The Wheeling Nailers, proud ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, have announced their schedule for the 2024-25 season – the 33rd season of professional hockey in Wheeling.
Throughout the years, the Nailers have prided themselves on having a schedule that caters to families, and that will once again be the case in 2024-25, as 34 of the 36 home games will be played on weekends or holidays. The only two outliers are Education Day games, which will take place in November and March, with the puck hitting the ice at 10:45 a.m. Home game times will remain the same as they have been in previous seasons, as Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday games will begin at 7:10, Sunday games will begin at 4:10, and New Year’s Eve will begin at 6:10.
One of the biggest adjustments for the coming season will be a change in divisions, as Wheeling has been shifted to the North Division, where it will join Adirondack, Maine, Norfolk, Reading, Trois-Rivières, and Worcester. While the Nailers will play 31 of their 72 games against that division, they will also maintain their geographic rivalries from the Central Division, as that group of teams makes up 33 of the 72 games on the docket. The remaining eight contests will feature a mix of the South and Mountain Divisions. The most frequent opponents are Reading (11) and Cincinnati (9), while Bloomington and Trois-Rivières will be first-time match-ups.
The first five games will be played on enemy ice, as Wheeling will serve as the opposition for three teams’ home openers. The season begins in Portland, Maine with a two-game series against the Mariners on October 18th and 19th. The following weekend will be significantly closer to home, as the Nailers will battle Reading on October 26th and 27th. The final tilt in that stretch will be November 1st in Toledo.
For the second straight season, the home slate will begin in November, and fans will get an early look at one of the league’s expansion clubs, as the Bloomington Bison will come to town for the home opener on the 2nd. The following weekend will feature the first ever trip to the Friendly City for the Trois-Rivières Lions on the 8th and 9th. Fort Wayne will be the first Education Day opponent on the 12th, before the Indy Fuel make their lone visit to Wheeling for a couple of playoff rematches on the 15th and 16th. Toledo is the Thanksgiving Eve opponent for the second year in a row on the 27th, which leads into a home-and-home series against Cincinnati to close out the month. The Black Friday road game in Cincinnati will be a 1:35 start time.
December has an even split of six home games and six road games. Kalamazoo makes its lone trip to WesBanco Arena on the 6th, before Reading’s first of seven visits on the 8th. If anyone has hockey on their list for the holidays, the Nailers have the perfect gift in mind, as they will play seven games in 12 days from the 20th-31st. Four of those take place on home ice, starting with the first of a home-and-home set against Toledo on the 20th. Next up on the home docket will be the only two clashes with the Iowa Heartlanders on the 28th and 29th. 2024 concludes with the annual New Year’s Eve game, which will feature Reading as the opposition for the fifth time.
With the exception of one contest at the end, the entire month of January will be played in series. The month begins with the only two meetings between Wheeling and the Norfolk Admirals on the 3rd and 4th at Norfolk Scope Arena. The following week, on the 8th and 10th, the Nailers will play a familiar foe in the Indy Fuel, but will do so in a new venue, as Fishers Event Center is set to open in December. The team will then sprint back home to Wheeling, where the Worcester Railers will be waiting for them on the 11th and 12th. That will turn into a four-game home-and-home series between the Nailers and Railers, who will play the other two matches in Massachusetts on the 18th and 19th. The home portion of the month concludes with the second ever visit from the Western Conference Champion Kansas City Mavericks on the 24th, 25th, and 26th.
January ends and February begins with a good old fashioned 3-in-3 in three different cities, as Wheeling will bounce from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne, and then on to Toledo. A quick trip over to Indy the following week leads into a home clash with Reading on the 8th. The Nailers will then get to enjoy some southern hospitality, as they will visit the South Carolina Stingrays on the 15th and the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on the 16th and 17th. When the squad returns, it will be greeted by Tulsa on the 21st and 22nd, as the Oilers visit Nail City for the second straight season. That weekend concludes with a Sunday showdown against Reading on the 23rd.
One of the longest homestands of the season closes out February and kicks off March, as Wheeling will play three more home games on the 28th, 1st, and 2nd. Adirondack starts things off on Friday and Saturday, then Maine puts the bow on the weekend on Sunday. More Thunder will be in the forecast the next week, as the Nailers will face Adirondack for three on the road on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. The second Education Day game of the season will also be a lesson in French, as Trois-Rivières returns on the 12th. There will be three more home games that weekend – two with Fort Wayne on the 14th and 15th, then one against Cincinnati on the 16th. A three-game journey to Toledo and Indy leads into the final homestand of the regular season, which will be another six-game stretch spanned over two weekends. Cincinnati (28th & 29th) and Bloomington (30th) will be the visitors for the first weekend, then Reading is in the house for the back half on April 4th, 5th, and 6th. The last series of the regular season will take Wheeling out of the country, as the Nailers will visit the province of Québec for the first time to face the Lions on April 11th, 12th, and 13th.
2024-25 Opponent Breakdown
11 vs. Reading – 7 home, 4 away
9 vs. Cincinnati – 4 home, 5 away
7 vs. Toledo – 2 home, 5 away
6 vs. Indy – 2 home, 4 away
6 vs. Trois-Rivières – 3 home, 3 away
5 vs. Adirondack – 2 home, 3 away
5 vs. Fort Wayne – 3 home, 2 away
4 vs. Worcester – 2 home, 2 away
3 vs. Kansas City – 3 home
3 vs. Maine – 1 home, 2 away
2 vs. Bloomington – 2 home
2 vs. Greenville – 2 away
2 vs. Iowa – 2 home
2 vs. Kalamazoo – 1 home, 1 away
2 vs. Norfolk – 2 away
2 vs. Tulsa – 2 home
1 vs. South Carolina – 1 away
2024-25 Schedule
Fri. Oct. 18 at Maine, 7:15
Sat. Oct. 19 at Maine, 6:00
Sat. Oct. 26 at Reading, 7:00
Sun. Oct. 27 at Reading, 3:00
Fri. Nov. 1 at Toledo, 7:15
Sat. Nov. 2 vs. Bloomington, 7:10
Wed. Nov. 6 at Cincinnati, 7:35
Fri. Nov. 8 vs. Trois-Rivières, 7:10
Sat. Nov. 9 vs. Trois-Rivières, 7:10
Tue. Nov. 12 vs. Fort Wayne, 10:45 a.m.
Fri. Nov. 15 vs. Indy, 7:10
Sat. Nov. 16 vs. Indy, 7:10
Sat. Nov. 23 at Fort Wayne, 7:35
Wed. Nov. 27 vs. Toledo, 7:10
Fri. Nov. 29 at Cincinnati, 1:35
Sat. Nov. 30 vs. Cincinnati, 7:10
Fri. Dec. 6 vs. Kalamazoo, 7:10
Sat. Dec. 7 at Cincinnati, 7:35
Sun. Dec. 8 vs. Reading, 4:10
Fri. Dec. 13 at Reading, 7:00
Sat. Dec. 14 at Reading, 7:00
Fri. Dec. 20 vs. Toledo, 7:10
Sat. Dec. 21 at Toledo, 7:15
Sun. Dec. 22 at Kalamazoo, 3:00
Fri. Dec. 27 at Cincinnati, 7:35
Sat. Dec. 28 vs. Iowa, 7:10
Sun. Dec. 29 vs. Iowa, 4:10
Tue. Dec. 31 vs. Reading, 6:10
Fri. Jan. 3 at Norfolk, 7:05
Sat. Jan. 4 at Norfolk, 7:05
Wed. Jan. 8 at Indy, 7:00
Fri. Jan. 10 at Indy, 7:00
Sat. Jan. 11 vs. Worcester, 7:10
Sun. Jan. 12 vs. Worcester, 4:10
Sat. Jan. 18 at Worcester, 6:05
Sun. Jan. 19 at Worcester, 3:05
Fri. Jan. 24 vs. Kansas City, 7:10
Sat. Jan. 25 vs. Kansas City, 7:10
Sun. Jan. 26 vs. Kansas City, 4:10
Fri. Jan. 31 at Cincinnati, 7:35
Sat. Feb. 1 at Fort Wayne, 7:35
Sun. Feb. 2 at Toledo, 5:15
Fri. Feb. 7 at Indy, 7:00
Sat. Feb. 8 vs. Reading, 7:10
Sat. Feb. 15 at South Carolina, 6:05
Sun. Feb. 16 at Greenville, 3:05
Mon. Feb. 17 at Greenville, TBD
Fri. Feb. 21 vs. Tulsa, 7:10
Sat. Feb. 22 vs. Tulsa, 7:10
Sun. Feb. 23 vs. Reading, 4:10
Fri. Feb. 28 vs. Adirondack, 7:10
Sat. Mar. 1 vs. Adirondack, 7:10
Sun. Mar. 2 vs. Maine, 4:10
Fri. Mar. 7 at Adirondack, 7:00
Sat. Mar. 8 at Adirondack, 7:00
Sun. Mar. 9 at Adirondack, 3:00
Wed. Mar. 12 vs. Trois-Rivières, 10:45 a.m.
Fri. Mar. 14 vs. Fort Wayne, 7:10
Sat. Mar. 15 vs. Fort Wayne, 7:10
Sun. Mar. 16 vs. Cincinnati, 4:10
Fri. Mar. 21 at Toledo, 7:15
Sat. Mar. 22 at Toledo, 7:15
Sun. Mar. 23 at Indy, 4:00
Fri. Mar. 28 vs. Cincinnati, 7:10
Sat. Mar. 29 vs. Cincinnati, 7:10
Sun. Mar. 30 vs. Bloomington, 4:10
Fri. Apr. 4 vs. Reading, 7:10
Sat. Apr. 5 vs. Reading, 7:10
Sun. Apr. 6 vs. Reading, 4:10
Fri. Apr. 11 at Trois-Rivières, 7:00
Sat. Apr. 12 at Trois-Rivières, 7:00
Sun. Apr. 13 at Trois-Rivières, 3:00
