After losing two in a row to Cincinnati coming off of a four-game winning streak, how do you think the Nailers can hope to turn things back around and get back to their winning ways?
The four-game winning streak was instrumental in giving the Nailers a little breathing room in the division standings from the teams behind them. Getting two wins in a home and home with Fort Wayne followed by a tough-fought 4-3 victory over the much-hated Toledo Walleye gave Wheeling a 5- and 4-point cushion (respectively) over those teams. Even with games in hand, it wouldn’t be enough to catch up, so those victories are definitely something the team can use to build off of.
And I’m not even that bothered with the two losses that followed against a really good Cincinnati team who currently sits in second place in the division. In both games, the Nailers faced two-goal deficits that normally would’ve been a death knell for the team, but they managed to stay focused and bring it back and tie each game before unfortunately giving up late goals and losing by one.
If anything, I think having a couple of tough road games against a team ahead of them in the standings and showing they could stay competitive even with things going against them in each game. While they would likely have wished to come away with at least one win there, they have something to hang their hats on and not feel too down about their game. I feel like the Nailers as a team have what it takes to perform like they did during the four-game winning streak more so than the team who just lost a couple of heartbreakers.
The Nailers are currently in the middle of that long divisional game streak you spoke about a couple weeks ago and have an 8-6 record so far in this stretch. What do you think is a realistic expectation for how they should be standings-wise as they get to the Christmas break?
The Nailers have six games left in division before they get to the Christmas break, with for of those games against the teams ahead of them in the standings. Having a winning record during this stretch could prove to be instrumental in keeping the team in a strong place when considering a potential playoff slot, but they have to prove that they can get those wins against the teams they could potentially face at that point.
Getting wins against Fort Wayne and Toledo is helpful to keep those teams behind them, but they really need to perform better in games against teams that matter. Having a four-game winning streak definitely helped during this stretch of games, but I feel like the Nailers need to win at least three of these six games and keep their record at two games over .500 during this span to show they’re for real in the division, with at least two of those wins coming against the top teams (Indy, Cincinnati, and Kalamazoo).
How important do you think goal scoring has been to the Nailers so far this season, and what do you think the team needs to do to improve that as they move forward this year?
If you look at the Nailers games so far this year, in only three of their 10 wins have they scored less than three goals, while conversely, in two of their 10 losses this year have they scored more than two goals. That gives the impression that the third goal of the game is extremely important to this team and their success. Seeing success being associated with scoring goals is obviously not new when it comes to the game of hockey but having such an impactful score point a little strange. Not to say their games where they score three or more goals aren’t close but getting to that point appears to improve their chances of victory considerably.
Of course, goal scoring can only get you so far when you’re 3-9 in games in which you give up at least 3 goals. Sounds simple, right?
Score more goals and give up less to have a chance to win. But having such a disparity at that three-goal mark really makes it stick out. Allowing the third goal to go in significantly lowers the Nailers chances of winning, while scoring a third goal improves their odds of winning. Over a smaller sample size, it could be possible that this is just a random occurrence. But with the team now over a quarter of the way into their year, this is definitely a trend to watch for and see if it continues as they get deeper into the season.
Through the first 20 games of the season thus far, many players have shown how important they will be to this team’s success throughout the year. Who do you think has shown the most and should be in the running for most valuable player to the team to this point?
I’ve always enjoyed doing a bit of retrospection when teams hit benchmarks like this throughout a year. Looking back at a specific period of time shows how teams grow over the year and what it has taken to get to where they are, while giving you a sense of what it will take to continue to see success. I feel like a lot of the players on this team have contributed greatly to keep the team competitive thus far.
Players like Justin Addamo (current team leader in goals with 8 in 18 games played), Brooklyn Kalmikov (second on the team with 13 points in 20 games), and Taylor Gauthier (six wins in 12 games played with a .903 save percentage and one shutout) have performed very well for the team in getting to where they are.
But for my money, the best player on the team so far this year has been Josh Maniscalco. He has the team lead with 16 points in 20 games played while playing on defense, which is rather rare to have a defenseman leading a team in points. But combine that with his strong play in the defensive zone and his leadership on the team, and I think he definitely deserves to be considered the most valuable player on this team through 20 games, and with continued strong play like this, would have to be considered the favorite for it by the end of the year.
With the teddy bear toss game last week, the Nailers were able to collect over 1,100 stuffed animals for donation to the Salvation Army for Christmas gifts. Do you think that’s the best community outreach event the Nailers take part in every year?
The Nailers do a LOT of great work in the community throughout the year. Reading to children at local libraries, giving speeches at schools, and learn to skate programs really help this team become a part of the community of Wheeling as a whole. I think it’s very important to show the entire Ohio Valley area that these players and this team want the area to succeed, and show that they care about the children around here as well as hoping to grow the game in conjunction with the very successful WAHA program that has been around for years and years.
I was lucky enough to be in the building for the teddy bear toss game (and unsuccessfully throw some bears in the direction of the ice myself), and for my money, that’s is absolutely my favorite game every year. Hearing the roar of the crowd as the Nailers score their first goal, followed by all of those stuffed animals raining down on the ice as the players do their best to help collect them for the next 10+ minutes is always great fun, and knowing that those stuffed animals are going to a great cause is always a fantastic feeling.
I personally think everything they do for this area is important, but I enjoy that particular event the most.
