Neiszner, Wranglers skate toward sixth season

By Rob Miech

Friday, Oct. 17, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The rabbit wasn’t so bad. No way would he try horse. Just a whiff of the duck liver made Chris Neiszner wince in France.

“That’s a big thing during Christmas there,” he said. “That didn’t go over so well. That was the worst. I smelled it. That’s as far as I could go.”

Neiszner, 24, got a taste of foreign hockey last season in Ligue Magnus, the top hockey league in France, for Morzine-Avoriaz.

Tucked in the French alps in Morzine, not far from Geneva, Neiszner accepted challenges from teammates who dared him to eat unusual meats and ski black-diamond runs at resorts.

He tried the rabbit and tried to keep up with fellow Pingouins as they zipped down those steep slopes.

But Morzine only played once, sometimes twice, a week. Down time was frequent. The language wasn’t a problem, since English is so universal. The team even flew Neiszner’s longtime girlfriend in for a long visit.

Still, he longed for Las Vegas.

That’s why the 5-foot-11, 195-pound center will be wearing his familiar No. 22 Wranglers uniform tonight when Las Vegas opens its sixth season in Alaska against the Aces.

He played for Las Vegas for two seasons before testing the French ice.

“It was a great experience,” Neiszner said. “I enjoyed every part of it. But I’m really excited and happy to be back, to be around these guys and the organization.

“I did a lot of thinking there around Christmastime. I wanted to know the people behind the scenes, the teams and the system. To me, it was a no-brainer to come back here.”

Neiszner has scored 27 goals and collected 32 assists for the Wranglers. For Morzine, he had 11 goals and 12 assists in 26 regular-season games.

The team lost in the second round of the playoffs to Ducs d’Angers, which earned two of its three victories in shootouts.

Neiszner tallied a hat trick in a European Cup game and notched an overtime game winner in the league play.

“The top teams in the league were exceptional,” Neiszner said. “A few were at the low end. In France, there wasn’t any parity.”

As he skated in France, the Wranglers for the first time advanced to the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals, where they lost to Cincinnati in six games.

“Winning creates opportunity,” Neiszner said. “Every team at the next level is looking for guys who win and know how to work, who come to the rink every day with the mindset to work. That creates your identity.”

Stacey Low, his longtime girlfriend who lives in Saskatchewan, visited for a month over the holidays. They escaped to Paris for five days and marveled at the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

“We jetted to the Mona Lisa,” Neiszner said, “so we could say we’ve seen it.”

They took a train 45 minutes east of Paris. Neiszner had always wanted to visit Disneyland or Disney World.

“I never expected that the first time I went it would be Euro Disney,” he said.

Wranglers coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan logged a season of Division One hockey in Finland and has talked about how lucrative it can be to play in Europe.

Neiszner, however, said a season in France wasn’t about a cash grab.

“It’s up and down, as far as salary,” he said. “There are bonuses, but it wasn’t about the money. I went over there for an opportunity to see what would happen.

“It just made me realize that this is where I want to be, anyway. I don’t think there are many guys who play just for the money.”

Neiszner is relishing playing for Gulutzan again.

“You buy into a system,” Neiszner said. “You play the system, and the system wins. That’s what I’m about. I’m a team guy. That’s the biggest thing I learned here. This structure fits me better.”

He was rewarded during the Wranglers’ lone preseason game at the Orleans Arena. During an intermission interview on the big screen, fans screamed his name to welcome him back to Las Vegas.

“It sends chills through your body,” Neiszner said. “I’m looking forward to this season as much as I have the last few years in hockey. Hopefully, we start well and things snowball.”