Stephen R. Sylvanie / Special to the Las Vegas Sun
Friday, May 15, 2009 | 11 p.m.
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Expanded hockey coverage
As the Alaska Aces triumphantly claimed the Bruce Taylor Trophy at the Orleans Arena Thursday night, the Las Vegas Wranglers silently cleaned out their lockers and shaved their playoff beards.
The magic that had lifted a 34-31-8 Wranglers squad to the National Conference finals with two Game 7 triumphs was nowhere to be found. In 60 minutes, the Wranglers' season folded against the smoking Aces, 5-1.
But while the sting of suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of an arch-rival such as Alaska will certainly linger throughout the off season, it is hard not to view this season through rosy lenses.
"To assess the season, it's a success," said Las Vegas coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan. "To have 76 points, win our division and play 18 playoff games is what some people would consider a success. Although for this organization our sights are always set higher. For this team and maybe the job I did, yeah it is a success. Is the bar higher for us? Yeah, it is. So in that regard it's a success."
Unlike Gulutzan's last three teams, which all gained more than 105 points in the regular season, this year's squad barely cracked the 70-point mark in a truly roller coaster season.
As the Wranglers struggled to break the .500 mark, the team went through some of the highest peaks and lowest valleys. From Jan. 25 to Feb. 11 the Wranglers won 10 of 11 games, including eight in a row.
Yet a 10-game losing streak promptly followed that effort, spanning from Feb. 14 to March 1.
At one point more than a dozen Wranglers received call-ups to the American Hockey League. But at the same time, injuries left the Wranglers' bench more barren than Death Valley for some games.
The Wranglers used seven goalies and 47 different skaters this season.
"This has been a really grinding season," Gulutzan said. "… A lot of transaction moves, never a day where I wasn't thinking about making the playoffs or what the roster was going to be. So it was a lot of work to get us to this point. It's not frustrating, but certainly the most challenging season I've had here."
That challenge ultimately paid off, though, as the Wranglers advanced to the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.
Despite finishing fifth in the National Conference, Las Vegas pulled out Game 7s against Stockton and Bakersfield to advance to the conference finals.
"It's always disappointing to get swept to end a season, but I really enjoyed my time here and I'm glad I got an opportunity to play for such a great franchise," said rookie forward Scott McCulloch, who joined the team on March 21 and racked up 19 points in 26 games.
McCulloch might be one of just six or seven players returning next year, as the identity of the team will change drastically.
Tyler Mosienko and Dan Spang will most likely head to the AHL. Veterans like Shawn Limpright. Chris Ferraro and Peter Ferraro might decide to hang up the skates.
No matter what names are on the roster, the Wranglers will still have the same goal –- win a Kelly Cup.
"As far as the people outside, they might look at this season as a success, but this group in here, we knew from the beginning that we had a good team," said Chris Neiszner, who played in a team-high 88 games this season. "Put everything together and we knew we could roll. I don't think we are satisfied with just getting here, because we think we could have had a better result in this round. So I don't think anyone is satisfied."
The Orleans Arena, a Boyd Gaming facility located just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of the nation’s leading mid-sized arenas, and was recently ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 5 internationally among venues of similar size by Venues Today Magazine.
The Arena hosts more than 200 events each year, including concerts by top names like Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Van Halen, Brooks & Dunn, Black Eyed Peas, Akon and Rihanna; family favorites like The Harlem Globetrotters and Circus Spectacular; and a wide variety of sporting events, including NCAA basketball tournaments, the West Coast Conference and Western Athletic Conference Basketball Championships, mixed martial arts with Superior Cage Combat, and major motorsports events.
The arena serves as home to the Las Vegas Wranglers professional ECHL hockey team, the Las Vegas Legends professional indoor soccer team, and the Lingerie Football League’s Las Vegas Sin. Stay connected to the Orleans Arena on Facebook (www.facebook.com/orleansarena) and on Twitter (@orleansarena).
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