Stephen R. Sylvanie / Special to the Sun
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 | midnight
Bina's record-setting goal
Related stories
- Wranglers’ home ice woes continue against Utah (11/11/09)
- Wranglers and Grizzlies embark on extra-long series (11/11/09)
- Wranglers miss opportunities, suffer first road loss of season (11/8/09)
- Wranglers pull out narrow victory (11/7/09)
- Wranglers forward scores for local food bank (11/6/09)
- Bakersfield blasts Wranglers at home (11/6/09)
- Bonanza grad returns home to help defeat Wranglers (11/5/09)
- Madill completes long road to recovery (11/5/09)
- Wranglers edge Ontario, 2-1 (11/2/09)
- Wranglers rebound on the road (10/31/09)
- Grizzlies blow out Wranglers in record-setting fashion (10/30/09)
Expanded hockey coverage
When Robbie Bina skates onto the ice at the Orleans Arena, a video plays of the under-sized defenseman pretending to punch out his much taller and much heavier line mate Chris Frank.
The comical introduction is vintage Bina — an adored teammate who is as valuable on the ice as he is in the locker room.
"He's definitely a character," said Wranglers head coach and General Manager Ryan Mougenel. "He's really well liked by his teammates. He's a real easy-going kid. He plays the game from the back end the way it should be played — extremely hard."
Bina's infectiously positive attitude is due in part, though, to a horrific incident he suffered while playing for the University of North Dakota.
Late in Bina's sophomore season in 2005, a hit from behind by University of Denver freshman Geoff Paukovich sent Bina crashing into the boards head first.
The collision shattered vertebrae in Bina's neck, requiring surgery to remove one vertebra and fuse two others together while also leaving the young defenseman's career in jeopardy.
"It was hard, but everyone around me was optimistic and I remained positive," Bina said. "Things happen in hockey. It's a physical sport. I know (Paukovich) wasn't trying to hurt me, and I just thank God it didn't turn out worse."
Still in a neck brace from the surgery, Bina had to watch from the sidelines as his Fighting Sioux teammates advanced to the NCAA championship that season, eventually losing the title to Denver 4-1.
But Bina's comeback effort was just beginning.
The Grand Forks, N.D., native sat out the 2005-06 season before returning to his hometown team stronger than ever.
Bina tallied 32 points in 43 games in his first year back. He added on another 25 points during his senior season.
"It was great to be back on the ice and it was an honor to play for North Dakota and all of the great players in that program," Bina said. "Just being a hometown kid from Grand Forks, it was great to play in front of those fans. I loved every minute of it."
Bina also claimed a bit of national spotlight during his stellar season for scoring the longest goal in NCAA history off of an ice-length shot against Minnesota in 2007.
The fluke goal has attracted more than 800,000 viewers on Youtube and was the No. 1 highlight on ESPN's Sportscenter.
"Yeah every once in a while people bring that up," Bina said. "It was really just luck."
As if Bina's hockey career couldn't take any more unexpected turns, it did just that after graduation when Bina headed to the Stockton Thunder.
He split the 2008-09 season between Stockton and the AHL's Springfield Falcons, but he did so alongside Paukovich, who was also sharing time in Springfield and Stockton.
True to form, Bina embraced Paukovich with no ill will.
"I'm not the kind of guy to hold a grudge," Bina said. "It was an accident."
Despite only posting 16 points in 65 games last season, the 26-year-old Bina has helped lead the Wranglers offense this year under Mougenel, his former coach in Stockton.
Bina leads the Wranglers with eight assists through 11 games and he is tied for the team lead with nine points.
"I think the one thing he does is skate extremely well, and that helps out on both offense and defense," Mougenel said. "He's grown leaps and bounds since college and I think he definitely deserves to be at the next level if we can get his size overlooked… You would never know that he had a very serious injury, because he still plays with that kind of reckless abandon."
Bina's offensive resurgence has been greatly aided by the physical prowess of his line mate Frank.
The speedy 5-foot-8, 180-pound Bina definitely offsets the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Frank.
"I think it's a great pairing," Bina said. "Frank is able to let me run around a little bit to produce some offense. Hopefully we can keep it going."
Mougenel hopes Bina can keep his point producing play going too as the 5-6 Wranglers have scored a division-low 30 goals while allowing a conference-high 41 goals this season.
Bina is certainly up to the challenge and you can bet he'll take it on with a smile.
"I'm having a blast out here," Bina said. "I love coming to the rink everyday. I love Las Vegas and the fans here. Everything is great."
The Orleans Arena, a Boyd Gaming facility located just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of the nation’s leading mid-sized arenas, and was recently ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 5 internationally among venues of similar size by Venues Today Magazine.
The Arena hosts more than 200 events each year, including concerts by top names like Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Van Halen, Brooks & Dunn, Black Eyed Peas, Akon and Rihanna; family favorites like The Harlem Globetrotters and Circus Spectacular; and a wide variety of sporting events, including NCAA basketball tournaments, the West Coast Conference and Western Athletic Conference Basketball Championships, mixed martial arts with Superior Cage Combat, and major motorsports events.
The arena serves as home to the Las Vegas Wranglers professional ECHL hockey team, the Las Vegas Legends professional indoor soccer team, and the Lingerie Football League’s Las Vegas Sin. Stay connected to the Orleans Arena on Facebook (www.facebook.com/orleansarena) and on Twitter (@orleansarena).
Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or [email protected].
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy