With the hard-fought loss in Indy on Wednesday, the Nailers sit in third place with a big three games in three days this weekend. What needs to happen to keep Wheeling where they are?
The Nailers found themselves in a two-goal hole entering the third period on Wednesday but fought back to tie the game just over five minutes into the third. At that point, everyone involved had to believe they had a chance to find a way to complete the comeback and win. Especially since they had to get over the three-goal barrier to get to that point, which has proven to be an important spot for this team this year. However, it wasn’t meant to be, as a goal by Indy with less than 10 seconds to play (and an empty netter) gave Indy the 6-4 win.
Getting points at times like that where the team has to create their own opportunities needs to be the ultimate objective. Indy and Cincinnati are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the field in the division, so if Wheeling has any hopes of jumping over either/both of them and get home ice, they can’t keep letting points slip between their fingers. Losses like these should sting and push the team to fight harder to earn those points, especially when it could come at the expense of the teams ahead of them.
Now, the Nailers have games at home on Friday (against Indy again) and Sunday (against Cincinnati) bookending the game on Saturday on the road (at Ft. Wayne). Keeping pace needs to be the objective with the remaining games before the holiday break. Getting those points against the teams ahead of them would greatly help their chances of staying competitive in the division. I know that going 3-0 this weekend would be the ultimate hope, but it’ll be considerably harder with the travel portion in the middle. I think the team could go 2-1 (hopefully winning both games against the teams ahead of them) and keep themselves in play for those top spots in the division. Now to take the opportunity to prove they belong in the conversation with those teams.
When the calendar flips to 2023 in a couple of weeks, the Nailers will be about 40 percent of the way through their season. Considering what they have remaining on the schedule beyond that point, where will Wheeling need to be at that point for you to believe they should be able to clinch the playoffs for the second year in a row?
Obviously, there’s plenty of hockey to be played between now and that point, with four of their remaining seven games left before the year changes against division opponents (after Christmas, the Nailers have three games against Reading, who are in the North division). With only three standings points separating third place Wheeling and sixth place Ft. Wayne (with Kalamazoo and Toledo between them), it remains important to continue to earn points as much as possible to stay in the position they want to be in.
I think the Nailers need to be within the playoff field entering 2023 to believe they have a better-than-average chance of staying there by the end of the season. The good news for the Nailers is that, coming down the stretch, 17 of their last 32 games of the regular season will be against two of the worst teams in the entire league in Iowa and Norfolk. With that being the case, I believe it’s realistic to think that Wheeling can earn enough points between those games as well as staying competitive against the tougher opponents that they should be able to remain in the chase, assuming they are there going into the new year.
With all of the changes that have happened recently to the Nailers in terms of their lineup (Cedric Pare going to Colorado to play in the AHL as well as the additions of Gianluca Esteves and Matt Alfaro to the team), what are your thoughts regarding team chemistry and how things are going in that respect?
Obviously, playing in a developmental league like the ECHL, you expect a certain amount of player movement throughout the season. Having Pare make the jump to an AHL club (and see success there so far, with three points in six games and a power play goal included) isn’t that surprising. He showed during his time here in Wheeling how good of a player he is, and I fully anticipate his skills keeping him in the AHL (either with Colorado longer term or with another team should they let him go) for the remainder of the season, so he’s probably out for Wheeling moving forward.
Losing a player with that much skill can hurt of course, but backfilling with really good players with the skills of Esteves and Alfaro has been a real shot for this team as well. Esteves has found a way to contribute five points through 10 games played, while Alfaro has matched him with the five points but in only four games played. This shows that they have the ability to be successful in this league and have found good chemistry already on the ice with their teammates.
The chemistry within a team and in the locker room can be vastly underrated by fans looking in from the outside. Sometimes, lacking chemistry can tank a team with a lot of skill because they can’t work together and can lead to serious issues. From everything that I’ve seen and heard about this team, they have great chemistry with each other, enjoying the time they get to spend together and working together to bring this team to greater heights. Sometimes, adding new guys to something like that can really hurt in the long run, but it appears to be helping these guys come together to bring the new players into the fold, so hopefully, that’s something that continues through the rest of the season.
Specialty teams continue to be a potential problem for the Nailers this year, with the power play and penalty kill slipping down again (12 percent and 78 percent success rate, respectively). What does this team need to do to turn those around and get them to more respectable numbers?
While teams love to say they’re playing well at five on five, and the Nailers have seen plenty of success this season at that, having your specialty teams playing this poorly could be enough to cost you much-needed wins. I would think the optimal levels for the Nailers when it comes to these would be somewhere between 18-20% rate for the power play and closer to 85% for the penalty kill, so there is definitely still room for improvement on both fronts.
When looking at the power play, one of the biggest weaknesses I’ve noticed is the ability to get the puck into the zone with possession and maintaining that possession in the offensive zone. Attempting too many passes to get a “perfect” shot attempt is never the best practice for a successful power play unit. If a shot attempt presents itself, with the potential for a tip out front or a rebound available, that might be the “perfect” play instead of attempting yet another cross-ice pass. One of my favorite sayings when it comes to the power play is the team should make the goalie make a save because there’s way too good of a chance that he might not. Don’t be afraid to force the play and take a dirty goal.
As for the penalty kill, they were operating much better for a while, but have fallen off again recently. Again, just like with the power play, the best thing to do would be to simplify things. If you get possession of the puck, don’t be afraid to force the team to collect themselves by dumping it down ice. You might need to take a hit to make a play and clear a puck, and that’s the expectation for you to be on the ice in that situation. Nobody ever said being on the penalty kill was easy, so you need to play as hard as the game is presenting itself. Apply pressure to the puck without overextending, keep the puck to the outside, and get it away from your net as much as possible. And of course, your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer, so help him as much as you can and give him chances to make saves. That’s how you improve a below-average penalty kill.
The Nailers’ social media and fan relations teams have stepped up their game so far this season to great review and acclaim. What have they done that has helped their visibility with the fans, and what is your favorite thing they have been doing this year?
I really do look forward to seeing what the Nailers will share on their social media pages every day. Information regarding upcoming promotional nights (such as the Wizards and Wands night coming on January 14), the game day snapshot posts with important information regarding both teams involved in the game, some great photos from all of the home games of not just the action on the ice, but the fans in attendance, as well as the productions are shown on the video boards inside the arena during pregame, media timeouts, and intermissions really helps to immerse those fans in their experience with the team. Making sure to add things as regularly as they have is also important, as it keeps their information fresh in the minds of fans and hopefully helps draw them into the games.
As for my favorite thing, I really love the video snippets with my friend DJ Abisalih (with whom I do the sports hour with on Thursdays (5-6 p.m.), along with host Steve Novotney, on River Talk 100.1 FM).
How that little man brings all of the energy he does to everything he does for that team, from the videos to the Nailers Power Hour live from 19th Hole, and the game broadcasts on the radio, is nothing short of awesome. His knowledge about this team is evident every time he gets a chance to talk about them, and he really does seem to care about how this team does and making sure that information makes it across to the fans.
If you can’t make it to a game, there’s nothing better than listening to DJ describe the action, because he does a great job of explaining the action so well that you can see it happening in your mind.
