The Wheeling Nailers have acquired points in four of their first five games this season by posting a unique 1-1-3 record. Wheeling earned its first victory of the season on Friday night in Fort Wayne, then dropped back-to-back contests after regulation at home against Cincinnati on Saturday and Sunday. This week, the Nailers will make a four-game road swing through three North Division cities, as they will visit Trenton, Worcester, and Maine.

COACHING MILESTONES
All three coaches had something to celebrate over the weekend for the Nailers. First, Head Coach Nate DiCasmirro earned his first win as a professional hockey head coach on Friday night, thanks to Wheeling's 4-1 triumph at Fort Wayne. DiCasmirro is the second Nailers head coach to collect his first win against the Komets, following Derek Army. Friday night was also the first win as a coach for Assistant Coach Peter Laviolette III. Peter III needed one more game to get into the win column than his father, Peter Jr., who earned the first of his 37 wins with Wheeling in his second game at Johnstown in 1997-98. Associate Coach Jason Payne's big day was Sunday, when he coached in his 500th career ECHL game. Payne achieved that milestone against the Cincinnati Cyclones - the team he coached for the first six seasons of his coaching career.

THREE-HEADED MASKED MONSTER
Halloween may be over, but one thing the Nailers learned in October is that their three masked men will strike fear into the opposition this season. Nolan Lalonde, Kasimir Kaskisuo, and Philip Svedebäck have combined to post a .929 save percentage in the team's first five contests. Because the team surrendered an empty net goal, the club's official save percentage is .923, which is the fourth highest in the ECHL (Tulsa .932, Florida .929, Kalamazoo .923[4]). Wheeling has allowed 30 or more shots in four of its first five games, giving the goalies a consistent workload. Lalonde had the highest save total against his former team, the Toledo Walleye, when he denied 34 shots in the home opener. Kaskisuo made 33 saves in his first start of the season on Saturday, then Svedebäck finished with 32 stops in his pro debut on Sunday. Wheeling's 2.80 team goals against average ranks tied for 15th in the league.

KEEPING YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT
There has been little separation during the first five games of the season for the Nailers, as evidenced by three of the five contests needing extra time to determine a winner. This is the first time in the team's history that three of the first five games have gone past regulation. Previously, the fewest games needed to reach overtime three times was seven, which was done four times, including last season. One of the two non-overtime tilts had a tied score during the third period, while the other had a tied score snapped during the final minute of the second period. Multiple goal leads have been extremely few and far between. Of the 320 minutes and 15 seconds played by the Nailers thus far this season, the score has been tied or a team has led by one goal for all but five minutes and 59 seconds (1.87%). Toledo led by multiple goals for 4:23 in the home opener, Wheeling led by multiple goals for 1:11 on Friday, and Cincinnati led by multiple goals for 25 seconds on Saturday.

PITOSCIA's POWERFUL WEEK
Forward Ryan Pitoscia enjoyed a successful weekend, as he posted back-to-back multi-point performances to take the early lead in scoring for the team. Pitoscia delivered the winning goal during the final minute of Friday's second period in Fort Wayne, then tacked on an empty net goal to put the finishing touches on Wheeling's 4-1 triumph. That was his second career two-goal game, and he also set a career high with nine shots on goal. The following day, Ryan distributed two assists - the primary helper on Zach Krajnik's marker in the second period, then the secondary assist on Robby Drazner's tying tally in the third. The Oakville, Ontario native and former NCAA National Champion at Adrian College is playing in his second professional season, after registering 13 points with Jacksonville as a rookie.

REUNITING WITH THE NORTH
The Nailers spent two seasons in the North Division, and thoroughly enjoyed their stay, as they finished in second place in 2024-25, then won the division in 2025-26. This weekend, Wheeling will play four games against three clubs from that division.

The trip begins on Friday night, when the Nailers travel to Trenton, New Jersey for the first time since 2012-13. That season, the opposition was the Titans. Now, the team is the Ironhawks, who are playing in their first ECHL season, following the relocation of the Utah Grizzlies. The new version of Trenton has gotten off to a 2-2-2 start, with four of six games played on the road. Kyle Penney and Isaac Johnson are tied for the team lead with seven points, followed by NHL contracted rookie Jesse Nurmi, who has contributed three goals and two assists. The New York Islanders and Hamilton Hammers provided the Ironhawks with two goaltenders who combined to play in 56 AHL games last season. Ryan Fanti is 2-0-1 in his three starts this year, while Henrik Tikkanen is coming off of a 17-win season with Bridgeport.

Stop number two takes Wheeling up to Worcester, Massachusetts for a two-game set against the Railers. Home ice dominance was the story of last year's season series, as both squads earned a three-game sweep at home and combined for a 7-1-0 mark. Worcester was victorious on opening night, before suffering four straight losses. The Railers got back into the win column on Monday morning against Adirondack. After affiliating with the New York Islanders since its inception in 2017, Worcester has a new affiliate in the St. Louis Blues. There is also a helping hand from the New York Rangers, as the Railers have four AHL contracted players from both Springfield (St. Louis) and Hartford (New York R.). Matt DeMelis is one of three players with four points, and his three goals are the most. Former Nailer Jordan Kaplan has started his season off with two goals and two assists. Parker Gahagen (Springfield contract) and Gabriel Carriere (Hartford contract) each have one win in goal.

The last leg of the journey is a rare Tuesday night game in Portland, Maine against the Mariners. This will be the lone battle between the two clubs that took the 2026 North Division Final Series all the way to a decisive seventh game. The Nailers won that game and the series, 4-3. After dropping its opener, Maine rattled off three straight victories, and is the only team that has defeated Trois-Rivières. Max Andreev tied for the 2025-26 team lead in scoring, and is once again leading the Mariners with three goals and seven points. Luke Cavallin (2-1-0) and Max Lundgren (1-1-0) have been extra stingy in goal, as Maine's 2.20 team goals against average ranks fourth in the ECHL. There are five former Nailers on the Maine roster - Wyllum Deveaux, David Jankowski, Christian Propp, Nolan Renwick, and Jack Works, plus assistant coach Zach Tolkinen played one season for Wheeling.

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Fri. Nov. 13 - Military & First Responder Appreciation Night
Sat. Nov. 21 - Festival of Lights Night
Sun. Nov. 22 - Post Game Skate (Odd-Numbered Players)
Wed. Nov. 25 - Thanksgiving Eve w/ Live IWC Wrestling