There were times when some spectators probably felt like strapping on skates and wading into the action on Saturday at the Agrena.
It’s a natural reaction to a rugged, physical hockey encounter – and that’s what Renegades versus Leduc proved to be periodically at the Agrena on Saturday night.
Nothing wrong with that. People want their favourite sport to be an uncompromising, tough affair that stirs passions.
The difficulty comes when aggression translates into flying fists as will happen inevitably from time to time. As it did seconds from the end, when Renegades’ Brandon Marsh and Leduc’s Mitchell Rantucci were penalized for fighting.
The players have now used up one of their two lives this season for fighting. A third offence could lead to an indefinite suspension. Are the rules too severe for a contact sport, especially when circumstances are often so unclear? Could they encourage teams to provoke a player in danger of suspension?
These are questions which Renegades’ coach Jason Murrell grappled with as he reflected on his side’s 5-2 preseason loss, but he found no easy answers.
A simpler task, perhaps, was analyzing the Renegades’ performance, which was decidedly lacklustre in the first period.
Mitchell Rantucci and Justin Johnson put Leduc firmly in charge with goals at 18:56 and 16:44 in the first period. Brett Gelb made it three in the second period with a goal at 14:29.
It was then that the Renegades were galvanized into action, Jory Proft scoring at 12:51, before Leduc’s Jeffrey Carter restored his team’s three-goal advantage, striking home at 4:42.
When Nic Murrell, assisted by Nick Decker and Aaron Wharton, scored at 18:25 in the third period, the prospect flickered of an unlikely Renegades’ comeback. Such hopes were extinguished, however, by Rantucci’s goal at 2:21.
The Renegades have now completed their preseason games, chalking up three victories.
They started by beating Onoway 6-0 at the Rich Valley Arena on Oct 13 and then overcoming Devon Midget 5-3 on Oct. 20.
On Friday, they thrashed Westlock Midget 1 7-0 at the Jubilee Arena. Brandon Marsh found the net twice. The other goals came from Johnathan Cross, Nick Decker, Aaron Wharton, Nic Murrell and Trey Olson.
For coach Murrell there were causes for optimism in the Renegades’ preseason play.
Saturday’s game saw the Renegades run into penalty problems, compounded by a lack of discipline – two areas that will have to be worked upon, said Murrell.
“We also need to maintain our intensity levels,” he said.
