Nailers Announce 2026-27 Schedule

WHEELING, WV- The Wheeling Nailers, proud ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, have announced their schedule for the 2026-27 season - the 35th season of professional hockey in Wheeling.

The Nailers have always prided themselves on having a family friendly schedule focused on weekends and holidays, and the 2026-27 schedule accomplishes that perfectly. 34 of the team's 36 home games will be played on weekends and holidays, and one of the two outliers is the annual Education Day game on Wednesday, March 10th at 10:45 a.m. Home game times will remain the same as they have been in previous seasons, as Sunday games will begin at 4:10 p.m., games on all other days of the week will begin at 7:10 p.m., and the annual New Year's Eve game will begin at 6:10 p.m.

After two seasons in the North Division, Wheeling has returned to the Central Division, where it will reignite its rivalries with Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Indy, Kalamazoo, and Toledo, while building a new rivalry with Bloomington. Those six opponents make up 45 of the 72 games (63%) on the docket. The Nailers will play eight teams outside of the division. Reading and expansion Trenton will be the only non-divisional clubs that will face Wheeling both at home and on the road. Norfolk, Orlando, and Tulsa will all visit WesBanco Arena, while the Nailers will travel to Florida, Maine, and Worcester.

There will be regular-season hockey in October at WesBanco Arena for the first time since 2022. However, before that game gets played, Wheeling will open its season on the road for the fourth consecutive year. For the first time ever, game one will be at Fishers Event Center, as the Nailers will face the Indy Fuel on Friday, October 16th. The home opener is eight days later against the Toledo Walleye on Saturday, October 24th. Believe it or not, that will be Toledo's first game in Wheeling since December 20, 2024. The first three-in-three of the season will close out October, as the Nailers will visit Fort Wayne on Friday, the 30th, before hosting Cincinnati on Halloween and November 1st.

Although Wheeling is no longer a member of the North Division, November will start with a trip to some of those cities, including the first visit to Trenton since 2013 to face the Ironhawks on the 6th. The Nailers will continue to navigate up the coast to Worcester on the 7th and 8th, before wrapping up the journey with a playoff rematch in Maine on the 10th. Wheeling will make a quick pit stop at home to tangle with Toledo on the 13th, before going right back out on the road for matches in Indy, Bloomington, and Cincinnati on the 14th, 15th, and 20th. Kalamazoo comes to town for contests on the 21st and 22nd, before the Nailers look to gobble up a win over Indy in the annual Thanksgiving Eve game on the 25th. Black Friday will be spent in Toledo for the second year in a row, which will be followed by a trip to Kalamazoo on the 28th to finish November.

December is all about the holiday spirit, but fans will also be in the hockey spirit right away, as that month gets underway with the first of three home three-in-three weekends. The opponents are Indy on the 4th and 5th, followed by Fort Wayne on the 6th. Wheeling will get its bus miles in the following weekend by visiting three different cities in three days, starting in Kalamazoo on the 11th, then Fort Wayne on the 12th, and finally Bloomington on the 13th. The Nailers and Cyclones will find out if they made each other's nice or naughty lists before the holiday break, as they will play each other once in Cincinnati on the 18th, then scoot back over to Wheeling for the 19th and 20th. The Nailers will hope to box up a pair of points against the Komets on Boxing Day (26th), before the two squads meet again three days later in Fort Wayne on the 29th. Wheeling will bump down to Indy on the 30th, before returning to the Friendly City for the annual New Year's Eve game against Bloomington on the 31st.

The 2027 calendar year will begin with a home game, as the Nailers will wrap up their season series with Kalamazoo on the 2nd. Wheeling will skip over to Reading on the 6th, before playing a home-and-home series against Toledo on the 8th and 9th, starting with the home match. The Nailers will spend Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend on the road, starting in Cincinnati on the 15th and 16th, then finishing up in Reading with a day game on the 18th. A pair of teams from farther away will close out January in West Virginia, as Tulsa travels in on the 22nd and 23rd, then Orlando will pay a visit on the 29th, 30th, and 31st.

The first two weekends of February will both be mixtures of home and road tilts. In the first weekend, Wheeling will host Trenton on the 5th, head to Cincinnati on the 6th, then return home with the Cyclones to face-off again on the 7th. The following weekend will start with a trip to Indy on the 12th, then another home contest with Cincinnati on the 13th. After that, the Nailers will spend a week in the Sunshine State, as they will play a three-game series against Florida on the 17th, 19th, and 20th. That will be the first head-to-head match-ups with the Everblades since the 2020-21 season. Wheeling will wrap up February with a three-game home weekend against Bloomington on the 26th and 27th, then Fort Wayne on the 28th.

With the exception of two outliers, the theme of March will be series. The first weekend will be spent in Trenton, as the Nailers will face the Ironhawks on the 5th, 6th, and 7th. Wheeling will then play its annual Education Day game against Reading on the 10th, before Norfolk comes to town for the 12th, 13th, and 14th. The Nailers will head east once more for three contests in Reading on the 19th, 20th, and 21st, before returning home to tangle with Trenton on the 26th and 27th. Finally, Cincinnati visits for one game on the 31st.

April will be spent in two states - West Virginia and Ohio. The Nailers will start with a home-and-home series against Toledo on the 2nd and 3rd (the home game is on the 2nd). Then there will be a home-and-home series against Cincinnati on the 9th and 10th (home on the 10th). And finally, the regular season will conclude in Toledo on the 11th.

2026-27 Opponent Breakdown

14 vs. Cincinnati - 8 home, 6 away

8 vs. Toledo - 4 home, 4 away

7 vs. Indy - 3 home, 4 away

7 vs. Trenton - 3 home, 4 away

6 vs. Fort Wayne - 3 home, 3 away

6 vs. Reading - 1 home, 5 away

5 vs. Bloomington - 3 home, 2 away

5 vs. Kalamazoo - 3 home, 2 away

3 vs. Norfolk - 3 home

3 vs. Orlando - 3 home

3 vs. Florida - 3 away

2 vs. Tulsa - 2 home

2 vs. Worcester - 2 away

1 vs. Maine - 1 away

2026-27 Schedule

Fri. Oct. 16 at Indy

Sat. Oct. 24 vs. Toledo

Fri. Oct. 30 at Fort Wayne

Sat. Oct. 31 vs. Cincinnati

Sun. Nov. 1 vs. Cincinnati

Fri. Nov. 6 at Trenton

Sat. Nov. 7 at Worcester

Sun. Nov. 8 at Worcester

Tue. Nov. 10 at Maine

Fri. Nov. 13 vs. Toledo

Sat. Nov. 14 at Indy

Sun. Nov. 15 at Bloomington

Fri. Nov. 20 at Cincinnati

Sat. Nov. 21 vs. Kalamazoo

Sun. Nov. 22 vs. Kalamazoo

Wed. Nov. 25 vs. Indy

Fri. Nov. 27 at Toledo

Sat. Nov. 28 at Kalamazoo

Fri. Dec. 4 vs. Indy

Sat. Dec. 5 vs. Indy

Sun. Dec. 6 vs. Fort Wayne

Fri. Dec. 11 at Kalamazoo

Sat. Dec. 12 at Fort Wayne

Sun. Dec. 13 at Bloomington

Fri. Dec. 18 at Cincinnati

Sat. Dec. 19 vs. Cincinnati

Sun. Dec. 20 vs. Cincinnati

Sat. Dec. 26 vs. Fort Wayne

Tue. Dec. 29 at Fort Wayne

Wed. Dec. 30 at Indy

Thu. Dec. 31 vs. Bloomington

Sat. Jan. 2 vs. Kalamazoo

Wed. Jan. 6 at Reading

Fri. Jan. 8 vs. Toledo

Sat. Jan. 9 at Toledo

Fri. Jan. 15 at Cincinnati

Sat. Jan. 16 at Cincinnati

Mon. Jan. 18 at Reading

Fri. Jan. 22 vs. Tulsa

Sat. Jan. 23 vs. Tulsa

Fri. Jan. 29 vs. Orlando

Sat. Jan. 30 vs. Orlando

Sun. Jan. 31 vs. Orlando

Fri. Feb. 5 vs. Trenton

Sat. Feb. 6 at Cincinnati

Sun. Feb. 7 vs. Cincinnati

Fri. Feb. 12 at Indy

Sat. Feb. 13 vs. Cincinnati

Wed. Feb. 17 at Florida

Fri. Feb. 19 at Florida

Sat. Feb. 20 at Florida

Fri. Feb. 26 vs. Bloomington

Sat. Feb. 27 vs. Bloomington

Sun. Feb. 28 vs. Fort Wayne

Fri. March 5 at Trenton

Sat. March 6 at Trenton

Sun. March 7 at Trenton

Wed. March 10 vs. Reading

Fri. March 12 vs. Norfolk

Sat. March 13 vs. Norfolk

Sun. March 14 vs. Norfolk

Fri. March 19 at Reading

Sat. March 20 at Reading

Sun. March 21 at Reading

Fri. March 26 vs. Trenton

Sat. March 27 vs. Trenton

Wed. March 31 vs. Cincinnati

Fri. April 2 vs. Toledo

Sat. April 3 at Toledo

Fri. April 9 at Cincinnati

Sat. April 10 vs. Cincinnati

Sun. April 11 at Toledo

Corey Klug