A midnight snack on ice

Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

The commoner might have a difficult time fitting a late-afternoon nap, or after-dinner snooze, into his schedule to have the proper reserves to last through a midnight hockey game. But Las Vegas isn't an average city.

And its Wranglers aren't a common ECHL franchise.

The Wranglers rallied to tie Long Beach just before 2 a.m. Tuesday at the Orleans Arena, played to a stalemate in overtime and then secured a 5-4 victory by winning a shootout.

Las Vegas stretched its club-record winning streak to eight, and it has won two of its three novelty midnight games over three seasons that fans can't seem to get enough of.

"I like them. I've been to every one of them," said John Geier, 64. "It is unique to Las Vegas, because of all the different (work) shifts here. This crowd seems larger than the last two."

An announced crowd of 4,958 didn't peak until the second half of the second period. A few fans strolled down the aisle with double-fisted beers, and the festive crowd became more intense as the drama built.

Jeff Pagan, a 55-year-old limousine driver who went to the game after his shift, smiled widely as he made his way to a restroom when regulation play ended at 2:17 a.m. The game fit into his schedule perfectly.

"Because I have tomorrow off," Pagan said.

You mean today?

"Right!" he said. "Midnight games get you because you never know what time it is."

A closer look at the night's -- and morning's -- events:

MONDAY

11:38 p.m. -- Two minutes remain in the pre-game skate-around as I settle into Section 103, Row Q, Seat 18 of the horseshoe-shaped arena. Rock music blares, and a few Santa hats are spotted among the wide variety of hockey-uniformed fans.

11:40 p.m. -- In a corner of the bottom of the horseshoe, a spotlight shines on Mini Kiss, the diminutive tribute band. The two guitarists' instruments are nearly bigger than they are.

11:43 p.m. -- Mini-Gene (Simmons) waggles his maxi-tongue to an in-house camera, shown on a large screen at the open end of the arena, for the first time.

11:48 p.m. -- The eyelids start feeling as heavy as garage doors as the little face-painted group blares "I Was Made For Lovin' You."

11:51 p.m. -- Mini-Gene yells, "Can you get enough of me, Las Vegas?"

11:54 p.m. -- The spotlight goes out on Mini Kiss, but the public-address announcer says, "Don't worry fans. Mini Kiss will return during the first intermission."

11:58 p.m. -- Speakers air the sound of a gong being banged 12 times.

TUESDAY

12:02 a.m. -- Rock music blares after the national anthem. The crowd roars.

12:04 a.m. -- The first puck is dropped.

12:15 a.m. -- Chris Stanley scores for the Wranglers 7 1/2 minutes into the game, and Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas!" further fuels the fans.

12:27 a.m. -- "Help!" by the Beatles blares when Long Beach takes a 2-1 advantage. The Ice Dogs take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission after an adrenaline-laced opening period.

12:41 a.m. -- Mini Kiss blurts out a rendition of "Crazy Train," Ozzy Osbourne's big hit. Huh? And Mini-Paul is actually a female? Say it ain't so.

12:54 a.m. -- Long Beach extends its lead to 4-2, but Geier isn't dismayed. The owner of two season tickets wears a Wranglers cap, the bill of which was signed by the players at a pre-season function.

He first got into hockey when he was in the Air Force and stationed in Montana, where he could pick up Canadian games on a transistor radio. His wife, Miyoko, chose to stay home this morning.

"She says I'm crazy," he said.

1:01 a.m. -- During timeouts and other lulls, the big video screen shows various fans dancing and frolicking. But the three-second delay, new to this season's midnight game, might be working; no cameras have shown female flashers.

1:11 a.m. -- Four minutes after the Wranglers trim the deficit to 4-3, a group at the right tip of the horseshoe, in Section 101, tries to start the wave. After three unsuccessful attempts, they quit.

This crowd, it seems, is mostly a savvy group that is more interested in how the Wranglers kill penalties.

1:13 a.m. -- The moment of truth. Duke, the Wranglers4 green furry mascot, is surrounded by three women as "The Stripper,( the famous horn-blaring strip-tease music by David Rose & His Orchestra, screams from the speakers.

A voluptuous women in blue teases Duke and a seated man, slowly turning and raising her sweater before ... the camera cuts back to the action on the ice.

1:16 a.m. -- A Wranglers charge fails. "You4re passing the puck like my grandma!( yells someone at the front of Section 103. "Skate!(

1:19 a.m. -- The public address announcer calls for a shout-out to Dr. Afshin Azimi, the team dentist, "for keeping the Wranglers smiling.(

1:31 a.m. -- At the second intermission, Mini-Gene sits shotgun on the Zamboni as the ice is treated with a shiny new layer. Or was it Mini-Peter?

1:53 a.m. -- Matt Dzieduszycki scores on a power-play opportunity for Las Vegas to knot it, 4-4, nearly midway into the third period.

2:13 a.m. -- A fan high atop Section 103 yells "More cowbell!( at someone ringing a cow bell, at the front of Section 104. He should have yelled for more goals, too. The Wranglers' 24 shots in the third period is a club record.

2:17 a.m. -- "This is great,( said Pagan, the limo driver, during the intermission between the third period and the four-on-four, five-minute overtime. "This crowd reflects Las Vegas. It's crazy and a great scene. I think we need more of these, like two or three a year.(

2:32 a.m. -- Charles Linglet, who had been struck in the chin from behind by Dan Watson's stick 30 minutes earlier, slaps the puck into the roof of the net manned by Long Beach goalie Greg Hewitt to give the Wranglers a 3-2 edge in the shootout.

2:36 a.m. -- As the fans file out of the building into a 40-degree morning, they are serenaded by Elvis. "How I wish that there were more than 24 hours in the day ... blackjack, poker and the roulette wheel. ... and hockey.

Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or at miech@lasvegassun.com.