Greg Puhalski to Coach All-Star Game
Published on January 7, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release
Nailers Coach Greg Puhalski has been named to coach the American Conference in the upcoming ECHL All-Star game on January 21st in Reading. Puhalski was tapped for the honor due to his team having the top winning percentage. The Wheeling Nailers lead the American Conference with a record of 22-6-5 for 49 points.
Puhalski will be joined by three Nailers players on his American Conference team. Tommy Goebel, Nick Johnson and Rob Sirianni were all named as members of the American Conference All Star team a couple weeks ago. All three players are currently in the AHL. If they are unable to participate in the ECHL All-Star game due to AHL obligations than replacements can be found for them from the Nailers. A couple leading candidates could be the team's leading scorers, Jordan Morrison and Bryan Ewing.
Puhalski will be joined on the bench by Johnstown coach Ian Herbers.
"I've been fortunate enough to be an All-Star coach a few times previous to this," said Puhalski of the honor. "It's always a team award when your coach gets named because it generally means your team has done pretty well garnering some points. I would like to thank the players first and foremost for allowing me the opportunity to be the coach at the All-Star game. I'll coach the team with pride and try to come out with two points."
Greg Puhalski is in his first full season as head coach of the Wheeling Nailers after taking over behind the bench on Jan. 2, 2008. The 43 year old returns to the ECHL where he was head coach of Toledo from 1994-98. He was 162-85-31 in the regular season and led the Storm to the postseason every year. Toledo set an ECHL record in 1995-96 with 48 wins while its 104 points (38-14-8) were the second-highest total in league history and its .743 winning percentage was the third best. Puhalski's winning percentage of .692 (89-36-13) in his first two seasons with Toledo is the highest in ECHL history for a coach after two years.
Selected by the Boston Bruins in the third round (62nd overall) in the 1983 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Puhalski played three seasons with Toledo helping the team win back-to-back ECHL championships in 1993 and 1994. He had 225 points (70g-155a) in 122 regular season games and 53 points (20g-33a) in 35 postseason games. He led the league in the postseason in 1994 with 19 assists while ranking second with 25 points in 14 games and tied for second with 12 goals and ranked fourth in 1993 with 24 points in 16 games. He coached in the United Hockey League from 1998-2007 and was 346-197-61 leading his team to the playoffs every season but one and winning the league championship in 2003 with the Fort Wayne Komets.
Puhalski passed the 1000 mark for total regular season games coached in professional hockey earlier this season and is approaching the 600 regular season win milestone as he now stands at 587 career coaching victories.
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