ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Week in Review

January 27, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Monday, January 20th

ECHL All-Star Skills Competition

The Northern Conference beat the Southern Conference in the ECHL All-Star Skills Competition 12-9. The Nailers had two representatives at the all-star game, forwards Zenon Konopka and Chris McNamara. Justin Morrison of the Columbus Cottonmouths beat Konopka in the individual puck control relay. Konopka was also part of the Northern Conference rapid-fire team that beat the Southern Conference. Konopka scored on five of eight shots. McNamara competed in the fastest skater race and finished fourth by skating one lap of the rink in 14.91 seconds. Both Konopka and McNamara were in the breakaway relay for the Northern Conference but missed on their opportunities.

Tuesday, January 21st

ECHL All-Star Game

The Northern Conference beat the Southern Conference in the 2003 Compuware/ECHL All-Star Game 8-2 in Estero, FL. Forwards Zenon Konopka and Chris McNamara represented the Nailers in the game and each had at least one point in the game. The Northern Conference took a 2-0 lead through one period of play as Scott Stirling of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies stopped all 11 shots he faced for the Northern Conference and earned the Most Valuable Player of the game award. Konopka assisted on the Dayton Bombers Andrew Ianiero's goal at 8:41 of the second period to give the North a 3-0 lead. McNamara scored the Northern Conference's sixth goal of the game at 2:23 of the third period with Brian McCullough of the Reading Royals assisting. McNamara then assisted on the Northern Conference's seventh goal of the game scored by Jamie Herrington of the Richmond Renegades. The goal was scored at 6:40 of the third period.

Friday, January 24th Wheeling 5 @ Cincinnati 3

The Nailers won for the second time in three regular season games at Cincinnati in their only game of the weekend. Neither team scored in the first period with the Cyclones outshooting the Nailers 11-7. In the second period the Nailers took a 1-0 lead at 5:14 on a Ryan Gillis goal from J.P. Soucy and Mark Major. Wheeling extended their lead to 2-0 at 10:18. Bobby Russell scored his first goal of the game with Dmitri Doulebenets and Steve Crampton assisting. Cincinnati cut the Nailers lead in half with a Ryan Gaucher power play goal at 14:31. Russell scored his second goal of the game at 15:09 of the second period to give the Nailers a 3-1 lead. Mario Larocque assisted on the shorthanded goal. Major added a power play goal at 19:55 to put the Nailers up 4-1 at the end of two periods of play. Michel Ouellet and Soucy assisted on the score. In the third period the Cyclones scored two power play goals 36 seconds apart to cut the Nailers lead to 4-3. Gaucher scored the first goal at 9:23 and Matt Noga scored the second at 9:59. Ouellet scored the final goal of the game at 18:36 to give the Nailers a 5-3 lead. The Ouellet goal was an unassisted power play goal. Tyler MacKay made 35 saves on 38 shots for the win.

PREVIEW OF UPCOMING NAILERS GAMES January 27-February 2

Wednesday, January 29th Wheeling @ Richmond 7:05p.m.

This will be the final regular season game between the Nailers and the Renegades this season. Richmond won the first two games of the season series, 6-0 on December 28 in Wheeling and 5-1 on January 15 in Richmond.

Friday, January 31st Augusta @ Wheeling 7:30p.m.

This will be the first time the Nailers have played a Southern Conference team since the 2000-2001 season. The Nailers are 15-3-1 all-time against the Augusta franchise, formerly the Raleigh Icecaps. It will be Mascot Night for this game with several area mascots at the Wheeling Civic Center to entertain the crowd during the game.

Saturday, February 1st Mississippi @ Wheeling 12:00p.m.

This will be the first ever meeting, regular season or playoff, between the Sea Wolves and the Nailers. There will be specially priced tickets for this game to benefit the American Heart Association. All tickets in the Wheeling Civic Center will be $10 with a portion of the proceeds going to the American Heart Association.

Player of the Week

The Nailers Player of the Week is Bobby Russell. Russell had two goals, one shorthanded, in the Nailers only game last week. He also played at a +2 in the +/- category.

Goaltender of the Week

The Nailers Goaltender of the Week is Tyler MacKay. MacKay won the only game the Nailers played last week. He had a goals against average of 3.00 and a save percentage of .921.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 27, 2003


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