Wheeling Nailers Hold Intrasquad Scrimmage Wednesday Night
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WHEELING - The Wheeling Nailers held a Black vs. Gold intrasquad scrimmage Wednesday night, but the final score wasn't what mattered to head coach Nate DiCasmirro. It was what was going on during the 50-minute workout inside WesBanco Arena that he was concerned with.
The new-look Nailers have just four players out of 35 in training camp that donned a Wheeling uniform last season. Those being Craig Armstrong, Mike Posma, Tristan Thompson and Alexander Kuqali. Posma and Kuqali sat out last night's matchup.
The Nailers began training camp on Saturday and DiCasmirro has separated the team into two units - Black and Gold - with each team having five 90-minute practices thus far.
"There were some things that we're trying to work on and there's areas that we still need to improve upon. We worked on faceoffs this morning in practice and then being able to see them from a different vantage point was nice," DiCasmirro said. "There were things we worked on in the neutral zone and we saw some resemblance of it."
With DiCasmirro and associate coach Jason Payne watching from the mid-level in the seating bowl area of the arena, assistant coaches Peter Laviolette III and Bailey Seagraves led the Gold and Black, respectively.
"In talking with the two assistant coaches, they were pleased with the way the players were talking to each other on the bench," he said. "The guys know what they are trying to do and they are communicating with each other.
"It's been a long training camp so far and the guys have had a lot of information thrown at them that they have to process," DiCasmirro added. "Sitting in the stands you get to see the game in a different light. We might think one thing about a player, but then seeing them from that perspective gives us a different view of their play."
One of the stronger points in the scrimmage came from the four goaltenders as the Black edged the Gold 2-1 in a three-round shootout. The contest was deadlocked at 1 after 50 minutes, which included 5 minutes of 4-on-4 and 5 minutes of 3-on-3.
One of the four - Nolan Lalonde - gave up a goal on the fourth shot he faced, but then denied the next 10 he saw. The lone goal came from an impossible angle off the stick of Matt Crasa.
“You’ve got to give Crasa a little credit on that goal," the coach noted. "Me and Paynter were like 'wow. That was a pretty good shot.'"
Lalonde is one of two AHL contracted players in camp. He was 10-3-3 with Toledo in 19 ECHL games last season and was assigned by the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL.
"I guess you have to credit the four goaltenders for making it a 2-1 game in a shootout," DiCasmirro continued. "They all played really well."
The other three were rookie Trent Burham who earned the win after relieving Lalonde and stopping two out of the three in the shootout, Kasimir Kaskisuo and Carter McPhail.
After a pair of practices Thursday, the Nailers host the Fort Wayne Komets Friday night at 7:10 in an exhibition contest.
LOOSE PUCKS
- Thirty-two players suited up for the intrasquad game, with Posma, Kuqali and goaltender Philip Svedebäck sitting out.
- Of the 35 players in training camp, 17 are Canadian, 15 are US-born and there is one each from Finland and Sweden.
- The age range for the players is 22 years old for Lalonde to 37 for Justin Taylor.
- Twenty of the plasters in camp are under ECHL contracts, while six are on professional tryouts and four on amateur tryouts.
- Wheeling radio announcer D.J. Abisalih was in between the benches, a la Pierre Maguire of the NHL. It was his first rinkside appearance in about eight years, he said.