ECHL Wheeling Nailers

This week in Nailers hockey

November 14, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


NAILERS VS. TRENTON (Friday, November 18): The Wheeling Nailers and the Trenton Titans meet for the second time this season on Friday Night in Trenton. The Nailers dropped the season opener in Trenton, 5-3 on October 22nd. Trenton, the defending Kelly Cup Champions, is currently in 4th place in the North Division. The top 4 teams in the North are separated by only 5 points. The Titans have been stingy on defense allowing only 20 goals in 9 games. Goaltender Martin Houle has taken over the top spot with Scott Stirling now gone and is 3-3-2 with an impressive 2.11 goals against average. The Nailers are 16-19 all-time against Trenton. Trenton is 3-1 at home and hosts South Carolina on Wednesday. Trenton is the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Phantoms and the NHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers.

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 TOYour browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.

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. The show will not be heard this Thursday or next Thursday due to the holiday.

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 0 @ Toledo 3 (Friday, November 11):Logan Koopmans shutout the Nailers with a 23 save performance. Andy Franck suffered the tough luck loss stopping 25 of 28 shots. Nailers 4 @ Johnstown 2 (Saturday, November 12):The Nailers for the second time in a week won 4-2 at Johnstown. Nailers 4 vs. Johnstown 1 (Sunday, November 13):13 different Nailers registered a point as Wheeling moved back into first place.

Best of Wheeling: The 8-2 start is the best 10 game start ever in Wheeling's ECHL hockey history. The current group of Nailers has won 8 of 9 and had a season long 6-game winning streak snapped on Friday in Toledo.

Comparing 2004 to 2005: Last year thru the first 10 games the record was 4-6, this year 8-2.

Frankly speaking: Goaltender Andy Franck is making the most of his opportunity. With Andy Chiodo being called up to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Franck started 3 of the last 4 games. Franck, a native of Lakewood, Ohio, won a roster spot with a strong training camp and has 4 professional starts under his belt. This past weekend he stopped 57 of 63 shots with a 2.00 goals against average and a save percentage of .905 helping the Nailers to a 2-1-0 weekend. Franck, 3-1-0 on the year, has all 3 of his wins against Johnstown. His 2.00 GA is 6th in the ECHL.

Hodge loves johnstown: Brendon Hodge was named the offensive player of the week last week after recording a hat trick on Saturday, November 5th at Johnstown. Hodge on the season has 5 goals with 4 of them coming against Johnstown. Hodge now has 42 career Nailer goals in 147 games.

Offensive Explosion: The Nailers continue to lead the ECHL in goals for average. Wheeling has scored 42 goals in 10 games for a 4.2 average. To score that many goals the Nailers don't take many shots averaging only 27.2 per game which is 23rd in the ECHL. Only twice have they failed to score at least 4 goals.

Collins off to fast start: Forward Sean Collins was named the ECHL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October. Collins, led rookies in scoring with 10 points. Collins is tied for first among rookie scorers with 14 points. His 9 assists also are tied for the top spot among rookies. Collins continues to be a dead-eye shooting the puck with 5 goals on only 14 shots for a .357 percentage.

Consistent kurtis: All rookie forward Kurtis McLean does is score. An All-American at Norwich University, McLean totaled 212 points in 115 games. He then had 3 points in 4 pro games last year with Richmond (UHL). In his first 10 games with Wheeling McLean has 7 goals to go along with 14 points. Over the last 129 games he has played, McLean has 231 points. McLean has 4 goals in his last 4 games and has a point in every game this season except one. McLean and Collins each lead Wheeling and all rookie scorers with 14 points.

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 0-2 if they were white they are 8-0. The league turned down the Nailers request to wear white for the rest of the season.

The first long stretch is over: Wheeling just wrapped up a stretch of 9 games in 21 days with a record of 8-1-0 in those 9. They outscored the opposition 39-25. After just one game this weekend the Nailers will play 4 games in 5 days during the Thanksgiving week.

Nail bits: Wheeling's shorthanded crew killed off 16 of 17 penalties this past weekend...Wheeling, Toledo, and Reading all have yet to suffer a regulation home loss...Wheeling's .800 winning percentage is second in the league behind Las Vegas' .813...The Nailers are 6-1-0 when they lead after the second period.

WesBanco been very good to Nailers: Since the 2003-04 season the Nailers have gone 56-16-5 on home ice. Wheeling is 5-0-0 this year outscoring the opposition 27-15.

Next Week: The Nailers will host Dayton on 11/23, visit Dayton on 11/25 and play home games against Johnstown on 11/26 and Trenton on 11/27. Call 304-234-Goal for ticket information

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from November 14, 2005


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