After ten days without hockey, the Wheeling Nailers are rested and ready to return to the ice, as the annual New Year’s Eve game will kickstart a six-game homestand to end 2025 and begin 2026. The Nailers continue to own the highest point total in the ECHL, as they are 20-6-1, which is good for 41 points.
Wheeling is the only club with 20 wins, while Florida is the only other squad to have reached the 40-point mark. All three opponents for the Nailers during the upcoming homestand are clubs they have yet to face in 2025-26.
LIGHTING IT UP & COUNTING IT DOWN
Fans will be lighting up WesBanco Arena on Wednesday night, as the Nailers host their annual Kids’ New Year’s Eve celebration with a 6:10 face-off against the Worcester Railers. The first 2,500 fans to enter the arena will receive a free light stick. Once the game ends, it will be time to count down the seconds to 2026, so the youngsters can ring in the new year without having to stay up until midnight. Once the clock hits zero, there will be a toast with sparkling grape juice. Worcester will stick around for Friday’s 7:10 game, which will be geared more for the adults, as it will be a Frosty Friday with select $2 beers. The week will wrap up with Women in Sports Night on Saturday at 7:10 against the Bloomington Bison.
WHERE WE LEFT OFF
The last time the Nailers took the ice was on Saturday, December 20th, when they finished off a stretch of five straight road games with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the Greensboro Gargoyles. Wheeling had fallen into a bit of an offensive funk, going 146:37 without scoring a goal, before Tanner Andrew ended the drought with a tying tally in the second period. Logan Pietila temporarily gave the Nailers the lead in the third, but Matty De St. Phalle brought holiday joy to all with the winning marker at 1:24 of the extra session. De St. Phalle became the third different Wheeling player to score an overtime goal this season, as the squad improved to 3-1 in the seven-minute period and 4-1 in games that require bonus hockey. That game concluded the season series between the Nailers and Gargoyles, as Wheeling won seven of the eight meetings.
THE DEFENSIVE SHUFFLE
One area of the lineup that has gone through a significant amount of changes over the last week has been the defense. Three blueliners who played in the most recent game in Greensboro have been in the lineup over the last few days for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. David Breazeale scored his first AHL goal in the third period on Sunday to force overtime against Lehigh Valley. That came in Breazeale’s second AHL game this season and the fourth of his career. Sunday was also a milestone day for Tommy Budnick, who appeared in his first career AHL contest. Budnick’s ECHL defensive partner was also his AHL defensive partner, as he lined up with Brent Johnson, who played in his first AHL game of the campaign and second of his career. 12 players from the 2025-26 team have spent time in the AHL this year. There will be one new face on the blueline for Wheeling this week, as Emil Pieniniemi makes his North American professional debut. Despite being 20 years old, Pieniniemi is not a rookie by ECHL standards, as he played in 39 games with Kärpät in Finland’s Liiga.
THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR
When the schedule comes out each spring, Wheeling fans know that there will always be a game on December 31st, and more often than not, that game has resulted in two points going to the home team. On Wednesday night, the Nailers will play on New Year’s Eve for the 33rd time in team history and for the 32nd time at WesBanco Arena. Wheeling enters this year’s tilt with seven straight victories on December 31st, which is the longest winning streak in New Year’s Eve games in the club’s history. All-time, the Nailers/Thunderbirds have gone 21-7-4 on the final day of the calendar year, and the 21 wins are far and away the most on a single date (12 is the next highest total). Worcester will be the 17th different New Year’s Eve opponent, and the Nailers are hoping it is the 14th different opponent they defeat.
NEW YEAR, NEW OPPONENTS
This week, the Nailers will see a pair of teams they have yet to do battle with this season, as the Worcester Railers and Bloomington Bison will visit the Friendly City.
First up is Worcester, who comes to town on Wednesday and Friday to begin an eight-game season series. The rhyming series of Nailers and Railers resulted in a 2-2 split a year ago, and all four games were decided by one goal, which included two tilts that went past regulation. Worcester got off to an abysmal start to this season, as it won just one of its first nine games (1-7-1). However, the Railers have rebounded in a big way by going 11-4-1 in their last 16 matches to pull within one point of the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division. During that stretch, Anthony Repaci passed former Nailer/Thunderbird Terry Virtue for the most points in Worcester professional hockey history (currently 219). Repaci is tied with Drew Callin for the team’s scoring lead with 18 points, and 15 of those came in the last 16 games. Goaltending will be an interesting position to watch, as Parker Gahagen and Henrik Tikkanen have combined to earn 11 of the team’s 12 wins, but both netminders are currently with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. That turns the crease over to Tristan Lennox, former Nailer Thomas Gale, and newly acquired Luke Pavicich.
Saturday night will be the one and only battle with Bloomington in 2025-26. The Nailers won the only two meetings with the Bison last year, as they beat them in the home opener on November 2nd and the playoff clincher on March 30th. Bloomington had a strong start to its second ECHL campaign by going 13-5-4 in its first 22 games. However, the Bison went skidding into the holiday break with four straight losses – all on home ice. Bloomington has been without 2024-25 Nailer Kyle Jackson in the last three games due to a call-up to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, and that is a significant blow, as his 30 points are tied for the fourth most in the ECHL. Veteran forward Eddie Matsushima is on his way to a fourth straight 20-goal season, as he leads the club with 13. The last three games have seen three different goalies, as Hugo Ollas, Callum Tung, and Dryden McKay have all received a turn in the Bison crease in that order.
Buy Tickets for Upcoming Games
Wed. Dec. 31 – Kid’s New Year’s Eve
Fri. Jan. 2 – Frosty Friday
Sat. Jan. 3 – Women in Sports Night
Sat. Jan. 10 – Marvel Night
