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Wheeling Nailers

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.

Wheeling Nailers
CityWheeling, West Virginia
LeagueECHL
ConferenceEastern
DivisionNorth
Founded1981 (in the ACHL)
Home arenaWesBanco Arena
ColorsBlack, gold, white
     
Owner(s)Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley
Head coachDerek Army
MediaWheeling News Register
WKWK-FM 97.3
WTRF-TV channel 7
WTOV-TV channel 9
AffiliatesPittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Websitewheelingnailers.com
Franchise history
1981–1982Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
1982–1989Carolina 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)
Current season

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.[1]

Franchise history

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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

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Regular season Playoffs
Season GP W L T OTL SOL Pts GF GA Standing Year Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Kelly Cup
Wheeling Thunderbirds
1992–93 64 40 16 — 8 — 88 314 223 1st, East 1993 — BYE W, 3–1, JHN W, 4–2, RAL L, 2–4, TOL
1993–94 68 38 23 — 7 — 83 327 289 3rd, North 1994 — W, 2–0, NSH W, 3–1, HR L, 0–3, TOL —
1994–95 68 46 17 — 5 — 97 313 243 1st, North 1995 — L, 0–3, BIR — — —
1995–96 70 42 23 — — 5 89 289 261 2nd, North 1996 — W, 3–0, CLB L, 1–3, TAL — —
Wheeling Nailers
1996–97 70 36 29 5 — — 77 298 291 4th, North 1997 — L, 0–3, PEO — — —
1997–98 70 37 24 9 — — 83 255 255 2nd, North 1998 — W, 3–2, DAY W, 3–1, TOL L, 2–4, HR —
1998–99 70 27 37 6 — — 60 206 249 6th, Northeast 1999 Did not qualify
1999–2000 70 25 40 5 — — 55 202 246 5th, Northeast 2000 Did not qualify
2000–01 72 24 40 8 — — 56 192 277 5th, Northeast 2001 Did not qualify
2001–02 72 36 32 4 — — 76 213 208 5th, Northeast 2002 Did not qualify
2002–03 72 28 41 3 — — 59 193 261 6th, Northeast 2003 Did not qualify
2003–04 72 51 17 4 — — 106 259 188 1st, North 2004 BYE L, 2–3, REA — — —
2004–05 72 38 29 5 — — 81 171 173 6th, North 2005 Did not qualify
2005–06 72 45 21 6 — — 96 247 186 2nd, East 2006 BYE W, 3–1, REA L, 2–3, TOL — —
2006–07 72 32 34 — 2 4 70 215 255 7th, North 2007 Did not qualify
2007–08 72 22 43 — 3 4 51 186 284 7th, North 2008 Did not qualify
2008–09 72 36 28 — 2 6 80 263 260 4th, North 2009 — L, 3–4, CIN — — —
2009–10 72 33 32 — 2 5 73 240 249 4th, North 2010 Did not qualify
2010–11 72 38 29 — 0 5 81 230 210 2nd, North 2011 — W, 3–1, SC W, 4–3, GRN L, 2–4, KAL —
2011–12 72 37 26 — 4 6 83 219 202 2nd, Atlantic 2012 — L, 1–3, KAL — — —
2012–13 72 31 29 — 3 9 74 193 225 3rd, Atlantic 2013 Did not qualify
2013–14 72 39 27 — 1 5 84 216 196 2nd, Atlantic 2014 — W, 4–0, SC L, 2–4, GRN — —
2014–15 72 37 33 — 1 1 76 210 213 4th, North 2015 — L, 3–4, TOL — — —
2015–16 72 37 26 — 5 4 83 214 211 2nd, North 2016 — W, 4–2, FLA W, 4–3, REA W, 4–3, SC L, 2–4, ALN
2016–17 72 34 30 — 8 0 76 244 239 5th, North 2017 Did not qualify
2017–18 72 35 28 — 8 1 79 248 245 5th, North 2018 Did not qualify
2018–19 72 31 31 — 6 4 72 239 240 6th, Central 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 59 24 30 — 5 0 53 163 206 6th, Central 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 68 22 39 — 6 1 51 196 241 7th, Eastern 2021 Did not qualify
2021–22 72 37 31 — 4 0 78 243 247 3rd, Central 2022 — W, 4–3, FW L, 0–4, TOL — —
2022–23 72 29 38 — 5 0 63 223 244 5th, Central 2023 Did not qualify
2023–24 71 38 28 — 4 1 81 232 204 3rd, Central 2024 — W, 4–1, IND L, 0–4, TOL — —

Players and personnel

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Notable NHL alumni

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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

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Notes

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

References

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  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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