ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Wheeling Nailers Weekly Report

December 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Upcoming Games

Friday, December 13 at 7:35 - Wheeling Nailers at Cincinnati Cyclones

Saturday, December 14 at 7:35 - Reading Royals at Wheeling Nailers. Boy Scout Night. 3000 area Boy Scouts to attend.

Sunday, December 15 at 6:05 - Reading Royals at Wheeling Nailers. Sunday Family Funday. Skate with the team and Santa after the game (must bring your own skates and gloves).

Friday, December 19 at 8:05 - Johnstown Chiefs at Wheeling Nailers. Kids Free Day! All kids 14 and under get free admission when accompanied by an adult. 2 kids per adult to take advantage of this offer.

Saturday, December 20 at 7:35 - Wheeling Nailers at Johnstown Chiefs.

Sunday, December 21 at 6:05 - Trenton Devils at Wheeling Nailers. Sunday Family FunDay. Skate with the team and Santa after the game! Must bring your own skates and gloves.

Great tickets available for upcoming Wheeling Nailers home games! Call the Wheeling Nailers at 304-234-GOAL or 1-877-NAIL-TIX or log-on for more info at wheelingnailers.com

Holiday Specials

The Nailers have two great Holiday packages for you and your family.

Package #1 - 4 game vouchers good for any game. Autographed stick blade. All stuffed in a game used Hockey Sock all for $50. It's a great package you're sure to enjoy.

Package #2 - Two game tickets to Moon Dog Night on December 27. Guaranteed Moon Dog Bobblehead doll. Wheeling Nailers Christmas Ornament. All stuffed in a game used hockey sock all for $30. Another fantastic arrangement perfect for all Nailers fans.

Call the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL or stop by the team offices on Main Street in downtown Wheeling during regular business hours to get your holiday packages today!

Last Week -

The Wheeling Nailers went 1-1 with a 5-2 win on Friday night at Dayton for the 700th regular season victory in the history of the organization, most in the ECHL. The Nailers suffered their largest setback of the year Saturday night with an 8-1 loss to Dayton in the rematch. Erik Johnson scored in both games, his first goals as a Nailer. The Nailers are tied for 2nd in the North with Dayton and trail first place Johnstown by 6 points but the Nailers have 3 games in hand on both teams (Wheeling has played 20 games whereas Johnstown and Dayton have played 23 games each).

Friday, December 5 - Wheeling 5, Dayton 2

Curtis Darling came within 1:24 of a shutout before allowing 2 late goals. Five different Naielrs lit the lamp including shorthanded goals from Bryan Ewing and Matt Grennier. Erik Johnson opened the scoring in the 1st period with his first ever goal as a Nailer. Jon Grecu and Andrew Lord also scored for Wheeling. For Lord it was his 3rd consecutive game with a goal. Wheeling's penalty kill continued to play exceptionally well not only scoring 2 shorthanded goals but also holding Dayton to 0/9 on the man advantage. It was the 700th win all-time in organizational history becoming the first team in the ECHL to reach that milestone. Wheeling has more wins over Dayton than any other team with 84. Wheeling remaining unbeaten in regulation on the road at 6-0-3 with the victory.

Saturday, December 6 - Dayton 8, Wheeling 1

The Bombers bounced back with a vengeance in the weekend series rematch with a 5 goal barrage in the first period en route to an 8-1 win. It was the worst margin of defeat and most goals allowed this season by the Nailers who suffered their first loss in regulation of the season after 10 games. Wheeling's record on the road fell to 6-1-3. 7 different Bombers lit the lamp including a pair of goals from Jaret Lukin and a 4 point night from Christian Gaudet with 1 goal and 3 assists. Wheeling registered their most shots on goal in a game this ear with 47 but bomber goalie Tyler Plante bounced back from a sub-par performance on Friday to turn in a 46 save night in the Saturday game. Erik Johnson scored the lone tally for the Nailers, his 2nd of the weekend and of the season. Dayton went 0/4 on the power play for a perfect 0/13 weekend by Wheeling's penalty kill unit. Wheeling is 3-2 vs. Dayton this year. They next meet on December 28th at Dayton. Wheeling will see Dayton more than any other team this year as they will face each other 14 times through the regular season.

Roster Moves and other notes -

Friday, Dec 5 - The Nailers added emergency backup goalie Jordan Alford to the roster. He was college teammates and roommates at RPI with Andrew Lord. He places equipment manager Billy Higgins who had been serving as the emergency backup goalie for the past few weeks.

Friday, Dec 5 - Nick Johnson was called up to the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Dartmouth College product leads the Nailers in goals with 14.

Monday, Dec 8 - The Penguins organization have decided to switch goalies between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling. David Brown will be coming back to Wheeling after 3 weeks In the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Curtis Darling will be going from Wheeling to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Mitch Ganzak missed both games vs. Dayton with a minor injury.

Team Leaders -

Goals - Nick Johnson (14)

Assists - Tommy Goebel (17)

Points - Tommy Goebel (27)

Power Play Goals - Nick Johnson (6)

Plus/Minus - Mitch Ganzak (+15)

PIM - Cedrick Bernier (76)

Goals Against - David Brown (2.34)

Saves Percentage - David Brown (.928)

Wins - Curtis Darling (9)

Team Notes -

The Nailers have more wins in ECHL history than any other organization with 700. Their 700th win all-time came Friday, December 5 in a 5-2 victory at Dayton making them the first ever ECHL team to reach the milestone.

The Nailers lost on the road in regulation for the first time this year on Saturday, Dec 6 after 9 away games with 0 regulation losses. Wheeling 6-1-3 on the road this season.

The Nailers are 2nd in the ECHL in scoring with 4.00 goals per game. They are just behind league leading Florida at 4.30.

Wheeling is 13th in the league in defense allowing 3.25 goals per game. That is 3rd in the North Division behind Johnstown and Dayton.

Wheeling is 8th in the league in shots per game with 32.35. They are 20th in shots allowed with 34.25.

Wheeling has received much improved play from the penalty kill lately holding opponents to just 6/60 in the last 12 games (90%) including holding Dayton to 0/13 last weekend.. Wheeling is 9th in the league overall on the penalty kill at 83.8%. The Nailers penalty kill at home is 3rd in the league at 88.9%.

Wheeling's power play has slipped to 8th in the league at 19.2%. Wheeling went 1/11 in their two games at Dayton. Wheeling is 6/50 (12%) on the power play since November 15. Wheeling clicked at 15/45 (33%) on the power play in their first 7 games on the year.

The Nailers are 10-0-0 when leading after 2 periods. Wheeling is 6-2-1 when outshooting their opponent.

Player Notes -

Curtis Darling is 4th in the league in wins with 9 and 4th in total minutes played with 917.

The top 2 rookie scorers in the league are Wheeling Nailers. Tommy Goebel is 4th in the league in scoring and 1st among rookies with 27 points (10+17). Nick Johnson is 7th in the league and 2nd among rookies 24 (14+10). Johnson has since been called up to the AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Goebel and Jordan Morrison are 3rd in the league and tops among rookies in assists with 17 each. Aaron Clarke is 6th with 16. Bryan Ewing is 15th overall and 4th among rookies with 14 helpers.

Mitch Ganzak leads the ECHL in plus-minus rating at +15. Tommy Goebel is 3rd at +13.

Nick Johnson is 4th in the league and first among rookies in goals with 14.

Nick Johnson is also 2nd among rookies in power play goals with 6 and is 2nd among rookies in power play points with 13.

Tommy Goebel's 17 assists are 2nd in the league trailing only Cam Keith of Alaska who has 18. Aaron Clarke is tied for 5th in helpers with 14.

Elgin Reid is 2nd among defenseman scorers with 12 points. He is tied for 2nd among defenseman in goals with 5.

Goebel leads the league in +/- rating with +17. Mitch Ganzak is 2nd at +15 and is first in the ECHL among defensemen. Aaron Clarke is 6th at +12. Elgin Reid is 2nd in the ECHL among rookies and tied for 8th overall at +11.

Mitch Ganzak and Jon Grecu lead the team in shootout goals with 2 each. Grecu is 2-for-2 on the year.

Andrew Lord had a 3 game goal scoring streak from November 28 through December 5.

Erik Johnson scored his first two goals as a Wheeling Nailer in back to back games at Dayton December 5 and 6.

On the Air -

The first televised game of the season will take place on Friday, December 19th when the Nailers take on the 1st place Johnstown Chiefs at 8:05. Catch all the action on WTOV-9 in Wheeling with Bob Rotruck and Brock Woods calling the action.

All games are broadcast on the Wheeling Nailers Hockey Radio Network including The Mix 97.3fm and streamed live on wheelingnailers.com and video on the B2 networks. The voice of the Nailers, Bob Rotruck, provides all the play-by-play action with former Wheeling Thunderbird great Brock Woods providing color commentary on home games. The broadcasts begin with the USA Steak Buffet Countdown to Faceoff 20 minutes before the game-start including the Main Street Bank Coach's Conversation with Greg Puhalski.

Home games feature the live version of the Riesbeck's Food Market's post-game show from the club at WesBanco Arena featuring a recap of the game and live interviews with Nailers players. Come join us at the club downstairs at WesBanco Arena where you can meet the players and listen to the post-game show live.

Every Thursday night at 6pm it's the Nailers Power Hour live from Generations Pub and Restaurant and carried on the Wheeling Nailers Hockey Radio Network. Be sure to e-mail us your questions for Coach Puhalski and your favorite Nailers players and we will read them on the air. The e-mail address is nailersradio@wheelingnailers.com . Be sure to include your first name and your hometown and listen for us to read your question on the air!

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 8, 2008


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