I've said it before, I'll say it again, because it's especially true tonight: If you live in the Pittsburgh area and want to see competitive professional hockey, the Nailers are right there.
Funny: When I was there the other week, Sergei Murashov let in a bad goal 19 seconds in, his second shot of a game. My immediate reaction was, "Oh no, I picked a bad game for the trip down here," I guess from watching the big club too often. They ended up coming back and winning 2-1 in a shootout.
Tonight: The Nailers go down 2-0 to the Fort Wayne Komets ... right around the time the big club is down 2-0 to Utah. The Nailers, however, went on to win 6-4 against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Wheeling is now five points back of first place in the entire league with two fewer games played than the leader.
Highlights are here, and I promise all ECHL teams' broadcasts don't look shaky and straight out of the 'Blair Witch Project'. Only Fort Wayne, always Fort Wayne:
Big takeaways: Murashov made an insane 48 saves on 52 shots. First-year pro Atley Calvert, who was Brayden Yager's Moose Jaw Warrior teammate and earned an AHL contract this past summer, had his first pro hat trick. He now has seven goals and seven assists in 13 games. I asked head coach Derek Army about Calvert when I was in Wheeling recently.
"He's been fantastic," Army raved. "He's actually probably overall, in terms of everything he brings, one of our best forwards. He kills penalties. He's first off the bench on faceoffs. He is on the net front of the power play. He's played so fantastic. He gives you everything. There's little details for game, just like every rookie, that you work through, but there's a lot of encouraging signs for him. He has a bright future in terms of his work ethic, his commitment, just his difficulty to play against. He plays hard. And you don't always see that with young guys."
THE ASYLUM
Hey, there's always the Nailers
I've said it before, I'll say it again, because it's especially true tonight: If you live in the Pittsburgh area and want to see competitive professional hockey, the Nailers are right there.
Funny: When I was there the other week, Sergei Murashov let in a bad goal 19 seconds in, his second shot of a game. My immediate reaction was, "Oh no, I picked a bad game for the trip down here," I guess from watching the big club too often. They ended up coming back and winning 2-1 in a shootout.
Tonight: The Nailers go down 2-0 to the Fort Wayne Komets ... right around the time the big club is down 2-0 to Utah. The Nailers, however, went on to win 6-4 against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Wheeling is now five points back of first place in the entire league with two fewer games played than the leader.
Highlights are here, and I promise all ECHL teams' broadcasts don't look shaky and straight out of the 'Blair Witch Project'. Only Fort Wayne, always Fort Wayne:
Big takeaways: Murashov made an insane 48 saves on 52 shots. First-year pro Atley Calvert, who was Brayden Yager's Moose Jaw Warrior teammate and earned an AHL contract this past summer, had his first pro hat trick. He now has seven goals and seven assists in 13 games. I asked head coach Derek Army about Calvert when I was in Wheeling recently.
"He's been fantastic," Army raved. "He's actually probably overall, in terms of everything he brings, one of our best forwards. He kills penalties. He's first off the bench on faceoffs. He is on the net front of the power play. He's played so fantastic. He gives you everything. There's little details for game, just like every rookie, that you work through, but there's a lot of encouraging signs for him. He has a bright future in terms of his work ethic, his commitment, just his difficulty to play against. He plays hard. And you don't always see that with young guys."
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