The 2003-04 Las Vegas Wranglers season was the Las Vegas Wranglers' inaugural season in the ECHL. The West Coast Hockey League had originally awarded an expansion franchise to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999 were supposed to start play in the 2000-01 WCHL season, but were unable to find a home arena until signing a deal with The Orleans Hotel and Casino to play in their new arena that they were in the process of constructing in 2003. During the 2002-03 WCHL season, the league announced that it would be folding but six of their current franchises (Anchorage, Bakersfield, Fresno, Idaho, Long Beach, and San Diego) and three of their expansion franchises (Las Vegas, Ontario, CA, and Reno) were approved for membership, with all but the Ontario and Reno franchises to take the ice during the upcoming 2003-04 ECHL season.
The Wranglers first regular season began on October 17, 2003 against the Idaho Steelheads and concluded on April 3, 2004 against the Bakersfield Condors. The Wranglers made ice hockey's return to Las Vegas on October 21, 2003, defeating Bakersfield 4–2 in front of an announced sell-out crowd at Orleans Arena. The Wranglers would finish their first season in second place in the Pacific Division, falling to the eventual Kelly Cup champion, Idaho Steelheads, three games to two, after cruising to a two games to zero lead in the series.
The Wranglers saw numerous changes to happen to the team before they took the ice for the first time. On May 29, actor Rick Schroder, filling in for team owner Charles Davenport, introduced former Fresno Falcons player-coach, Glen Gulutzan as the team's first head coach and general manager.[1] The team then changed it's logo from a red, yellow, orange, and black outline of a cowboys face to a red, black, and silver color scheme with a hockey stick carrying "Wrangler" mounted on a bull.[2] The Wranglers would unveil their home, road, and alternate uniforms a month before their season opener. The home sweater was white with a previously unreleased Wranglers logo on the chest and trimmed with black and red on the sleeves and waist. The road sweater was red with "Las Vegas" in script over the streaking Wranglers’ poker chip puck and trimmed in black on the sleeves and waist. The third jersey was black with another previously unreleased logo on the chest featuring "VEGAS" in individual circles across a red hockey stick and the Wranglers’ poker chip puck, trimmed in black with red rolling dice along the waist.[3]
The Wranglers began the regular season on October 17 visiting the Idaho Steelheads. The team's home opener was played on October 21 against the Bakersfield Condors. The Wranglers were known for their unprecedented performance at home during the first half of the season, going 15 straight games without losing in regulation, a streak that started with a 4–2 victory over Bakersfield on opening night on October 21 and lasting to December 27, when the San Diego Gulls defeated the Wranglers 1–0. The Wranglers began the season on a 9-1-2 run, before heading east on an agonizing six game road trip in which they went 0-4-2. The team concluded the regular season on April 3 with a 4–1 road victory over Bakersfield.
The Wranglers longest winning streak during the season was six games which occurred twice, from November 28 to December 19 and from March 12 to March 26 respectively. The team's longest losing streak was also six games, which ran from November 14 to November 22.
