ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Host Elmira For Two

Published on February 12, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Friday, 7:35 (WesBanco Arena, Wheeling, WV) -Elmira Jackals at Wheeling Nailers

Saturday, 7:35 (WesBanco Arena, Wheeling, WV) - Elmira Jackals at Wheeling Nailers

Preview -

The Nailers host back to back games on Friday February 12th and 13th against the Elmira Jackals before they hit the road for a seven game series.

Wheeling enters action having gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games. Wheeling is 9-1-2 in their last 12 home games and 4-0-1 in their last 5. The Nailers are 26-20-4 overall this season with 56 points, 6th in the American Conference, and only one point back of 5th place Florida Everblades who are 25-18-7 for 57 points.

The Elmira Jackals are 25-17-5 overall this season with 55 points, 1st in the Eastern Division which automatically places them 3rd in the American Conference. Elmira is 7-2-1 in their last ten games. Wheeling is 4-3-0 against Elmira

Last Week

The Wheeling Nailers had a record breaking 10-1 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings Saturday night. T.J. Fox tied a Nailers record with 7 points in the same game including 2 goals and 5 assists. Thomas Beauregard and Aaron Clarke also contributed two goals each the Nailers win. Wheeling went 5-7 on the power play and it was also the first time they scored in double digits this year.

The Nailers played their first morning game in the history of the team on Tuesday and fell to the Johnstown Chiefs in an exciting shootout thriller (3-4). Thomas Beauregard scored first for the Nailers for his 31st of the season on his 24th birthday. The Nailers made an exciting comeback effort in the 3rd period with two goals from Cleve Kinley and Joey Haddad to tie it up and send it into overtime in the last 12:00 of regulation. Overtime featured several nice chances for both teams but Berkhoel and Mayotte made some stellar stops to send it into a shootout which resulted in the Nailers loss.

Notes:

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have reassigned defenseman Lane Caffaro to the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL), it was announced on Monday. Caffaro, 25, has appeared in 21 games with the Penguins this season, and has recorded five points (1+4) along with 38 penalty minutes. He scored his first AHL goal on December 28, 2009 against the Adirondack Phantoms. He also has two assists in eight games with the Nailers.

The Nailers are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Wheeling is 4-3-0 against Elmira this year

The Nailers moved into 6th place in the American conference with 56 points only one back from 5th place Florida Everblades with 57 points.

T.J. Fox tied an all-time Nailers record with 7 points in a single game with 2 goals and 5 assists Saturday night. He is the 5th Nailer to register 7 points in a game. The last one to do it before him was Jordan Morrison on Dec 26, 2008.

Mitch Ganzak leads ECHL defensemen with 29 assists and is tied for 2nd in points with 35 points.

Andrew Lord is 3rd in the ECHL with 18 major penalties and 5th in penalty minutes with 140. Lord has 4 goals in his last 7 games.

Ryan Schnell is 3rd among ECHL rookies with 13 major penalties and 107 penalty minutes.

Cliff Loya is playing his 225th game with Wheeling. That is 2nd all-time in Wheeling Nailers history passing Tim Roberts(215 games, 1992-96). Next up on the all-time list is all-time leader Stephan Brannare (231 games, 1997-99, 00-01, 03-06).

Friday & Saturday- Wheeling Nailers (26-20-4)

Elmira Jackals (25-17-5)

Head Coach:

Wheeling - Greg Puhalski (3rd season with Wheeling, 16th in professional hockey)

Elmira - Steve Martinson

Affiliation:

Wheeling - Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)

Elmira - Ottawa Senators (NHL), Binghamton Senators (AHL)

Top Nailers

Wheeling - Thomas Beauregard (31-20-51), T.J. Fox (19-24-43), Jordan Fox (14-22-36), Aaron Clarke (15-20-35), Mitch Ganzak (6-29-35)

Top Jackals

Elmira-Justin Donati (26-43-69), Tyler Donati (22-47-69), Oliver Proulx (18-26-44), Yannick Tifu (13-31-44)

Top Goalies

Wheeling- Adam Berkhoel (7-5-2, 3.18, 0.890%)

Elmira- Julien Ellis (13-7-1, 3.35, 0.891%)

Upcoming Home Games

The Nailers host the Elmira Jackals again Saturday night for Boy Scout Night and also Mini-Stick Night for the first 1,000 kids courtesy of Tim Horton' s.

Following Saturday's game, the Nailers will not be back at WesBanco for three weeks as they will embark on a seven game road trip to carry them into the month of March.

Nailers hockey is always the most awesome family entertainment value in town and we want you there cheering on your hometown team. Kids tickets are always $5 and students get in for only $7. Call the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL

Nailers Inaugural Education Day

There are still openings available for the Nailers inaugural Education Field Trip Day on Tuesday, February 9th. Tickets are free for all students and teachers when the Nailers play the Johnstown Chiefs at 11:00am. All the kids will be receiving an educational book and will quizzed on the material they learn at the game when they return to the classroom. It's going to be a really fun time for the kids so get your school signed up for the special event with the Nailers by calling 304-234-GOAL.

Experience Counts:

Greg Puhalski is entering his 16th year at the bench and 3rdfor the Nailers. He is second among all ECHL coaches with 601 coming into this season trailing only Steve Martinson who had 650 wins entering this year. Puhalski has over 200 ECHL wins dating back to the beginning of his coaching career with the Toledo Storm from 1994-98.

Right-Hand Man:

Greg Puhalski has an assistant coach on the staff this year. Doug Doull joins the Nailers and the Penguins organization after doing some coaching in Canadian University hockey for a couple seasons following his 8 year playing career in the AHL and NHL. Doull fought some of the NHL's toughest customers in his time with the Boston Bruins in 2003-04. He played 37 games in the NHL mostly with Boston (and 2 with Washington) and racked up 151 PIM's. His AHL career included stays with Hershey, San Antonio, Utah, Providence, St. John's, Saint John and with other AAA level teams in the old IHL in the late 90's with Michigan (now Kalamazoo), Detroit Vipers and Manitoba.

It's a Girl!!

Wheeling head coach Greg Puhalski is the Ohio Valley's newest Dad! His wife Ally is doing well after giving birth to that couple's first child, a healthy baby girl. Zara Katherine Puhalski was born at 7:05 p.m. on October 29th.

Nailers broadcaster Bob Rotruck and Nailers Accountant Linda Timberlake also share that birthday and both say they heartily approve of the date chosen by the newest member of Nailers Nation!

Congratulations Greg and Ally. And welcome to Nailers Nation Zara!!

Divisional Foes:

The Wheeling Nailers are competing in the North Division again but there has been some realignment in the American Conference. In the four team North the Nailers' divisional rivals will be the Cincinnati Cyclones, Toledo Walleye and Kalamazoo Wings. Toledo returns to the league after a two year hiatus to build their new arena. Kalamazoo (Mich.) enters the ECHL for the first time after 34 years of professional hockey tradition in other leagues.

Wheeling will maintain their rivalries with teams like Johnstown and Elmira and will play them just as many times as typical but those teams will be part of the new four team East Division along with Trenton and Reading. The South Division will comprise Florida, South Carolina, Charlotte and Gwinnett. Wheeling will face all 11 American Conference opponents this year both at home and on the road so there will be a wide variety of foes hitting the ice at WesBanco in the coming months. The top 8 teams out of 12 in the American Conference qualify for the playoffs with the division winners securing the top 3 seeds.

Nailers on the Radio:

All Wheeling Nailers games are broadcast on the Nailers Hockey Network presented by Amica Insurance led by flagship station The Mix 97.3 and on wheelingnailers.comand the B2 network. Bob Rotruck is in his second season with the play-by-play action while former Wheeling Thunderbirds defenseman Brock Woods enters his 10th season of providing color commentary on the home games. Catch the preview of the night's action beginning with the Subway Countdown to Faceoff beginning 20 minutes before the drop of the puck. The Riesbeck's Food Markets Post-game report features a detailed recap of the night's action, audio-replay highlights, and also interviews with coaches and players on home games.

The Nailers Power Hour Presented by Pepsi airs on Thursdays at 6pm from Generation's Pub and Restaurant featuring the Voice of the Nailers, Bob Rotruck, head coach Greg Puhalski, and a player guest each week. Come join us for the fun. The show also features audio-replay highlights of the previous week's action and a recap of the games and preview of what's coming up for the Nailers.

Season tickets are on sale now for all 36 exciting Nailers home games at

WesBanco Arena. Great season ticket plans are available for every budget.

Also take advantage of the Nailers new $87 package for 7 Nailers home games.

Call the Wheeling Nailers at (304) 234-GOAL, that's 234-4625. Or log on to wheelingnailers.com for more information.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 12, 2010


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