Maybe you don't know.
Maybe you do know, but keep forgetting.
West Virginia has a minor league hockey team. And that Pittsburgh Penguins team that won last season's Stanley Cup and is now going for another? That's the minor league team's affiliate. Pretty cool, eh?
Penguins goaltender Matt Murray remembers. Knee-deep into the Stanley Cup finals, he remembered.
"This organization," Murray recently said, "from Pittsburgh down to Wheeling... They give you all the tools to succeed."
It's a neat story. And some from the Wheeling Nailers franchise are using those tools quite well.
Check the Stanley Cup rosters. With the Penguins you'll see former Nailers Carter Rowney, Tom Kuhnhackl and Josh Archibald. With the Ottawa Senators team, the one Pittsburgh eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals, you could have found alum Mike Condon.
Also, that coach with Nashville, Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup opponent? Yep, Peter Laviolette spent time coaching in Wheeling.
"He was the coach in Wheeling in 1997-98," said the voice of the Nailers, D.J. Abisalih. "That was his only season in Wheeling, but he took the team to the Eastern Conference finals before moving up the ladder."
Laviolette is now the fourth coach in National Hockey League history to lead three different teams (Carolina, Philadelphia and Nashville) to the finals.
Folks around the Mountain State, however, more easily recognize the West Virginia Power and even Black Bears baseball teams as top-flight minor league franchises before the Nailers. Maybe it's understandable because the sport is hockey. Yet maybe it's because we just don't understand.
I certainly did not.
"If you understand baseball's model, you can look at us as Double A," Abisalih said. "We're two steps away from the NHL. It's interesting though because, unlike the baseball model, where all players throughout all levels are under contract with that particular [Major League Baseball] club, we can have players under contract through the NHL or [American Hockey League] - which is like Triple A - or our ECHL."
You read correctly. Wheeling is an affiliate of the Penguins, but filling out the roster is more of a free-for-all.
"Sometimes we'll have players sent to us by Pittsburgh or [AHL affiliate] Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or we'll sign our own players," Abisalih said.
Wheeling has groomed players like Tomas Vokoun, who was in goal for the Penguins in 2013 when they went to the Eastern Conference finals. Vokoun also played for the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadians, but started with the old Wheeling Thunderbirds in 1995-96.
Another success story was Scott Darling, a goaltender who won the Stanley Cup two years ago with Chicago. He started from the ground up, signing an ECHL contract in Wheeling before zooming up the ladder.
"Some of our fans get annoyed because players get called up," Abisalih said. "Well, we're a developmental league. That's a good thing. We're helping players move to the next level. And that's a helpful tool to get players to come to Wheeling."
Yes, the team has to recruit. Head coach Jeff Christian and others have to go out in the summer and sell players on Wheeling.
"Teams like the Florida Everblades or South Carolina Stingrays are right on the beach," Abisalih said. "They have the appeal of warm weather. They usually attract more veteran players. We're on the other end. We'll say, 'If you come to Wheeling we'll do whatever we can to get you to that next level. If you're a young player, we want you here and hungry, ready to move up.'"
Another selling point is the proximity to Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena. Penguins' player developmental coach Mark Recchi visits a couple times a month. There's a steady stream of communication. And, again, yes, the Pens will send players to the Nailers.
"We'll get some contracted players from Pittsburgh; we'll get some from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but at least half to two-thirds of our team are our own players," Abisalih said.
The team is the property of the Regional Economic Development Partnership within Wheeling rather than of a traditional owner or ownership group. That helps when WesBanco Arena needs upgrades.
"Also, the players used to live in so-so housing, but now they live in brand new loft apartments, which is a nice selling point," Abisalih said.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, players earn from the ECHL league minimum of $425 a week to as high as $1,000 a week.
The big payday, however, can be your name etched on the Stanley Cup. And, as of today, three players have opportunities.
"It's been cool to see," Abisalih said.
And the road for some has gone right through West By God.