Needham leaves for Kalamazoo

With feisty forward Brett Needham leaving yesterday for Kalamazoo, the Richmond Renegades will be two skaters short when they take the ice tomorrow night in Knoxville, Tenn., to battle the first-place Ice Bears.

"That's what we've been playing with really," said coach Brian Goudie, whose club has won a franchise-record seven in a row and climbed from last to second place in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings over the past month.

"Nine forwards and six defensemen, and that's been working. Guys are playing hard and stepping up."

Mat Goody is scheduled to become the ninth forward on Saturday, when Richmond (16-13-2) continues its road trip in Winston-Salem, N.C., against Twin City. That's when his 12-game suspension will be over and the big right winger is eligible to play again.

Needham, who is second on the squad with 101 penalty minutes, has proved he can score, too, with seven goals and 23 points in 30 games. It's possible he could be with Kalamazoo (International League) for the rest of the season, Goudie said.

Needham joins former Richmond teammate Nathan Oke, who was signed by the Wings in early December. In 22 games with Kalamazoo, Oke has one goal and four assists.

SPHL fines could keep Goody on sidelines

While Goody's suspension will be up, he still has to pay a $600 fine to the league for the Christmas night incident in Fayetteville, N.C., when he accidentally cut an off-ice official in the head with a helmet while he was in the penalty box.

Goody found out Tuesday that he also owes the Crown Center Coliseum nearly $500 in damages incurred before and during the time he left the ice for the locker room.

"I've been budgeting for that [fine]," said Goody, who was suspended without pay but had a part-time job while he practiced. "I'm making very little. Just barely scatching by. I don't know what I'm going to do. If I can't afford it, then I can't play. I don't have $1,100 kicking around. It's unfortunate."

League adds more games for next season

The SPHL held its winter meetings in Winston-Salem, N.C., 10 days ago, and the owners voted to increase the number of games from 52 this season to 60 in 2008-09. The regular season will still be played in 22 weeks, and each team will have 30 home and away games.

Although the league didn't say anything about expansion, it appears that's what it had in mind by adding more games. An ownership group in Roanoke apparently has expressed interest in joining the seven-team SPHL as soon as next season. There hasn't been hockey in Roanoke since the Roanoke Valley Vipers (United League) ceased operations after the 2005-06 season.

The league also announced that the Commissioner's Cup, which is awarded to the regular-season champion, will be renamed the William B. Coffey trophy to honor the SPHL's director of hockey operations

--John Packett