Wheeling Nailers Announce New NHL Affiliate to Replace Penguins

Weeks after losing their longstanding affiliation with the nearby Pittsburgh Penguins, the Wheeling Nailers are ready to announce a new era for franchise.

On Thursday, the Nailers revealed that they are now an affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. The Nailers are now in a hockey family that also includes the Cleveland Monsters.

This comes after the new ownership of the Penguins, the Hoffmann Family Group, decided to continue on with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades and drop the Nailers, thus ending a 29-year relationship between Wheeling and Pittsburgh.

At that time, many West Virginia based hockey fans, granted most are also Penguins fans, reacted in anger and concern about the future of the Nailers. Now that concern has been alleviated with a new affiliate.