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Richmond Renegades History
(unofficial)
[1992-1993][1993-1994][1994-1995][1995-1996][1990-1991][1991-1992][1996-1997]
[1997-1998] [1998-1999]
[1999-2000] [2000-01] [2001-02]
[2002-03]
 The Renegades began play in the 1990-1991
season, the third year of the ECHL's existence. The team was owned by
local businessman Allan Harvie. The nickname "Renegades" came
from a "name the team" contest, and a little girl won it after a
tie-breaking draw. The team's colors were orange and black (perhaps in
deference to the Richmond Robins of the 1970s, an AHL farm team for the
Philadelphia Flyers), and the logo was a black "R" with an orange
upside down hockey stick forming the inside of the letter. Head coach
Chris McSorley was fired nine games before the end of the season to be replaced
by Dave Allison, former coach of the Virginia Lancers. If either name
sounds familiar, here are some possible reasons: McSorley later coached the
IHL's Las Vegas Thunder and late served as the commissioner of Pro Beach Hockey.
Dave Allison coached the P.E.I. Islanders and (disastrously) the Ottawa
Senators. The team barely had a .500 record (29-29-6), yet made the
playoffs, only to lose in the quarterfinals to the Hampton Roads Admirals, three
games to one. Josh Lewyn was the team's radio announcer for the majority
of the season. [Top]
Dave Allison returned as head coach for the 1991-1992 season, and the
team's record improved slightly, to 30-27-7. In the playoffs, the
Renegades defeated the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds in the first round, but fell
again to the Admirals in the quarterfinals. Brian "Hambone"
Hamilton was the team's new play by play radio announcer, a position he would
hold through the end of the 1994-95 season. [Top]
The Renegades got another new head coach for the 1992-1993 season: Roy
Sommer, former coach of the Roanoke Valley Rampage. Once again, the team's
record improved slightly to 34-28-2. The team made the wildcard game of
the playoffs but lost to the Johnstown Chiefs. [Top]
1993-1994 didn't bring a new head coach but new ownership. A Denver
businessman bought the team from Harvie. Although he didn't switch
coaches, he needed to change the old team logo and colors needed updating.
Rumor has it that he let his kids pick the colors (purple and teal), and the new
logo had a purple bar containing "Richmond" over
the word "Renegades" in teal, with a puck running under that.
The new jerseys featured a thunderbolt sewn into the front of the jersey.
The base of the jerseys was white (home) or black (road), and had silver trim in
addition to the purple and teal. The team had an affiliation with the New
York Islanders, but the only Isles prospect was goalie Milan Hnilicka (18-16-5).
Other key players that season were goalie Jon Gustavson and forwards Darren
Colbourne, Guy Phillips, Brendan Flynn and Richmond-born John Craighead,
acquired in a late season trade. A new mascot, The Wild Gade, who wore
ripped jeans and acted generally like a lunatic, was "hatched" midway
through the season. The team lost the last game of the season. If
they had won, they would have made the playoffs. It was a rough day for
hockey in Richmond, especially hard because the Renegades' record of 34-29-5 was
better than several teams' (in other divisions) that DID make the playoffs that
season. But things only got worse when the owner decided to sell the team,
possibly even to move it out of town! Salvation came in the form of an
ownership/management group led by investment banker Harry Feuerstein and former
Washington Capital/color broadcaster Craig Laughlin. [Top]
So 1994-1995 again brought many changes. The majority of the front
office turned over, with two notable exceptions: Assistant GM Belinda Wiggins
(who not only was with the Renegades from the very beginning as an intern, but
would later become COO) and Brian Hamilton. A full-time director of player
personnel (Chuck Imburgia) was added to the payroll, and the team signed some
very talented players, including many quality rookies freshly graduated from
college, with the emphasis on finesse players, not goons. But the biggest
acquisition was player/assistant coach Scott Gruhl, the IHL's all-time scoring
leader. Scott not only added a scoring touch, but leadership. The
team also created a new affiliation with the Hartford Whalers, and the
kid-friendly Gade became the team's official mascot, with the toned-down Wild
Gade relegated to unofficial status. Former owner Allan Harvie opened the
Ice Palace, a new public year-round ice skating rink, finally giving the
Renegades a permanent place to practice. The team began the season with an
amazing record of 13-0-3, just one win shy of the minor league record for best
start to a season. The team finished the season at 41-20-7, and thanks to
the Roanoke Express' loss in the last regular season game, won the Eastern
Division Championship. But the Renegades chose to really shine in the
playoffs, defeating the Columbus Chill (3-0), the Roanoke Express (3-1), the
Tallahassee Tiger Sharks (3-2), and the Greensboro Monarchs (4-1) to win the
Riley Cup. Blaine Moore won league MVP of the playoffs (17 G, 17A in 17
games), but G David Littman (GAA 2.33 in 16 playoff games) was considered by
many to be the key to the team's victorious playoff run. Feuerstein and
Laughlin were recognized as ECHL's executives of the year for their turnaround
of the team. [Top]
Expectations were high for the 1995-1996 Renegades, and they did not
disappoint during the regular season, going 46-11-13 (an ECHL record), capturing
not only the Eastern Division banner, but also the Brabham Cup, for the most
wins during the regular season. Goalie Grant Sjerven set a league best
with a GAA of 2.65, while Trevor Senn set a dubious team record of the most PIMs
in a season (507). Brian Hamilton moved up to the Baltimore Bandits (after
just one year there, Brian again moved up to do play by play for the NHL's Might
Ducks of Ahaheim). Andy Davis was recruited away from the Knoxville to
ably fill Brian's shoes. Unfortunately, despite the team's success during
the regular season, rumors of discontent abounded, and the team couldn't repeat
their prior playoff success, perhaps in part due to the "Brabham Cup
curse". Although they swept the Hampton Roads Admirals (a nice bit of
revenge) in the first round, they fell to the Jacksonville Lizard Kings (3-1) in
the second round. Coach Sommer was named ECHL Coach of the Year. In
fact, he was tapped by the NHL's San Jose Sharks late in the summer for an
assistant coach position with their organization. No problem, said
management. [Top]
Scott Gruhl moved to head
coach to assume control for the 1996-1997 season, and Rod
Langway, former Washington Capital who had joined the Renegades late in the
1994-1995 season, was named assistant coach. The team started off on a hot
streak and were at or near first place in the league through the first part of
the season. Unfortunately, the Renegades began a slump in January
(precipitated by the loss of C Mike Taylor to the Chicago Wolves, and made worse
by a transformer fire at the Richmond Coliseum that eliminated home games for
one month). The team finished the season in third place in the East
Division with a record of 41-25-4 (the first time in team history that the
record did not improve over the prior season's). Andy Davis left to work
for the slot with the Baltimore Bandits (vacated by Brian Hamilton), and he was
replaced by Kris Cooke. Kris had a great set of pipes but no experience,
which led to his firing early in the season. He was eventually replaced by
Pete Michaud, former Admirals' broadcaster. The team beat Dayton three
games to one in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated in the
second round of the 1997 ECHL playoffs by the streaking Pensacola Ice Pilots.
Coach Langway did such a great job with coaching the mostly rookie defense that
he moved up to the AHL's Providence
Bruins as an assistant coach for the '97-98 season, and even played some
games towards the end of the season (unfortunately, the team was terrible and
both Langway and head coach Tom McVie were fired after the season). [Top]
For 1997-1998, the ECHL reorganized into two conferences and four
divisions. The Renegades, along with arch-rivals Hampton Roads Admirals,
the Roanoke Express, the expansion Chesapeake Icebreakers, the Johnstown Chiefs,
and the Wheeling Nailers made up the new Northeast division. Coach Gruhl
and former player/assistant coach Scott Burfoot returned to lead the team. (Renegades'
1997-1998 Schedule) Since the Baltimore Bandits folded, Andy Davis returned
as the voice of the Renegades. The Renegades continued their affiliation
with the old Hartford Whalers organization, now the Carolina Hurricanes.
The 'Gades began the season using the firepower of Burfoot, Captain Andrew
Shier, new player/assistant coach Brendan Flynn (the Renegades all-time leading
scorer), and David Dartsch. The young defense was led by Craig Paterson and
Shayne Tomlinson. Our defense was backstopped by Carolina Hurricanes property
Tripp Tracy and former Stingray Taras Lendzyk. Some big acquisitions during the
'97-98 season included Jay Moser, Kevin Knopp, and Dan Fournel, all from a
blockbuster trade with South Carolina; Peter Vandermeer, who was acquired from
Columbus for Jay McNeill; Sal Manganaro and Daryl Lavoie from Dayton; Etienne
Beaudry and Brandon Gray from Pensacola; and all-star Shaun Reid from
Tallahassee.
The regular season opened with an 8-1 shellacking at the hands of the Hampton
Roads Admirals, but the Renegades bounced back. At one point they were 19-10-3
and in first place in the Northeast Division! Unfortunately, the Renegades had
another mid-season slump that they couldn't snap out of. The Renegades were
eliminated from post-season competition before the end of the season, with the
worst record in team history. Play-by-play man Andy
Davis received the ECHL's Public Relations award.
The Louisiana Ice Gators captured the Brabham Cup. In the '97-98 Kelly Cup
playoffs, the Admirals (who barely squeaked into the playoffs as #8 seed in the
North) were the definite Cinderella story of the playoffs, as they defeated the
Ice Pilots in the finals to claim the Kelly Cup. [Top]
1998-1999: After the disappointing season ended, our owners promised some
changes to the organization, beginning in the near future. They began by not
renewing Scott Gruhl's contract. Mark
Kaufman, former assistant coach of the AHL's
Kentucky Thoroughblades, has been announced as his successor. Former
Renegades' head coach Roy
Sommer became head coach of the Thoroughblades (way to go, Roy!). The
Renegades reached an affiliation agreement with the Thoroughblades and San
Jose Sharks for the 1998-1999 season. A strong affiliation led to several
hot young rookies being assigned to Richmond by the San Jose/Kentucky
organizations. Ownership let radio play-by-play announcer/media relations
director, Andy
Davis, defect to the South Carolina Stingray's organization after he was
awarded the ECHL's Public Relations award. His replacement was John Emmett. The
team's jerseys were also tinkered with. The body featured a printed icicle
design in place of the cut-and-pieced thunderbolt. And for the first time, the
Gades wore Sunday jerseys for the first part of the season. The white body had
dark teal, purple and yellow swirls at the bottom and a new logo based on a
stylized "R".
The Northeast Division was just five teams (as the Wheeling Nailers move to the
Northwest), the smallest in the league. More importantly, the 1998-98 Renegades
knew how to win, finishing the season with a record of 40-27-3, good enough for
third in the Northeast Division and fifth overall in the Northern Conference.
Three rookies were selected to represent the Northern Conference in the All-Star
Game. Rookie netminder Maxime Gingras cleaned up with many awards, including
ECHL Goaltender of the Year, ECHL Rookie of the Year, and Renegades MVP. Andrew
Shier set a new franchise record for career goals.
In the 1999 Kelly Cup playoffs, the Renegades defeated the Hampton Roads
Admirals in round 1, swept the Toledo Storm in Round 2, and swept the Roanoke
Express in Round 5 to win the Northern Conference Championship. Unfortunately,
they fell to the Mississippi Sea Wolves in 2OT of game 7 of the Kelly Cup
Finals. [1998-99 Schedule and playoffs] [1998-99
Schedule/Results in table]
1999-2000: Coach Kaufman returned for the 1999-2000
season. For the first time in franchise history, the Renegades had no formal
affiliation with an NHL team, only a working agreement with the Kentucky
Thoroughblades. Darren Wetherill, Andrew Shier, Trevor Senn, and Kevin
Knopp all returned. The Renegades had an ECHL first: three brothers (Pete, Joe
and Dan Vandermeer) playing for the team simultaneously. The Northeast
Division underwent a face lift as Johnstown shifted to the Northwest, and
Charlotte and the expansion Greensboro Generals joined the Northeast. [1999-2000
Schedule and Results]  2000-01:
[to be added] [2000-01 Schedule]
2001-02: [to be added]
[2001-02 Schedule] 
2003-03: Gord Dineen of the
famous hockey Dineen family replaced Mark Kaufman as head coach. The team
did very well at home (25-10-1) but not so well on the road (10-21-5) and failed to make the
playoffs for the second consecutive season. On April 1, 2003, the day after the regular season ended,
management announced that the Renegades would not field a team for the 2003-04
season. On April 8, 2003, the ECHL's board of governors announced that it granted the franchise a one-year voluntary suspension.
All players were declared free agents. Ownership hopes to field a team at a proposed arena in Chesterfield County in 2005-06. 2002-03
Schedule and Results
 For a look at all four pro hockey teams that have called Richmond
home through the 2002-03 season, the
2000-01 version of the Renegades game program contained an article I wrote on the
Robins, Wildcats, Rifles, and Renegades.
[Top]
[1990-1991] [1991-1992]
[1992-1993] [1993-1994]
[1994-1995] [1995-1996]
[1996-1997] [1997-1998]
[1998-1999] [1999-2000]
[2000-01] [2001-02] [2002-03]
Have any suggestions, comments or corrections? Please send me
an e-mail at pattie_a@yahoo.com.
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