With the number of roster transactions that have happened recently that have affected them, how do you think the changes to the lineup will affect the Nailers in their upcoming series of games?
Since the beginning of this week, Wheeling has managed to lose five players to call-ups from the AHL.
Cam Housinger has moved up to Milwaukee, while Tommy Nappier, Justin Addamo, Adam Smith, and Chris Merisier-Ortiz were all brought up by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In addition to these moves, prior to this week, Taylor Gauthier, Josh Maniscalco, and Brooklyn Kalmikov were also brought up by the Baby Penguins (with Kalmikov being sent back to Wheeling already).
In total, the Nailers are currently missing both goaltenders, three defensemen, and three forwards from their regular lineup, leading to the team having to make a number of roster moves, such as claiming defenseman Brandon Fehd from Adirondack on waivers and signing a number of new players to contracts.
This could unfortunately lead to a lot of issues for the team over this weekend’s series of games (Friday vs Fort Wayne, Saturday at Cincinnati, Sunday vs Kalamazoo). Team cohesion and confidence in your linemates is very important in hockey, and it’s something that’s only really borne out of time together. Practice time, previous game experience, and having time together off the ice can help players get a feel for their teammates, but with how many new players are joining the roster in such a short time, they won’t get the chance to build together.
Also, there are a number of situations where set plays are very important in hockey (the power play and penalty kill being some of the biggest examples), and without the chance to get together and learn what this team likes to do, it’ll be hard for these new players to be a part of it.
Having time on the bus to and from Cincinnati on Saturday will give them a chance to spend considerable time together and try to start working on these things, but I have concerns about how things will go on Friday with little to no time available prior to puck drop to install the game plan. Coach Derek Army and his staff will do everything they can to have everyone ready, but at this point, I feel like this weekend is really rolling the dice on how things will go.
In my opinion, I’d love to see the Nailers come away with at least two points (out of a possible six) from this game and show that they have the skill and ability to pull together under such strange circumstances to produce a cohesive gameplan. Getting more than that would be helpful, and I think walking away going 1-1-1 (for three points) could be realistic, but anything less than two points would hurt this team considerably as we quickly approach the All-Star break.
With Josh Maniscalco currently up in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Nailers lone representative for the All-Star team is not with the team. If he has to be replaced on the roster, who do you think would be the best choice to go to Norfolk in his place?
With the All-Star game quickly approaching (scheduled for January 16 in Norfolk, VA), the hope is for all of the teams above the Nailers (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Pittsburgh) to get healthy enough to be able to send the players currently called up back down so the Nailers can field a full roster and still send Josh Maniscalco to the game.
However, there are a number of players who are also having seasons that are worthy of being sent, although a number of them are also currently up in the AHL and may not be back in time either. Justin Addamo has had a rather good season thus far prior to his call-up, posting 20 points in 27 games played prior to his promotion.
Cam Hausinger has chipped in with 14 points in 13 games played while serving as one of the team’s alternate captains. Both would be great selections, should they find their way back to Wheeling prior to the game.
But, with only 10 days before the game, there’s a chance none of them will come back before the roster has to be set, so a player will be chosen from the roster as currently constructed. Based on that, I feel like the most likely selection will be Cedric Desruisseaux, who currently has posted 11 goals and 21 points in 29 games played for the Nailers this year. But in my opinion, I would prefer to see a player like Carter Johnson get the recognition he deserves.
He has 16 points with 29 games played, but his contributions to this year’s team can’t just be measured by his stat line. He has shown a great ability to work on the specialty teams, something that will be extraordinarily necessary with the changes the roster has undergone and has shown his ability to help in his own defensive zone from his forward position.
That would be my choice from the players currently available, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Desruisseaux is the player chosen.
With the impending All-Star game, the Nailers find themselves at a bit of a crossroads at 14-14-1 and tied for the last playoff spot in the Central division. How can the Nailers keep themselves in that playoff spot as they deal with the difficulties they’re facing right now?
Obviously, the best thing the team can do right now is to find ways to earn points. It’s obviously not going to be the easiest thing in the world, with all of the new players coming in and trying to learn this system on the fly with game action. Moments like this remind me of the old pneumonic I learned in sports myself years ago: K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Play a simple game, take your chances when they afford, don’t put yourself into bad positions to make a low percentage play, but also don’t be afraid to make plays when they present themselves that can help your team win games that are winnable.
You have to believe that, eventually, the team will be back to a full roster as the teams above them get healthy and send players back down (although it also wouldn’t surprise me if some of the more skilled players who are up stay in that position if they see success at that level). It feels somewhat disingenuous to say that these guys need to tread water and stay the course, but they might find it difficult to advance their position in the standings right now.
In combat, sometimes maintaining your positioning is seen as a victory when the opponent has the skill and ability to push you back, and that’s one of the small ways in which sports mirrors that. Hold your ground and be ready when the cavalry shows up.
Earlier in the year, the Nailers scored two or less goals in nine of their first 14 games. On the flip side, the team has scored more than two goals in 11 of their last 15 games and are averaging 3.8 goals per game during that stretch. Which style do you think benefits this team more?
Obviously, any time a team scores more goals, you have to believe they have a better-than-average chance of winning games. In the 11 games where they went over two goals for the game, the Nailers have a 7-3-1 record (while having a 1-3-0 record during that stretch when scoring exactly two goals). Through those first 14 games, the Nailers had an average of 2.21 goals per game, which certainly isn’t high enough to believe you can win many games.
However, with that recent stretch above, they were able to bring their goals per game average up to 3.03 on the season, which definitely gives more confidence in what your team is doing and can do. A big issue with that though is the fact that the team is averaging 3.34 goals against per game, but that’s also affected over the last 15 games, when the team has averaged 3.67 goals against per game during that time, so opening things up and scoring more has allowed more chances for the opposition as well.
In my opinion, however, I think playing in this manner is better for the Nailers overall. Playing fast and hard allows them to take better advantage of breaks up ice, create odd-man chances, and give a better chance of forcing the opposing team to make some hard plays. I understand this goes against everything I said in my previous answer, but I’m focusing this on when the team is at full strength.
When you’re playing with a brand-new team essentially, you have to endure some more of those growing pains as they learn together again, so be prepared if you see more hockey now that’s closer to what you saw earlier. Tightening things up, especially in front of two new goalies in town, is the best plan for now, and I’m sure Coach Army is well aware of how he wants this team to perform while acclimating to the new group. But based on what has shown the most success on the ice so far this year, it might not hurt to give the team a chance or two to play a faster game and force the issue, if only to see if these guys can pick things up where the other guys who moved up left off.
Should the team continue to see success on the ice and maintain their position in the standings (or even move up and challenge the better teams in the division), do you think Derek Army deserves some consideration for coach of the year for what he’s able to do with what he’s been given during this time?
I’ve been a big fan of the job that Coach Army has done so far. The fact that he’s had so many players be able to make that jump to a higher level (and see some success there already, with Gauthier already earning his first two AHL wins and showing a .930 save% and a 2.00 goals against per game with WBS as well as Cedric Pare with 10 points in 17 total AHL games between Belleville and Colorado) shows that he has done the work at this level to prepare his players for the chance to perform at a higher level.
To me, that’s the true mark of a successful coach in a minor league situation, the ability to get your players to a point where they can make that move and see success, and hopefully find a way to stick there, even if it hurts your club in the long run. If Coach Army is able to maintain the success the team has had in recent weeks, even with all of the roster changes, even with trying to assimilate these new players to this environment midseason, even with all of the things that have gone against them so far, then I absolutely believe he deserves that consideration.
Quite possibly, in fact, he should be pretty high in the vote totals. I can say that if I had a vote, I would absolutely submit it for him.
