ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers this week

January 31, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


NAILERS VS. READING (Friday, February 3-4): (SEASON SERIES: WHEELING 4-2-0)..The Wheeling Nailers and the Reading Royals battle for the top spot in the North this weekend with a home and home showdown. The Royals (25-11-2), the ECHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, are currently in second in the North Division 5 points behind the Nailers but do have four games in hand. Reading travels to Toledo on Wednesday before arriving in the Friendly City. Mike Kompon leads the way offensively with 47 points including points in 20 straight games. The Reading offense despite numerous callups to the AHL is 3rd in the ECHL in scoring average at 3.95 goals per game. In the 6 meetings between the two teams Grant Jacobsen has 8 points against the Nailers while Kompon has 7 points in 5 games. The Nailers, who are 3-1-0 at Reading, have been led by Sean Collins' 12 points with Andy Franck going 2-1-0 in net against the Royals. These two teams met in the playoffs two years ago and could be set for another spring showdown later this year.

NAILERS BROADCAST INFO:

Tune in as the voice of the Nailers, Gary Sharp delivers all of the Nailers action on The Mix WKWK 97.3 and selected games airing on ESPN Radio Pittsburgh 1250AM. Fans can also watch or listen in on the Nailers website. The broadcast begins 20 minutes prior to face-off.

THE COACH IS TALKING AND YOU CAN TO

Join Head Coach Glenn Patrick and Gary Sharp every Thursday for "Nail Talk" at Generations. The hour-long show will be carried on WWVA 1170AM beginning at 7pm. Players, coaches, special guests, phone calls, and more will highlight the fast paced 60 minute show.

Pull Up a Chair: In conjunction with B2 Networks and the ECHL, live video of every Nailers game this season will be offered through a link at wheelingnailers.com. Any fan worldwide with a high-speed internet connection will be able to watch the action for just $6, while listening to Gary Sharp's play-by-play.

Get Your Tickets: Tickets for all 36 Nailers regular season home games can be purchased in person at WesBanco Arena and all Ticketmaster locations, by phone through the Nailers office at 304-234-GOAL/1-877-NAIL-TIX. Full season tickets, 18 and 10-game packages, and group ticket packages starting as low as $66 are available through the Nailers office at 304-234-GOAL.

NAILER ACTION LAST WEEK

Nailers 3 vs. Trenton 0 (Friday, January 27): Andy Chiodo responded to being sent down from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by posting his first shutout of the season. He stopped 31 shots and Luis Tremblay had 2 goals in the victory.

Nailers 2 vs. Johnstown 4 (Saturday, January 28): The Nailers jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Johnstown quickly countered with 3 goals in the 2nd period and added an empty netter to win for the first time this year against Wheeling in regulation.

Nailers 4 vs. Dayton 1 (Sunday, January 29): The Nailers scored two goals in the first 59 seconds of the game and never looked back running their record to 7-0-0 against Dayton this season.

On the road again: The Nailers have taken a liking to life on the road. Wheeling is 12-6-1 this year away from the Ohio Valley with 2 of the losses coming in Toledo and Trenton. The Nailers have won 7 of their last 11 in opposing rinks. The month of February will see the Nailers play 8 of their 11 games on the road.

It is a black sweater and white sweater thing: The best way to break down the hot start by Wheeling is to check out what sweater they are wearing. If Wheeling wears black they are 11-6-1 if they were white they are 16-4-1. The Nailers are 0-2-1 when wearing an alternate sweater.

Nail bits: Wheeling is 6-3-1 in the last 10 games...When the Nailers score 4 or more goals they are 20-0-0...Overall the Nailers are 1 for 3 in penalty shots......The Nailers point total is tied for 3rd overall in ECHL and tied for 1st in the American Conference....Wheeling has outscored the opposition 47-29 in the first period...The Nailers are 20-3-1 when they lead after the second period and 16-3-1 when they score first....Against division opponents the Nailers are 22-10-2 and play all but 2 of their remaining games in the division....The Nailers have allowed the fewest shots on average per game at 26.81...Wheeling has only allowed an average of 2.64 goals per game...The Nailers have scored 11 power play goals in the last 6 games and have killed off 30 of the last 31 power plays against them...Last weekend of the 9 Wheeling goals scored, 7 were on the power play.....Wheeling is 2-2 in shootouts and Tim Verbeek is 4 for 4...The Nailers are 7-0 against Dayton and 4-1-1 against Johnstown...The month of January ended with the Nailers putting together a 7-4-1 record...Kurtis McLean was named an All-Star starter for the American Conference but is currently in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and won't be able to participate...

WesBanco been very good to Nailers: Since the 2003-04 season the Nailers have gone 66-22-7 on home ice. Wheeling is 15-6-2 this year.

Streaker outbreak in wheeling: So far in the early part of the season the Nailers have put together a 6-game winning streak and two 5-game winning streaks. The 6-1-0 start was the ever in Wheeling's ECHL hockey history and the 11-2-0 start was the best 13 game stretch to begin a year.

Next Week: The Nailers host Toledo on Wednesday the 8th and then a trip to Dayton on the 10th and Charlotte on the 11th round out the weekend.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 31, 2006


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