The Nailers began their season last Saturday with a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones on the road. What did you see in that game that gives you hope as they get the 2023-24 season underway?
Any time you can begin a season with a big road win against a division opponent, it’s a bonus.
If you throw in how the Nailers performed against division opponents last year (18-31-4 for the season, including a 1-5-2 record against the Cyclones), it’s very helpful to get off on the right foot early in the year. For those players who returned to Wheeling this year after the struggles they endured last year, it can certainly help put you in a good space mentally for a team you will face another nine times this season. It also shows that this Nailers team is able to forget about what happened in the past and focus on the new year ahead of them and have come into it ready to compete from the start.
Wheeling was able to get their season started quickly, scoring just 2:47 into the game, the fastest opening goal in team history, on the power play no less. David Jankowski, playing in just his eighth game in a Nailers uniform, was able to push home a rebound from a Jordan Frasca shot to give his team the lead. Cincy was quickly able to respond, with the tying goal going in just 3:02 later.
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If this had been last year, I would’ve been concerned of another quick tally forcing the Nailers to play from behind, because it felt like that happened too often last year. The opponent would score in response, and it felt like the Nailers would allow it to pull them down and they would find themselves in a hole.
This team showed that last year is something best kept in the past, withstanding the Cyclone push and getting chances of their own, including scoring the eventual game-winner with 4:40 remaining in the period, when Frasca led a 2-on-1 into the Cincy end and sent a beautiful pass over to Cedric Desruisseaux, which he was able to put into the net. The Nailers didn’t look back from there, scoring two more goals on the power play, one in the second by Desruisseaux and the final score of the game in the third by Lukas Svejkovsky in his first game as a Wheeling Nailer.
On the game, the Nailers man-advantage group was able to go 3-for-6, while the penalty kill groups were able to force Cincy to go 0-for-5 when they had the advantage. Overall, I would think this is one of the most successful season openers the Nailers have had in a number of years, but luckily the players know there is plenty of hockey still to play and will be ready when their season resumes in Kalamazoo on Friday.
Wheeling has two more road games Friday in Kalamazoo and Saturday at Fort Wayne before finally returning to the friendly confines of Wesbanco Arena. What do you want to see the team do in these two games before finally having a chance to play in front of the home fans?
Speaking of division opponents the Nailers struggled with last year, Wheeling went 2-3-2 against Kalamazoo and 4-6-0 against Fort Wayne in the 2022-23 season. These two games will go a long way to continue to prove they learned lessons from those results last year and are prepared to bring hard work and skill to the ice this season. While it is still very early in the season, it’s always an important game when facing division rivals. These are the guys you play the most during the course of the season, with the Nailers having six games this season against Kalamazoo and eight contests with Fort Wayne, both numbers including the games this weekend.
In hockey, having a strong start and getting your team an early lead can prove to be very important, especially when playing on the road. Kalamazoo comes into the contest with a 2-0-0 record, with home wins against Toledo (in overtime) and Indy already.
Fort Wayne, meanwhile, has a 1-1-0 record thus far after splitting a two-game series with Indy, and they have another game on Friday night against Toledo prior to their contest with the Nailers. Both of these teams have already played in front of their home fans at least once to this point, with the Komets drawing the second biggest crowd to a game so far this season in the game with the Fuel. If Wheeling is able to come out strong and hopefully put one on the board quickly again, they can find a way to take the fans out of the game.
It can put doubt into the minds of the opponent and the fans alike, and that is something you definitely want as a visiting team.
Another thing I will be keeping an eye on is the improvement/success of the specialty teams, both power play and penalty kill. I don’t expect the man advantage group to be able to maintain a 50% success rate throughout the year, but like I said a number of times last season, if they can keep it closer to the 20% range (they finished last season with a 14.9% success rate), it can go a long way to helping them see greater success on the season.
On the other side of this, the penalty kill will definitely need to stay strong if they continue to be put on the ice five times a game, which is simply too many times to kill. The Nailers had an 80.2% success rate on the kill last year, but I think there’s still some room for improvement there as well. If they can get it closer to 85%, that can also help this team improve from last year.
The Nailers roster has experienced a considerable overhaul from what they had to begin the season with last year. What are your thoughts on the changes and what players are you excited to see back with Wheeling this year?
While fans will see a number of players from last year that they will remember, such as the new captain Frasca, Desruisseaux, and Davis Bunz, there are also several players who had limited time in Wheeling towards the end of last season or are brand new to the organization this year thanks to some changes made by their affiliates above them.
For example, Svejkovsky, who scored the final goal for the Nailers in their game in Cincy, was in his first game in the ECHL when he scored, after playing 47 games on the AHL level last year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Having a guy like that bring in that sort of experience is valuable in a league like this, where he can help show the younger guys how things run in a league like that and what needs to be done at this level to earn that shot. Another example of this is Dillon Hamaliuk, who got 44 games in AHL San Jose in 2021-22 before playing just six games last year in Wichita. These are the guys that bring experience to this roster and can really push players to perform better to try to earn a shot in that league themselves.
In addition to that, Wheeling has managed to bring back some of the players who had limited experience in the league last year after leaving college hockey behind, such as Tanner Laderoute, Matt Koopman, and Sebastian Dirven.
These guys all began last year playing on college teams and found their way to Wheeling late in the year to earn some pro experience. They have all obviously shown they have the skill to remain in the league beyond that small sample size, earning roster spots this year and being given the chance to fight for more playing time. This sort of opportunity needs to be capitalized on, and I feel like you’ll see some hungry guys when they set foot on the ice, working hard to prove the belief of the organization in them to be correct.
Overall, I think the makeup of the roster for the 2023-24 season is very exciting. You are bringing together some ECHL “veterans” who have been in the league before, guys who know what it takes to play at a higher level consistently, and younger guys who want to show they can play at a professional level based off their performance last year. It is still early, but if they continue to work together and grow as a team, I have no doubt this year could have a drastically different outcome to last year.
Considering the changes that have taken place and how this team performed last weekend, what are your expectations for this season? What do the Nailers have to do to ensure a return to playoff hockey in the Friendly City?
I know I answered this a little bit in the previous question, but I have no doubt this team has been built to see success all season long in the ECHL. When you can return players who have as much skill as a Desruisseaux and an Addamo, guys who have played at the higher level and are ready to return, younger guys who want to work their way up in their career, and throw in a coach like Derek Army who is ready to pull this group together and have them work hard in his system, the Nailers should be ready to see continued success throughout this season.
However, that’s not to say this season should be a cakewalk for these guys. There are 27 other teams full of players who are ready to work just as hard as Nailers are, so sitting back and letting games come to them could quickly turn disastrous for a team like the Nailers. Luckily, the system that Coach Army is bringing to the table is built on speed, pressure, and hard work, which is something this group should be able to provide in spades.
If the first game of the season is any implication of what we should expect to see in Wheeling this year, there should be plenty of hockey still to look forward to.
A couple things the Nailers will need to improve on this season to ensure this happens will be a better record against division opponents as well as avoiding extended losing streaks. There were a few times last season where Wheeling endured six losing streaks of three or more games, culminating in a seven-game losing streak from the end of February through the middle of March.
If this team is able to avoid those streaks, while hopefully enjoying some winning streaks instead, we should see hockey beyond the April 13th finale.
The Nailers’ home opener is still over a week away, come on Saturday, November 4th against Reading. From what you’ve seen about that game, what are you looking forward to seeing there for this game?
Home openers are always an exciting time for players and fans alike, giving everyone a chance to see what a team is bringing to the table for this new season. Organizations are always ready to bring something exciting to the table to get the season off on the right foot, and the Wheeling Nailers are no different. When fans enter the arena, the team will be giving away magnetic schedules that you can take home and stick on your fridge to make sure you don’t miss any of the action this season. Big Timber Brewing will also be on hand to debut their new brew, Nail Ale.
Also, during the intermission, Mad Chad Taylor will be out on the ice entertaining the fans by juggling chainsaws, which is always a breathtaking spectacle. And for the fans who stick around after the game, a couple of the Nailers players will be coming out and signing autographs for them.
While that all sounds very exciting and should provide for a lot of entertainment around the game, I personally am more interested in finally seeing Wheeling Nailer hockey return to the ice at Wesbanco Arena. It feels like it’s been a long while since we’ve had a chance to see that, with the team missing the playoffs last season.
With everything that has happened with the team during this offseason, I want to see firsthand what this team will be made of this season, and it’s always a good time to watch a hockey game live.
I plan on being in attendance that night, and I really hope to see a lot of you there as well. Come out and show this team your support, and get ready for another exciting year of Nailers hockey.
