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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Week in Review

October 14, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Friday, October 11 Wheeling 3 @ Reading 7

Fir the fourth consecutive season the Wheeling Nailers began their season on the road, this year the team played their first game in Reading against the Royals. Reading, playing their first game of the season also, scored three first period goals to take a 3-0 lead over the Nailers. Two of the Royals goals were power play goals one was even strength. Mat Snesrud scored the first goal of the game at 3:33 while on the power play with Jeff Giuliano and Brian McCullough assisting. McCullough scored the next three goals of the game for the Royals to give them a 4-0 lead. The first goal was a power play goal at 8:52 of the first period, the second was at 16:12. McCullough completed his hat trick at 5:23 of the second period. The Royals scored another second period goal at 7:51, a shorthanded goal by Brad Rooney to take a 5-0 lead. Before the second period ended the Nailers got their first goal of the season scored by Mario LaRocque to make it a 5-1 game. The score was 5-2 after Chris McNamara scored his first professional goal at :21 of the third period. Rooney scored his second goal of the game at 8:05 of the third period to extend the Royals lead to 6-2. The Nailers answered with a Mark Major Shorthanded goal at 10:57 with LaRocque assisting but would get no closer than 6-3. Brandon Dietrich scored the final goal of the game while on the power play at 13:55 for the 7-3 final. David Chant made 39 saves on 46 shots in the loss.

Saturday, October 12 Wheeling 1 @ Dayton 4

For their second game of the season the Nailers traveled to Dayton to take on the Bombers, the defending Northern Conference Champions. Just like the season opener the night before the Nailers fell behind in the first period on a special teams goal. Chris Thompson scored a shorthanded goal at 14:02 of the first period giving the Bombers a 1-0 lead. Dayton extended their lead to 2-0 with another special teams goal in the second period. Mike Vellinga scored a power play goal at 11:15 in a penalty filled period. The Nailers and the Bombers combined for 47 penalty minutes in the second period and 170 for the game. Chris McNamara scored his second goal in as many games for the Nailers to cut the deficit in half to 2-1. The goal was a power play goal at 6:27 of the third period.

It remained a one goal game until the final minute of regulation when Dayton scored twice. The Bombers third goal was scored at 19:12 and their final goal was scored at 19:54 while on a two-man advantage power play. Mike Valley got his first start of the season for the Nailers and made 39 saves on 43 shots in the loss.

Sunday, October 13 Cincinnati 2 @ Wheeling 6

The Nailers first home game of the 2002-2003 season was against the team that prevented the Nailers from going to the playoffs last season. The Cincinnati Cyclones ended the Nailers 2001-2002 season with a 4-3 shootout win in Cincinnati last March. In the first meeting of this season between these two teams the Nailers got the better of the Cyclones. Four minutes into their first home game of the season the Nailers took their first lead of the season. Tim Preston scored his first goal as a professional from Steve Crampton and Dmitri Doulebenets. The Nailers extended their lead to 2-0 on Mario LaRocque's first goal of the game at 5:20 of the first period. Cincinnati's Evan Cheverie got the Cyclones first goal of the game to cut the Nailers lead to one goal at 2-1. Before the first period ended the Nailers took their second two goal lead of the game when Mark Major scored at 13:10 with Zenon Konopka and Chris McNamara assisting.

Cincinnati again got back to within one goal at 3-2 with a goal at 7:55 of the second period. The Nailers needed :29 to take their two goal advantage back when Preston scored his second goal of the game with Doulebenets and Crampton picking up their second assists of the game. In the third period the Nailers scored two more times while keeping the Cyclones off the scoreboard.

The first goal in the final period was scored by LaRocque, his second of the game, at 7:26 to give Wheeling a 5-2 lead. Arpad Mihaly scored his first goal of the season, a shorthanded goal, at 19:13 to end the scoring. David Chant made 43 saves on 45 shots to record his first professional victory.

PREVIEW OF UPCOMING NAILERS GAMES October 14-October 20

Friday, October 18 Wheeling @ Atlantic City 7:05p.m.

The Nailers make their first and only trip of the regular season to Atlantic City for the first game in three nights over the weekend. Last season the Nailers were 3-6-0 against the Boardwalk Bullies, 2-2-0 in Atlantic City.

Saturday, October 19 Peoria @ Wheeling 7:30p.m.

The Peoria Rivermen make their first trip of the season to Wheeling for a pair of games over the weekend. Last season the Nailers were 4-5-1 against the Rivermen, 3-2-0 in Wheeling. The first 3500 fans in attendance will receive a Coors/Coors Light Nailers Schedule Poster.

Sunday, October 20 Peoria @ Wheeling 3:00p.m. in Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh

The Wheeling Nailers will make East Coast Hockey League history when they host the Peoria Rivermen at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. It will be the first ECHL game to be played in an NHL arena. All tickets for the game are general admission and are $10. Tickets can be purchased at any TicketMaster location or through the Wheeling Nailers office.

Player of the Week

The Nailers Player of the Week is Mario LaRocque. LaRocque had three goals and two assists for five points in the Nailers three games over the weekend and played at a +1. He had one goal and one assist in Friday night's game in Reading. In Dayton, LaRocque had an assist and on Sunday he scored two goals.

Goaltender of the Week

The Nailers Goaltender of the Week is David Chant. Chant had his first professional start on Friday in Reading making 39 saves on 46 shots in a 7-3 loss. Of the seven goals that Reading scored three were on the power play and one was shorthanded. On Sunday he picked up his first professional win by stopping 43 of 45 shots in a 6-2 win against Cincinnati. Chant ended the weekend with a 1-1-0 record, a 4.50 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

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ECHL Stories from October 14, 2002


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