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Wheeling Looks To Continue Winning Ways

Published on February 1, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


January was successful for the Wheeling Nailers who went 8-3-1 and closed out the month with a four-game winning streak. The Nailers improved their record to 25-18-3 and are tied for third in the North Division, only two points behind leader Cincinnati, and tied for fourth in the American Conference.

It is the third time that Wheeling has won four games in a row since a seven-game streak from Mar. 17-30, 2007. The Nailers will try to extend their streak on Wednesday when they travel to Cincinnati.

During the past four games, nine players have scored three-or-more points in a game and three are averaging one-or-more points per game.

Andrew Lord leads Wheeling during the streak with six points (3g-3a) including a three-point effort (1g-2a) in a 5-3 win against South Carolina on Jan. 31. He has a six-game point streak (3g-5a) and is tied for eighth on the team with 22 points (8g-14a).

Aaron Clarke has also scored in every game during the streak tallying four points (2g-2a) with both of his goals coming on special teams. Clarke scored his team-leading third shorthand goal in a 3-2 win at South Carolina on Jan. 24 and netted his third power-play goal in a 4-3 overtime win against South Carolina on Jan. 30. Clarke is tied for third on the team with 13 goals and tied for fourth with 18 assists while ranking fifth with 31 points.

ECHL All-Star defenseman Mitch Ganzak registered a three-point game (1g-2a) on Jan. 30 and he leads league defensemen and the Nailers with 26 assists. He is second among ECHL defensemen and fourth on the team with 32 points.

Thomas Beauregard, who was named the Sher-wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week for Jan. 18-24, scored the game-winning goal against South Carolina on Jan. 31. He leads Wheeling and sits third in the league with 27 goals.

Michael-Lee Teslak and Adam Berkhoel have split the goaltending duties the last four games, combining for a 2.95 goals-allowed average and a .906 save percentage.

Teslak, who began the season with the Elmira Jackals, is 11-9-3 overall and -4-1 since being reassigned to Wheeling by the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League from Adirondack of the American Hockey League on Dec. 18, 2009.

Berkhoel was reassigned to the Nailers by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on Jan. 29 and immediately went 2-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.95 and a save percentage of .906 in his first two starts. The St. Paul, Minn. native is 6-4-1 in 12 starts for Wheeling and 3-3-0 in six games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Record Crowds Attend ECHL Games

Fans showed up in record numbers over the weekend with Utah seeing the highest attendance in team history and three other teams earning season-high numbers to help the ECHL increase its sellouts to 29 and raise average attendance to 4,321 per game which is up 6.64 percent from last season.

Utah had a record 10,020 fans in attendance on Jan. 29 which ranks as the fifth largest crowd in the league for the season. The two-day total for the Grizzlies was 17,063. It was the first time the E-Center has surpassed 10,000 fans in one game, eclipsing their previous high of 9,304 by 716.

To purchase tickets for any ECHL game go to ECHL.com/tickets.shtml. 


Ontario, Kalamazoo and Reading had season-high marks in attendance on Jan. 30. Ontario had 8,298 fans attend their game against Alaska, while Reading welcomed 6,792 fans and Kalamazoo saw 4,950 attend their annual Golden Ice game.

Reading and Ontario each passed the 100,000 fan mark thanks to their record-breaking crowds with the Reign achieving the milestone in only 18 games.

Ontario's average attendance jumped to 6,027 fans per game, which put them first in the league just ahead of Toledo who has a total attendance of 159,894 in 27 games. The attendance at Citizens Business Bank Arena is up nearly three percent from their inaugural season in 2008-09 when they ranked second with 5,856 per game and had three sellouts and a team-high attendance of 9,659 on March 7, 2009.

Elmira earned their league-leading ninth sellout of the season on Jan. 30 with 4,056 fans. Elmira has raised its average 11.6 percent to 3,719 per game which is 98.3 percent of capacity at First Arena. The Jackals have had 28 sellouts since joining the ECHL including a league-leading 14 in 2007-08 and five a year ago which tied for the league lead.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL is the only minor professional hockey league to increase average attendance each of the last two seasons. The Premier 'AA' Hockey League has averaged more than 4,000 fans each of the last five seasons and 17 times in the last 19 years while drawing more than 3 million fans for 16 straight seasons. 


Five returning teams are ahead of their average attendance from 2008-09 led by Cincinnati with 21.3 percent. The Cyclones led minor professional hockey with a 36 percent increase in 2007-08 and ranked second a year ago with a 23 percent increase.

Following Elmira and Ontario, Utah has raised its average attendance by 1.8 percent to 3,722 per game, while Charlotte has raised their average attendance to 5,324.

Stockton is third in the league with 5,859 per game while Bakersfield is fourth with 5,327 per game. The Thunder have led the league in attendance each of their first four seasons and are trying to tie the league record of five seasons set by Florida from 2000-05.

American Conference - North Division

Cincinnati Cyclones
* Cincinnati has the league's best overtime/shootout winning percentage with .833 (5-1).
* Barret Ehgoetz has 212 points and needs one more point to tie Sheldon Gorski's club record.
* Cyclones host Wheeling on Wednesday and South Carolina on Thursday before playing at Kalamazoo on Friday.

Kalamazoo Wings
* Kalamazoo won its sixth-straight home game, 6-3 over Cincinnati on Jan. 30, in front of season-best crowd of 4,950.
* Defensemen Jon Landry (2g-2a) and Ryan McGinnis (0g-5a) have four-game point streaks.
* K-Wings host Cincinnati on Friday and play at Wheeling on Saturday.

Toledo Walleye
* Toledo won its league-leading seventh overtime game 5-4 over Elmira on Jan. 31.
* Derek Nesbitt has six points (3g-3a) in his last three games and had 17 points (6g-11a) in January.
* Walleye play at Gwinnett on Friday and Saturday before visiting Charlotte on Sunday.

Wheeling Nailers
* Wheeling has five shorthand goals in its last nine games.
* All-Star Mitch Ganzak leads ECHL defensemen with 26 assists.
* Nailers play at Cincinnati on Wednesday and at Elmira on Friday before hosting Kalamazoo on Saturday.

American Conference - East Division



Elmira Jackals
* Elmira leads the league with 4.00 goals per game.
* Since Dec. 26, Mat Robinson leads the ECHL with a plus-minus rating of +20.
* Jackals host Wheeling on Friday before playing at Reading on Saturday and at Trenton on Sunday.

Johnstown Chiefs
* Johnstown is third in home penalty kill with 86.8 percent (99-for-115).
* Jonathan Ralph is the only Chiefs defenseman to have a three-game goal streak (3g) this season (Jan. 25-30).
* Chiefs play at Trenton on Wednesday and host South Carolina on Friday and Saturday.

Reading Royals
* Reading is 14-3-4 in one-goal games including 2-1 in overtime and 3-3 in shootouts.
* Matt Dalton made 45 saves to improve to 14-13-2 with 3-1 victory over Charlotte on Jan 30.
* Royals play at Trenton on Friday and host Elmira on Saturday.

Trenton Devils
* Trenton played three games at Florida and went 2-1-0 while outscoring the Everblades 12-9.
* Rookie Ryan Ginand had Trenton's first hat trick on Jan. 30 and extended his scoring streak to four games (6g-3a).
* Devils host Johnstown on Wednesday, Reading on Friday and Elmira on Sunday.

American Conference - South Division

Charlotte Checkers
* Charlotte went undefeated at home in January (5-0-0).
* Aaron Slattengren has a five-game home goal-scoring streak (7g).
* Checkers host Florida on Thursday and Friday and Toledo on Sunday.

Florida Everblades
* Florida averaged 5,804 fans during their five-game homestand, including three crowds over 6,000.
* Milan Gajic has back-to-back multiple-goal games (4g).
* Everblades visit Charlotte on Thursday and Friday.

Gwinnett Gladiators
* Gwinnett leads the league in road penalty kill with 88.3 percent (113-for-128) .
* All-Star Drew Paris leads ECHL defensemen with six power play goals.
* Gladiators host Toledo on Friday and Saturday.

South Carolina Stingrays
* South Carolina is first in the American Conference with 68 points.
* Rob Ricci is fifth among ECHL rookies with 37 points (18g-19a).
* Stingrays visit Cincinnati on Thursday and Johnstown on Friday and Saturday.

National Conference - Pacific Division

Bakersfield Condors
* Bakersfield has been out shot only six times in 42 games this season.
* All-Star goaltender Timo Pielmeier has played 13 consecutive games and in 24 of the Condors last 25 games.
* Condors play at Alaska on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Las Vegas Wranglers
* Las Vegas is 9-0-1 in its last 10 home games and 13-6-1 overall at home.
* Michael Ouzas is second in the ECHL with 968 saves.
* Wranglers play at Utah on Monday and host Idaho on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Ontario Reign
* Ontario is 12-5-4 when scoring first.
* Curtis Darling leads the ECHL in minutes played with 2,140.
* Reign host Stockton on Friday and Saturday.

Stockton Thunder
* Stockton is third in the ECHL with an average of 5,858 fans per game.
* All-Star Chris D'Alvise leads ECHL rookies with 151 shots.
* Thunder play at Ontario Friday and Saturday.

National Conference - West Division

Alaska Aces
* Alaska leads the ECHL with a home penalty killing percentage of 90.8 (108-for-119).
* All-Star Nick Mazzolini has 14 points (2g-12a) in his last 13 games.
* Aces host Bakersfield on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Idaho Steelheads
* Idaho has a five-game winning streak that began with a 4-1 win against Las Vegas on Jan. 23.
* Mark Derlago had 24 points (8g-16a) in 11 games in January.
* Steelheads play at Las Vegas on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Utah Grizzlies
* Utah drew 17,067 fans for two games against Las Vegas on Jan. 29 and 30.
* Lance Galbraith has five points (1g-4a) and is +4 in his last two games.
* Grizzlies host Las Vegas on Monday and play at Victoria on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Victoria Salmon Kings
* Victoria was 9-4-1 in January which is the most successful January in team history.
* Glenn Fisher made 31 saves and stopped 15 of 16 shooters in the shootout to earn a 1-0 victory at Stockton on Jan 30.
* Salmon Kings host Utah on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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