Wheeling Nailers 2 14th Street Wheeling, WV 26003 Phone: 1-877-NAIL-TIX wheelingnailers.com

Wheeling Hockey History
1992-Present

The East Coast Hockey League began play in the 1988-89 season with five teams. The league, now known as the ECHL, has been in operation for 17 seasons and had 28 teams for the 2004-2005 season. One of the original teams from its inaugural season, the Carolina Thunderbirds, relocated to Wheeling for the 1992-93 season and has been a fixture in the city for 13 years.

The first four years in Wheeling, the team was known as the Wheeling Thunderbirds. In the summer of 1996 the team changed its name to the Wheeling Nailers. The 2005-2006 season marked the tenth anniversary of the name change and the 14th year of professional hockey in Wheeling, the fourth longest tenure in one city in league history.

The team and city have enjoyed great success in the last 13 years. Wheeling has won the Brabham Cup for best regular season record twice, advanced to the finals in the post season once and has appeared in the playoffs in seven of its 13 seasons in Wheeling.

Wheeling has had several high profile coaches in its history. Doug Sauter, who moved to Wheeling with the team, has won more games than anyone in team history. Larry Kish and Tom McVie who had NHL experience before coming to Wheeling followed in the coaching ranks. Peter Laviolette began his coaching career in Wheeling and has since advanced to become a head coach in the NHL. Alain Lemieux, brother of NHL great Mario Lemieux and John Brophy, one of only two men with over 1,000 career wins as a professional coach also stood behind the Wheeling bench. The Nailers are currently led by Pat Bingham, second on the team’s win list after just two season behind the bench and the 2004 ECHL Coach of the Year.

Bingham’s ECHL Coach of the Year honor is just one of several league awards that Wheeling has acquired. Vadin Slivchenko was named Most Valuable Player in 1995. The Rookie of the Year in 1996 went to Wheeling’s Keli Corpse. And after the most recent season, Ray DiLauro was named Defenseman of the Year.

The Wheeling membership also prides itself on leading the league in sending more players to the NHL than any other membership in league history. The membership had advanced 25 players to the NHL, 21 from Wheeling. Some of those that have played in the ECHL and later the NHL are David Aebischer, Francis Bouillon, Martin Brochu, Andy Chiodo, Marc Lamothe, Marquis Mathieu, Darcy Verot, Terry Virtue and Tomas Vokoun.

With a new lease between the Nailers and WesBanco Arena, professional hockey will remain in Wheeling for several years to come.