The Toledo Walleye are not only facing a desperate Wheeling Nailers team on Wednesday, but also must contend with the odd dimensions of the rink at WesBanco Arena.
Up 2-0 in the Central Division finals, Toledo will play on the smaller ice surface in Game 3 on Wednesday.
The ice rink at WesBanco Arena, which was built in 1977, is 15 feet shorter from end to end. The rink in Wheeling measures 185 feet by 85 feet with a much smaller neutral zone, which could benefit the more physical Wheeling team against the more speedy and finesse-based style of the Walleye. A regulation rink is 200 by 85.
“The biggest thing is doing things a little more quickly,” Mikesch said. “When we’re getting offensive looks, you want to take advantage quickly. When you get it in offensive transition and have numbers you have to take advantage. We can’t sit around and waste good opportunities.”
Toledo went 1-1-0 at WesBanco Arena during the regular season.
“Other teams have to get used to our arena,” Wheeling coach Derek Army said. “The neutral zones are a little bit tighter. It has its quirks and bounces. The dimensions are a bit strange. We’ve just kind of adapted our game to fit it. But at the same time, we like to think our game can play everywhere. But I think we do have an advantage with the quirkiness.”
The smaller neutral zone is similar to the unusual dimensions at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo. The Walleye won two games at that 1970s-era arena, completing a first-round sweep of the Wings.
“It can be really tight in that building, too,” Mikesch said. “So the players know the little things like that that are different. But it doesn’t change how we want to approach the game.”
The Walleye, who have won 20 consecutive games dating back to the end of the regular season, are 6-0 in the playoffs — including wins of 2-1 in overtime in Game 1 and 5-3 in Game 2 over the Nailers at the Huntington Center.
The smaller dimensions at WesBanco Arena also can put a greater emphasis on the defensive aspects.
Both coaches agreed passing must be crisp and forechecking must be tight.
“Defending, you’ve got to get right back in the structure quickly,” Mikesch said. “You can get beat off the wall in that building and that can give an opportunity for them quickly.”
Toledo forward Brandon Hawkins, who is the Walleye’s leading scorer in the playoffs with nine points in six games, also played one season for the Nailers.
“It always plays a little bit of a role,” Hawkins said. “But I think we’re ready for it. The ice is a little smaller so things happen fast. We just have to be ready for it.”
Army said having the last line change after whistles and before faceoffs is the biggest advantage the home team has, which is beneficial for matchup purposes.
“Just being on home ice, it’s getting the matchup you want,” he said.
Army believes his group reflects the nature of its fanbase — hard-working and fully committed to getting the job done.
“I feel we embody a little bit of how just our city is,” Army said. “It’s a blue-collar city. It’s a hard-working city. It’s one that a lot of people in town take a lot of pride in. We just take a lot of pride in playing in front of our own fans, being in Wheeling, and being Nailers. I think it just gives you a little bit of an extra oomph, an extra push. I think we saw that with Toledo with how well they play in front of their home crowd. It fuels them and I think it’s the same thing with us here in Wheeling.”
The Nailers roster was assembled with bigger players, and the team plays a more physical style in part to fit the building there. The concept is similar to the approach Toledo coaches used over the years at the cozy and intimidating confines of the former Sports Arena in East Toledo.
“I’m not going to be shocked if they come out even a little more physical than they were last game,” Mikesch said.
Wheeling has been in desperation mode for more than a month. The Nailers had to fight for one of the final playoff spots right down to the final game of the regular season and then fell behind 1-0 in their opening-round series against Indy before winning 4-1.
“We’ve been almost playing must-win hockey games for what seems like two months, so I don’t think it’s anything new to us,” Army said. “We’ve kind of played games where people didn’t expect us to win. We’ve had great bounce back.”
Army pointed out Game 1 against Toledo could have gone either way.
“We lost a heartbreaker there, and it could have been a downward slide,” Army said. “But we had good energy and good enthusiasm in Game 2. We’re not going to change our mentality. This has to be a must-win.”
Mikesch explained his team must match the intensity of the Nailers’ physicality, but avoid post-whistle shenanigans.
“We have to keep our game between the whistles,” he said. “That’s when we’ve been at our best.”
Wheeling wants to play a tight-checking game and limit the Walleye’s Grade A chances.
“Toledo is obviously a really good hockey team. But I really liked our resiliency coming back and not quitting on anything,” Army said.
Walleye forward Mitchell Lewandowski, who is riding a six-game point streak with eight points (3 G, 5 A), said the team remains on an even keel no matter where it plays.
“We’re going there to win,” Lewandowski added. “We don’t want to get too high or too low. We want to go to Wheeling and give them a heck of a game Wednesday and take it day by day.”
The Walleye went 25-7-3 away from home during the regular season, the second-best road record in the ECHL.
Toledo, which is 4-0 at home and 2-0 on the road in the playoffs, had more points on the road (53) than it did at home (52) during the regular season. The Walleye have won 12 consecutive games on the road, including the last 10 in a row to end the regular season.
They are prepared to handle the expected pushback.
“They’re gonna be physical and try to use the momentum of their building for themselves,” Mikesch said. “We need to be able to settle ourselves down. We’ll need to match their energy. It’s important to keep sticking to what we do and avoid distractions.”
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