The Nailers were able to earn five out of a possible eight points during their four-game road trip that finished up in Kansas City last weekend and hold on to fourth place in the Central division. As the team returns home for games Friday and Saturday against Iowa followed by a Sunday tilt in Toledo, what would it take for you to consider this a successful weekend for them?
The Nailers have shown a pretty good ability this season at going on the road and finding success, with a current road record of 10-8-1 away from the Friendly City. It’s always a good sign when a team is able to find success on the road because if you assume they are able to win 60% or more of their home games, there shouldn’t be a question as to their ability to earn a playoff spot. Unfortunately, the Nailers are currently 9-9-3 at The Bank, so it hasn’t worked out quite that way for the team yet this year. This is something they are going to need to improve on in order to stay competitive for a playoff spot as we enter February.
Luckily, with the two home games this weekend being against the second-worst team in the entire league in Iowa, there’s definitely hope that the Nailers will be able to earn the four points available. The biggest concern at this point is that Iowa has yet to win a road game yet this season, so you have to assume that will happen at some point. Hopefully, it won’t be this weekend in Wheeling.
Then, the Nailers hit the road again to meet the Walleye in Toledo, the team currently in the spot directly ahead of Wheeling in the standings. While there is a seven-point difference between the two currently, the Nailers have two games in hand over them, meaning finding a way to win all of the games this weekend (while keeping Toledo from earning any points in the game on Sunday) would bring the Nailers even closer to having a chance to jump them. I think it’s entirely possible the Nailers can earn at least five points this weekend, maybe even all six that are available, and if they can find a way to do that, it would be even more plausible that the Nailers can find their way up in the standings in very short order.
With Adam Smith leaving Wheeling to move over to the Czech Extraliga, the Nailers have now had over 10 players earn a chance at playing time in leagues higher than the ECHL. Which of those players who have been given that chance have shown the best ability to possibly stay in those advanced leagues?
As I’ve said before, being a fan of a minor-league team is definitely a double-edged sword. You want to see your favorite players do well and earn a spot (hopefully a high one) in the playoffs, but there’s a good chance that, when things go well (or if the team above you has needs), the best players on the team will find their way to greener pastures. That makes you happy for them to get that opportunity but sad that they’re no longer here in Wheeling. That’s why, ultimately, you have to be the fan of the logo on the front and not the name on the back, although you can still follow along and see just how high those players who got their starts here are able to go. They may not all be a Paul Bissonnette and get a chance to play in the top league in North America, but seeing guys succeed who began their playing careers here is definitely a sweet feeling.
One of the first guys to make his way away from Wheeling this season was Cedric Pare, who found his way to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL by way of a professional tryout (PTO) contract. In 21 games played with the Eagles, Pare has managed to score 4 goals and accumulate 9 points, and it was recently announced that Colorado was signing Pare to an AHL contract. I must say, I saw Pare in person a couple of times with the Nailers earlier this year, and I saw the talent there that told me he belonged at a higher level, and I fully believe he will make the most of his time in that league and could possibly find his way up the ranks to a bottom six spot on an NHL roster at some point in the near future.
Another player who’s currently in the AHL and is looking to stick there a little longer is Josh Maniscalco up in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Although he’s only had a chance to play in eight games so far this season for the Baby Penguins, Maniscalco has earned a point off of an assist and has been asked to play some tough minutes in those games he has appeared in. This is another player that I saw a number of times this year with the Nailers and, in those appearances, I felt that he belonged at that higher level. Maybe with more playing time, he’ll prove that he deserves the chance to stick there moving forward.
Of course, this is to take nothing away from the other players who have received chances to move up and are either still there or have bounced back down to Wheeling, such as Justin Addamo, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Taylor Gauthier, Cam Hausinger, and Taylor Gauthier, just to name a few. Maybe at some point after the season, when we look back at the success these players had at Wheeling and beyond, we can really appreciate the fact that we had the chance to watch them while they were playing here in our town.
Looking back over the recent four-game road trip the Nailers embarked on, whose play do you think was most instrumental in helping the team go 2-1-1 in those games?
There were a number of strong performers over the last two weekends who really stepped up and helped the Nailers stay competitive and maintain their spot in fourth place in the division. I’ve actually been quite impressed with the play of Tyler Drevitch the most. In his last three games played, he’s earned four points and is currently sitting at 13 points on the season with 40 games played. By comparison, he only earned nine points last season with 45 games played. In addition to that, he’s found a way to tone down his penalties as well, bringing his penalty minutes per game down from almost 2.5 last season to just below 2 per game this year. In terms of how that affects the team, that equates out to one less penalty to kill every four games, so over 40 games, that’s 10 fewer times the Nailers have been shorthanded this year compared to last year just due to Drevitch. And in addition to this, he has moved from being a -12 in the plus/minus stat last year to being a zero this year, which is a fantastic improvement. That means he’s finding ways to contribute on the defensive side and keep the puck out of his own net.
I also think Samuel Tremblay has been having a great streak recently as well, scoring goals in three straight games and having five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 38 games. With this being his first season in the league after playing the last four at McGill University, there was definitely an adjustment period that he needed earlier in the year, but he has shown lately that he’s found a way to make that adjustment to the professional game at this level, and I look forward to seeing more from him the rest of the way. One more player that I think deserves a shoutout here is Max Johnson, who managed to score his first professional goal in the game last Saturday at Kansas City. This is another player who is adjusting to life in the pros, and after getting the chance to suit up 19 times so far, , he should be given plenty of opportunities down the stretch to continue to contribute.
Looking at the Nailers schedule for this year, Wheeling has already faced eight unique opponents this year, with only one team left on their schedule (Norfolk) that they haven’t had the chance to face yet. When you look at the rest of the league and the teams not on the schedule this season, is there a team out there that you wish the Nailers did have a chance to face this year?
With the Nailers only facing nine different teams in a 28-team league (including Wheeling themselves), that means they will only play games against 33.3% of the remainder of the league in a 72-game season. Part of me thinks that’s a great sign, because it means they’re playing more against the same opponents, especially within the division, which I think leads to even more heated rivalries (especially come playoff time when you play within your division in the first two rounds) and really gives you a good feel for who the best teams in the division really are. But I can also see the negatives in that, where you have fans that want to see different teams come through to see at Wesbanco Arena, and it can definitely feel like it’s the same teams over and over again that you’ve already seen. Personally, I’m a fan of developing rivalries, so I have no issue with the schedule, but I can see the argument for a broader range of opponents.
That being said, as a former athlete myself (granted, not at this level, but I still played sports), I’ve always been someone who wants to play against the best teams we could find to see if my team could stack up against them. It provides a definite litmus test for where your team is, and gives you a feel for where you need to be or a team you may face at a deeper round in the playoffs when you get there. You can say to yourself that you’ve already faced them and saw the best they had, so you can better mentally prepare yourself for it. By that logic, I would love to see the Nailers have a chance to play against the Idaho Steelheads (currently 32-7-0-1 this year and the best team in the ECHL) or the Newfoundland Growlers (currently 30-10-1-0 this year and the second best team in the ECHL). Getting the chance to go head-to-head against those teams and hit them with the best game you can give them would give Wheeling a chance to see how well they stack up and give them something to really push towards.
The Nailers game this Saturday against Iowa is their pups and pucks night, where fans are welcome to bring their four-legged family members to the game. As a noted dog lover who has one of your own, do you look forward to this event every year?
I know I’ve said this multiple times in the past somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I do absolutely love dogs, and I think I like dogs more than I like people sometimes. It really does feel disappointing sometimes that I can’t take my dog with me to locations that I think he would really enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are places where dogs (who are notoriously unsanitary) can’t be, but if I’m going to a restaurant and sitting outside, why can’t he come with me and sit there and just enjoy people watching while I enjoy my food? Yet there are a number of places where our animal family members are still not accepted, and I think it’s really sad.
That’s why I really like the fact that the Nailers do everything they can to have something like this every year. I finally get the chance to bring my boy to something I really enjoy and have him relax with me while I get to take in some live hockey. Having no goal horn is fine by me even without the dog night, as I normally am not a big fan of really loud noises, and those horns get turned up to 11 every once in a while, so it can be a bit much. I also really love to watch the puppy parade across the ice during the intermission, so I am very much looking forward to seeing that. And that’s not even to mention the awesome dog bowl giveaway planned for the game. We love to travel with our boy (we plan on taking him on vacation with us this summer), so having a bowl we can take with us on our travels like this will be very helpful. I’m planning on bringing my boy with me down to the game, and I really hope everyone else is able to come down and support the boys on the ice with your furry friends in tow.
