Richmond coach Brian Goudie has been back on the phone, talking with agents and other coaches about prospective players. The reason? His Renegades suffered another season-ending injury Saturday at Columbus. Forward Mike O’Sullivan, who joined the club Dec. 30 and had played in 15 games (three goals, five assists), suffered a broken ankle against the Cottonmouths when he “lost an edge” on his skate and crashed into the end boards.

Justin Joy scored two goals 5:42 apart in the third period to rally the Richmond Renegades to a 5-3 victory over the homestanding Columbus Cottonmouths last night. Trailing 3-2, Joy connected at 3:24 on a power play and again at 9:06. Trevor Karsiewicz’s empy-net goal with 11 seconds to play sealed the outcome. Beau McLaughlin scored short-handed at 6:48 of the opening period for the game’s first score. Goals by Lorne Misita and Sam Bowles 4:29 apart early in the second period put the Cottonmouths ahead, but Jason Price countered at 5:29, and the teams left the ice deadlocked 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Justin Joy scored two goals 5:42 apart in the third period to rally the Richmond Renegades to a 5-3 victory over the homestanding Columbus Cottonmouths last night. Trailing 3-2, Joy connected at 3:24 on a power play and again at 9:06. Trevor Karsiewicz’s empy-net goal with 11 seconds to play sealed the outcome. Beau McLaughlin scored short-handed at 6:48 of the opening period for the game’s first score. Goals by Lorne Misita and Sam Bowles 4:29 apart early in the second period put the Cottonmouths ahead, but Jason Price countered at 5:29, and the teams left the ice deadlocked 2-2 after 40 minutes.

In a game that featured 21 power plays, Knoxville was able to capitalize a little more often than Richmond last night. The result was a 4-2 victory for the Ice Bears, who scored three times with at least a one-man advantage at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tenn. There were two referees for the Southern Professional Hockey League game, and they blew their whistles early and often.

Allen Williams got his act going in the ‘90s when he started imitating another dancing fan who sat on the opposite side of the ice at hockey games.

The Richmond Renegades were up to their old tricks last night, and not the kind of sleight of hand that coach Brian Goudie likes to see from his troops. Falling behind early and trailing 4-1 after 23 minutes, the Renegades battled back but couldn’t overcome the rough start and lost 4-3 to Huntsville in front of 3,989 at the Coliseum. Goudie has watched his club perform this unseemly act on many occasions in what has been an up-and-down season through 40 games.

Ryan Scott hadn’t been between the pipes for almost two weeks, but the Richmond goaltender didn’t look the least bit rusty last night. Scott made 36 saves, and his teammates put together one of their best overall games of the season to beat Huntsville 4-2 and snap a three-game losing streak before 3,422 at the Coliseum. “I came out [yesterday] morning and got in some extra work,“ said Scott, who had missed the past four games with a leg injury. “I went really hard, pushed myself working on some stuff.

There was a new “player” on the ice at Richmond’s practice session at the Coliseum yesterday. He wore a regular jersey and skated just as hard as the rest of the team. But this guy was the coach, Brian Goudie. In what was one of the team’s more intense workouts of the season, Goudie wanted to show his players exactly how the game is supposed to be played. He also wanted to stress to them the importance of consistency, something which has eluded them most of the year.

Rob Sich delivered a hat trick, with two of his three goals coming in the first period, to spearhead the Fayetteville FireAntz’s 5-1 victory over the Richmond Renegades yesterday in a Southern Professional Hockey League game in Fayetteville, N.C. Among the few successes the Renegades (19-17-1) could claim was outshooting the FireAntz 36-33, but Fayetteville goaltender Chad Collins delivered 35 saves. Richmond didn’t score until Beau McLaughlin found the net at the 6:56 mark of the third period.

What do all of these pro athletes have in common? David Wright of the New York Mets. B.J. Upton of the Tampa Bay Rays. Allen Iverson of the Detroit Pistons. Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants. And Patrick “Beau” McLaughlin of the Richmond Renegades. All of them hail from Virginia’s Tidewater area, which has produced numerous professional standouts in baseball, basketball and football. But hockey? Very few pro hockey players have been raised in Virginia.

How can you figure out this season’s Richmond Renegades? One night they knock off the first-place team - Knoxville - in the Southern Professional Hockey League on the road. The next evening, they come home and lose to the last-place team, Twin City. That’s what has happened the past two nights to the Renegades, who beat Knoxville in overtime on Friday but dropped a 3-2 decision to Twin City last night before 3,708 at the Coliseum.

WHAT: Southern Professional Hockey League game
  WHEN/WHERE: Tonight, 7:35, Knoxville Civic Coliseum (cap. 7,141), Knoxville, Tenn.
  NOTABLE: The Renegades (18-15-1, 37 points) open a three-games-in-three nights stretch at first-place Knoxville (21-8-4, 46). Richmond is 2-4-0 vs. the Ice Bears, with the two wins coming in overtime and a shootout. . . . Knoxville has the stingiest defense in the league, allowing only 2.7 goals per game. Their goaltenders, Kirk Irving (2.58 goals-against average) and Andrew Gallant (2.59) are 1-2 in the league. . . . Forward Kevin Swider leads the league in scoring with 23 goals and 57 points and his line accounted for all seven goals in the Ice Bears’ 7-4 romp here Jan. 4. Knoxville has won four consecutive. . . . The Renegades lost defenseman John Halverson , who left for Corpus Christi (Central Hockey League) on Wednesday. Halverson was fourth on the team in scoring (30 points). . . . Richmond returns to Coliseum ice tomorrow against Twin City. Faceoff is 7:35 p.m.. The first 2,000 fans will receive a Nasty Boys poster of the defensemen. The Renegades are at Fayetteville on Sunday (4 p.m.).

With the release of forward Josh Coyle on Monday, Richmond coach Brian Goudie hopes he has the team that will finish the 2008-09 season. Coyle was waived to make room for forward Dennis Sicard, who was signed to a regular contract after playing under a three-game tryout on the weekend. Coyle, who had five goals and five assists in 22 games, is going to play in Brooklyn (Eastern Pro Hockey League), according to Goudie.

For most of this season, the Richmond Renegades have been very good in close games. Going into last night’s Southern Professional Hockey League game, the Renegades were 10-0-1 in one-goal affairs.

Ryan Scott is working on earning degrees in wellness management and childhood education at the State University of New York-Oswego. The 25-year-old goaltender also is using some of that intelligence to stop pucks for the Richmond Renegades.