Reeling Renegades seek to end losses

For the Richmond Renegades, it's all or nothing.

After winning a Southern Professional Hockey League-record 12 straight games, the third-place Renegades have dropped five in a row and are now closer to last place than they are to second.

The last-place team in the seven-team league doesn't make the playoffs. Richmond has only 11 games left.

"You can't dwell on the past," coach Brian Goudie said. "You've got to learn from your mistakes and move forward. It's not going to get any easier. We're going into Columbus. They're struggling, too. You look at the standings . . . another bad weekend and you're in last place."

Richmond goes to Columbus tomorrow and is in Huntsville on Saturday. Columbus and Huntsville are tied for last place. The Renegades lost twice in Huntsville last weekend and are 0-8 at the Von Braun Center dating to last season.

"With the whole [winning] streak thing, I didn't think it was a streak anyway," Goudie said. "Any of those games, we could have lost or won. We happened to get that break on that night or whatever. I don't know if guys thought we were supposed to get our rings sized or what after those 12 games. I don't know if guys thought they won the championship already.

"Some guys better wake up or it's going to be a rude awakening pretty quick. We'll be looking in at the playoffs."

Goudie was fined an undisclosed amount for his ejection in the third period against Huntsville on Saturday, but there was no suspension resulting from his verbal abuse of the referee in the 4-0 loss.

"Just taking up for my team," Goudie said of his first ejection as coach.

Chrapala was happy to get playing time

After joining the Renegades in mid-January, goaltender Jay Chrapala finally got some ice time when he relieved Ryan Senft to start the third period Saturday in Huntsville. He made 14 saves but gave up a goal with 25 seconds left.

"It was awesome to get back out there," said Chrapala, who spent all of last season with the Renegades. "As an athlete and as a player, we're here to compete and that's what we love to do. Practice is fun, but nothing beats the intensity and excitement of playing in a game."

Chrapala went to Corpus Christi (Central League) for training camp but was released and went home. He also spent two weeks with South Carolina (ECHL) before winding up here.

"Richmond is a good place for me," he said. "I just wanted to play hockey somewhere. I knew what Richmond had to offer because of playing here last year, so I thought I'd give it a second go. Hopefully, I'll get another opportunity to show what I've got and get this team back on a winning track."

Allegiance to Goudie brought back Oke

Defenseman Nathan Oke could have stayed in Kalamazoo (International League) but opted to return to Richmond last week. Oke spent 2½ months with the Wings, playing in 31 games (one goal, four assists, 16 penalty minutes).

"Obviously, it was better for my hockey career up there," Oke said. "I got to play a bunch of games at the next level. I was going to stay for the whole year, but I wasn't enjoying myself as much as I was here. I play hockey for the love of the game and to win, but I want to have a bit of fun, too.

"We've got a pretty good chance of winning the whole championship here, and this was a chance to help Gouds win in his first year of coaching. He gave me a chance to play this year, and I felt like I owed him something."

Forward Brett Needham also came back from Kalamazoo, although his stay in the Michigan city lasted only three weeks. - John Packett