Home ice has its advantages

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 | 10:04 a.m.

All games at 7 p.m.

Tonight -- Long Beach Ice Dogs.

Friday -- Toledo Storm.

Saturday -- Toledo Storm.

Nov. 9 -- Alaska Aces.

Nov. 12 -- Victoria Salmon Kings.

Nov. 13 -- Toledo Storm.

The ECHL regular season started almost two weeks ago, and the Las Vegas Wranglers are in second-to-last place in their division, with just three points. That's not a bad thing.

The Wranglers, who opened their season with a win at Fresno on Oct. 22 then lost in a shootout at Long Beach the next night, play their third game of the season -- and home opener -- tonight against Long Beach at the Orleans Arena.

The second-year Wranglers will try to recapture the same magic that carried them through their remarkable start to last season. As a first-year franchise, they surprised everyone, including themselves, when they didn't lose a home game in regulation until Dec. 27, a streak of 14 games that set the tone for the Wranglers' season and the way the Western Division would end up playing out. Las Vegas ended with a 26-9-1 record at home.

"We just got on a roll at home," coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We don't expect that to happen this year, but we've got the confidence at home."

Forward Doug Wright, who was with the Wranglers for his rookie campaign last season, said the memories of the fast start out of the gate are fresh in his returning teammates' minds.

"We're definitely going to build off last year," he said. "It gave us the support at home, a charge of energy. We had so much momentum, it was hard to stop. We can do the same thing."

After the loss at Long Beach, Gulutzan put his team into an extended training camp, working out the kinks in his young team's game. The biggest focus Monday was on breakaway opportunities, as the team drilled two-on-two for over half an hour at the Fiesta Rancho ice arena.

"The guys worked hard, which is what you hope to expect," Gulutzan said. "We've worked hard and I think we're ready to go."

Veteran defenseman Mike McBain, one of the holdovers from last year's team, said he's amazed at the camaraderie the playes have developed in the time they've been together.

"I haven't seen anything like this since I was 16 years old," McBain said. "We don't just have one scoring line. We have three lines that are almost exactly the same. They can all skate and shoot. We have a solid team this year."

With half the roster made up of NHL prospects stuck at Double-A because of the lockout, the caliber of play has notably gone up. So far, forwards Morten Ask and Dana Lattery each have two goals and one assist, leading in goals and points.

"We played great," McBain said of opening weekend in California. "Anytime you get three out of four points on the road, it's a good situation. It's important how we came together."

Gulutzan wouldn't say who he'll start in goal tonight. Marc Magliarditi allowed just two goals in 65 minutes against Long Beach, but Gulutzan was leaning toward starting AHL veteran Sebastien Centomo until Centomo suffered a minor injury in practice. Centomo had allowed one goal in the Wranglers' opener at Fresno.