The Nailers had the opportunity to play one preseason game before getting down to business, losing 5-4 in a shootout to former division rival Cincinnati. What did they see in this game that they were able to bring into the regular season?
Boy, how exciting it is that hockey season is finally back.
As I sat here over the summer watching the Pirates squandering some of the best starting pitching in all of MLB, I found myself daydreaming about finally seeing skates on ice and pucks in nets. Getting that taste of playoff hockey last year, just to have it squashed in a series sweep to Toledo, did nothing but whet my appetite for more games to watch. Now that it’s finally here, I’m completely pumped and ready to cheer on the Nailers as they attempt to win their new division.
Wheeling was afforded one game as a warmup for the season, at home against Cincinnati. The game began like many of their games did last year, with the Nailers coming out fast and playing a hard forecheck. Despite having an early lead in shots, it was actually the Cyclones who managed to score first before Wheeling was able to find the back of the net twice in the period, thanks to Jared Westcott and Alex LaPlante, to give the Nailers the 2-1 lead heading to the locker room. Shots in the period were 18-4 Wheeling, and the game felt just that lopsided despite only being a one goal difference.
The second period went a little better for Cincy, as they outshot the Nailers 12-9 for the frame. The Cyclones managed to tie the score just under three minutes into the period, but Wheeling managed to reinstate their advantage just over two minutes later thanks to Westcott’s second goal of the game. After a little more back-and-forth action, Cincinnati evened the score once more with just over nine minutes left, and the score stayed that way after the first 40 minutes of action.
The third period was very closely played, with each team scoring once (Wheeling’s goal came off the stick of Zachary Massicotte before Cincy managed to tie it late in the frame), and the game went to extra frames. Neither team was able to pot one in the extra time, despite the Nailers having a six to one shots on goal advantage, and they headed to the shootout. Wheeling chose to shoot first, sending out Jared Westcott, who had scored twice in the game up to that point but couldn’t put one away in this situation. The first Cincy shooter got one behind Jaxon Castor before David Jankowski tied the shootout for Wheeling. The second shooter for the Cyclones also scored, meaning Kyle Jackson needed to score to extend the shootout. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to, and the game ended there in favor of Cincinnati.
Wheeling opened the regular season with two games in Maine, splitting the series with the Mariners. What happened in those games that gives the Nailers something to look forward to this year?
Who doesn’t love getting to open a new season in a new division by playing one of your new rivals and earning the win on opening night?
It’s a good feeling to be able to get off on the right foot, despite things going the other way the next night, and Wheeling coming away with a 1-1 record. Things got started on Friday with some fireworks, as Matthew Quercia managed to goad one of the Mariners into a fight just over two minutes into the contest. The Nailers were then able to find the back of the net first with a power play goal just four minutes in off the stick of Gabe Klassen, and Wheeling was off and running early. Unfortunately, Maine would find a way to even the score just minutes later off the stick of former Nailer Evan Vierling, and despite scoring chances going both ways the rest of the way, the game was tied at one heading into the intermission.
The second period started very similarly to the first, with the Mariners taking an early penalty leading to yet another Nailers goal with the man advantage, this time thanks to Jordan Martel, and Wheeling was back in business with the lead. Both teams continued to work hard, with the Nailers wanting to extend their lead while Maine wanted to get back into the game, but both teams failed to beat the other goalie the rest of the way, leading to a 2-1 score with only 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
Wheeling was finally able to net that lead extending goal just five minutes into the third, when Phip Waugh scored his first goal as a professional after joining the Nailers late last year out of Mercyhurst College. The Mariners turned up the pressure in the hopes of getting back into the game, even pulling their goalie with more than two minutes left in the game. That turned out to be their downfall, as Kyle Jackson managed to put the game away with an empty netter and the visitors managed to skate away with the 1-0 record.
The next night looked almost like an exact mirror image of the night before, with Quercia dropping the mitts just three minutes into the contest yet again. However, this time, it didn’t provide the same spark to the Nailers, and the game remained deadlocked at zero late in the period before the Mariners got their first lead of the season with just over two minutes remaining until the horn, and they skated into the break with that lead.
Wheeling did appear to make a game of it early in the second period, as Sam Houde, who spent the last two seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, managed to score just under three minutes into the frame. However, Maine didn’t go away that easily, scoring two more of their own in the period, one of which was on the power play, followed by one more in the third from Vierling into an empty net to push both teams to identical 1-1 records early in the season.
Despite the outcome, I’m still very encouraged by how things went for the Nailers in these games. Last season, it felt like the offense wasn’t very distributed early on, with the same players scoring consistently.
This year, Wheeling has managed to score five goals by five different players (including one from a defenseman), so hopefully this is a sign that they’ll find a way to get some offensive firepower up and down the lineup. In addition to that, I like that Wheeling came out firing on all cylinders. It worked out well for them last year when they managed to put their opponents on their heels early, and it happened last weekend as well.
If the Nailers can put pressure on early, it gives me a lot of hope for how this season stands to go.
The Nailers have another road trip scheduled for this weekend with two games to play in Reading against the Royals. What do you hope to see from Wheeling in these games?
Despite not being in the same division as one another until this season, the Nailers and the Royals have a lot of experience against one another in recent years. These two teams faced off against one another nine times last season, with Wheeling managing to win the first eight of those games before Reading took the last game between these two back on February 28th. Despite this being a new season and a new team, I think that still could be on the minds of these players as they reintroduce themselves on the ice on Saturday.
The Royals have already played three games this season, managing to go 3-0 with wins over Trois-Rivières and Worchester. Even though it’s still early in the year, getting some wins against the team in first place in the division is always helpful, especially if you can knock them from the ranks of the unbeaten. This will also be Reading’s first two games at home this year, so being able to send their home fans away from the game sad would just be the cherry on top for the Nailers.
Looking at the stats for the Royals, nothing really jumps out at you from their skaters, but it appears this team will go as far as their goalies are able to take them. Parker Gahagen has a 2-0 record, with a goals-against average of 1.50 and a 0.932 save percentage. Keith Petruzzelli, their other goalie, comes into the weekend with a 1-0 record, a goals-against average of 1.00 and a 0.962 save percentage. In addition, the Reading penalty kill remains perfect on the year, not yielding a goal on 10 opportunities. For Wheeling to find a way to maximize their point earnings out of these games, I think they’re going to need to put a lot of pressure on whomever is between the pipes for the Royals, and hopefully break through on that shorthanded unit.
If they manage to do that, I foresee a good weekend for the Nailers.
With two new teams joining the league this year, divisions had to be realigned, moving Wheeling from the Central Division in the Western Conference to the North Division in the Eastern Conference. How do you think this move will affect the Nailers and their chances to get back to the playoffs this year?
Thanks to the expansion of the league into Bloomington and Tahoe for this season, the ECHL needed to find a way to realign their divisions.
This meant Wheeling found their way out of the Central Division and away from possibly the hardest division in the entire league (goodbye Toledo and Fort Wayne!). Although I will miss having games that matter for divisional standings against the Walleye, have no fear, because we will still get to face them seven times this season.
Unfortunately, only two of those games will happen in Wheeling, so make sure you get out there and remind them just how much we dislike Toledo.
To me, the most exciting part of this move is getting to find new rivals to despise (hello Reading and Norfolk!). We have a lot of recent history with some of these teams, so it shouldn’t be hard to find reasons to dislike some of the teams.
Meanwhile, some of these other teams, such as Trois-Rivières and Worchester, we haven’t had the chance to play them in a long while, if at all. Getting the chance to see new teams that we aren’t used to playing is rather exciting and showing them what the “Wheeling Feeling” really is should get the fans in the stands ready for those games. Also, as I said before, we were in possibly the toughest division in the league the last few years.
Moving to a division where not every team finds themselves in the playoff hunt late in the season should allow Wheeling to feel a little more confident as the year progresses. I’m optimistic the Nailers can find their groove in this new division and should have a real chance at a good seed for a potential playoff run a few months from now.
The Nailers home opener is still over a week away, come on Saturday, November 2nd against one of the new teams in Bloomington. From what you’ve seen about that game, what are you looking forward to seeing there?
Wheeling still has three more games to get through before that date, with the two this weekend in Reading and their first this season against the Walleye in Toledo on November 1st before finally welcoming their home fans to a game at Wesbanco Arena against the Bloomington Bison.
There will be a giveaway of magnetic schedules that night, and former Nailer and current trick shot artist “Swaggy P” will come back to the Friendly City and perform during the intermission.
While that all sounds really fun, what I’m looking forward to the most is finally getting to see what this year’s team is made of firsthand. I’ve listened along to the first two games this year, and I plan on tuning in to the other three that are scheduled before they finally come home, but there’s nothing quite like seeing hockey live in person to get a feel for how a team is performing.
While I know very well that it’s a long season, there really is nothing quite like the magic of opening night at home. Throw in the fact that we’re facing the team that replaced us in our old division, a team that is brand new to the league, and it just sounds like such an interesting matchup and night.
I’m very much looking forward to getting back into the barn and watching some hockey, and I hope to see a lot of you there that night as well to cheer on this year’s version of the Nailers.
