13 days, 8 games, 13,606 miles

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 | 10:05 a.m.

The Las Vegas Wranglers arrived in Lafayette, La., this morning, 14 hours after beginning their final practice in Las Vegas this month.

Monday's travel day actually was only the fourth-longest day of the next two weeks for the Wranglers, who embarked Monday on a 13,606-mile, eight-game road trip. They'll return home on Dec. 5 for a brief stay, before heading to Boise for two games against the Idaho Steelheads. Their next home game is Dec. 14.

After dinner at Denny's in New Orleans late Monday, coach Glen Gulutzan and the Wranglers sat on the team bus, crawling west on Interstate 10 in a nighttime deluge.

With the Wranglers at 5-5-1 after dipping below .500 for the first time in franchise history last weekend, Gulutzan has no choice but to look at the potential positive impact of the trip.

"We have a lot of games in a lot of nights," Gulutzan said. "Hopefully we'll have some camaraderie. Hopefully guys will get together and have some fun and that sort of thing. Hopefully it builds you as a better team."

But if the players are able to better mesh as a team, they'll still be leaving family behind in Las Vegas.

"It's going to be tough, real tough," Gulutzan said. "My little girl's having her fourth birthday on Nov. 26, so I won't be around for that. That's not easy."

On last year's East Coast swing, the Wranglers went 0-4-2, the biggest blemish on an otherwise excellent 17-13-6 road record for the season.

"We played really good hockey out there, and we couldn't get any wins," Gulutzan said. "This is a new year, and a different team. We have to play solid road hockey. We haven't had great success at the Orleans. Maybe we'll have better success on the road."

The trip kicks off with three games in three cities -- Lafayette, Beaumont, Texas, and Biloxi, Miss. After a day off, the Wranglers bus to play the Florida Everblades near Fort Myers on Friday, then back up the coast to Pensacola for a game on Saturday.

Following a Tuesday game back at Florida, they'll bus to Miami, capping the Gulf Coast portion of their trip at 2,662 miles. But it doesn't get easier -- the team then flies to Denver, then Seattle en route to Anchorage for two games.

The weekend forecast for Fort Myers is sunny, with temperatures in the high 70s. The high in Anchorage is forecasted for the low 30s.

Mike Hannegan, the Wranglers' trainer, said he's packing extra cold medicines to prepare the players for the long trip in close quarters, capped by a sudden climate change.

"You just take a whole lot extra everything," Hannegan said. "You go from a hot, humid climate to a cold and dry climate. We take a lot of extra, from cough drops to antihistamines. You go through this much weather, you make sure guys are eating right."