Nailers head coach Derek Army on Saturday became the winningest coach in franchise history, earning his 148th win behind Wheeling's bench. The following night, his 149th win clinched Wheeling a berth in the upcoming Kelly Cup playoffs.

Army, 33, is in his fourth full season as the Nailers' head coach. He's around in Pittsburgh every year for the organization's coaches meetings leading into training camp. He helps out during the team's development camp and training camp, and also serves as one of the coaches for the team in the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo each year.

Mike Sullivan has been impressed with what he's seen from Army in his dealings with him over the years.

"I think he's a really, really good young coach," Sullivan told me on Monday. "He brings a ton of energy. He's passionate about what he does. He's has an appetite to learn and get better. I think the relationships that he builds with his players is another one of his strengths. I think they compete hard for him. He's done a great job in Wheeling, and I would anticipate his career only getting better moving forward. He's a bright young coach."

I've seen that relationship Army has with his players firsthand in trips to Wheeling and in speaking with players over the years. It's unlike any environment I can remember surrounding that team. Players are happy to be in Wheeling, and a key part of that is how much they want to play for Army. That's a huge benefit to have as the Penguins enter a phase in which they're really loading up their prospect pool, and some good prospects inevitably end up in the ECHL as a result.

WHEELING NAILERS

The Nailers celebrate Army's record 148th win behind the Nailers' bench.

One of the biggest factors in that positive environment in Wheeling is that Army himself genuinely wants to be in Wheeling and cares about the Nailers. That's been evident from the very start -- Army played four full professional seasons as a forward, and spent almost all of it in Wheeling, aside from a few opportunities with different AHL clubs. I interviewed Army back when he was the Nailers' 26-year-old captain, and I asked what kept drawing him back to Wheeling -- for a player to keep willingly re-signing as he did was unique even then. He spoke about having a real connection with the city, and told me, "if I do have to be sent down, I wouldn't want to go anywhere else. I love it here."

Does Army eventually have aspirations to move up in the coaching ranks? I'm sure. But unlike a lot of coaches to come through Wheeling in recent years, it's clear that his priority is winning a Kelly Cup and developing players to go to Pittsburgh, rather than just looking for the first opportunity to get a job out of Wheeling.

Army came close to bringing that Kelly Cup to Wheeling in his rookie season as a player, going all the way to the Cup Final in 2016 before losing to the Allen Americans. This team in Wheeling now may be the best Wheeling has had since that 2016 squad, and Army may just be able to lead his team on a real run like he had as a player.