Wheeling Nailers

Wheeling Nailers
2016–17 ECHL season
City Wheeling, West Virginia
League ECHL
Conference Eastern
Division North
Founded 1981 (In the ACHL)
Home arena WesBanco Arena
Colors Black, Vegas gold, white
              
Owner(s) Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley
Head coach Jeff Christian
Captain Derek Army
Media Wheeling News Register
WKWK Mix 97.3 FM
WTRF-TV channel 7
WTOV-TV channel 9
Affiliates Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Franchise history
1981–82 Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
1982–89 Carolina Thunderbirds
1989–92 Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
1992–96 Wheeling Thunderbirds
1996–present Wheeling Nailers
Championships
Regular season titles 2 (1992–93, 1994–95)
Division Championships 3 (1992–93, 1994–95, 2003–04)
Conference Championships 2 (1992–93, 2015–16)

The Wheeling Nailers are an ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.

The Nailers are the oldest surviving minor league franchise below the level of the American Hockey League, with unbroken continuity of franchise and never having missed a season of play.

Franchise history

The Nailers began play in 1981 in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League as the Carolina Thunderbirds based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Thunderbirds were hugely successful on the ice, winning four consecutive regular season titles and were three-time Bob Paine Trophy winners as league champions.[1] In 1987, the ACHL folded and the team joined the All-American Hockey League, which lasted just the 1987–88 season. The Thunderbirds, Virginia Lancers, and Johnstown Chiefs then became the basis for the East Coast Hockey League, now known as the ECHL. The Thunderbirds lost the first ECHL playoff championship final to the Toledo Storm. The team was renamed Winston-Salem Thunderbirds in 1990 and moved to Wheeling to become the Wheeling Thunderbirds in 1992 under the leadership of president and co-owner Ed Broyhill.

After a trademark dispute with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, the team was renamed Nailers for the 1996–97 season when the franchise held a contest open to local fans, which was won by C. J. Wickham of Steubenville, Ohio. The name "Nailers" was chosen for the city's long history of nail manufacturing. For the 2012–13 season, the Nailers dropped the red-black-gold scheme they had used for nearly two decades in favor of a black-and-gold palette used by the Penguins.[2]

The team plays at the WesBanco Arena (formerly the Wheeling Civic Center), and used the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania as an alternative venue during the 2010–2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.[3] After missing the playoffs for five straight seasons, they had a 106-point season in 2003–04. They were defeated by the Reading Royals in 5 games, 3–2. In season 2005–06 they had a great season making it to the second round of the playoffs losing to Toledo in the final second of the final game.

In August 2011, the Nailers moved to the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division as part of the league realignment for the 2011–12 season. The Chicago Express took the North Division spot vacated by the Nailers.[4] In June 2014 the Nailers returned to the North Division after the ECHL eliminated the Atlantic Division in its realignment for the 2014–15 season.[5]

On March 29, 2012, the ECHL announced that ownership of the Nailers would be transferred from the Brooks-owned Nailers Hockey LLC to the Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley, a joint venture of the Ohio Valley Industrial & Business Development Corporation, and the Wheeling Amateur Hockey Association,[6] to take effect at the conclusion of the 2011–2012 season.

Season-by-season results

Regular Season Playoffs
Season GP W L T OTL SOL Pts GF GA Standing Year Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Kelly Cup
Wheeling Thunderbirds
1992–93 644016—8—883142231st, East 1993 —BYEW, 3–1, JHN W, 4–2, RAL L, 2–4, TOL
1993–94 683823—7—833272893rd, North 1994 —W, 2–0, NSH W, 3–1, HR L, 0–3, TOL —
1994–95 684617—5—973132431st, North 1995 —L, 0–3, BIR ———
1995–96 704223——5892892612nd, North 1996 —W, 3–0, CLB L, 1–3, TAL ——
Wheeling Nailers
1996–97 7036295——772982914th, North 1997 —L, 0–3, PEO ———
1997–98 7037249——832552552nd, North 1998 —W, 3–2, DAY W, 3–1, TOL L, 2–4, HR—
1998–99 7027376——602062496th, Northeast 1999 Out of playoffs
1999–2000 7025405——552022465th, Northeast 2000 Out of playoffs
2000–01 7224408——561922775th, Northeast 2001 Out of playoffs
2001–02 7236324——762132085th, Northeast 2002 Out of playoffs
2002–03 7228413——591932616th, Northeast 2003 Out of playoffs
2003–04 7251174——1062591881st, North 2004 BYEL, 2–3, REA ———
2004–05 7238295——811711736th, North 2005 — Out of playoffs
2005–06 7245216——962471862nd, East 2006 BYEW, 3–1, REA L, 2–3, TOL ——
2006–07 723234—24702152557th, North 2007 Out of playoffs
2007–08 722243—34511862847th, North 2008 Out of playoffs
2008–09 723628—26802632604th, North 2009 —L, 3–4, CIN ———
2009–10 723335—25732402494th, North 2010 — Out of playoffs
2010–11 723829—05812302102nd, North 2011 —W, 3–1, SC W, 4–3, GRN L, 2–4, KAL—
2011–12 723726—46832192022nd, Atlantic 2012 —L, 1–3, KAL———
2012–13 723129—39741932253rd, Atlantic 2013 — Out of playoffs
2013–14 723927—15842161962nd, Atlantic 2014 —W, 4–0, SC L, 2–4, GRN ——
2014–15 723733—11762102134th, North 2015 —L, 3–4, TOL ———
2015–16 723726—54832142112nd, North 2016 —W, 4–2, FLA W, 4–3, REA W, 4–3, SCL, 2–4, ALN

Players

Current roster

Updated October 22, 2016.[7]
# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
21 United States Ammon, AndrewAndrew Ammon RW L 26 2016 Anchorage, Alaska Nailers
16 United States Army, DerekDerek Army (C) C R 25 2014 North Kingstown, Rhode Island Nailers
31 United States Carr, DougDoug Carr G L 27 2016 Hanover, Massachusetts Nailers
5 United States Fick, DannyDanny Fick D R 25 2015 Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota Nailers
6 Canada Flemington, KyleKyle Flemington D R 24 2016 Parkhill, Ontario Nailers
9 Canada Hilbrich, ChristianChristian Hilbrich LW L 24 2016 Port Credit, Ontario Wilkes-Barre
26 United States Krause, AdamAdam Krause RW R 25 2015 Hermantown, Minnesota Wilkes-Barre
10 Canada Kromm, AlexAlex Kromm F R 25 2016 Penticton, British Columbia Nailers
17 Canada Kwas, JordanJordan Kwas C R 27 2016 Cochrane, Alberta Nailers
30 United States Lewis, GregGreg Lewis G L 25 2016 Mars, Pennsylvania Nailers
72 Canada Lloyd, DarrylDarryl Lloyd (A) C L 32 2016 Pickering, Ontario Nailers
3 United States McMullan, RossRoss McMullan D R 25 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada Nailers
23 Canada Meurs, GarrettGarrett Meurs RW R 23 2016 Ripley, Ontario Nailers
7 United States Quinney, GageGage Quinney LW L 21 2016 Las Vegas, Nevada Nailers
26 United States Schulze, KevinKevin Schulze D L 23 2016 White Bear Lake, Minnesota Nailers
2 United States Segalla, RyanRyan Segalla D L 21 2016 Rockland, Massachusetts Wilkes-Barre
25 Canada Shalla, JoshJosh Shalla LW L 25 2016 Oshawa, Ontario Nailers
8 United States Sorkin, NickNick Sorkin W L 25 2016 Rockville, Maryland Nailers
27 United States Stern, BrettBrett Stern (A) D L 24 2015 St. Paul, Minnesota Nailers
24 Canada Webster, MichaelMichael Webster D L 21 2016 Toronto, Ontario Wilkes-Barre
11 United States Wydo, CodyCody Wydo F L 25 2015 Allen Park, Michigan Nailers

Nailers alumni

Head coaches

References

  1. ↑ "A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey". Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Wheeling Nailers". Chris Creamer's Sports Logos.net. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  3. ↑ Mastovich, Mike (2010-04-02). "Arena confirms: Wheeling Nailers to play some games in Johnstown next year". The Tribune-Democrat.
  4. ↑ Press Release (2011-08-01). "Annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting concludes". ECHL. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  5. ↑ Press Release (2014-06-24). "Annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting concludes". ECHL. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  6. ↑ Press Release. "Ownership Transfer Approved By ECHL". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Wheeling Nailers playing roster". Wheeling Nailers. 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  8. ↑ wheelingnailers.com. "NHL Alumni". Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  9. ↑ Triveri, Frankie and David. "FRANCHISE HISTORY". Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2009.
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