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Wheeling Nailers

ECHL ice hockey team

Summary

ECHL ice hockey team

Field	Value
current	2025–26 ECHL season
bg_color	background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#000000 5px solid; border-bottom:#FCB514 5px solid;
text_color	#000000
team	Wheeling Nailers
logo	Wheeling Nailers logo.svg
city	Wheeling, West Virginia
league	ECHL
conference	Eastern
division	North
founded	1981 (in the ACHL)
arena	WesBanco Arena (5,406)
colors	Black, gold, white

owner	Hockey Club of the Ohio Valley
coach	Ryan Papaiannou
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
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)

WKWK-FM 97.3 WTRF-TV channel 7 WTOV-TV channel 9 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)

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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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, to take effect at the conclusion of the 2011–2012 season.

Season-by-season results

Regular season	Playoffs	Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	Pts	GF	GA	Standing	Year	Prelim	1st round	2nd round
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	—	—
2024–25	72	43	25	—	3	1	90	225	194	2nd, North	2025	—	L, 1–4, NOR	—	—	—

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.

Paul Bissonnette
Francis Bouillon
Mike Condon
Scott Darling
Jason Jaffray
Chris Jensen
David Koci
Zenon Konopka
Francois Leroux
Michel Ouellet
Carter Rowney
Dany Sabourin
Ben Street
Darcy Verot
Tomáš Vokoun
Chris Wells
Ron Wilson

Head coaches

1992–95 – Doug Sauter
1995–96 – Larry Kish
1996–97 – Tom McVie
1997–98 – Peter Laviolette
1998–99 – Chris Jensen
1999–2000 – Murray Eaves
2000–01 – Alain Lemieux
2001 – Joe Harney (interim)
2001–03 – John Brophy
2003–05 – Pat Bingham
2005–08 – Glenn Patrick
2008–10 – Greg Puhalski
2010–11 – Stan Drulia
2011–15 – Clark Donatelli
2015–16 – David Gove
2016–18 – Jeff Christian
2018–2020 – Mike Bavis
2020–21 – Mark French
2021–25 – Derek Army
2025–present – Ryan Papaioannou

Notes

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

References

"A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey".
"Wheeling Nailers". Chris Creamer's Sports Logos.net.
Mastovich, Mike. (2010-04-02). "Arena confirms: Wheeling Nailers to play some games in Johnstown next year". [[The Tribune-Democrat]].
(2011-08-01). "Annual ECHL Board of Governors meeting concludes".
(2014-06-24). "Annual ECHL Board of Governors Meeting concludes".
"Ownership Transfer Approved By ECHL".
"Franchise History".
(April 11, 2018). "Nailers Part With Coach". [[The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register]].
(August 7, 2018). "Nailers Name Mike Bavis as Head Coach". Nailers.
(March 30, 2020). "Nailers Begin Search for Next Head Coach".
(June 8, 2020). "Nailers hire Mark French as coach". TribLive.
(April 21, 2021). "Mark French Resigns as Nailers Head Coach".
(June 4, 2021). "Nailers Name Derek Army Head Coach, Remove Interim Tag".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

echl-teams wheeling-nailers-players ice-hockey-teams-in-west-virginia philadelphia-flyers-minor-league-affiliates pittsburgh-penguins-minor-league-affiliates ice-hockey-clubs-established-in-1996 montreal-canadiens-minor-league-affiliates 1996-establishments-in-west-virginia sports-in-wheeling,-west-virginia

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