2007–08 Las Vegas Wranglers season

IcehockeyTeamSeason
Season= 2007-08
Team= Las Vegas Wranglers
League= ECHL
LeagueRank= 3rd
Conference= National
ConferenceRank= 1st
Division= Pacific
DivisionRank= 1st
Record= 47-13-12
HomeRecord= 24–6–6
RoadRecord= 23–7–6
GoalsFor= 244
GoalsAgainst= 179
GeneralManager= Glen Gulutzan
Coach= Glen Gulutzan
Captain= Peter Ferraro
AltCaptain= Chris Ferraro
Arena= Orleans Arena
Attendance= 4,970 (63.9%)
GoalsLeader= Peter Ferraro (36)
AssistsLeader= Chris Ferraro (39)
PointsLeader= Peter Ferraro (73)
PlusMinusLeader= Jason Krischuk (+29)
PIMLeader= Ryan Donally (176)
WinsLeader= Daniel Manzato (24)
GAALeader= Kevin Lalande (2.05)
Championship=
ConferenceWin=Yes
DivisionWin=Yes

The 2007-08 Las Vegas Wranglers season is the Las Vegas Wranglers fifth season in the ECHL. The regular season began on October 19, 2007 against the Fresno Falcons and concluded on April 5, 2008 against the Phoenix Roadrunners. The Wranglers looked to improve upon the progress that they had made in the 2006-07 season in which they won their first ever division crown and were awarded the Brabham Cup, as the ECHL's regular season champions, before being eliminated in the National Conference Semifinals by the eventual Kelly Cup champions, the Idaho Steelheads. During the season the Wranglers wore a special 5-year anniversary patch to recognize the team's 5 seasons in the ECHL.

During the regular season, the Wranglers finished first in the National Conference for the second straight year and third overall in the ECHL. With a 12-3 record, the team eliminated the Stockton Thunder, the Alaska Aces, and the Utah Grizzlies, on their way to the 2008 Kelly Cup Finals, the franchise's first in its five year history. The team was defeated in the Kelly Cup Finals by the Cincinnati Cyclones in six games.

Pre-season

On October 16, 2007, three days before the Wranglers began their fifth season, the club unveiled new uniforms. The new black and white jerseys featured a new crest with a poker chip logo on the front. The outer circle of the crest reads “Las Vegas Wranglers”, while the middle of the crest leaves room for the player’s individual jersey number. The sleeves sport the poker chip hockey puck logo, while the front features the Wranglers five-year anniversary logo. [cite web | last = Fisher | first = Josh | title = Wranglers Unveil New Uniforms | publisher = Las Vegas Wranglers | date = October 16, 2007 | url = http://www.lasvegaswranglers.com/wranglers.aspx?pid=106&pressid=397| accessdatee = April 26, 2008]

Regular season

The Wranglers began the regular season on October 19 visiting the Fresno Falcons. The team played their home-opener against the Stockton Thunder on October 21. The Wranglers started off the season on a 15-2-0 run, including an 11-game winning streak from November 03 to November 30, proving to be their longest winning streak of the season. The Wranglers longest losing streak of the season was a 5-game slump from February 22 to February 29. The team concluded the season on April 05 with a 4 – 3 home victory over the Phoenix Roadrunners.

Season results

The Wranglers clinched their second straight Pacific Division crown and National Conference regular season championship on March 26 with a 3 – 2 overtime victory on the road against the Utah Grizzlies. The win also made the Wranglers the first team in ECHL history to have three consecutive seasons with at least 100 points. [cite web | last = Fisher | first = Josh | title = Wranglers Clinch National Conference | publisher = Las Vegas Wranglers | date = March 26, 2008 | url = http://www.lasvegaswranglers.com/wranglers.aspx?pid=106&pressid=450| accessdatee = April 27, 2008]

During the regular season and playoffs numerous Wranglers records were broken. During the regular season, Peter Ferraro set a new record for most goals in a season at 36, Shawn Limpright became the the Wranglers career leader in Assists (92), Points (131), and Penalty Minutes (479), and although he only played in two games during the year, Mike McBain extended his franchise records in Most Years(5) and Most Games Played (258) with the Wranglers before retiring from professional ice hockey. The career playoff records that were broken included Games Played (Marco Peluso - 34), Goals (Tyler Mosienko - 13), Points (Tyler Mosienko - 29), Penalty Minutes (Shawn Limpright - 54), Goaltender Games Played (Kevin Lalande - 20), Goaltender Wings (Kevin Lalande - 13), and Shutouts (Kevin Lalande - 3), as well as Marco Peluso and Tyler Mosienko tying Derek Edwardson's record of most career playoff assists with 16.

The Wranglers earned the #1 seed in the National Conference for the second straight season. The Wranglers faced off against their division rival, #8 seed Stockton Thunder in the National Conference Quarterfinals. Stockton surprised Las Vegas by taking game one but the Wranglers won the next three, including two in overtime, and closed out the Thunder in six games. The Wranglers next opponent was the #5 seed Alaska Aces, who ended the Wranglers season in the 2006 West Division Finals in six games in their last playoff meeting. The Wranglers dominated their bitter rivals in game one with an 8–0 victory and continued to dominate the series winning in five games. The Wranglers next opponent was the cinderella team, #6 seed Utah Grizzlies. The Wranglers came in after dominating the Grizzlies in the regular season winning 10 of the 11 meetings between the two teams. The Wranglers continued to dominate the Grizzlies, sweeping them in four games and winning their first National Conference playoff championship and their first birth in the Kelly Cup Finals. The Wranglers would have a tough challenge for themselves in the National "AA" ice hockey finals as they took on the Brabham Cup champion, Cincinnati Cyclones. The #1 North Division seed Cyclones had just come off of four games to one win over the South Carolina Stingrays in the American Conference Finals. The two teams traded wins, until the Cyclones finally broke the the trend and became the first team to win back-to-back games in the series, closing out the Wranglers in six games.

Standings

Division standings

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colspan=11
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Playoffs

* Green background indicates win,
* Red indicates loss.

Goaltenders

"Note: GP = Games Played; GS = Games Started; MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SA = Shots Against; SV = Saves; SV% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts"

Regular Season

"Note: Jason Dest was added to the All-Star Game, as a replacement following Tyson Strachan's AHL call-up to Peoria."

Transactions

Free agents

Trades

Reference

See Also

* 2007-08 ECHL season

External links

* [http://www.lasvegaswranglers.com Las Vegas Wranglers official site]
* [http://www.lasvegaswranglers.com/wranglers.aspx?pid=158 Regular season and Playoff statistics]
* [http://www.lasvegaswranglers.com/wranglers.aspx?pid=111 Season schedule and results]