a little over four years as a Mustang, Unice went 58-18 in 84 games with seven shutouts. He never lost more than five games, nor posted a save percentage lower than .916 in a season.

Prior to his time with Western Ontario, Unice split three junior seasons between the Kitchner Rangers and the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. In 2007-08, he backstopped Kitchner to an OHL Championship and a Memorial Cup runner-up finish while being named to the OHL All-Rookie Team. The next season he was a member of a Spitfires team that won both the OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup. He was also a member of Team USA for the 2009 World Junior Championship.

MacDonald, 25, wrapped up a four-year stint at Princeton last season where he scored 10 goals with 21 assists in 100 games. The Alpharetta, Ga. native then scored three goals in six games with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, before returning for 17 more games with the Blades this season.

The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the nation's premier "AA" hockey league and are affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. All home games are played at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

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Two for Thursday; Gladiators Make Two Additions to Roster