Wheeling Nailers Explained

Current:2023–24 ECHL season
Bg Color:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#000000 5px solid; border-bottom:#B5A167 5px solid;
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  1. 000000
Team:Wheeling Nailers
Logosize:192px
City:Wheeling, West Virginia
League:ECHL
Conference:Eastern
Division:North
Founded:1981 (in the ACHL)
Arena:WesBanco Arena
Colors:Black, Vegas gold, white
Owner:Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley
Coach:Derek 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)
Name1:Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
Dates1:1981–1982
Name2:Carolina Thunderbirds
Dates2:1982–1989
Name3:Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
Dates3:1989–1992
Name4:Wheeling Thunderbirds
Dates4:1992–1996
Name5:Wheeling Nailers
Dates5:1996–present
Reg Season Titles:2 (1992–93, 1994–95)
Division Titles:3 (1992–93, 1994–95, 2003–04)
Conf Titles:2 (1992–93, 2015–16)

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.

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
SeasonGP W L T OTL SOL Pts GF GA Standing Year Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Kelly Cup
Wheeling Thunderbirds
6440168883142231st, EastBYEL, 2–4, TOL
6838237833272893rd, North
6846175973132431st, North
7042235892892612nd, North
Wheeling Nailers
7036295772982914th, North
7037249832552552nd, North L, 2–4, HR
7027376602062496th, Northeast Did not qualify
7025405552022465th, Northeast Did not qualify
7224408561922775th, Northeast Did not qualify
7236324762132085th, Northeast Did not qualify
7228413591932616th, Northeast Did not qualify
72511741062591881st, North BYE
7238295811711736th, North Did not qualify
7245216962471862nd, East BYE
72323424702152557th, North Did not qualify
72224334511862847th, North Did not qualify
72362826802632604th, North
72333225732402494th, North Did not qualify
72382905812302102nd, North L, 2–4, KAL
72372646832192022nd, Atlantic L, 1–3, KAL
72312939741932253rd, Atlantic Did not qualify
72392715842161962nd, Atlantic
72373311762102134th, North
72372654832142112nd, North W, 4–3, SCL, 2–4, ALN
72343080762442395th, North Did not qualify
72352881792482455th, North Did not qualify
72313164722392406th, Central Did not qualify
59243050531632066th, Central 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
68223961511962417th, EasternDid not qualify
72373140782432473rd, Central
72293850632232445th, Central Did not qualify
71382841812322043rd, Central

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey. February 22, 2010.
  2. Web site: Wheeling Nailers. Chris Creamer's Sports Logos.net. 2016-05-26.
  3. News: Arena confirms: Wheeling Nailers to play some games in Johnstown next year. Mastovich. Mike. 2010-04-02. The Tribune-Democrat.
  4. Web site: Press Release. Annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting concludes. ECHL. 2011-08-01. 2011-08-01.
  5. Web site: Press Release. Annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting concludes. ECHL. 2014-06-24. 2014-06-24.
  6. Web site: Press Release. Ownership Transfer Approved By ECHL. April 2, 2012.
  7. Web site: Triveri, Frankie and David . FRANCHISE HISTORY . July 13, 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080515045312/http://www.nailershockey.com/history.htm . May 15, 2008 .
  8. Web site: Nailers Part With Coach . . April 11, 2018.
  9. Web site: Nailers Name Mike Bavis as Head Coach . Nailers . August 7, 2018.
  10. Web site: Nailers Begin Search for Next Head Coach . OurSports Central . March 30, 2020.
  11. Web site: Nailers hire Mark French as coach . TribLive . June 8, 2020.
  12. Web site: Mark French Resigns as Nailers Head Coach . OurSports Central . April 21, 2021.
  13. Web site: Nailers Name Derek Army Head Coach, Remove Interim Tag . OurSports Central . June 4, 2021.