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Samantha Pearl wins ECHL Fan of the Year

Samantha Pearl wins ECHL Fan of the Year

Friday, July 24th

Wheeling Nailers' fan Samantha Pearl is the winner of the 2019-20 ECHL Fan of the Year.2019-20 was an emotional season for Samantha, as her mom, Darlene Cooke, passed away on Oct. 23. Darlene was a Nailers' season member and booster club member along with her husband Chris, and together, the two worked incredibly hard to support the team. Prior to Darlene's passing, she was visited by Nailers players Cam Brown and Yushiroh Hirano. In the game that followed on Oct. 25, the Nailers held a moment of silence in Darlene's memory, then everyone watched in awe, as Brown scored just 18 seconds into the contest, and Hirano capped off the 6-4 win by touching his heart and then pointing at Chris and Samantha.Chris and Samantha continued their amazing support of the Nailers throughout the season, cheering on the team, treating all of the players and staff members like members of their family, and working to help the organization and the booster club with various activities."While many others in the competition deserved this win, I'm beyond grateful for winning Fan of the Year," Pearl said. "This is for my mom smiling from heaven, my dedicated stepdad, and all the supportive Nailer Nation voters that helped us along the way! Thank you!"Fans were able to send nominations to the ECHL for the chance to win Fan of the Year, then the ECHL narrowed the field to 16 competitors for a bracket-style tournament. Fans from around the league then voted on each head-to-head match-up to determine a winner. Samantha defeated fans from Orlando, Toledo, and Newfoundland in the first three rounds, then staged a remarkable comeback to win the final over Allen.