The pucks strike 12:00

Nick Christensen

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.

THE GAME: Wranglers (11-10-3, sixth in ECHL West) vs. Fresno Falcons (10-11-2, seventh in West).

WHEN: Tonight, midnight.

WHERE: Orleans Arena.

RADIO: 1400-AM.

The Las Vegas Wranglers will add a fourth shift -- the swing shift -- as they play host to the Fresno Falcons at midnight tonight at the Orleans Arena.

For the second year, the Wranglers will play at 12 a.m. on the Tuesday before Christmas. And for the second consecutive year, the game has received a lukewarm reception from the team.

Rookie Adam Huxley's parents drove 26 hours from Wainwright, Alberta, to visit this week, and will be at the midnight contest.

"They're as mystified as I am," Huxley said. "I've never played at midnight. I can't tell you how to prepare. I've asked the guys how to prepare. They're unsure."

For the few Wranglers who were around for last year's game, it may just be a memory they'd rather forget, although it certainly couldn't be any worse than, say, the 13,000-mile road trip this year's Wranglers just finished last week.

"It's not one of those things I look forward to," Wranglers captain Jason McBain said. "It's the same for both teams; it's not just one team. But if it's cool for the fans, I'm all for it."

Last year's midnight game drew an announced crowd of 4,472 to the Orleans Arena, about 2,000 of whom actually came and watched the Wranglers defeat Bakersfield 3-2. This year's ticket sales are approaching last year's in-house number, and the Wranglers are hosting a toy drive in conjunction with the game. The scheduling started last year to attract swing shift workers to a game they otherwise couldn't attend.

As for the actual game last year, the Wranglers and Bakersfield played a sluggish, testy game that ended on Jeff Attard's game-winning goal in overtime. The contest lasted just two hours and 25 minutes, a stretch that not only included overtime but also a first-period fight between Jon Shockey and Jason Ralph.

Last year's midnight game was also a far stretch from Friday night's contest with Bakersfield, a 2-1 loss that lasted more than three hours and included three fights and two Wranglers ejections. Both Billy Tibbetts and Adam Huxley were tossed for not keeping tightened the straps that hold their padding and tops on during a fight.

Already playing without injured defenseman Ryan Gaucher and McBain, who was with his wife after she gave birth to a boy that afternoon, the depleted Wranglers bench tried to hang on but couldn't stop Paul Rosebush's shorthanded game-winner with 13 seconds remaining.

This year's midnight game brings the Falcons, a team that started out slow but is 9-5-1 in its past 15 games.

Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan, one of the most popular players in Fresno's history, said his former team won't be as sluggish as Bakersfield was last year.

"I think Fresno will come in and play fired up," he said. "They're a different team. They've made six or seven changes up front; they're a completely different team."

The Falcons are in seventh place in the eight-team ECHL West Division, three points behind Las Vegas. They're led by center Dan Tessier and right winger Shaun Sutter, who have 23 and 21 points respectively this season. Goaltender Brett Jaeger has taken the bulk of minutes in goal this year, with a .922 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average.