2011–12 Las Vegas Wranglers season

Player transactions

On July 5, the Wranglers extended qualifying offers to forwards Jamie Bates, Greg Collins, Blake Gallagher, Chris Higgins, defensemen Eddie DelGrosso, Barry Goers, and Sean McMonagle, and to goaltender Michael Ouzas. Three of the players that were extended qualifying offers had already signed contracts with European clubs when the Wranglers offers had been submitted. These three were Higgins (Tingsryd), Gallagher (Strasbourg) and Ouzas (KHL Medveščak). A fourth player, McMonagle, would sign a try out agreement with Tingsryd the following day, while a fifth, Collins, would sign with German second division side SC Riessersee near the end of July.

Three former Wranglers players from the previous season, centres Colin Long and Andy Miele and defenseman Mathieu Brodeur, were invited to a prospect development camp held by Las Vegas' NHL affiliate, the Phoenix Coyotes, at Polar Ice in Peoria, Arizona. The three former Wranglers were joined by 25 other players including all seven players whom Phoenix selected in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, most notably first-round pick defenseman Connor Murphy, and former first-round picks Brandon Gormley and Mark Visentin.

Las Vegas made its first player signing of the season on July 19, when the team announced it had come to terms with centre Thomas Kiriakou, who had previously played with the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League and at the University of Guelph. A little over a week later, Mougenel would make his second signing of the season, bringing back defenseman Mike Madill, who had played with Las Vegas for three seasons from 2007–10, before spending the 2010–11 season with the Nippon Paper Cranes of the Asia League. The Wranglers would replace goaltender Michael Ouzas with Mitch O'Keefe on August 10. O'Keefe, who hade previously played in the ECHL with Elmira and Utah, moved to Las Vegas from HK Jesenice, a Slovenian side in the Austrian Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. The following day, the Wranglers would announce their fourth player signing and first extension for the upcoming season after coming to terms with defenceman Jamie Fritsch. Fritsch had appeared in 54 games for Las Vegas during the previous season, collecting three goals and seven assists, and received a call-up by the AHL's Houston Aeros with whom he appeared in 13 games. The Wranglers would add their fifth player for the upcoming season on August 16, bringing in former ECHL All-Star Judd Blackwater. Blackwater had played with the Fresno Falcons, Stockton Thunder and Alaska Aces from 2008–2010 before spending the 2010–11 season with the Allen Americans of the Central Hockey League.

Las Vegas would make a number of signings late in the month of August, first with the re-signing of rookie forward Robbie Smith, who joined the Wranglers near the end of the 2010–11 season following the completion of his collegiate career at Dartmouth College. Smith provided a goal and an assist in four regular season games with Las Vegas, as well as adding a goal in one game in the Kelly Cup playoffs. A second signing would come a week later, with the re-signing of defenseman Barry Goers, who would return for his second full professional season with the Wranglers and third stint overall after joining the team on an Amateur Try-Out (ATO) near the end of the 2009–10 season. The following day, Las Vegas announced the signing of 2008 ECHL All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, Ash Goldie. Goldie had played with the Long Beach Ice Dogs and Victoria Salmon Kings before spending the previous season with the Nippon Paper Cranes with fellow Las Vegas signing Mike Madill.

Team business

Shortly after the conclusion of the 2011 Kelly Cup playoffs, the Wranglers and team president Billy Johnson announced that they would hold a special promotion for their home opener against the Ontario Reign commemorating radio host Harold Camping's prediction that the world would end on October 21, the same night as the contest with Ontario. The promotion entitled "Rapture Night" and "The Last Hockey Game on Earth", garnered national attention.

In the beginning of August, the Wranglers unveiled a new team website aimed at improving functionality of the website, including making game schedules easier to read, and adding numerous aspects of social media integration, including adding the ability for website surfers to view videos from Wranglers TV through club's channel on YouTube, adding a Facebook plug-in and Twitter feed on the website's front page and installing a front office blog to "provide fans with an insider view of professional hockey."

After two seasons, the Wranglers and the Phoenix Coyotes ended their affiliation with each other, as Phoenix signed a new affiliation agreement for the 2011–12 season with the Gwinnett Gladiators on August 17, leaving the Wranglers searching for their third NHL affiliate in team history and second since Mougenel's tenure began in 2009. The search ended on September 23, when Mougenel announced that the Wranglers would play as an independent team (i.e., unaffiliated with any NHL/AHL teams) for the 2011–12 ECHL season.

On September 27, the Wranglers and The Orleans Hotel and Casino agreed to a three-year extension on the Wranglers' lease at the Orleans Arena, guaranteeing the team would play at Orleans Arena through the 2013–14 season.

On September 30, the Wranglers announced the hiring of their first assistant coach during Mougenel's tenure, as the club signed UNLV Rebels club ice hockey coach, Rob Pallin to become Mougenel's assistant. In five seasons as UNLV's head coach, Pallin led the team to a 75–15 record. Prior to becoming a coach, Pallin played collegiately at the University of Minnesota–Duluth and Western Michigan University and professionally in Austria and France for a season each and then eight seasons in Germany.

Preseason exhibitions

Las Vegas would announce their preseason schedule on August 4, which would include three games between October 7–9. The Wranglers would visit the expansion Colorado Eagles in the first preseason game on October 7, followed by a home and home series with the Ontario Reign on October 8 and October 9. In the preseason opener for the Wranglers, Las Vegas received a first period goal from Jeff May and two second period goals from Judd Blackwater, with Thomas Kiriakou scoring the game winner 6:51 into the third period as the Wranglers defeated Colorado 4–3. Goaltender Mitch O'Keefe would stop 32 of the 35 shots he faced and Las Vegas native Chris Francis added two assists in the win.

In the second preseason game against Ontario, the Wranglers stormed back from a two-goal deficit in the 2nd period, scoring four goals including the third of the preseason for Blackwater, in a 4–2 victory. Joe Fallon would stop 21 of the 23 shots he faced and Francis added his team-high third assist of the preseason.

Standings

After games of November 24, 2011

* – Division leader
After games on November 24, 2011

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; SOL = Shootout losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

After games on November 21, 2011

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Wranglers. Stats reflect time with the Wranglers only.
^‡No longer with Wranglers