Pittsburgh Penguins And Wheeling Nailers Extend Their Affiliation Agreement
By Larry Snyder
The Wheeling Nailers announced on Tuesday that they have extended their affiliation agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
The Nailers will begin their 15th straight season as the ECHL affiliate of both teams as well as the 16th season affiliated with the NHL Pens.
In the course of their affiliation, 13 former Nailers have gone on to play with the Black and Gold. They include from last season, centers Adam Payerl and Zach Sill, and defensemen Philip Samuelsson, who all made the leap to the NHL.
Last year also saw 14 different players dress in at least one game for both the Nailers and the AHL Penguins, including forward Anton Zlobin and goaltender Peter Mannino.
The Nailers open the regular season against the Reading Royals on Saturday, Oct. 18 at WesBanco Arena.
From The Clipboard: Remember to mark your calendars as individual game tickets for all 2014-2015 Penguins regular season home games will go on sale Saturday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m.
Former Penguin Aleksey Morozov, 37, announced his retirement on Sunday. The 6-foot-1 right wing was selected 24th overall in the first round by the Black and Gold in the 1995 NHL Draft.
Morozov played seven consecutive seasons with the Penguins from 1997 to 2004 and finished with 84 goals, 135 assists and 219 points in 451 career regular season games.
He also represented Russia in seven World Championships in 1997,1998, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. Morozov won silver at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and captained Team Russia at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.