Vegas remains red-hot at home

Nick Christensen

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 9:43 a.m.

There's always been a dilemma for Chris Kenady.

Baseball or hockey. College or pros. Retire or play on. Family or sport.

Kenady, a 30-year-old Wranglers winger, has always had a choice to make, and before this season, he decided to keep on playing, winding up in Las Vegas. Kenady leads the Wranglers in points this year with 19, including an assist in Las Vegas 4-2 win against Atlantic City Wednesday night at the Orleans Arena. With the win, the Wranglers moved to 10-0-1 at home, and 12-5-4 overall.

After last season, Kenady had just about decided to hang up the skates. His wife found a new sales job in Long Beach, and the ECHL teams in Long Beach and San Diego were all full of veterans.

So he called his former friend, teammate, and competitor Glen Gulutzan, who was the new general manager of the expansion Wranglers.

"I played with McBain and Gully, and it's a good place to play," Kenady said. 'I didn't know what they were going to do."

"I played against him, and I knew how much I disliked playing against Chris Kenady," Gulutzan said. "I knew that was someone we wanted on our team."

But Kenady, at first, wasn't headed for hockey. Growing up in Minnesota, he played both baseball and hockey, and was drafted by the Dodgers before deciding instead to take up hockey at the University of Denver.

After four years with the Pioneers, Kenady was drafted by the St. Louis Blues, but saw action in only seven NHL games despite excelling in a few seasons in the Triple-A AHL.

But the tough part for Kenady came when he came down to Double-A, before the 2001 season.

"I kind of had mixed emotions," Kenady said. "I had a lot of offers, but then I broke my back and had back surgery. I didn't want to take a chance," so he went to the WCHL's Long Beach Ice Dogs for the 2001 season. "The weather was great, it's not as physical, and you don't have to go through the grind."

But things soured in Long Beach, and Kenady was traded to Fresno in February. It took some tough decision making, but he returned for another season, providing veteran leadership to the team.

"I don't have to do a lot. I lead by example," Kenady said. "In the locker room, I tend to stay quiet."

"By far the biggest thing is his work ethic on the ice and in games," Gulutzan said. "To play against him, the way he plays, you'd never think this guy would want to retire."

Kenady does nothing to quash speculation that this might be his last season.

"You never know until it actually happens," Kenady said. "I'd like to play again. It depends on how my body is. That's the X-factor.

"I'm just happy to be playing hockey."