Brutlag and Helfrich Net First Professional Goals
DULUTH -- It was a night of firsts as the Gwinnett Gladiators
slowly put Greenville to bed in their home opener Friday.
Two former Renesselaer standouts and teammates, Tyler Helfrich and
Bryan Brutlag, helped improve the Gladiators to a 2-1-0 record on
the young season. The rookies notched their first professional
goals in the 6-1 rout of Greenville.
Brutlag put Gwinnett in the lead for good early in the second
period as he grabbed a loose rebound in the left circle and put it
over a sprawled out goalie Jerry Kuhn.
"It was a very fitting goal as I was able to put home a rebound
like I normally do," Brutlag said.
Helfrich added to the RPI theme as he notched his first two goals
early in the third period. Similar to Brutlag, Helfrich found the
back of the net from the left doorstep off a tape-to-tape feed from
another new Gladiator, Nikita Kashirsky.
Helfrich was just as excited as his former college teammate to get
his first goal out of the way and even more to poke in a second
just 18 seconds later.
"It felt really good, I was very excited and glad to see some
gelling amongst the team," Helfrich said.
Both RPI alums were just as ecstatic to see each other get their
first goals on the same evening.
"When I found out I was coming to Gwinnett, I called Tyler to let
him know, even before my parents and family," said Brutlag, who
played a couple games for the Florida Everblades at the end of last
season.
"It's really fun to be playing with an old teammate and it's great
that we got our first goals on the same night," Helfrich said.
They weren't the only firsts for Gwinnett on Friday. Defenseman
Corey Fienhage also got his first pro goal to start the goal fest
for the Gladiators. Marc Cheverie got his first win between the
pipes for Gwinnett, stopping 36 of 37 shots. Head coach John
Wroblewski also got his first home win as the Gladiators bench boss
and second overall with the team.
