Coach turns heat up on frigid Wranglers

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006 | 11:29 a.m.

After Wranglers coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan exploded on his squad late Tuesday night, the Orleans Arena home clubhouse resembled a morgue.

An overtime defeat to Victoria resulted in the first back-to-back defeats for Las Vegas in 2006. The clubhouse hadn't been so quiet since last season, when the Wranglers finished 31-33-8.

It would seem the chemistry that fueled a Wranglers drive to catch Alaska (41-8-3, 85 points) is evaporating.

Left winger Sean O'Connor has seen, and heard, trouble brewing since Las Vegas (36-9-6, 78) suffered its first shutout loss of the season, at home to Utah on Saturday.

"Anytime you play that poorly, it's carried over to practice ... when someone slacks in practice, it carries over to games," he said. "You can't turn it on and off. It has to be a full-time thing. I think now we have guys who are trying to get away with it.

"It's embarrassing. There are too many guys telling other guys what to do, and no one's putting their heads down and just going out and working. It's disappointing and frustrating."

Left winger Steve Crampton had hoped that the shutout would have awakened some teammates.

"That's always tough to swallow, especially in your home rink," Crampton said. "Things have to change. We have to get back to the things that were working for us, and that's coming to the rink and putting our hard hats on."

From the start Tuesday, passes missed their marks and puck-handling was a chore against Victoria's basic 1-2-2 trap.

"Instead of yelling at everyone else, people have to look in the mirror and just start worrying about themselves," O'Connor said. "Instead of getting on others, guys have to get going and take control of the game themselves."

Goals accomplished

It was also his first three-goal game in four seasons.

Crampton set another personal mark in the third period when he fought with San Diego goalie Tom Lawson. The Wranglers and Gulls usually can be counted on to stage a few bouts when they play.

"That was a first. I don't go looking for the goalies too often," Crampton said. "But he was kinda being pretty chippy all game. I skated behind him after a play, and he gave me a little stick. I stopped, and he started giving me his blocker (pad).

"I just kind of grabbed him and did whatever. It wasn't preplanned. It just kind of happened."

Loose pucks

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