Wheeling Nailers

Last updated

Wheeling Nailers
Wheeling Nailers logo.svg
City Wheeling, West Virginia
League ECHL
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNorth
Founded1981 (in the ACHL)
Home arena WesBanco Arena
ColorsBlack, gold, white
   
Owner(s)Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley
Head coachDerek Army
Media Wheeling News Register
WKWK-FM 97.3
WTRF-TV channel 7
WTOV-TV channel 9
Affiliates Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Website wheelingnailers.com
Franchise history
1981–1982 Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
1982–1989 Carolina Thunderbirds
1989–1992Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
1992–1996Wheeling Thunderbirds
1996–presentWheeling Nailers
Championships
Regular season titles2 (1992–93, 1994–95)
Division titles3 (1992–93, 1994–95, 2003–04)
Conference titles2 (1992–93, 2015–16)
Hockey current event.svg Current season

The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. They are the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.

Contents

The Nailers are the oldest surviving minor league franchise below the level of the American Hockey League, with unbroken continuity of franchise and never having missed a season of play.

Franchise history

The Nailers began play in 1981 in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League as the Carolina Thunderbirds based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Thunderbirds won four consecutive regular season titles and were three-time Bob Payne Trophy winners as league champions. [1] In 1987, the ACHL folded and the team joined the All-American Hockey League for the 1987–88 season. The Thunderbirds, Virginia Lancers, and Johnstown Chiefs then became the basis for the East Coast Hockey League, now known as the ECHL. The Thunderbirds lost the first ECHL playoff championship final to the Toledo Storm. The team was renamed Winston-Salem Thunderbirds in 1990 and moved to Wheeling to become the Wheeling Thunderbirds in 1992 under the leadership of president and co-owner Ed Broyhill.

After a trademark dispute with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, the team was renamed Nailers for the 1996–97 season when the franchise held a contest open to local fans, which was won by C. J. Wickham of Steubenville, Ohio. The name "Nailers" was chosen for the city's long history of nail manufacturing. For the 2012–13 season, the Nailers dropped the red-black-gold scheme they had used for nearly two decades in favor of a black-and-gold palette used by the Penguins. [2]

The team plays at the WesBanco Arena (formerly the Wheeling Civic Center), and used the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania as an alternative venue during the 2010–2011 and 2011-2012 seasons. [3] After missing the playoffs for five straight seasons, they had a 106-point season in 2003–04. They were defeated by the Reading Royals in 5 games, 3–2. In season 2005–06 they had a great season making it to the second round of the playoffs losing to Toledo in the final second of the final game.

In August 2011, the Nailers moved to the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division as part of the league realignment for the 2011–12 season. The Chicago Express took the North Division spot vacated by the Nailers. [4] In June 2014 the Nailers returned to the North Division after the ECHL eliminated the Atlantic Division in its realignment for the 2014–15 season. [5]

On March 29, 2012, the ECHL announced that ownership of the Nailers would be transferred from the Brooks-owned Nailers Hockey LLC to the Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley, a joint venture of the Ohio Valley Industrial & Business Development Corporation, and the Wheeling Amateur Hockey Association, [6] to take effect at the conclusion of the 2011–2012 season.

Season-by-season results

Regular seasonPlayoffs
Season GPWLTOTLSOLPtsGFGAStandingYearPrelim1st round2nd round3rd roundKelly Cup
Wheeling Thunderbirds
1992–93 644016—8—883142231st, East 1993 —BYEW, 3–1, JHN W, 4–2, RAL L, 2–4, TOL
1993–94 683823—7—833272893rd, North 1994 —W, 2–0, NSH W, 3–1, HR L, 0–3, TOL —
1994–95 684617—5—973132431st, North 1995 —L, 0–3, BIR ———
1995–96 704223——5892892612nd, North 1996 —W, 3–0, CLB L, 1–3, TAL ——
Wheeling Nailers
1996–97 7036295——772982914th, North 1997 —L, 0–3, PEO ———
1997–98 7037249——832552552nd, North 1998 —W, 3–2, DAY W, 3–1, TOL L, 2–4, HR —
1998–99 7027376——602062496th, Northeast 1999 Did not qualify
1999–2000 7025405——552022465th, Northeast 2000 Did not qualify
2000–01 7224408——561922775th, Northeast 2001 Did not qualify
2001–02 7236324——762132085th, Northeast 2002 Did not qualify
2002–03 7228413——591932616th, Northeast 2003 Did not qualify
2003–04 7251174——1062591881st, North 2004 BYEL, 2–3, REA ———
2004–05 7238295——811711736th, North 2005 Did not qualify
2005–06 7245216——962471862nd, East 2006 BYEW, 3–1, REA L, 2–3, TOL ——
2006–07 723234—24702152557th, North 2007 Did not qualify
2007–08 722243—34511862847th, North 2008 Did not qualify
2008–09 723628—26802632604th, North 2009 —L, 3–4, CIN ———
2009–10 723332—25732402494th, North 2010 Did not qualify
2010–11 723829—05812302102nd, North 2011 —W, 3–1, SC W, 4–3, GRN L, 2–4, KAL —
2011–12 723726—46832192022nd, Atlantic 2012 —L, 1–3, KAL ———
2012–13 723129—39741932253rd, Atlantic 2013 Did not qualify
2013–14 723927—15842161962nd, Atlantic 2014 —W, 4–0, SC L, 2–4, GRN ——
2014–15 723733—11762102134th, North 2015 —L, 3–4, TOL ———
2015–16 723726—54832142112nd, North 2016 —W, 4–2, FLA W, 4–3, REA W, 4–3, SC L, 2–4, ALN
2016–17 723430—80762442395th, North 2017 Did not qualify
2017–18 723528—81792482455th, North 2018 Did not qualify
2018–19 723131—64722392406th, Central 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 592430—50531632066th, Central2020Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 682239—61511962417th, Eastern 2021 Did not qualify
2021–22 723731—40782432473rd, Central 2022 —W, 4–3, FW L, 0–4, TOL ——
2022–23 722938—50632232445th, Central 2023 Did not qualify
2023–24 713828—41812322043rd, Central 2024 —W, 4–1, IND L, 0–4, TOL ——

Players and personnel

Notable NHL alumni

List of Wheeling Nailers/Thunderbirds alumni who played more than 25 games in Wheeling and 25 or more games in the National Hockey League.

Head coaches

Notes

1. ^ The ECHL's Utah Grizzlies franchise also dates from 1981, but was dormant from 2003-2005.

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References

  1. ↑ "A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey" . Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Wheeling Nailers". Chris Creamer's Sports Logos.net. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  3. ↑ Mastovich, Mike (April 2, 2010). "Arena confirms: Wheeling Nailers to play some games in Johnstown next year". The Tribune-Democrat .
  4. ↑ "Annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting concludes". ECHL . August 1, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting concludes". ECHL . June 24, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Ownership Transfer Approved By ECHL" . Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Franchise History". Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Nailers Part With Coach". The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register . April 11, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Nailers Name Mike Bavis as Head Coach". Nailers. August 7, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Nailers Begin Search for Next Head Coach". OurSports Central. March 30, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Nailers hire Mark French as coach". TribLive. June 8, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Mark French Resigns as Nailers Head Coach". OurSports Central. April 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Nailers Name Derek Army Head Coach, Remove Interim Tag". OurSports Central. June 4, 2021.
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