Dear Pens Fans:
Red flags are flying everywhere, ladies and gentlemen.
With the way these new owners – the Hoffmans – have handled this affiliation dilemma with the Wheeling Nailers, we believe Pens Nation should be a little creeped out about the future of our favorite NHL hockey team.
Understand that as soon as the Hoffman family finalized their purchase of the Penguins in December, Nailers fans began wondering about the future of the team’s affiliation with Pittsburgh because the group already owned the Florida Everblades. Nailers Nation realized common sense would dictate an affiliation change to the Blades, but no one in Wheeling wanted to say it out loud.
That’s because it was more than an affiliation; it was a love affair, too, because most local hockey fans root for the Pens, too, and the way the Hoffmans mishandled the inevitable allowed for Nailers Nation to fear the worst for pro hockey in Wheeling … and that was unnecessary.
No one likes limbo, and it should have been avoided at all costs.
Now that the Nailers’ head coach has signed with the AHL’s Abbotsford, Wheeling’s ECHL franchise will be making a number of announcements in the near future about moving past its 29-year partnership with Pittsburgh’s NHL team. There will be new coaches and, yes, a new NHL affiliate, too, and hopefully, Wheeling’s hockey fans soon realize they rooted for the Nailers – not the Penguins – as their team skated to a North Division Championship.
We can only hope, Penguins fans, that these Hoffman fellows will now get out of the way and allow their front office staff to do their jobs as the organization moves toward the 2026-27 season.
Sincerely,
Licking Our Wounds in Wheeling
