ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Play Back To Back With Johnstown

Published on November 13, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Weekend Preview -

The Wheeling Nailers return to the ice this weekend to play a "home and home" series with the Johnstown Chiefs. Friday's game is at 7:05 in Johnstown. Saturday night is a 7:35 tilt in Wheeling. This is also the continuation of a 3 game stretch between the two teams which began last Saturday night with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win for the Nailers at WesBanco Arena.

This is a renewal of the ECHL's oldest rivalry with their 165th all-time encounter. Wheeling leads the all-time series with a record of 87-59-18 against Johnstown which is the most wins against any single team in the ECHL.

Saturday night's home game is Belmont County Night at WesBanco Arena. $2 discount coupons are available at a variety of locations around Belmont County.

All kids get in for $5 for all home games and students are only $7 for a great night of Nailers hockey. It's the best entertainment value in the Ohio Valley!

Get your tickets by calling the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL (234-4625) or toll-free at 1-877-NAIL-TIX and log on to wheelingnailers.com for more information.

Notes -

Mitch Ganzak has scored back-to-back overtime game-winners against Johnstown dating back to last season. Wheeling's lone overtime win in 2008-09 came on March 15th when Ganzak fired it home at 4:29 by moving around a defender to the top of the left-wing circle and snapping home the wrister. Ganzak's overtime winner last Saturday came at the 1:31 mark when he took the face-off win from Jordan Fox, kept possession of the puck, and then moved in along the goal-line from the right-wing corner to stuff it past Kris Mayotte.

Jordan Fox has a 2 game goal scoring streak straight after his return to the lineup following an injury that kept him out of the lineup since opening night October 16th.

Adam Berkhoel returns from the I.R. and is expected to start one of the games in net this weekend for the Nailers.

T.J. Fox and Slavomir Tomko also are due to come off the I.R. this weekend and are expected to play. Fox hasn't played since October 30th. Tomko has yet to play this year and will be making his Nailers debut. The defenseman from Slovakia played for the Elmira Jackals last year and led that team in plus-minus rating.

Wheeling picked up a couple players over the week. Chris Davis played 3 games with the Stockton Thunder and has been acquired by the Nailers. The UMass-Amherst product will be wearing #21 for the Nailers.

Cleve Kinley is a defenseman from Surrey, BC acquired from the Florida Everblades in a trade for future considerations. Kinley is en route and could be in the lineup for Saturday's game. The UMass-Lowell product is in his 3rd season in the ECHL and will provide experience on the blue-line. He played for Stockton in 2007-08 and for the Texas Wildcatters in 2008-09 and also has a couple AHL call-ups to Grand Rapids and Springfield to his credit.

The Nailers are playing the 2nd and 3rd of 10 games against Johnstown. Wheeling is 1-0-0 against the Chiefs this year.

Friday, November 13th - Cambria County War Memorial, Johnstown, Penn.

Saturday, November 14th - WesBanco Arena, Wheeling, WV

Wheeling Nailers (3-6-1) Johnstown Chiefs (2-6-2)

Head Coach: Wheeling - Greg Puhalski (3rd season with Wheeling, 16th in professional hockey) Johnstown - Jeff Flanagan (1st season)

Affiliation: Wheeling - Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) Johnstown - Minnesota Wild (NHL), Houston Aeros (AHL)

Recently:

Wheeling - Lost 2-1 to South Carolina last Friday. Won in overtime 4-3 on Saturday with Mitch Ganzak scoring the game-winner 1:31 into the extra session. Jordan Fox scored goals in both games in his return to the lineup following an injury that had kept him out since October 16. Wheeling had a 2-0 earlier in the game and had a chance to build on that but was unable to capitalize. Johnstown knocked in 2 power play goals early in the 3rd in their comeback efforts to get the standings point and force overtime.

Johnstown - Following their Saturday night overtime loss at Wheeling the Chiefs returned home for a Wednesday night encounter with the Reading Royals. Johnstown picked up their 2nd win of the season in a 6-4 contest. Johnstown has 5 points out of 6 in their last 3 games.

Johnstown has traded Ryan Del Monte to Cincinnati while they received forward Bryan Marshall. Del Monte's last game with the Chiefs featured him receiving a game misconduct in the 1st period Saturday night from the penalty-box as he argued with the referee. The Chiefs also acquired defenseman Chris Zarb from Gwinnett. Their captain, Mike Knight, has been placed on the I.R. after a head-first collision into the end-boards Wednesday night. Knight was stretchered off in front of a hushed crowd in Johnstown but it was later revealed that the damage was not severe.

Top Scorers: Wheeling - Thomas Beauregard (7-3-10), Joey Haddad (4-6-10), T.J. Fox (3-5-8), Mitch Ganzak (1-7-8) Johnstown -Troy Schwab (2-6-8), Ryan Menei (1-7-8), Jim McKenzie (3-4-7), Mike Bartlett (3-4-7)

Top Goalie: Wheeling - Jordan Parise, 2-4-0, 3.06,.914 / Adam Berkhoel, 1-2-1, 4.17,.883 Johnstown - Shane Connelly, 2-3-0, 3.33,.882 / Kris Mayotte, 0-3-2, 3.83,. 885

Upcoming Home Games and Promotions:

Sat, November 14 - Wheeling Nailers vs. Johnstown Chiefs (Belmont Community Night)

Wed, November 25 - Wheeling Nailers vs. Florida Everblades

WesBanco Wednesday and WVU Appreciation. $1 Beers through the first intermission. 2-for-1 ticket coupons at WesBanco or by showing your WesBanco card or check-book at the game. Nailers to wear Blue-and-Gold jerseys in tribute to the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Sat, November 28 - Wheeling Nailers vs. Cincinnati Cyclones

George Kellas Bobbleheads and Pink in the Rink and Toys for Tots and Teddy Bear Toss. The great sportscast George Kellas to be honored at the game and the first 2500 fans to receive Kellas bobbleheads. Nailers to wear pink jerseys in support of breast cancer awareness. Pink jerseys to be auctioned later. Bring new toys to donate to area needy kids for the holidays. Teddy Bear toss to benefit local charities. Fans get to throw the Teddy Bears after the Nailers score the first goal.

Sun, November 29 - Wheeling Nailers vs. Cincinnati Cyclones

NFL Jersey Sunday and Skate with the Nailers. Wear an NFL jersey to get $2 off any adult ticket. Post-game skate with the Wheeling Nailers players. Bring your own skates and gloves as well as pens and cameras to get autographs and pictures. Nailers to wear their special pink jerseys again and the Toys for Tots drive continues.

Coming up we'll see the Nailers wear Blue and Gold West Virginia Mountaineer style jerseys on Wednesday, November 25 on West Virginia University Appreciation Night. And then the pink jerseys on Pink in the Rink to promote Breast Cancer Awareness on Saturday, November 28 and Sunday, November 29.

Wheeling-Mountaineer College Hockey Club Tournament at WesBanco Arena:

Saturday, November 28 - Noon and 3pm. West Chester vs. Duquesne and Ohio U vs. West Virginia.

Sunday, November 29 - Noon and 3pm. Consolation and Championship games.

All part of a hockey triple-header at WesBanco with the Wheeling Nailers playing at home both nights.

Experience Counts: Greg Puhalski is entering his 16th year at the bench and 3rd for 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.com and 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.

Overnight Packages:

Make it a Hockey Night in Wheeling with one of our popular Nailers overnight packages starting at just $99. Come cheer for the proud AA affiliate of the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins$B!D(Bthe Wheeling Nailers$B!D(Bless than an hour from downtown Pittsburgh!

Two tickets, hotel room, dinner in town$B!D(Byou'll have a great time. Other packages available too including a $159 package at Wheeling Island Hotel and Casino.

To reserve your overnight package with the Nailers call 304-234-GOAL

Birthday Parties with the Nailers:

Have a Birthday Blast with the Nailers! The Birthday Boy or Girl gets all sorts of great stuff including a Team Autographed Birthday Card, Photo with the mascot, Spike, a Nailers Hockey Puck, a free kids meal at Perkins and a special announcement in the arena! Everyone in the group gets tickets to the game, Ice Cream from United Dairy, a free soda, and a special visit from Spike! You can make it a premium birthday package for pizza, hot dogs, cupcakes and more. It's Birthday Party Fun with the Nailers! Call 304-234-GOAL to book your special night!

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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ECHL Stories from November 13, 2009


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