GREENVILLE VS. WHEELING GAME PREVIEW 

The Greenville Road Warriors tangle with their first non-divisional opponent tonight when they welcome the Wheeling Nailers to the BI-LO Center for a 7:05 p.m. faceoff. Tonight will be the first of six meetings this season between the Road Warriors and the Nailers.

RECAPPING THE ACTION:

11/16/10 – GRW 1 – S.C. 3

The Road Warriors dropped their third consecutive road game as they fell to the Stingrays on Tuesday night. The Stingrays’ win evened the Palmetto State Rivalry at two games apiece. South Carolina opened the scoring 4:35 into the first when Maxime Lacroix netted a power play goal off of a rebound. Aside from that, Dov Grumet-Morris was shar as he turned in 14 saves in the period. A Lacroix goal 1:33 into the third doubled the Stingrays lead before Brendan Connolly chopped it in half at 14:49 of the frame. Greenville had a great opportunity before Connolly’s goal with a 90 second 5-on-3 power play but Todd Ford made a sprawling left-leg save against Mark Voakes on the doorstep. Nikita Kashirsky added an empty-net goal with 30 seconds left to play to seal the win. Grumet-Morris finished with an impressive 35 saves on the night.

11/14/10 – WHL 0 – KAL 5
The Nailers were shut out for the fourth time this season when they lost to the Wings in Kalamazoo last Sunday. The Wings blew open a one-goal game with three tallies in the second period. Two goals came on the power play as the Wings capitalized on 12 of their man advantage opportunities. Wheeling was limited to just 22 shots in the game while rookie goalie Patrick Killeen turned in 33 saves. The game was just Wheeling’s fourth on the road so far this season and kicked off a four-game trip away from WesBanco Arena.

WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:

Tonight marks a renewal of rivalry, of sorts. When the Greenville Road Warriors had played as the Johnstown Chiefs in Johnstown, Pennsylvania their biggest, and longest standing, rivals were the Wheeling Nailers. During the Chiefs days the club had a record of 81-73-19 against the Nailers and their 173 games played were the most between any two clubs in the ECHL. The Nailers have some history of their own in the Carolinas as they played in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the Thunderbirds from 1988-1992. The Thunderbirds defeated the Chiefs in front of nearly 4,200 fans at the Cambria County War Memorial in Game 7 of the first ECHL championship series (The Riley Cup Finals) in the spring of 1989.

Brendan Connolly will be counted on to continue to bring production to the Road Warriors’ offense. The second-year forward from Canmore, Alberta leads the Chiefs with eight goals this season. Five of the eight have come during his current three-game goal scoring streak. He has been particularly effective at home with five points (4G, 1A) in his last three home contests.

A trio of Road Warriors have logged plenty of travel miles this week. After traveling with the Road Warriors to Charleston and back on Tuesday Nic Riopel, Cullen Eddy, and Julien Brouillette were called up to play with the Adirondack Phantoms – Charlotte Checkers game last night in Charlotte. Eddy and Riopel went up to the Phantoms, who have each player under contract, while Brouillette went up to play for the Checkers. Riopel started in goal for the Phantoms and notched 22 saves in a 2-1 loss. Eddy had the primary assist on Adirondack’s loan goal, but Brouillette did not register a point for the Checkers. All three returned to Greenville following the game and are expected to be in uniform for the game tonight.

Please click here for Game Notes page one.
Please click here for Game Notes page two.
Please click here for Road Warriors player information.
Please click here for Nailers player information.

Tonight is a Dollar Draught Thursday at the BI-LO Center. Be sure to get here for select fountain drinks and draught beers on sale for just $1! The Road Warriors are also kicking off their Thanks for Giving Weekend with a coat drive to benefit the Salvation Army. Road Warriors fans who bring a new, or gently used, coat to donate to the drive will receive a buy-one-get-one free ticket coupon that is good for the December 14 home game against Gwinnett. For more information call the Road Warriors at 864-674-PUCK.