RON KANTOWSKI:

Despite rumors, Wranglers still high on Las Vegas

STEPHEN R. SYLVANIE / SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Wranglers goaltender Glenn Fisher is surrounded by Aces as a loose puck is batted into the net during Game 3 of the conference finals Tuesday at the Orleans Arena.

By Ron Kantowski (contact)

Thursday, May 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.

What: Wranglers vs. Alaska Aces
When: 7:30 tonight
Where: Orleans Arena
Tickets: $15-$40.50; www.orleansarena.com

Wranglers fall into 3-0 hole

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Game 1: Las Vegas at Alaska on Saturday, May 9 (L: 2-0)
Game 2: Las Vegas at Alaska on Sunday, May 10 (L: 4-1)
Game 3: Alaska at Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 12 (L: 3-1)
Game 4: Alaska at Las Vegas on Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Alaska at Las Vegas on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 6: Las Vegas at Alaska on Tuesday, May 19 at 8:15 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 7: Las Vegas at Alaska on Wednesday, May 20 at 8:15 p.m. (if necessary)

Aces' late goal bites Wranglers (5-12-2009)
Aces continue to stymie Wranglers in playoffs (5-11-2009)
Aces blank Wranglers in series opener (5-10-2009)
Wranglers ready to defend conference title against arch rival Aces (5-8-2009)
Wranglers cruise into conference finals (5-7-2009)
Stockton slams sluggish Wranglers (5-6-2009)
Wranglers maintain dominance at home (5-5-2009)
Wranglers even series in overtime thriller (5-3-2009)
Stockton storms past Wranglers (5-1-2009)
Wranglers blast Thunder to even series (4-28-2009)
Wranglers open division finals in disappointing fashion (4-24-2009)
Wranglers dominate Condors to advance to division finals (4-23-2009)
Wranglers rally to force Game 7 (4-22-2009)
Condors rip Wranglers in overtime (4-19-2009)
Wranglers blank Condors to even series (4-18-2009)
Wranglers squander lead, fall in overtime (4-16-2009)
Condors shock Wranglers with late rally (4-12-2009)
Wranglers grab early lead in playoffs (4-11-2009)

Wranglers Fans Asked to Wear White. Wranglers Fans Asked to Bring Mac-N-Cheese.

Wranglers Fans Asked to Ignore Damaging Rumors About Team’s Future.

The first two were actual headlines on press releases leading up to the Wranglers’ ECHL playoff series against the Alaska Aces resuming at the Orleans Arena this week.

The third also might have been an actual headline, if the Wranglers issued press releases to negate the effects of damaging rumors.

Here is a sampling of what those who blog and chat on the Internet and leave messages on my voice mail have been saying while waiting for Anchorage to freeze over and for Miss California to become a free agent:

• The Wranglers will soon fold.

• The ECHL will soon fold.

• The Wranglers will be sold to a group of the team’s fans and/or retired Charlestown Chiefs defenseman Dave “Killer” Carlson, who will then move the club to some Southern state where there’s a senior citizens community in the market for a hockey team.

• The Wranglers have signed Ogie Ogilthorpe, Clarence “Screaming Buffalo” Swamptown and Andre “Poodle” Lussier, and their line will start tonight’s Game 4 as the Wranglers attempt to stave off elimination against the Aces.

Of these rumors, I like the last one best. Alas, I’m afraid it’s not true. You can’t believe everything you read, even if Dickie Dunn wrote it.

As for the other three, they’re apparently not true, either. But they are hurting advance ticket sales. And season ticket renewals for next year, according to Wranglers President Billy Johnson.

Unlike the Charlestown franchise in the movies, I do know, to paraphrase Chiefs goalie Denis Lemieux, “who hones da’ Wranglers.” Charles Davenport hones — I mean owns — the Wranglers. This is what he told me Tuesday when I asked if the team would be coming back to the Orleans Arena for a seventh season, which is a long time for minor league franchises in these parts.

“One hundred percent absolutely yes without a doubt.”

So you can renew your season tickets now, Wranglers fans. There’s no risk involved. The economy will come around, as will the team’s power play.

Here’s the story as I know it: A disgruntled former employee of the Wranglers is telling anybody who was raised in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, that the team is destined to plummet to a watery grave. Of course, if the team is sold and this person is put in charge, the Wranglers will rise from the ashes like the Phoenix RoadRunners, who have done that a couple of times.

(For now, they are back in ashes. Phoenix is one of five franchises that started this season that won’t be back, joining those in Fresno, Calif.; Augusta, Ga.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Dayton, Ohio.)

There’s been a lot of turnover in the ECHL since the league featured an all-time high of 31 teams during the 2003-04 season. By subtracting five and adding a team in Toledo, the ECHL, which stands for nothing — its words, not mine — will operate with 19 teams next year, at least as near as anybody can tell.

The ECHL’s instability is probably more responsible than the economy and a former employee’s voodoo doll for the negative vibe about the Wranglers’ future — even Davenport admits owners were too gung-ho about receiving those expansion checks from the new guys.

I will never forgive the ECHL owners for letting the Macon Whoopee capitulate. But Davenport said the league would be better off had it made the new guys do some diligence before allowing them to drop the puck or the price of a mezzanine seat. Like he did when he bought the Wranglers in 1998 — the team didn’t start taking foolish roughing penalties until 2003.

But even savvy businessmen can get caught with too many men on the ice — or nor not enough fans in the mezzanine. Davenport was the one who sold the team in Fresno that joined the ECHL’s Mothball Division in December.

As for a March report stating he would be agreeable to selling the Wranglers to the right buyer, Davenport said that always has been the case.

“That’s been true since Day One. I’m a businessman,” he said.

But Davenport said even if he sold the Wranglers to a bunch of geezers from the Northeast, to put it the way Paul Newman did in “Slapshot,” there are “plenty of legal mechanisms in place” that would keep a team in Las Vegas.

“The economy may actually be a blessing to us in weeding out the teams that shouldn’t have been here in the first place,” Davenport said.

I’d be stunned if the Wranglers become one of those sooner, if not later. Although attendance was down from an average of 4,970 last year to 4,621 in 2008-09, that’s still higher than the ECHL average of 4,258. Plus, two years remain on their lease at the Orleans.

So I’m 100-percent-absolutely-yes-without-a-doubt-sure the team will be back for the 2009-10 season.

Especially if Ogilthorpe’s line starts tonight.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By scratch

5/14/09 at 9:19 a.m.

Suggest removal

Not to mention that if the Wranglers go away then one of the great developing rivalries in the league will be lost. It seems like when the Wranglers come to town that more fans show up. I would assume the same is true when the Aces hit Vegas.
By paplikaplik

5/14/09 at 2:20 p.m.

Suggest removal

"the ECHL, which stands for nothing -- its words, not mine --"

The ECHL used to be the East Coast Hockey League, whom my Norfolk Admirals were affiliated with back in the day. Imagine my surprise when I moved to Vegas after a long stint overseas and found the local hockey team was affiliated with the ECHL.

Apparently, the league officials had to make the acronym mean nothing when they accepted West Coast teams (presumably to stay financially afloat after losing a bunch of teams earlier in the decade).
By DanaLane

5/14/09 at 11:39 p.m.

Suggest removal

First of all the rivalry between the Wranglers and the Aces is not developing, it's fully developed. In my opinion the Aces are not worth the box of macaroni I brought to the Orleans tonight. Congrats Alaska, you are now the BYU of hockey.

I have a hard time believing that one disgruntled employee is the cause of this speculation. If I knew I had that much power the, I saw Sarah Cummard in Seamless rumor, should be hitting the papers in the morning.

I will say this. The Wranglers front office has a way of staying very quiet. I thought about this as I shook hands with Lon Kruger at Red Robin tonight. I think we all can agree that the Rebels season was less than pleasing but here in Lon rallying the Las Vegas community. Never once has he seemed like he shyed away from answering tough questions and he is always reaching out to Rebel fans. The Wranglers don't seem to do that, unless your a season ticket holder. They are like the really smart kid who walks around with his head down because he is socially inept. Ok, that was me so I know.

I will say this that in this economy and the team struggling to hit the .500 for most of the year losing only 300 per game is not that bad. Please don't send me your math formulas telling me how much money lost that is, I know.

I have a hard time accepting the fact that they are having a hard time selling playoff tickets or renewing season tickets because of rumors. In that case the MGM should just call it a day because surely with all these rumors City Center will never make it. Are your people not good enough to just say "That's not true"?.

I will say this, I write this because I care about this team. I have travled to five ECHL arena's to watch my Wranglers. Any kind of talk of the Wranglers leaving is silly because you can and have made this work for six years now. I would feel betrayed if the organization quit working hard. I want this team to win and I want them to work harder in the community. You are reaching corporations but not the family of four who are border line fans. I always thought of cross promotion with UNLV would work great. Instead of competing, work together because the cross-over fans are few. So why not try to get a few people tired of seeing Mike Sanford's defense give up another 200 yards on the ground to a hockey game. Have Lon come and sign pucks at hockey games. Work as partners and you would reach each others fan base. At least you know you would be talking to people who actually will get out to a sporting event.

I love you guys and thank you for another great season. Please don't take my comments as negative because I care about you and Las Vegas and I want us all to grow.

Dana Lane
Check me out on Twitter or MySpace. I can't spell there either.