Yeah, it’s him. He’s that guy.
Officially, Corey Klug serves as the Crowd Master of Ceremonies during each home game for the Wheeling Nailers. Unofficially, he is the hockey team’s “noisemaker.”
Klug was graduated in 2015 from West Liberty University as a sports broadcasting major and education minor, and during his time on the hilltop campus in Ohio County he attended several men’s basketball games while the Hilltoppers chased a Division II national championships.
It was during those events when he was “discovered.”
“When I was a student at West Liberty University, I used to do a little dancing during the breaks at the men’s basketball games,” Klug explained. “That’s when Theresa Gretchen from the university television station took note of that. Then, the next semester I had changed my major from education to broadcasting, and Theresa had mentioned to me an opportunity that she had heard about with the Wheeling Nailers.
“She was talking about the Crowd MC position, and because she remembers the dancing during the basketball games, she brought that opportunity to my attention,” he recalled. “She thought I would be a good fit for it, so I figured I would try it out. Then, during a game back in November 2013, I made my debut, and the fans seemed to really like it. A month or so after that, the front office decided to make it a permanent position. and the rest is history.”
Crowd Size Doesn’t Matter
The current Nailers season is Klug’s ninth as the team’s Crowd MC, a gig that includes 36 games against teams like the Fort Wayne Komets, the Iowa Heartlanders, and the Toledo Walleye. The Nailers will welcome the Indy Fuel this Saturday evening and the Kalamazoo Wings Sunday afternoon at 4:10 p.m.
The crowd sizes usually depend on giveaways and the team’s success and right now Wheelings sits at 15-10-1 with 31 points, only five points away from first place in the ECHL’s Central Division.
Klug has entertained a sold-out arena, and he’s worked crowds under 1,000, but, while he cares about the team’s on-ice and off-ice success, he insisted the number of fans in the stands does not impact his efforts.
“It doesn’t matter if we have 1,000 in the building or 5,000, I’m going to do everything I can to get our fans to make as much noise as possible,” Klug said. “I consider my job to be easy because I get to do it for a team I love. I’m a huge fan of the Wheeling Nailers so it’s much than just a job.
“If you watch me during the games, my eyes don’t leave the ice much, and that’s because I love the sport, and it happens very quickly. We could have a goal in a blink of an eye,” he continued. “Serving as the Crowd MC is all about giving your team the momentum against the opponent, and trust me when I tell you the players love to hear from the fans in the stands.”
For Free?
When Klug was a kid growing up in the Wheeling area, the Nailers were one of his favorite things to do on weekend evenings, but as a teenager, other activities came into play.
But those options did not remove him from the team’s fan base.
“I used to go to games as a kid, and that’s when I realized that we had a pro team that we could get behind, so that’s what I did,” Klug said. “Even when I didn’t go to many games as a teenager, I still do my best to follow them because the Nailers are a local team that’s been really easy for me to support.”
During each contest, Klug simply roams the arena, and when the on-ice action stops for whatever reason, he gets into his role. He does the same during the contests between periods, and when giveaways take place, and yes, that guy attracts a lot of attention because of his love for the game of hockey.
“That’s where my love and my passion come from while I am the Crowd MC,” he said. “Think about it; I get paid to act like a hooligan and watch hockey for free. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
