A look at five notable players in action on Wednesday's four-game schedule.
Four games are on the ECHL slate for Wednesday. Let’s take a look at five players to keep an eye on in these matchups.
Atlanta Gladiators (2-3-2) at Orlando Solar Bears (3-3-1)
Puck Drop: 7 p.m. ET
Players To Watch:
Eric Neiley: Gladiators
Atlanta’s captain is one point shy of picking up the 200th point of his Gladiators career.
Neiley scored his second goal of the season to tie last Sunday’s game against the South Carolina Stingrays, redirecting a Cody Sylvester shot past Rays goalie Garin Bjorklund. South Carolina went on to win 2-1 in overtime.
The 32-year-old Warminster Township, Penn. Native came out of retirement this season after spending the 2023-24 campaign as an assistant to head coach Derek Nesbitt.
Norfolk Admirals (4-2-1) at Reading Royals (4-5-0)
Puck Drop: 7 Pm ET
Players To Watch:
Connor McMenamin: Royals
The Royals may be struggling, but McMenamin is having a great start to his rookie season.
McMenamin leads the Royals in points (7), goals (4) and game-winning goals (2), which is most among active ECHL skaters.
McMenamin played 10 games for Reading last season after signing a Standard Player Contract (SPC) to begin his professional career last March. Prior to turning pro, he played five seasons in the NCAA, the final one with the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Wheeling Nailers (3-3-0) at Cincinnati Cyclones (0-4-2)
Puck Drop: 7:35 Pm ET
Players To Watch:
Jaxon Castor: Nailers
Last Saturday, Castor picked up a win in one of the most thrilling ECHL games this early in the season.
Castor denied 24 of 25 shots in a 2-1 home victory over the Bloomington Bison in front of a sellout crowd of 4,790.
Wheeling trailed 1-0 until the final 30 seconds of the third period, then scored two goals in the span of 15 seconds. Castor gave up a goal to Eddie Matsushima at the 15:38 mark of the second period but was sparkling in net otherwise.
In 11 career home decisions, Castor is 8-3-0.
Kansas City Mavericks (4-1-0) at Rapid City Rush (0-5-2)
Puck Drop: 7:05 Pm MT
Players To Watch:
Max Andreev: Mavericks
The second-year Mavericks forward has three goals and eight assists through the first six games of the 2024-25 season. He has a total of 11 points and is currently on a five-game point streak.
In last weekend’s two-game series with the Fort Wayne Komets, Andreev scored a goal and an assist, although the Mavericks fell 4-1 Friday and lost a tough 4-3 shootout on Saturday.
Chaz Smedsrud: Rush
After picking up seven points in nine games with the Allen Americans last spring, Smedsrud was traded to Rapid City in late October in exchange for future considerations.
Smedsrud has been a boost in his two games with the Rush. He played well enough on the fourth line last Friday against Wichita that head coach Scott Burt moved him to the top line Saturday, where he produced two primary assists in another loss to the Thunder.