Wranglers hold successful ‘Gearage sale’

By Steve Silver

Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 | 6:31 p.m.

The Las Vegas Wranglers opened up their locker room to give fans a chance to suit up just like a professional hockey player in the team’s first ever “Gearage sale” Thursday evening.

Fans lined the hallways of the Orleans Arena waiting to peruse new and used surplus equipment for sale including skates, sticks, pants, helmets and jerseys.

“We’ve never done this before and the credit goes to our vice president Michael Delay who saw that some big league teams were doing it and decided to try it,” said Wranglers president Billy Johnson. “This is a really cool event for our fans and for hockey players in the area.”

Fans cleared out the majority of the equipment on sale within the first hour of the event, capitalizing on deals such as new hockey pants for $35 and new sticks for $20.

Wranglers defenseman Mike Madill even showed up to check out the sale.

“It’s a great turnout,” Madill said. “They might be last year’s models, but a $20 stick is unbelievable. If my brother were here, he’d be buying like 25 of them… It’s fun to see everyone. I’ve been here two years, so I’ve gotten to know a lot of the fans and it’s nice to interact with them here.”

With their old equipment now out of the way, the Wranglers can start gearing up for their first season under coach Ryan Mougenel and first year with the Phoenix Coyotes organization.

Opening night is nearly two months away as the Wranglers host the Utah Grizzlies at 7:05 p.m. on Oct. 16. at the Orleans Arena.