Wheeling Nailers

Wheeling Nailers
founding	1981
history	Winston-Salem Thunderbirds 1981–1982 Carolina Thunderbirds 1982–1989 Winston-Salem Thunderbirds 1989–1992 Wheeling Thunderbirds 1992–1996 Wheeling Nailers since 1996
Stadion	WesBanco Arena
Location	Wheeling , West Virginia
Team colors	black, red, gold, white
league	ECHL
Conference	Western Conference
division	Central Division
Head coach	Clark Donatelli
Team captain	Dustin Stevenson
General manager	Joe Napoli
owner	Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley
Cooperations	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins (AHL)

October 2009: Wheeling Nailers versus South Carolina Stingrays

The Wheeling Nailers are an American ice hockey franchise that plays in the ECHL . The team is based in Wheeling , West Virginia and acts as the farm team of the AHL team Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins and thus as the second farm team of the NHL club Pittsburgh Penguins . The home of the Nailers is the WesBanco Arena (previously Wheeling Civic Center), which has a capacity of 5,406 spectators.

history

The team was founded under the name “Wheeling Thunderbirds” after the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds were relocated to Wheeling in 1992. The team was given its current name in 1996. In the 1997/98 season , the Nailers advanced to the third round of the playoffs and were defeated in six games by the eventual champions Hampton Roads Admirals . After the team five seasons in a row the playoffs had missed, played the Nailers 2003/04 their previously best result regular season with 106 points. In the end they were eliminated 3-2 in five games against the Reading Royals in the first round . The Nailers have won the Henry Brabham Cup three times as the team with the highest points in the regular season, most recently in 1994/95 as "Wheeling Thunderbirds".

Season statistics

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeats after overtime, SOL = defeats after shootout , Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded

season	GP	W.	L.	T	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	space	Playoffs
1996/97	70	36	29	-	-	5	77	298	291	4th, North	Defeat in the first round
1997/98	70	37	24	-	-	9	83	255	255	2nd, Northeast	Defeat in the third round
1998/99	70	27	37	-	-	6th	60	206	249	6th, Northwest	Not qualified
1999/2000	70	25th	40	-	-	5	55	202	246	5th, Northwest	Not qualified
2000/01	72	24	40	-	-	8th	56	192	277	5th, Northwest	Not qualified
2001/02	72	36	32	-	-	4th	76	213	208	5th, Northwest	Not qualified
2002/03	72	28	41	-	-	3	59	193	261	6th, Northwest	Not qualified
2003/04	72	51	17th	-	-	4th	106	259	188	1. Northern	Defeat in the first round
2004/05	72	38	29	-	2	3	81	171	173	6th, North	Not qualified
2005/06	72	45	21st	-	3	3	96	247	186	2nd, North	Defeat in the third round
2006/07	72	32	34	-	2	4th	70	215	255	7th, North	Not qualified
2007/08	72	22nd	43	-	3	4th	51	186	284	7th, North	Not qualified
2008/09	72	36	28	-	2	6th	80	263	260	4th, North	Defeat in the first round
2009/10	72	33	32	-	2	5	73	240	249	4th, North	Not qualified
2010/11	72	38	29	-	-	5	81	230	210	2nd, North	Defeat in the third round
2011/12	72	37	26th	-	4th	5	83	219	202	2nd, Atlantic	Defeat in the first round
2012/13	72	31	29	-	3	9	74	193	225	3rd, Atlantic	Not qualified
2013/14	72	39	27	-	1	5	84	216	196	2nd, Atlantic	Defeat in the second round

Team records

Career records

Games: 231 Cliff Loya and Stefan Brannare

Goals: 69 Sean Collins

Assists: 139 Sean Collins

Points: 208 Sean Collins

Penalty minutes: 677 Stefan Brannare

(Status: end of season 2013/14)

Former players

Wheeling players in / out of the NHL

Several players from the Wheeling Nailers and Thunderbirds also played in the NHL. For some, the teams from Wheeling were the “stepping stone” into higher leagues, for others, like Alain Lemieux, a team for the end of their career. The number of NHL games played varies greatly: some, like Mike Minard, did not get more than one NHL mission, others (such as David Aebischer , Tomáš Vokoun or Chris Wells ) have more than 100 NHL missions.

David Aebischer Adam Berkhoel Daniel Berthiaume Paul Bissonnette Francis Bouillon Martin Brochu Luca Caputi Daniel Carcillo Andy Chiodo Wayne Cowley John Curry Kimbi Daniels Jeff Daw Matt Elich Drew Fata Craig Ferguson Scott Ferguson Scott Fraser

Joaquin Gage Martin Houle Jason Jaffray Chris Jensen Joe Jensen Matt Johnson Nick Johnson David Kočí Zenon Konopka Patrick Labrecque David Laliberté Marc Lamothe Mario Larocque Mark Letestu Mark Major Darcy Martini Marquis Mathieu Kurtis McLean

Grant McNeill Mike Minard Michel Ouellet Cam paddock Marc Rodgers Dany Sabourin Yves Sarault John Tanner Danny Taylor Darcy Verot Terry Virtue Mark Visheau Tomáš Vokoun Tim Wallace Chris Wells Shane Willis Ron Wilson

Wheeling players in European leagues

position	Surname	nationality	Time in wheeling	Clubs in Europe
defender	Justin Harney	United States	2000/01	Iserlohn Roosters , ERC Ingolstadt , Kassel Huskies
defender	Matt Smith	Great Britain	2002/03	Ilves Tampere , SC Bietigheim-Bissingen , Milan, EHC Freiburg
striker	Doug Ast	Canada	1996/97	Iserlohn Roosters , ERC Ingolstadt
striker	Mark Kosick	Germany / Canada	2003/04, 2004/05	Eisbären Berlin , Kassel Huskies, EHC Wolfsburg

Note: Only players who did not play in the NHL are listed here . The lists do not claim to be complete!

Web links

Commons : Wheeling Nailers  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Wheeling Nailers at hockeydb.com