In 1995-1996, the 'Gades repeated as East Division champs and also captured the Brabham Cup, symbolic of the regular season championship, as they set a league record for most points earned in a season (105) with a record of 46-11-13. Goaltender Grant Sjerven led the league with a GAA of 2.65, and coach Roy Sommer received ECHL Coach of the Year honors.

Maxime Gingras was named ECHL Rookie of the Year *and* ECHL Goaltender of the Year for 1999, the first goaltender and first Renegade to ever win rookie of the year, and of course, the first goalie to win both awards! Max set league records for GAA (2.26) and shutouts (7) this season. WAY TO GO, MAGIC MAX! Max was featured on the cover of the April 1999 issue of Just Hockey.*

The Northern Division Conference Champion Renegades made it to the 1999 Kelly Cup finals before falling in 2OT in Game Seven Against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. 

On April 1, 2003, the Renegades announced they would not field a team for the 2003-04 season, and on April 8, 2003, the ECHL's board of governors announced that it granted the franchise a one-year voluntary suspension.  Ownership hopes to field a team at a proposed arena in Chesterfield County in 2005-06.  

What's the deal with all the Zambonis? I always thought they were pretty cool - and that it would be neat to drive one. The Gear Daddies must have thought so, too, because they wrote a song about it ("I want to drive the Zamboni..."). Visit the official Zamboni web site for more information on Frank Zamboni's ice resurfacing machines. 

So what's MY connection to the Renegades? As a former resident of the D.C. area who grew up on the Washington Capitals, I was hockey-starved in Richmond until the Renegades came to town in 1990. My husband and I became engaged during the Gades' 1994-95 season ;-) and had season tickets for the next few years. 

I started writing informal game summaries for Internet e-mail lists in the 1996-97 season, which led to covering the 'Gades for In the Crease and Just Hockey in the 1998-99 season.  I stopped writing for ITC in 2002-03, but continued to cover the 'Gades for JH with articles and photos until the bitter end.  I also became the official team photographer in December 2002, and served in that capacity until the final game.  But until the end, I remained most of all a Renegades fan.  

I started a fan site for the 'Gades back in 1997 or 1998, and although it was never as up to date or as pretty as I would have liked, it's always been there.  After the 'Gades suspended operations, I finally decided to work on the site a bit more, and GadesFan.com finally got its own domain name and a bit of sprucing up.  It is still a work in progress and probably always will be.  If you have any comments, suggestions, or corrections, or (even better) you want to contribute something, please let me know.  And please bookmark the site and visit again -- knowing other folks are peeking over my shoulder helps motivate me to work on the site.  :-)

* In the sake of full disclosure, that April 1999 article about Maxime Gingras published in Just Hockey was written by me, and the cover photo was taken by Bill Vaughan of Bill Vaughan Photography.

Disclaimer: These pages are in no way affiliated with the Richmond Renegades,  the East Coast Hockey League/ECHL, the PHPA, any professional hockey player, anyone or any organization other than myself. All team names and logos are property of the respective teams and leagues. This site is intended for informational and entertainment use only, and not meant to compete with the official Renegades site. This site copyright 1997-2003 by Patricia C. Anderson.