Aces shutter Wranglers’ season with convincing sweep

By Steve Silver

Friday, May 15, 2009 | 1 a.m.

Cue the broom waiving Anchorage.

The Alaska Aces brought the Las Vegas Wranglers' season to a screeching halt with a voracious sweep of the National Conference finals Thursday night.

Alaska dominated an uninspired Las Vegas squad from the opening draw as the Aces cruised to a 5-1 victory in front of 3,723 fans at the Orleans Arena.

The Aces, who will face either South Carolina or Cincinnati in the Kelly Cup finals, are the first team ever to sweep the Wranglers, which is a good omen for Alaska since every team the Wranglers have lost to in the playoffs has gone on to capture the Kelly Cup.

"I have to take some of the blame here," said Las Vegas coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan. "I don't think we were as prepared as I thought. My approach to preparing them obviously wasn't good enough, because in the first period we really weren't ready to play."

The Wranglers struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the first period as they registered just six shots to the Aces' 16.

In what would eventually serve as the best illustrator of the night's fate, the Aces notched their first goal off an ill-advised turnover by Wranglers goalie Glenn Fisher that led to an easy score by Lance Galbraith with 4:59 remaining in the first period.

Alaska forward Matt Stefanishion extended that lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later with a monstrous slap shot from the left circle first the first of three Aces power play goals.

"You're down 3-0 in the series already and you get down 2-0 in the first and outplayed and it plays a real mental havoc with you," Gulutzan said. "We should have been better prepared."

Following the first intermission, the Aces shattered the Wranglers' spirits just 35 seconds in the second period as Colin Hemingway buried a feed from behind the net for the 3-0 advantage.

The Aces continued to ramp up the assault thanks to a power play goal by Luke Erickson at the 11:10 mark to sink the Wranglers into a 4-0 hole.

"We just didn't have the jump," Scott McCulloch said. "The other three times we were facing elimination we put up a great fight and got wins, but I can't put a finger on it tonight. It's always tough when you come out flat."

Even when Mike Hamilton managed to put the Wranglers on the scoreboard early in the third period with a shorthanded goal, the Aces answered right back two minutes later with an Alexandre Imbeault power play goal to seal the 5-1 victory and end the Wranglers' season.

"I think everyone would have liked to have a little more out there," Tyler Mosienko said. "It just seemed like whenever we got the puck they were right on top of us and we didn't have anywhere to go."

Alaska outscored the Wranglers 14-3 in the series as Aces goalie J.P. Lamoureux improved to 12-2 in the postseason with 25 saves.

"Lamoureux played great," McCulloch said. "You do have to give him credit. He made the stops he had to. I don't think we got to the net as well as we should have to create the traffic to get those dirty goals you need in the playoffs."

Stars of the game: 1. Colin Hemingway (1 goal, 1 assist); 2. J. P. Lamoureux (25 saves); 3. Alexandre Imbeault (1 goal, 2 assists)

Powerless play: The Wranglers' once potent power play failed once again Thursday with an 0-for-4 effort. Las Vegas did not score a single goal in 22 power play chances this series.

"I don't know what I'd change," Gulutzan said about his squad's maligned power play unit. "I spent more time trying to figure that out and prepare for this (penalty kill) than I did for any series prior. This felt like the more I did the less happened. I don't know what I would have done differently. Maybe I should have just done nothing."

Mosienko moving on: Gulutzan said he expects six or seven current Wranglers to return next season, but one player he knows will be moving up is Tyler Mosienko.

In 228 total games with the Wranglers, Mosienko has recorded 74 goals and 120 assists. The 25-year-old Manitoba native posted 48 points in 50 regular season games and six points in 12 playoff games this year.

"I really liked it here," Mosienko said. "(Gulutzan) is an awesome coach. We had a great group of guys every year. I really enjoyed my three years here. It was a great place to develop and play hockey. Looking back we won a lot of hockey games and we did a lot of good things. We moved forward as an organization and that's something you always want to do as a young guy at the start of your career."

Mosienko also made two stops in the American Hockey League this season with stints in Rockford and Manchester. He notched 15 points in 24 AHL games this season.

One scary rookie: Early in the third period J.D. Watt went on a rampage that led to his ejection from the game and 24 penalty minutes.

In the ensuing scrum, the newest Wrangler, 22-year-old McCulloch, tried to square off against Stefanishion. Stefanishion immediately dropped to the ice and covered his head in fear.

Stefanishion is 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, while McCulloch is 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, but then again, McCulloch was rocking one mean playoff beard.

"I've heard he's done that before," McCulloch said. "But if he doesn't want to fight, he doesn't want to fight. So I can't say anything about that. It's his choice. He's a big guy, so you'd think he want to. He's an agitator and as you can tell he does a good job of it, because he frustrates a lot of guys out there."

Power 'stache: Props go out to Alaska forward Colin Hemingway for growing one masterful mustache. It's not as good as Lanny McDonald's, but it is well on its way.

Beaudoin watch: Matt Beaudoin and the Houston Aeros prevailed 4-2 over the Milwaukee Admirals in game 7 of the AHL's West Division finals on Wednesday. The Aeros will now face the Manitoba Moose in the Western Conference finals of the Calder Cup playoffs.

American Conference update: The South Carolina Stingrays have a chance to eliminate the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones on Friday night. South Carolina leads the American Conference finals 3-0. A South Carolina vs. Alaska championship is going to log some serious frequent flyer miles.

Final word: "The whole time we knew that if we made playoffs we'd give it a good run," Mosienko said. "We are in the final four. It's disappointing, but we did pretty good. We obviously fell eight wins short of where we wanted to be though and nobody is satisfied with that."