The home team is hoping its upcoming weekend at the DCU Center is as successful as it is lyrical. It will be the Railers versus the Nailers, Wheeler versus Wheeling.
Worcester plays the Wheeling Nailers Saturday night at 6:05 and Sunday afternoon at 3:05 with veteran defenseman Ryan Wheeler expected to log his usual amount of ice time for the home team.
He is with the Railers on loan from the Springfield Thunderbirds. Wheeler has spent a lot of time at the DCU Center the last three seasons, but not in a Worcester uniform. He spent those hockey years with the Adirondack Thunder. They met the Railers 30 times in that span.
The Railers’ lineup will feature two veterans who both played in all 72 games for their teams last season. Wheeler did it for the Thunder. Anthony Repaci did it for Worcester, but missed the first six games this year recovering from surgery.
The Railers are hoping to put together consecutive victories for the first time this season. A sweep of the short series would even the Railers’ record at .500.
Wheeler heads into the weekend having had a chance to clear his mind after playing back-to-back games against his old team. The Railers lost in Adirondack Friday night, 3-2. The Thunder were back for the School Day game Monday morning and this time the Railers were 3-2 winners before more than 8,000 fans.
It took Wheeler a while to process the experience.
“I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “It was really weird, just being on that bench on the opposing side. It almost didn’t feel real for my first couple shifts. I just kept looking around and seeing all the fans. My parents were there and said the same thing. Just weird vibes.
“You think about going to the wrong bench. You’ve gotta make sure you’re on your toes. But once the game got going, it felt like any other game.”
Wheeler just turned 29. He grew up near Buffalo so knows a few teammates as well as coach Nick Tuzzolino. He also knows the frustration of being a fan of both the Sabres and Bills.
Considering that, Wheeler was asked — if he had to pick just one team to win either the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup, which would he choose?
“Because I love hockey so much,” he said, “I’d go with the Sabres. But if you had all the fans in Buffalo vote, it’d be the Bills.”
When Wheeler signed his AHL deal with Springfield during the offseason, he knew that playing for the Railers was a possibility.
“That was definitely something I was comfortable with,” he said. “I looked forward to playing in Worcester.”
Wheeler has rarely missed games during his pro career. Last season was the first in which he skated in every one, but he has never played in fewer than 60.
“Especially in this league,” he said, “where you can play a lot of games back to back, I don’t know how often you can say you’re at 100 percent. But it’s something I take pride in, something I was taught growing up. My dad taught me that even though you might not be 100 percent you’ve got to be there for your teammates.”
The weekend games will be the only time Worcester and Wheeling play during the regular season. The Nailers have been realigned back to the Western Conference even though the city of Wheeling has not been relocated.
Through the years the series has been a home-ice one, both teams dominating in their own rink. Worcester leads the Nailers, 7-3-1, at the DCU Center. The visitors will bring one familiar face back to town in Kolby Johnson, the forward who totaled 119 PIM in 38 games for the Railers in 2024-25 and last season.
RAIL TRAILS — Barring any further transactions, always iffy this time of the year, the Railers have added one partially new face in forward Nikita Susuyev. The 21-year-old forward was assigned by Springfield. He played three games for the Railers last season and scored a goal in his first one. … Saturday is Railers Fight Cancer Night. The Bruins Alumni will play at 3 p.m. for Why Me and Sherry’s House. Sunday afternoon is Autism Awareness Day.
