Pittsburgh Hornet Alumni Create Buzz with Wheeling Nailers

Earl Bugaile of www.wjpa.com , the #1 hockey reporter in Pennsylvania has posted a nice writeup about the success of former Pittsburgh Hornet Alumni playing professional hockey with the Wheeling Nailers.

We reprint this posting and congratulate our Pittsburgh Hornets playing professional hockey and encourage everyone to check out the postings everyday of Earl Bugaile, the best hockey reporter in Pennsylvania.

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The Wheeling Nailers have become a showplace for Western Pennsylvania hockey talent, with players such as Cliff Loya, Bill Downey and Mike Betz, and over the weekend they announced yet another signing of a former Pittsburgh area high school hockey player. Defenseman Bernie Chmiel, who played at Central Catholic and with Penn State, signed a contract to play in Wheeling next season.

Chmiel, 24, joins the Nailers for his first professional season after playing four seasons at NCAA Division I Sacred Heart University. In four years at Sacred Heart he registered 21 goals and 56 assists, while racking up 239 penalty minutes.The 6’0” 205 pound native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania played one season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL before returning home in 2001-02 to play for the expansion Pittsburgh Forge Junior A team in the NAHL.

“Being from Pittsburgh I had seen him play in high school so I knew he was a good player, and over the years I kept an eye on where his career was going,” said Nailers Assistant Director of Hockey Operations Ryan Patrick.

“He had a pretty successful college career, and after he finished up school this year we decided to talk to him about playing for the Nailers”. “I grew up playing with Bill Downey on travel teams and in high school, and he had nothing but good things to say about Wheeling and the Nailers”, said Chmiel. “I’m really excited to get this chance to come in and prove myself as a professional player”.