Martel, Gauthier Monopolize ECHL Weekly Awards
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WHEELING - The ECHL has announced that Wheeling Nailers forward Jordan Martel has been named Inglasco ECHL Player of the Week for the week of February 5-11.
Martel, 25, continued his dominance of the Reading Royals last week, as he collected points in all three victories to help the Nailers match their longest winning streak in team history at 12 games in a row. On Tuesday morning, he snapped a 1-1 tie early in the third period, then added an insurance goal less than five minutes later, as Wheeling was victorious, 3-1 at Santander Arena. On Friday night, the forward delivered the primary assist on Justin Addamo's winning strike at 3:21 of overtime, as the Nailers edged the Royals, 2-1. Martel put the exclamation point on the week on Saturday night, as he netted all three of Wheeling's goals for his second hat trick of the season in a 3-0 triumph in front of the third largest home crowd of the season. His final totals for the week were five goals, one assist, and six points, and he now has 10 goals, four assists, and 14 points in six head-to-head games against Reading.
The Chicoutimi, Quebec native is now tied for Wheeling's team lead with 37 points on the season, and his 24 goals place him tied for third in the ECHL. Since being acquired in a trade from Utah on December 13, he has 18 goals, eight assists, and 26 points in 24 games. He has scored multiple goals in a game on four occasions, including two hat tricks against the Royals. Martel is the first Nailer to score multiple hat tricks against the same team in the same season since Bryan Ewing achieved the feat against Cincinnati in 2008-09. On Saturday night, the forward played in his 100th professional game. As a pro, he has 44 goals, 46 assists, and 90 points.
This is the third time that Jordan has earned Inglasco ECHL Player of the Week honors in his career, and the second time that he has won the award with the Nailers this season. He is the seventh Wheeling player to be named ECHL Player of the Week multiple times, as he joins Nick Petersen, Cody Sylvester, Derek Army, Cam Brown, Nick Saracino, and Patrick Watling.
The ECHL also announced that Wheeling Nailers goaltender Taylor Gauthier has been named Warrior Hockey ECHL Goalie of the Week for the week of February 5-11.
Gauthier, 22, extended his personal winning streak to nine games, as he chalked up two home victories over the Reading Royals last week. Taylor denied 48 of the 49 shots he faced, with the Royals scoring their lone goal via a penalty shot on Friday night. In Friday's 2-1 overtime triumph, the Wheeling netminder made 13 of his 23 saves in the third period and overtime to set the table for Jordan Martel's heroics in the extra session. Then, on Saturday, Gauthier earned his third Wheeling shutout of the season with a 25-save performance. That marked the second time this season that Taylor blanked the opposition in the second of back-to-back starts on consecutive days.
The Calgary, Alberta native continues to shine in league rankings. His 18 wins, three shutouts, and 1,754 minutes played are all the most in the ECHL. He currently ranks second with a 2.29 goals against average, and fifth in both saves (785) and save percentage (.921). Gauthier has played in 27 of Wheeling's last 36 games, and has run his season record to 18-11-1. He is the second Nailers goaltender in the last eight seasons to record 18 victories, and his nine-game winning streak is the second longest by a netminder in team history (10 by David Brumby in 1997-98).
This is the third time this season that Gauthier has been named Warrior Hockey ECHL Goalie of the Week. He joins Mike Condon (2013-14) as the only two Wheeling goaltenders to earn the honor three times in the same season. He is the fifth Nailer to win the award at least three times overall, joining Condon, Joel Laing, Tyler MacKay, and Peter Delmas.
Martel and Gauthier became the first teammates to earn ECHL Player of the Week and ECHL Goalie of the Week in the same week since Utah's Matt Berry (player) and Joe Cannata (goalie) did so in November of 2019. They are the third Wheeling teammates to earn both awards in the same week, joining Nick Petersen (player) and Peter Delmas (goalie) in January of 2011, as well as Cody Sylvester (player) and Mike Condon (goalie) in March of 2014.
On behalf of Martel, a case of pucks will be donated to a Wheeling youth hockey organization by Inglasco, the exclusive puck supplier of the ECHL. Since beginning its sponsorship of the award in 2000-01, Inglasco has donated more than 49,000 pucks to youth hockey organizations in ECHL cities.
Martel, Gauthier and the Nailers will travel to Utah this week to play a three-game series against the Grizzlies, with the first game taking place on Friday at 9:10 p.m. Wheeling's next homestand will take place on February 23, 24, and 25. The highlight game of the weekend will be Country Night on Saturday the 24, which features a post game concert by Jason Michael Carroll presented by Generations.