Nailers With Pair Of Home Games
Published on December 11, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release
Friday, 7:35 (WesBanco Arena, Wheeling, WV) - Gwinnett Gladiators at Wheeling Nailers
Saturday, 7:30 (Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, MI)- Wheeling Nailers at Kalamazoo Wings
Sunday, 3:05 (WesBanco Arena, Wheeling, WV) - Gwinnett Gladiators at Wheeling Nailers
Weekend Preview-
The Nailers play at Gwinnett Gladiators Friday at 7:35 and The Nailers return home to play Gwinnett again Sunday at 3. It's the last Nailers home games in two weeks. Gwinnett comes from the northern Atlanta suburb of Duluth, Georgia in Gwinnett County. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets (and the AHL's Chicago Wolves and Syracuse Crunch). The Gwinnett Gladiators have a record of 11-7-3 with a total of 25 points and are 7th in the American Conference, only 3 points ahead of the Nailers. The Nailers' record against Gwinnett is 1-1-0, losing 4-1 on October 17th and winning 3-1 on October 18th.
Leading the way for the Gladiators is Tom Zanoski who is 5th in the league with 13 goals and 14 assists in 21 games for a total of 27 points.
Wheeling makes their first ever visit to Kalamazoo Saturday night. The K-Wings have played professional hockey for 34 seasons but this is their first year in the ECHL. Kalamazoo has a record of 14-6-2 putting them in 2nd place in the American Conference with a total of 30 points. The Wings' goalie Ryan Nie is 5th in the league with a record of 7-2-1 and a 0.918% saves percentage.
Friday night the Nailers host the Gwinnett Gladiators and it's T-Shirt giveaway night for the first 2500 fans and Young Life Night. It's also a Friday Four Pack night and WV Lottery Night. The Nailers will also begin collecting Toys For Tots to benefit area kids during this Christmas season.
Sunday afternoon the Nailers wrap up the long week with another game against Gwinnett. It's Ko-Sports Ice of Dreams Night and Sunday Family FunDay featuring a post-game skate with Santa. Be sure to bring your skates and gloves$B!D(Band don't forget the camera!
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 (304-234-4625) or toll-free at 1-877-NAIL-TIX and log on to wheelingnailers.com for more information
Notes-
The Nailers are on a 3-game winning streak and have outscored their opponents 18-4 in that stretch.
The Nailers record of 11-11-2 puts them at the.500 mark for the first time this season. They have won 3 straight and 7 of their last 11.
Wheeling's power play on home ice is 15-62, 24.2% which is 2nd in the ECHL (and 1st in American Conference) trailing only Utah at 24.4%.
Cliff Loya is only 2 games away from playing 200 career games with the Wheeling Nailers. He will be only the 4th player to reach the milestone joining Stephan Brannare (231 games), Tim Roberts (215 games) and Brandon Hodge (208 games).
Thomas Beauregard has 6 career hat-tricks in the ECHL and picked up his first as a Wheeling Nailer last Saturday in a 7-0 win vs. Johnstown.
3 of Beauregard's 6 career hat tricks have come at WesBanco Arena including two against the Wheeling Nailers while he was with the Cincinnati Cyclones. His last hat-trick in Wheeling was on opening night last season, October 17, 2008 when his Cyclones lost at Wheeling 7-5.
Beauregard is 2nd in the league in goals with 16 trailing only Ryan Kinasewich of Utah with 17.
Aaron Clarke has 3 goals in his last 2 games.
Casey Pierro-Zabotel recorded his first professional multi-goal game Wednesday night with a pair of tallies at Toledo. The 3rd round pick of the Penguins in 2007 has 4 goals in his last 5 games increasing his season total to 5.
Jordan Fox was signed by the Rochester Americans of the AHL to a P.T.O. (Professional Tryout). Rochester is the AHL affiliate for the NHL's Florida Panthers. The Kirkwood, Missouri native (near St. Louis) was the top scorer for the Nailers in the month of November going 6-7-13. His overall numbers this season are 8-13-21. His call-up denies him the opportunity to play against his former teammates at Gwinnett. He led the Gladiators last season with 29 goals.
Ryan Schnell is 2nd among all ECHL rookies in total penalty minutes with 68
Colin Power made his Nailers debut Wednesday night at Toledo and recorded an assist. Wheeling acquired him from the Stockton Thunder. Power played under assistant coach Doug Doull at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia last year.
Goalie Brad Thiessen was the Hockey East Conference Player of the Year last season leading Northeastern University in Boston to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over 15 seasons. He went 25-12-4, 2.12.931 and was one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award (college hockey's version of the Heisman Trophy)
Goalie Jordan Parise had allowed just 1 goal in his last 171 minutes dating back to November 28th.He has gone 3-1 in that stretch with 77 saves on 78 shots. He recorded the first shutout in over a year for the Wheeling Nailers in last Saturday's 7-0 win over Johnstown. The last shutout before that was November 19, 2008 with a 4-0 win by Curtis Darling against the Trenton Devils
Gwinnett goalie David Brown played the past two seasons for Wheeling. Last year the Notre Dame product was 14-6-2, 3.06,.907 for Wheeling. He recently joined the Gladiators and is 2-2-1, 3.58,.910 so far this year.
Head Coach: Wheeling - Greg Puhalski (3rd season with Wheeling, 16th in professional hockey)
Gwinnett - Jeff Pyle (7th season with Gwinnett, 11th season in professional hockey)
Affiliation: Wheeling - Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Gwinnett - Atlanta Thrashers (NHL), Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL), Chicago Wolves (AHL), Syracuse Crunch (AHL)
Top Scorers:
Wheeling - Thomas Beauregard (16-7-23), Jordan Fox (8-13-21)*, Aaron Clarke (7-11-18), Mitch Ganzak (3-14-17), T.J. Fox (4-12-16)
Gwinnett - Tom Zanoski (13-14-27), Adam Berti (7-14-21), Pat Galivan (10-8-18)
Top Goalie:
Wheeling - Jordan Parise (5-5-1,.897, 2.86), Brad Thiessen (2-1-0,.901, 3. 30)
Gwinnett - David Brown (2-2-1,.910, 3.58), Danny Taylor (6-4-1,.900, 3.59)
Team Offense (goals per game)
Wheeling (3.54), 6th in ECHL
Gwinnett (3.76), 4th in ECHL
Team Defense (goals allowed per game)
Wheeling (3.42), 13th
Gwinnett (3.71), 17th
Shots Per Game
Wheeling (28.5), 16th
Gwinnett (36,5), 1st
Shots Allowed Per Game
Wheeling (30.1), 7th
Gwinnett (36.4), 20th
Power Play
Wheeling (21-125, 16.8%), 11th
Gwinnett (25-115, 21.7%), 3rd
Penalty Kill
Wheeling (22-129 82.9%), 8th
Gwinnett (19-110, 82.7%), 11th
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!
ECHL Stories from December 11, 2009
- Chiefs Fall To Jackals In Shootout - Johnstown Chiefs
- Reign Falls To Steelheads, 2-1 - Ontario Reign
- Steelheads Top Ontario, 2-1 - Idaho Steelheads
- Bounces Go Against Nailers In 3-0 Setback - Wheeling Nailers
- Jackals Earn Dramatic Comeback Victory - Elmira Jackals
- Walleye Score Five-Unanswered in 6-2 Victory over Kalamazoo - Kalamazoo Wings
- Stingrays Push Winning Streak to Eight Games in 4-1 Victory over Trenton - South Carolina Stingrays
- Gladiators Shut Out Nailers - Atlanta Gladiators
- Checkers Rebound, Dump Everblades - Charlotte Checkers
- Charlotte Topples 'Blades 4-1 - Florida Everblades
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Sharks Reassign Sexsmith And K-Wings Loan Nie - Kalamazoo Wings
- Countdown To Face-Off - Kalamazoo Wings
- Game Preview: Condors Vs. Grizzlies Tonight - Bakersfield Condors
- Game Preview: Stockton Thunder At Alaska Aces - Stockton Thunder
- ECHL Names Merrell Manager Of Communications/Marketing/New Media - ECHL
- Nailers With Pair Of Home Games - Wheeling Nailers
- Rotruck On Penguins HD Radio - Wheeling Nailers
- Stingrays Gameday: Yeo Returns As Stingrays Face Trenton Tonight At 7:05 P.M. - South Carolina Stingrays
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Defenseman Jared Ross Recalled To Providence - Reading Royals
- Salmon Kings Trip Up Wranglers, Win Fourth In A Row - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Wranglers Stopped By Salmon Kings, 4-2 - Las Vegas Wranglers
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