ECHL Wheeling Nailers

This Week in Nailers Hockey

Published on December 12, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


NAILERS VS. READING (Tuesday, December 13-Friday December 16): The Wheeling Nailers and the Reading Royals meet for the second time this season for a Tuesday-Friday showdown of the top two teams in the North Division. The Royals are in first place with a record of 14-4-1 good for 29 points. The Royals, the ECHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, have been tough at home going 9-2-0. Greg Hogeboom leads the Royals with 26 points while Mike Kompon has chipped in with 25. Reading has also gotten stellar goaltending from veteran Cody Rudkowsky. Rudkowsy has the 2nd best GA in the ECHL at 1.90 to go along with his 10-1-0 mark. This is Wheeling's first trip to Reading this year while the two teams met in Wheeling back in October with the game being decided in a shootout won by the Nailers. NAILERS VS. DAYTON (Thursday, December 15): The Wheeling Nailers travel to Hobart Arena in Troy to face off with the Dayton Bombers for the 5th time this season. The Nailers have won the previous four including two at the Nutter Center in Dayton. Hobart Arena was the showplace of Dayton in the 50's and 60's and was once the home of the Bombers. Dayton, the ECHL affiliate of the Columbus BlueJackets, is currently sixth in the North Division with a record of 7-13-2. Scott Cameron is leading the ECHL with 20 assists to go along with the 2nd most points in the league at 28.

NAILERS VS. JOHNSTOWN (Saturday, December 17): The Wheeling Nailers take on the much improved Johnstown Chiefs in a televised match up on Saturday. The Chiefs won in overtime at Wheeling on November 26th. Johnstown after starting the season winless in their first 10 games are now 7-11-6 and sit in 5th place in the North. The Chiefs, the ECHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning are led by Justin Kelly who has been a spark offensively with 24 points in 17 games. The Nailers are 3-0-1 against Johnstown this season.

NAILERS TELEVISION ALERT: Tune in as the voice of the Nailers, Gary Sharp along with former Wheeling Thunderbird Brock Woods, move from the radio booth to TV on Saturday night. The game against the Johnstown Chiefs will carried locally on Wheeling's NBC affiliate, WTOV-9. The game has been pushed back half an hour to an 8pm start time. The game will be simulcast on the Wheeling Nailers radio network.

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. The show on December 14th will be heard on Wednesday due to a Nailers game conflict.

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 2 @ Columbia 1 (Friday, December 9): In the first ever meeting, Kurtis McLean scored 2 goals and Andy Chiodo turned away 26 shots to give the Nailers the victory at the Carolina Coliseum. Nailers 0 @ Greenville 3 (Saturday, December 10): Mike Brodeur pitched a 28 save shutout to help Greenville knock off Wheeling. It was the second time this year the Nailers have been blanked. Greenville did all the scoring damage in the 2nd with 3 goals. Wheeling was 0-for-10 on the power play. Nailers 3 vs. Las Vegas 4 (shootout) (Sunday, December 11): Marco Peluso ended the shootout in the 6th round as Las Vegas defeated Wheeling in the first encounter ever. Las Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 lead, 7 minutes into the game before Wheeling eventually took a 3-2 lead.

On the road again: The Nailers are currently in a stretch of 7 games in 9 days. The journey will take them from South Carolina's state capital to Troy, Ohio. The wheels on the bus will go round and round for 2,172 miles. During the December swing we will see the Columbia Inferno and the Las Vegas Wranglers for the first time. February will see the longest road trip of the year with the Nailers being gone from the 10th to the 24th.

Not rookies anymore: The top of the scoring chart is held by two first year players. Sean Collins and Kurtis McLean lead the Nailers with 27 points. McLean is tied for 1st in the ECHL in goals with 15 while Collins is currently 3rd in the league with 18 assists. The line of Collins-McLean-Jordan Cameron has accounted for 9 of the 15 Wheeling goals in 6 December games.

Collins off to fast start: Forward Sean Collins is tied with teammate Kurtis McLean as the leading scorer among rookies with 27 points. Overall he is tied for 5th in ECHL scoring. His 18 assists is third overall in the league. Collins has recorded a point in 8 of the last 11 games and has garnered a point in all but 6 games this season. Collins likes the tight quarters of WesBanco Arena where he has a point in 8 straight home games. Last year at New Hampshire, Collins put up 56 points leading the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament and in his first month as a pro Collins was named the ECHL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October after posting 10 points in 4 games.

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 21 games with Wheeling McLean has 15 goals to go along with 27 points. Over the last 144 games he has played, McLean has 246 points. McLean's 27 points are 5th in ECHL scoring. McLean has a hat trick to his credit this season and 3 multi-goal games. McLean has 11 points in December thru 6 games.

Minding the net: Goaltender Andy Chiodo has returned to the Nailers lineup last week after being assigned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). Chiodo, 6-2-1 2.87GA, had his personal 6-game winning streak snapped on Saturday in Greenville. Wheeling has the luxury of having two solid goaltenders with the other being Andy Franck. Franck made the most of his opportunity with Andy Chiodo in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton starting 11 straight games putting together a mark of 7-3-1. Franck, a native of Lakewood, Ohio, won a roster spot with a strong training camp and has 13 professional starts under his belt. Franck, 7-4-1 on the year, has a 2.94 goals against average good for 19th in the ECHL.

I am not kirk cameron: Forward Jordan Cameron was acquired before the season from Las Vegas. Cameron left the lights of Vegas for the hills of West Virginia and has seen the only light he cares about light up. The Drayton Valley, Alberta native has 8 goals in 17 games. Cameron's career high for goals is 17 with Alaska in 2003-04 and has seen his production go up after being added to the Collins-McLean line. He also has a good eye for the net, scoring those 8 goals on only 32 shots for a .250 percentage.

Special team's rollercoaster: Wheeling's special teams have enjoyed the highs and the lows this past weekend. The penalty kill unit stopped 22 of 25 opposing power plays. The power play unit went 2 for 27. The Nailers clip along on the power play at a conversion rate of 16.9% while they kill off 81.8% of the power plays against them. Wheeling's PP unit is much better at home with a 23.5% rate.

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 3-4 if they were white they are 10-1-2. The Nailers wore there special 3rd jersey for one game this season.

Nail bits: Wheeling is 4-4-2 in the last 10 games...Kurtis McLean took the first penalty shot of the season at Dayton on Friday, November 25th... The Nailers .667 winning percentage is 3rd best in the ECHL's American Conference....Wheeling has outscored the opposition 23-12 in the first period...The Nailers are 9-1-0 when they lead after the second period and 7-1-1 when they score first....The Nailers have allowed the second fewest shots on average per game at 26.71....Wheeling is 2-1 in shootouts and Tim Verbeek has been the man to decide it with a goal...Wheeling has won 4 of the there last 6 on the road...After a loss the Nailers are 4-1-1...Drew Fata is fourth among defenseman in shots with a team high 76...Terry Virtue is one to watch quarterbacking the power play where he has 10 power play assists...Former Wheeling Thunderbird Goaltender Tomas Vokoun was named the top Defensive Player last week in the NHL. Vokoun, now with Nashville, was 20-10-2 in 95-96 with the Thunderbirds.

WesBanco been very good to Nailers: Since the 2003-04 season the Nailers have gone 58-18-7 on home ice. Wheeling is 7-2-2 this year outscoring the opposition 47-35.

November was good to wheeling: The Nailers wrapped up there best November ever compiling a record of 8-1-1. The month saw the Nailers post a 5-game winning streak and vault into first place. Brendon Hodge scored 12 of his current 13 points in the month while the Nailers were a combined +51 in the +/- category. Andy Franck in net started the last 8 games of the month and posted a 6-2-1 record with a .910 save percentage.

Streaker outbreak in wheeling: So far in the early part of the season the Nailers have put together a 6-game winning streak and a 5-game winning streak. The 6-1-0 start was the ever in Wheeling's ECHL hockey history. The Nailers however are only 1-3-1 in their last 5.

Comparing 2004 to 2005: Last year thru the first 21 games the record was 10-10-1, this year 13-6-2.

Next Week: The Nailers will travel to Trenton on 12/21 before taking 4 days off for Christmas. The month of December will see Wheeling play 15 games in 31 days. The Nailers are currently 2-3-1 in the final month of 2005.

VIRTUE MILESTONE: It took awhile but it was well worth the wait for Defenseman Terry Virtue. On October 29th, Virtue scored his 100th career professional goal. Virtue's career has spanned over 15 years and 1,000 professional games including 5 in the NHL. Virtue is currently among the top 20 scoring defenseman in the ECHL with 2 goals and 14 points.

WEARING THE "C": Brendon Hodge has been appointed the Captain for the Nailers. Hodge is in his third year in Wheeling and the team's leading returning scorer with 42 points. The Assistant Captains are: Tim Verbeek, Cam Paddock, Curtiss Patrick, Drew Fata.

Patrick behind bench: The 2005-06 season will feature a new face guiding the Nailers. Glenn Patrick was hired in August to replace Pat Bingham. Bingham has moved on to the AHL as an assistant coach with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Patrick most recently was a scout in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. His last time behind the bench was in the AHL where he guided Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 2001 appearance in the Calder Cup Finals. Glenn is surrounded by family in Wheeling. His son, Curtiss, will play for him while his nephew Ryan is the Nailers Director of Public Relations. Patrick's brother Craig is the General Manager of the Penguins.

Virtue Is Back: Defenseman Terry Virtue took a roundabout way to return to Wheeling but he's back. Virtue will also act as a player/assistant coach. Virtue played in Wheeling for the Thunderbirds in the 90's. Overall, Virtue has logged more than 1,000 professional games from coast to coast. Last year he laced up the skates in the AHL with Springfield and Utah. Virtue resides in Wheeling and will be honored later this year with "Terry Virtue Bobblehead Night." Virtue's former teammate in Wheeling Brock Woods is the radio color analyst.

The New ECHL: As the ECHL Hockey League begins its 18th season, the Nailers find themselves in the Northern Division, alongside Johnstown, Trenton, Reading, Dayton and Toledo. Due to Hurricane Katrina and Rita; Mississippi and Texas have suspended play for 2005-06 season. The ECHL has added three new teams (Stockton, Phoenix, and Utah) and several new rules for the 2005-06 season, including: permission of two-line passes, reducing the maximum dimensions of goaltender equipment, the addition of the trapezoid area behind the net limiting the area in which goalies can play the puck, and any player who shoots the puck directly over the glass in his defending zone will be penalized for delay of game.

You Look So Familiar: Nine Nailers return from last year, including forwards Bo Cheesman, Brendon Hodge, Pascal Morency, Cam Paddock, Curtiss Patrick; defensemen Drew Fata, Cliff Loya, and Alexandre Rouleau.

Welcome to the Friendly City: Sean Collins (NCAA New Hampshire), Mike Doyle (NCAA St. Cloud State), Kurtis McLean (NCAA Norwich), Tim Verbeek (ECHL Idaho), Paul Bissonnette (OHL), Terry Virtue (AHL), Daniel Fernholm (AHL), Luis Trembley (ECHL Bakersfield), Andy Franck (NCAA Mercyhurst).

Who's Up in the A?: Eleven players from last year's roster now find themselves in the AHL, most notably Mike Sgroi (Albany), Ray DiLauro (Cleveland), Jason Jaffray (Manitoba), T.J. Reynolds (Milwaukee), Steven Crampton (Norfolk), Jake Riddle (Portland), Ben Eaves (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), Kenny Corupe (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), and Dany Sabourin (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)). Former Head Coach Pat Bingham is an assistant with Bridgeport.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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