Loaded Wranglers poised for another Kelly Cup run

Three seasons removed from their only appearance in the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals, the Wranglers appear poised to make another run at the title this season.

Second-year Las Vegas coach and general manager Ryan Mougenel has revamped the roster from last season's squad -- which lost to the Utah Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs -- and is excited about the Wranglers' chances to contend in what he said should be a loaded league.

"We're light years ahead of where we were last year," said Mougenel, who won the Kelly Cup as a player with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in 2003. "We have all the intangibles to win (games). (But) to win a championship, some things have to align."

Mougenel expects virtually every ECHL team to be strong this season, starting with the Victoria Salmon Kings and Alaska Aces.

"The league's gotten so much better," he said. "Victoria is loaded up this year. They have great players. But that doesn't mean they're going to be a great team.

"I love our team. I've enjoyed this group more in two weeks than I did all of last year, to be honest with you. It's just been a breath of fresh air when you have committed kids and awesome people."

Mougenel also said the Stockton Thunder and defending National Conference champion Idaho Steelheads should be solid, along with the Bakersfield Condors, who edged the Wranglers for first place in the Pacific Division last season.

Las Vegas opens its season at 7 p.m. today at Bakersfield, then hosts Victoria on Oct. 22 in the opener of a nine-game homestand at the Orleans Arena.

"We want to get off to a great start," said Mougenel, who guided the Wranglers to a 28-18-7 finish last season after a 6-12-1 start.

Armed with plenty of firepower and speed on offense and a solid defensive corps, Las Vegas will be led by two talented goalies in Joe Fallon and Michael Ouzas.

"We've got the best two No. 1 (goalies) in the league, which is an awesome problem to have," Mougenel said.

Ouzas was the Wranglers' top goalie last season and previously played alongside the 6-foot-3-inch Fallon for the now-defunct Fresno Falcons in their rookie season of 2008-09.

Fallon spent last season in the American Hockey League, going 15-10-1 with a 2.64 goals-against average for the Rockford Icehogs. He was assigned to the Wranglers on Wednesday from the AHL's San Antonio Rampage, along with forward Colin Long and defenseman Nick Ross, a former first-round NHL Draft pick.

Las Vegas features five proven point-a-game players: Jamie Bates, Ryan Huddy, Tyler Mosienko, Ned Lukacevic and Vince Bellissimo, who will start the season on the seven-day disabled list. The defensive pairings are Craig Switzer and Barry Goers, Sean McMonagle and Jamie Fritsch, and Nick Ross and Aaron Power.

"We've got a team that looks like we can definitely make a run (at the Kelly Cup)," said Bates, who had 73 points in 60 games for Stockton last season.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.