Nailers Release 2008-09 Schedule
April 30, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release
WHEELING, WV - The Wheeling Nailers, the 'AA' affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers have announced their 72-game ECHL regular season schedule for 2008-09, which begins Friday, Oct. 17 at home verse the Cincinnati Cyclones. Wheeling, which enters its seventeenth season in the ECHL, will travel to Johnstown on Saturday, Oct. 18 to close out the opening weekend.
This will mark the first time in three seasons that Wheeling will open the regular season at home. The Nailers will play six of their first seven games at home including games with Cincinnati (Oct 17, 24) , Trenton (Oct 25, 26), Dayton (Oct 31) and Johnstown (Nov 1).
The Nailers and Johnstown Chiefs will be very familiar with one another, as the two will square off twelve times in the regular season. Wheeling will also play the Elmira Jackals and Dayton Bombers eleven times each in 2008-09.
Wheeling will travel south for a four game road trip against Southern Division foes Mississippi and Pensacola starting Nov.4 through Nov. 8. The Nailers will end the 2008-09 season by playing seven of their final eleven games at WesBanco Arena. They will conclude the season in Trenton on April, 4th.
2008-09 Season Ticket packages are on sale now starting at just $324. Kids Season Tickets only $180. For more information or to order your season tickets call 304-234-GOAL or online at www.wheelingnailers.com.
Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier $B!F(BAA$B!G(B Hockey League has grown into a coast-to-coast league that will have 24 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Nineteen of the 24 teams have played at least five years in their current city.
The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game last season, marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans.
The Premier $B!F(BAA$B!G(B Hockey League welcomed 3,756,191 fans, marking the fifth straight season and the 11th time in the last 12 years that it has exceeded 3.75 million fans. The 51 sold out crowds are the most in the last five seasons and mark the fourth time in the last five years that the ECHL has had at least 40 sellouts.
The conference and division alignments and the format for the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs will be determined and approved at a later date by the ECHL Board of Governors.
The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL in 2007-08, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
There have been 355 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including 99 in the last three seasons. There have been 210 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past seven seasons.
There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is head coach of the Washington Capitals.
The ECHL is represented for the seventh consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2007 with Anaheim assistant coach Dave Farrish, players Francois Beauchemin and George Parros and broadcasters John Ahlers and Steve Carroll.
The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion.
In each of the last two seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL and there were over 800 call-ups involving more than 500 players. In the last five seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,000 call-ups involving more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.
2008-09 Wheeling Nailers Regular Season Schedule
Date Visitor H/A Home Time
Fri.October 17, Cincinnati vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.October 18, Wheeling at Johnstown TBA
Fri.October 24, Cincinnati vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.October 25, Trenton vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sun.October 26, Trenton vs. Wheeling 1:35 PM
Fri.October 31, Dayton vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.November 1, Johnstown vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Tues.November 4, Wheeling at Pensacola TBA
Thurs.November 6, Wheeling at Pensacola TBA
Fri.November 7, Wheeling at Mississippi TBA
Sat.November 8, Wheeling at Mississippi TBA
Wed.November 12, Wheeling at Johnstown TBA
Fri.November 14, Dayton vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.November 15, Wheeling at Elmira 7:35 PM
Fri.November 21, Wheeling at Cincinnati TBA
Sat.November 22, Wheeling at Cincinnati TBA
Wed.November 26, Johnstown vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Fri.November 28, Wheeling at Dayton TBA
Sat.November 29, Elmira vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Fri.December 5, Wheeling at Dayton TBA
Sat.December 6, Wheeling at Dayton TBA
Fri.December 12, Wheeling at Cincinnati TBA
Sat.December 13, Reading vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sun.December 14, Reading vs. Wheeling 6:05 PM
Fri.December 19, Johnstown vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.December 20, Wheeling at Johnstown TBA
Sun.December 21, Trenton vs. Wheeling 6:05 PM
Fri.December 26, Reading vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.December 27, Cincinnati vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sun.December 28, Wheeling at Dayton TBA
Wed.December 31, Cincinnati vs. Wheeling 7:05 PM
Fri.January 2, Elmira vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.January 3, Elmira vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Fri.January 9, Pensacola vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sun.January 11, Pensacola vs. Wheeling 4:05 PM
Tues.January 13, Wheeling at Cincinnati TBA
Wed.January 14, Wheeling at Cincinnati TBA
Fri.January 16, Wheeling at Reading TBA
Sat.January 17, Cincinnati vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Fri.January 23, Wheeling at Johnstown TBA
Sat.January 24, Wheeling at Reading TBA
Sun.January 25, Wheeling at Elmira 4:05 PM
Fri.January 30, Wheeling at Reading TBA
Sat.January 31, Mississippi vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sun.February 1, Mississippi vs. Wheeling TBA
Fri.February 6, Dayton vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.February 7, Elmira vs. Wheeling 8:05 PM
Wed.February 11, Wheeling at Trenton TBA
Fri.February 13, Wheeling at Dayton TBA
Sat.February 14, Wheeling at Dayton TBA
Sun.February 15, Wheeling at Johnstown TBA
Fri.February 20, Wheeling at Trenton TBA
Sat.February 21, Wheeling at Reading TBA
Sun.February 22, Wheeling at Trenton TBA
Tues.February 24, Wheeling at Trenton TBA
Fri.February 27, Elmira vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.February 28, Elmira vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Fri.March 6, Johnstown vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.March 7, Johnstown vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Wed.March 11, Wheeling at Reading TBA
Sat.March 14, Wheeling at Johnstown TBA
Sun.March 15, Johnstown vs. Wheeling 4:05 PM
Tues.March 17, Trenton vs. Wheeling 7:05 PM
Fri.March 20, Dayton vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.March 21, Reading vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sun.March 22, Reading vs. Wheeling 4:05 PM
Fri.March 27, Wheeling at Elmira 7:35 PM
Sat.March 28, Wheeling at Elmira 7:35 PM
Sun.March 29, Wheeling at Elmira 4:05 PM
Wed.April 1, Trenton vs. Wheeling 7:05 PM
Fri.April 3, Dayton vs. Wheeling 7:35 PM
Sat.April 4, Wheeling at Trenton TBA
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