Gwinnett Daily Post

Staff Photo: Jason Braverman. Ryan Guley, ice operations manager, left, and Bob Caswell, ice technician, apply a layer of pink ice to the hockey rink at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Wednesday morning. The Gwinnett Gladiators are holding their fourth annual Pink in the Rink event this weekend during their games Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

DULUTH -- The Gwinnett Gladiators will be seeing pink this weekend as officials dyed the ice on Wednesday for the fourth annual "Pink in the Rink."

The event is designed to raise money and awareness for cancer research and local children's charities.

"I think people sometimes mistake it for being all about breast cancer -- which I can see because it's pink -- but we also work with other organizations that deal with cancer awareness and prevention," Gladiators general manager Steve Chapman said.

"Pink in the Rink" has raised more than $175,000 during the first three seasons. With games Friday, Saturday and Sunday against the Florida Everblades, the Gladiators hope to continue that trend.

The theme for this year is "Parrot Head," and the players will be wearing "Margaritaville" jerseys which will later be auctioned.

"It's the annual good time for a great cause weekend. This is our first time doing it in March and we decided to tie in spring. Especially here in the South, people enjoy the beach, so we're tying in that theme (with Margaritaville jerseys)," Chapman said.

Tickets for all three games are still available. Visit www.gwinnettgladiators.com for more information.