ECHL Wheeling Nailers

This Week in Nailers Hockey

February 13, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


NAILERS VS. TOLEDO (Friday-Saturday, February 17-18): (SEASON SERIES: TOLEDO 4-3-1)...The Wheeling Nailers continue their 7-game road trip this weekend with back-to-back games in Toledo. The Nailers will play three times in six days in the town made famous by **MASH** actor Jamie Farr. Toledo will be playing at home for the first time after their own 7-game road trip. The Storm (24-13-5), the ECHL affiliate of the Detroit and San Jose, are currently third in the North Division 9 points behind the Nailers but do have five games in hand with a road game at Dayton on Tuesday. Toledo has been one of the hottest teams in the ECHL going 7-2-1 in their last ten games and sweeping Reading on the road this past weekend. Scooter Smith leads the way offensively with 42 points while Detroit draft pick Drew MacIntyre has compiled a 7-1-2 record in net. The Toledo offense has been explosive in the third period outscoring the opposition 66-34. In the eight meetings between the two teams, Scooter Smith has eight points against the Nailers. The Nailers, who are 1-2-1 in Toledo, have been led by Sean Collins nine points. Four of the last five games between the two teams have been decided by one or two goals.

NAILERS VS. JOHNSTOWN (Sunday, February 19): (SEASON SERIES: WHEELING 4-1-1)...The Wheeling Nailers finish up the weekend with their closet rivals only 118 miles away. The Nailers are 2-0-0 at Johnstown and haven't played at War Memorial Auditorium since November. Johnstown began the year winless in the first 10 games but has turned things around. The Chiefs (20-18-11), the ECHL affiliate of Tampa Bay, are currently fourth in the North Division 2 points behind Toledo for 3rd place. Johnstown is 5-2-3 in the last 10 games and is currently on a 2-game winless streak. Justin Kelly leads the Chiefs in scoring with 52 points in 36 games. Morgan Cey has taken over the starting goalie role with an 11-6-5 mark between the pipes. In the six meetings between the two teams Johnstown has only scored 14 goals but has only allowed 16. Brendon Hodge has 4 of his 12 goals this season against Johnstown with Andy Franck going 4-0-1 in net against the Chiefs, including his first professional victory at Johnstown on November 5th.

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.

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 the remaining 11 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 1 vs. Toledo 3 (Wednesday, February 8): The Nailers winless streak reached three games. Wheeling was out shot 33-26 and after closing within one goal in the third, couldn't get the equalizer past Drew MacIntyre who made 25 saves including 11 in the final period.

Nailers 4 @ Dayton 2 (Friday, February 10): Despite having only 4 defenseman and 13 skaters total, Wheeling scored 4 goals in the first 16 minutes and held on the rest of the way. Wheeling didn't have a shot on net in the third and also overcame a Dayton five minute power play to run their record to 8-0-0 against Dayton this season.

Nailers 6 @ Charlotte 1 (Saturday, February 11): Another quick start led Wheeling to its second straight victory. Two goals on the first two shots put the Nailers in position to win the season series against Charlotte, 2-1-0. Andy Franck made 28 saves to win his 19th game of the season.

How about that: The Nailers for the second time in team history failed to record a shot on net in a period and still won a game. Friday night in Dayton the Nailers were blanked in the 3rd, 0-15, and still won 4-2. It last happened ironically in Dayton on March 28, 2004. That day the Nailers failed to record a shot on net in the 3rd, 0-16, and won 3-2. A team has failed to record a shot on net 15 times over 18 years of the ECHL.

Kill penalties volume 1: The Nailers penalty kill unit has killed off 53 of the last 55 penalties against them. For those keeping score at home that's 96.2%. This past week the Nailers killed off 12 of 13. The recent success has seen the Nailers numbers vault from 14th in the league to 7th in ECHL stats in the last three weeks. They are currently killing off 84.1% of the power plays against them. On the road that kill rate jumps to 85.4%.

On the road again: The Nailers have taken a liking to life on the road. Wheeling is 14-7-1 this year away from the Upper Ohio Valley. The Nailers began their current 7-game road trip with a pair of victories this past weekend. The month of February will see the Nailers play 8 of their 11 games on the road including those 7 straight.

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 11-7-2 if they were white they are 18-5-1. The Nailers are 0-2-1 when wearing an alternate sweater.

Nail bits: Wheeling is 5-3-2 in the last 10 games and the two game winning streak is the longest since 1/15-1/20...When the Nailers score 4 or more goals they are 22-0-0...Overall the Nailers are 1 for 3 in penalty shots.....The largest crowd of the season was 4,790 on January 28th...The two goals scored in the first 59 seconds of the game on January 29th were the fastest two goals to begin a game in Nailers history...The Nailers point total is 5th overall in ECHL and 2nd in the American Conference....Wheeling has outscored the opposition 53-31 in the first period...The Nailers are 22-3-1 when they lead after the second period and 18-3-1 when they score first....Against division opponents the Nailers are 23-12-3 and have one game left outside the division....The Nailers have allowed the fewest shots on average per game at 27.15...Wheeling has only allowed an average of 2.62 goals per game (3rd in ECHL)...Wheeling is 2-2 in shootouts and Tim Verbeek is 4 for 4...The Nailers are 8-0-0 against Dayton and 4-1-1 against Johnstown...Eight players have scored at least 10 goals this year...The magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 24 points...A goalie with the first name Andy has started 47 straight games in net...

WesBanco been very good to Nailers: Since the 2003-04 season the Nailers have gone 66-23-8 on home ice. Wheeling is 15-7-3 this year. The Nailers however are winless in their last 2 games at home.

Streaker outbreak in wheeling: So far in the early part of the season the Nailers have put together a 6-game winning streak and two 5-game winning streaks. The 6-1-0 start was the ever in Wheeling's ECHL hockey history and the 11-2-0 start was the best 13 game stretch to begin a year.

Next Week: The Nailers travel to Toledo next Wednesday and then finish up with a home-and-home at Trenton on Friday and Wheeling next Saturday.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 13, 2006


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