Wranglers center Long inspired by Great One

Born and raised in Southern California, Wranglers center Colin Long is an avid surfer.

But his first love was hockey, largely because of Wayne Gretzky, who inspired Long and countless other California kids to take up the game when the Great One played for the Los Angeles Kings from 1988 to 1996.

"I remember being in our old house, in the living room, with a little hockey stick and just watching him (on TV), and I just kind of fell in love with the game," said Long, 21, a Santa Ana native who was 6 during Gretzky's eighth and final season with the Kings.

A 2008 fourth-round NHL draftee by the Phoenix Coyotes, Long is one of a plethora of players from California to be drafted in recent years.

"Before Gretzky, there wasn't much going on (in youth hockey in California), but now you're seeing kids drafted into the NHL pretty much every year," he said. "I owe him a lot, for sure."

Despite developing into an elite player -- Long is one of Las Vegas' leading scorers, with 37 points in 50 games -- he still gets ribbed for being a surfer dude in a game long dominated by players from cold climates.

"He hears it from me every day, 'What, you ride your skateboard to the rink today?' " said Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel, a Canadian. "He's California. He's laid back. But it works for him.

"He's a real cerebral player. He's extremely bright."

A second-year pro, the 5-foot-11-inch, 186-pound Long had his rookie season with San Antonio of the American Hockey League cut short after 29 games (four points) by a concussion he said affected him for about eight months.

"Even all the way into the summer, I still wasn't feeling well," Long said. "Missing that time was pretty tough, so it's been good for me to come down here and play a lot."

Long missed 17 games for the Wranglers early this season with concussion-like symptoms but is fully recovered.

"Right now, I feel the best I have all season," said Long, who is playing some of his best hockey entering the ECHL playoffs, which the Wranglers (38-29-5, 81 points) open Tuesday at home against the Idaho Steelheads (32-27-13, 77).

Long, who didn't score in Saturday's regular season-ending 4-3 loss to Stockton at Orleans Arena, scored both Los Vegas goals in Wednesday's 2-1 road victory over the Thunder, netting the winner in dramatic fashion with 11 seconds to play in regulation.

"He was unbelievable, the best I've ever seen him play, by far," Mougenel said. "He was, by far, the best player on the ice.

"When he's healthy, he can be an absolutely dominant player at this level."

Before turning pro, Long played four seasons for Kelowna (British Columbia) of the Western Hockey League, compiling 191 points in his final two seasons.

Determined to get drafted, he lifted his point total from 28 in his second season to 100 in his third.

"I just started to take the game more seriously," he said. "I had a big summer and got a lot stronger and came in the next year more motivated to get drafted. And that's what happened."

For Long to ascend back to the AHL and beyond, Mougenel said he needs to commit this summer to becoming quicker and stronger.

"(If) he has a huge summer, he's playing on San Antonio's second line next year and pushing for a job in the NHL," he said. "But he's got to get quicker."

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