This divisional recap summarizes the North Division teams in the ECHL, focusing on their standings, recent game results, player milestones, and key statistics. Heading into the final week before the Holiday Break, the top three teams in the ECHL are all from the North Division and have winning streaks of at least ten games. Here’s how all seven teams in the North Division faired during week 9 of the ECHL Regular Season.
Wheeling Nailers (17-3-1-0, 35pts, 1st Place)
The Wheeling Nailers have been red hot of late, winning their last 13 games, and now have points in their last 15 after beating the Reading Royals 4-1 on Friday and Saturday Night on the road. Both of those streaks are new franchise records. The Nailers continue to hold the best record in the ECHL. Before heading into the Holiday Break, Wheeling will play a three-in-three as they’ll host the Toledo Walleye on Friday before heading to play the Kalamazoo Wings on Sunday.
Norfolk Admirals (16-4-3-0, 35pts, 2nd Place)
The Norfolk Admirals are doing their best to keep pace with the Wheeling Nailers as they’ve now won 10 straight games after sweeping the Cincinnati Cyclones in a three-in-three weekend series. Domenic DiVincentiis continues his strong play since being sent down to the Admirals, as he’s now 8-0 with a 2.07 GAA and .919SV%.
Trois-Rivieres Lions (14-3-3-0, 31pts, Third Place)
Head Coach Ron Choules has guided the Lions to a five-game winning streak and a 12-game point streak after both games this weekend. Choules was entering the week as the winningest coach picking up his 43rd win behind the Lions bench on October 8th in a win vs Maine. One of the biggest factors to the Lions success has been the PP that is first in the league converting at 30.4% and has scored at least one PP goal in their last four games. It will be a battle of the #2 vs #3 teams in the ECHL this weekend as the Lions will head to Norfolk for a three-in-three beginning on Friday Night.
Adirondack Thunder (10-10-0-1, 21pts, 4th Place)
It was a tough week for Adirondack on and off the ice. On Monday, the Thunder learned that they would lose Ryan Smith, who had decided to head overseas. On the ice, Adirondack would host the Maine Mariners for two games for the first time since the 2023-24 season, when the teams would finish the year with 11 straight head-to-head matchups. Adirondack’s struggles would continue as they would drop both games to Mariners as they’ve lost three of their last four games while also being outscored 16-7 during that period. The Thunder will have another home-and-home series with the Reading Royals, as these two teams will meet for their seventh and eighth matchups of the season.
Armand Klisivitch’s Friday Night Recap
Armand Klisivitch’s Saturday Night Recap
Worcester Railers (9-14-1-2, 21pts, 5th Place)
The Railers had a rough start to the week as they lost Wednesday to Reading and Friday to the Trois-Rivieres Lions, making it four straight losses for Worcester. On Saturday morning, it was announced that Head Coach Bob Deraney had stepped down to join scouting and that assistant coach/GM Nick Tuzzolino would take over as Head Coach. In his first game at the helm of the Railers, they would lose 3-2 in a shootout but outshot the Lions 41-26. Worcester will host the Maine Mariners on Saturday and Sunday.
Reading Royals (8-14-4-0, 20pts, 6th Place)
The Royals would start the week on the right foot as they snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Railers. Unfortunately for Reading, they would host the ECHL-leading Wheeling Nailers on Friday and Saturday as they suffered 4-1 losses on both nights. The Royals will have a home and home this weekend against Adirondack.
Maine Mariners (9-11-2-0, 20pts, 7th Place)
The Mariners had a solid weekend, picking up two wins on the road vs Adirondack. Brooklyn Kalmikov and Ryan Bischel led the charge as Kalmikov had three goals and two assists in the two games, and Bischel, who would start in back-to-back games, would stop 50 of the 53 shots he faced. Maine will look to build off the success as they head to Worcester for games on Saturday and Sunday.
Armand Klisivitch’s Friday Night Recap
Armand Klisivitch’s Saturday Night Recap
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