Gladiators Rookie to Help Fight for Olympic Spot

Conway headed to England for Olympic qualifier

Duluth, GA – Atlanta Gladiators rookie forward Scott Conway has been selected to join England’s national team to try and help them qualify for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing for 2022. Conway was born in Basingstoke, played juniors and still has family in England.

It has been quite a year for the Gladiators rookie. Last year at this time he was playing hockey for Providence College and would eventually help the Friars go to the NCAA tournament. In October he started his professional career with the Gladiators and began by scoring a goal in each of the first five games, including a hat trick in his second. After scoring seven goals in those first five games, he would be called up in late October. Scott would go back to Providence, but this time as a pro, playing on minor league hockey’s highest level (AHL), with the Providence Bruins. This past Saturday he scored the goal to start the annual Teddy Bear Toss. Just days later, he is headed back to his home country to try to help them go to the Olympics for the first time since 1948 when they finished fifth.

Most would be surprised to know that England had success early on in ice hockey when the Winter Olympics first began. They won the bronze in the very first winter games in 1924, just missed a medal in 1928 (finishing fourth) and won gold in 1936, beating out Canada (silver) and the U.S. (bronze).

The Olympic qualifiers begin this week on February 6, with the games taking place in England at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. Team England will play the first of three games, on February 8 against Romania, then take on Estonia and Hungary.

Conway comes from a big hockey family with roots in England.  His father Kevin played pro hockey in England for almost a quarter-century and as high as the IHL. His uncle Fred Perlini was drafted by Toronto in the eighth round in 1980 and played in both the AHL and NHL for the Maple Leafs. He would finish the last eight years of his career in England. His cousin Brett was a seventh-round pick by the Anaheim Ducks, played in the ECHL and is currently playing pro hockey where the qualifying round is being held, for the Nottingham Panthers. He will also be Scott’s teammate in the Olympic qualifying tournament. His other cousin Brendan Perlini was a 2014 first-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes and is in his fourth NHL season, currently playing with the Detroit Red Wings.

Scott played junior hockey in the England U16 League, before playing in the U.S.  In 2013-14, Conway played in the USHL for the Indiana Ice, where he was an All-Star, led the league in plus/minus (+40) and helped his team win the Clark Cup Championship. In 2015-16, while in the BCHL in Canada, he was a First Team All-Star and was the league’s top scorer, winning the Brett Hull Trophy. That season he tallied 116 points, scoring 56 goals in 56 games and added 60 assists. From there, he headed to Providence College where he would play four seasons.

In 29 games with the Gladiators this season, he has 23 points (13g, 10a). In two call ups this year with the Providence Bruins he played in 12 games and had five points (3g, 2a).  

The Atlanta Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the nation’s premier "AA" hockey league and are the Affiliate of the Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins. All home games are played at the 9,119-seat Infinite Energy Arena, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators have established an unrivaled commitment to excellence, maintaining a distinctive reputation for providing fun, friendly, family, affordable entertainment and are consistently ranked as one of the best “Things to Do” in the Atlanta Metro area and across the North Georgia region. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting www.atlantagladiators.com or by calling the front office at (770) 497-5100.