The Wheeling Nailers are a professional ECHL ice hockey team based in Wheeling, West Virginia. On August 6, 2026 they announced their affiliation with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and AHL's Cleveland Monsters.

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 five 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.

On June 23, 2026, the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Hoffmann Family of Companies, who already owned the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. This sparked speculation of a possible change in ECHL affiliate. On June 26, the Hoffmanns did an interview at PPG Paints Arena in which David Hoffmann was asked about affiliating Pittsburgh to the Everblades. He replied to this question with, "They would run me out of Naples if they're not." On July 16, General Manager Kyle Dubas announced that the Penguins would not be continuing their affiliation with the Nailers "because of very unique circumstances." On August 6, they announced that they had entered a 2-year affiliation agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Cleveland Monsters, marking the first time in 29 years where Wheeling is not affiliated with Pittsburgh.

Season-by-season results Regular seasonPlayoffs Season GP W L T OTL SOL Pts GF GA Standing Year Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Kelly CupWheeling Thunderbirds1992–93 644016—8—883142231st, East 1993 —BYEW, 3–1, JHN W, 4–2, RAL L, 2–4, TOL1993–94 683823—7—833272893rd, North 1994 —W, 2–0, NSH W, 3–1, HR L, 0–3, TOL —1994–95 684617—5—973132431st, North 1995 —L, 0–3, BIR ———1995–96 704223——5892892612nd, North 1996 —W, 3–0, CLB L, 1–3, TAL ——Wheeling Nailers1996–97 7036295——772982914th, North 1997 —L, 0–3, PEO ———1997–98 7037249——832552552nd, North 1998 —W, 3–2, DAY W, 3–1, TOL L, 2–4, HR—1998–99 7027376——602062496th, Northeast 1999 Did not qualify1999–2000 7025405——552022465th, Northeast 2000 Did not qualify2000–01 7224408——561922775th, Northeast 2001 Did not qualify2001–02 7236324——762132085th, Northeast 2002 Did not qualify2002–03 7228413——591932616th, Northeast 2003 Did not qualify2003–04 7251174——1062591881st, North 2004 BYEL, 2–3, REA ———2004–05 7238295——811711736th, North 2005 Did not qualify2005–06 7245216——962471862nd, East 2006 BYEW, 3–1, REA L, 2–3, TOL ——2006–07 723234—24702152557th, North 2007 Did not qualify2007–08 722243—34511862847th, North 2008 Did not qualify2008–09 723628—26802632604th, North 2009 —L, 3–4, CIN ———2009–10 723332—25732402494th, North 2010 Did not qualify2010–11 723829—05812302102nd, North 2011 —W, 3–1, SC W, 4–3, GRN L, 2–4, KAL—2011–12 723726—46832192022nd, Atlantic 2012 —L, 1–3, KAL———2012–13 723129—39741932253rd, Atlantic 2013 Did not qualify2013–14 723927—15842161962nd, Atlantic 2014 —W, 4–0, SC L, 2–4, GRN ——2014–15 723733—11762102134th, North 2015 —L, 3–4, TOL ———2015–16 723726—54832142112nd, North 2016 —W, 4–2, FLA W, 4–3, REA W, 4–3, SCL, 2–4, ALN2016–17 723430—80762442395th, North 2017 Did not qualify2017–18 723528—81792482455th, North 2018 Did not qualify2018–19 723131—64722392406th, Central 2019 Did not qualify2019–20 592430—50531632066th, Central 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2020–21 682239—61511962417th, Eastern 2021 Did not qualify2021–22 723731—40782432473rd, Central 2022 — W, 4–3, FW L, 0–4, TOL ——2022–23 722938—50632232445th, Central 2023 Did not qualify 2023–24 713828—41812322043rd, Central 2024 — W, 4–1, IND L, 0–4, TOL ——2024–25 724325—31902251942nd, North 2025 — L, 1–4, NOR ———2025–26 724620—33982311751st, North 2026 — W, 4–1, REA W, 4–3, MNE L, 1–4, FLA —2026–27 0—————————, Central 2027 — — — — —

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.

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 2018–20 – Mike Bavis 2020–21 – Mark French 2021–25 – Derek Army 2025–2026 – Ryan Papaioannou 2026–present – Nate DiCasmirro

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

References

External links