Going into last weekend’s matchup, you thought the Nailers needed to earn five points to stay relevant for the playoffs. Now that they’ve only managed to earn two points in those games, where does that leave Wheeling in terms of their hopes to make the postseason?
The Nailers definitely didn’t do themselves any favors with their performance last weekend in Iowa. When you’re facing a team that is so low in the standings, you have to take advantage of it, and Wheeling completely failed in that regard. In the Friday game, Wheeling was held to only three shots on goal for the entire first period, which is pretty much the opposite of what you want. You’re on the road, you’re facing a team that has struggled this season to keep the puck out of their own net, and you don’t generate any sort of continued offensive pressure to put the other team on their heels. They also had two fights in the first five minutes of the game, and if you remember my article from last week, this feels like an instance where the fighting didn’t really contribute to any energy shift, so what was the point? Having a game with no sense of urgency, even when falling behind, combined with a rough performance by your goalie and an inability to maintain possession leads to a game you weren’t even in pretty much from the drop of the puck.
You had to figure the Nailers would come out hard the next night, and they did at least get the shots on net this time, with 17 in the first period alone. But they once again went to the locker room after the first with a 3-1 deficit, and it almost felt like the night before, where they were going through the motions after that. Wheeling did manage to get some pressure in the third when they finally found a way to hit the back of the net twice in the period, but the Nailers just couldn’t do enough to keep the puck out of their own net and lost yet again to the Heartlanders to the tune of a 4-3 final score. The inability to play under control was the name of this game, with the Nailers taking a total of 16 penalties in the game, leading to eight power play opportunities for Iowa. Giving a team that many chances and forcing your penalty kill group to be out there that much will go a long way to helping the other team win, and in this case, it sunk the Nailers yet again.
After starting the weekend 0-2, the Nailers had nowhere to go but up, but they still came out unready and only managed four shots on goal in the first in this game, but luckily had two of them end up behind the Iowa goalie for a 2-0 lead after one. One would hope the Nailers could then play a good road hockey game, limiting chances against, playing sound defense, taking advantage of chances for, but Iowa wouldn’t go away and were able to force overtime, where the Nailers ended up scoring less than a minute in and earning the extra point with a 4-3 victory.
All in all, considering the team they were matching up against and what they needed to do, last weekend has to be seen as an overall failure in terms of any hopes of furthering their season. The 1-2 weekend puts the Nailers at 21-23-5-0 on the season for 47 standings points. The problem is, Ft. Wayne was able to go 2-1 over the same weekend, and even after a loss on Wednesday night to South Carolina, they are still 25-17-4-2 to have 56 standings points with a game in hand over Wheeling. So, the Nailers now sit nine points behind the Komets, with the Walleye (the team in third place) another 10 points ahead of Ft. Wayne. If Wheeling really wants to have any hope of playing for a chance at the Kelly Cup, they are going to need to earn points and earn them quickly, and with games in the coming weeks against Indy, Ft. Wayne, and Toledo, it’s hard to imagine a world where the Nailers are able to pull it off. I’m not giving up hope, but it’s beginning to look a lot less likely that Wheeling will be playing much past the middle of April.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins announced they’re sending Tommy Nappier back to Wheeling after getting Dustin Tokarski back from Pittsburgh. How do you think this move will affect the Nailers decisions in goal this weekend, with three games in three days against Norfolk?
Any time your team can get a player back that is good enough to play at a higher level, it can only be seen as a positive. Nappier appeared in one game with the baby Penguins, making 27 saves on 29 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Bridgeport Islanders. While it’s tough to gauge how a player does based on just one game, having a 0.931 save percentage in his appearance shows that he was able to keep his team in the game. It’s tough for a goalie when you don’t get the offensive support to make two goals against stand up. Now, with his return to Wheeling, Tommy can bring that experience with him and try to apply what he saw there to his game at the ECHL level.
Of course, that means the Nailers now have three goalies on their roster, with Nappier joining Bailey Brkin and Brad Barone as options in the crease this weekend against Norfolk. The Admirals are having a rough go of it this season, with the worst record in the league at 12-36-1-2 for 27 points. Then again, the Nailers had an opportunity last weekend against the second worst team and didn’t capitalize, so it’s hard to take much for granted right now.
The Nailers have to face every single game the rest of the way as must win, starting right now. And with that in mind, you have to put out the players that give you the best chance to win every single game. At this point, there’s no reason to play someone other than Nappier as long as he feels like he’ll be able to contribute. That being said, I don’t think it would be a good idea to play the same goalie all three games, even though he wasn’t used much in Wilkes-Barre, so he should be rested, but being overused like that can exhaust a player quickly. I would most likely elect to play Nappier two of the three, starting with Friday, then determine if he can go Saturday based on his workload that night. If he feels he can go, turn around and start him again Saturday, then give Bailey the game on Sunday. If he needs the day between, then let Nappier have the Sunday evening tilt, and Bailey gets the middle match. Either way, based on his recent performances, I don’t see a reason to turn to Brkin at any point unless absolutely necessary. He’s not the goalie that gives you the best chance to earn much needed points at this point.
After last week’s discussion regarding fighting in hockey, the Nailers now face Norfolk this weekend, who have a player (Nico Blachman) that has the most penalty minutes in the entire league with 197, the second most major penalties in the league with nine, and the second most minor penalties in the league with 36. Considering how the last series with the Admirals ended and the emotions involved, what does Wheeling need to do to deal with Blachman in this series?
There are a number of teams in hockey who employ players who are very good at getting under the skin of the other team. One of the best examples of this is on the NHL level with the Boston Bruins employing Brad Marchand, although in that case, it helps that he’s also very successful in other areas, especially on the offensive end. In the case of Blachman, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as he only has three goals and five points in 34 games played this season. He averages just short of six penalty minutes per game. To me, that says he’s not out there to do much other than cause issues for the other team and try to be nothing more than a pest or, even worse, try to get the best players on the other team off their game or get them to engage and have a fight and take them off the ice for at least five minutes, if not more.
When you run into a player like this who wants nothing more than to get a reaction, the best thing to do is to avoid reacting, although that can definitely be the hardest thing to do. He is doing everything he can to cause you to lose your cool on the ice, up to and possibly including going over the line and putting some players in dangerous positions, but you have to focus on playing the game the way that will help you and your team earn the victory. Unless you’re a guy on the team who is generally looked at as someone who can respond to situations like that. Last time when Norfolk was in time, I noticed that Jack Van Boekel was the one who engaged with Blachman when he started acting up. In that case, do everything you can to interject before he causes issues for the other guys. Lead him into situations where he may earn a penalty and allow your guys a chance to capitalize with a power play. And if the situation calls for it, drop the mitts and take out your frustration on him personally and get the crowd to rally behind you and your boys. The most important thing is to make sure you know where he is on the ice when he’s out there, and don’t let him have a chance to cause problems for your team long-term.
Throughout the month of February, a number of players have found themselves falling victim to the dreaded healthy scratch, but coming back and contributing greatly to the team. Do you think there’s a connection there, and why do you think it has worked so well?
Since the beginning of the month, some players have found a way to come back from being scratched and perform well. Felix Pare and Jordan Frasca both were pulled from the lineup back on February 3rd, and the very next night, Frasca found a way to put six pucks on net, while Pare found a way to get one into the goal. Frasca then went on to score goals in two games the following week. Peter Laviolette found himself out of the lineup on February 10th for the first game against Norfolk, then came back the following night and had the fight that got everyone on their feet and put the energy into his team that allowed them to bust out for 10 goals. Even this past weekend, Bobby Hampton was up in the box on Saturday in Iowa, but came back the following night and potted the overtime goal to earn the win and got an assist as well.
No player at this level wants to be a healthy scratch, but it obviously has to happen for any number of reasons. It could be due to performance, changes needed in the lineup, or something as simple as a coach’s feeling, but when you’re on the team, you want the chance to go out and perform. The real question is, once you have a chance to get back out there, what are you going to do to avoid it happening again? For Frasca and Pare, they’ve managed to combine for seven goals and four assists in the seven games since, showing why it can be helpful to have this happen. The coach is obviously looking for something out of the guys who are forced to sit out when they get back into the lineup, so it’s all up to the player for how he’s going to respond. Will he allow the benching to drag him down, or will he use that as motivation to work even harder at his game? It has worked out well in recent opportunities, and I hope it continues to work like that down the stretch for any player who does find themselves out of the lineup in any given game for any such reason.
This Saturday’s game against Norfolk is the annual First Responders Night that the Nailers like to host. How important do you think an event like this is to the men and women in uniform who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe?
It’s always a fantastic idea to recognize those people who do everything they can to help us civilians live our lives in relative safety and peace. These men and women are on the frontlines every time something happens, and they definitely deserve all the recognition they receive and then some for what they do. The Nailers plan on giving out special posters to those first responders who are present at the game, as well as host a Guns and Hoses game during the first intermission, which is always fun to see the police and firefighters go at each other in the name of sport.
My best friend is a former Wheeling police officer, and I also am friends with a number of firemen for the city, so I see the work these people do on a daily basis around here. These are the people willing to run into a burning building to save people. They respond to dangerous situations and use their training to protect the population as well as they can, and are willing to risk everything to do so. Knowing what they have to go through and seeing it firsthand through some of the best people I know gives me a greater appreciation for their sacrifice, and I love it when the chance comes up for them to get that recognition. I would love to see the building packed on that night so we all, as a community, can come together and thank them for everything they do for all of us on a daily basis, whether we see it firsthand or not.
