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Brad Richards
Brad Richards - Chicago Blackhawks.jpg
Richards with the Chicago Blackhawks in December 2014
Born (1980-05-02) May 2, 1980 (age 43)
Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Tampa Bay Lightning
Dallas Stars
New York Rangers
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
AK Bars Kazan
National team Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
NHL Draft 64th overall, 1998
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 2000–2016

Bradley Ray Richards (born May 2, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Lightning, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings during his National Hockey League (NHL) career.

Richards is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, having won in 2004 with the Lightning, where he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs. He also won in 2015 as a member of the Blackhawks.

Early career

Richards was born and raised in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island. Since age 14, Richards has been friends with Vincent Lecavalier after they met at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, a boarding school with a renowned hockey program in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. They were roommates and soon became good friends as they were both the youngest players on their hockey team. Since then, they went on to become teammates for the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lecavalier was also responsible for suggesting to Lightning management after they had drafted him to draft Richards.

In his final season with Rimouski, Richards won nearly every honour possible for a Canadian junior player in the QMJHL: he earned the Jean Béliveau Trophy after leading the QMJHL with 186 points, as well as the Telus Cup, given to the league's best offensive player; he won the QMJHL and Canadian Hockey League Plus/Minus Awards with a plus-80 mark, and was a First-Team All-Star in both the Quebec circuit and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), as well as the CHL Player of the Year and Leading Scorer. In the post-season, Richards took home both the Guy Lafleur Trophy as MVP of the QMJHL playoffs, then the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as MVP of the 2000 Memorial Cup, as the Océanic won both the QMJHL playoff title and the CHL Memorial Cup.

Playing career

Tampa Bay Lightning

Brad Richards 2007
Richards with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2007

Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, having recorded 82 assists and 115 points in his draft year. During that same draft, the Lightning selected Vincent Lecavalier, Richards' teammate at both the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame and Rimouski, with the first overall pick. During the 2003–04 NHL season, the Lightning would win their first Stanley Cup, with Richards' contributions during the playoffs earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason, which included a record seven game-winning goals, overtaking Joe Sakic's and Joe Nieuwendyk's record of six. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy that season. Later that year, he won the World Cup of Hockey Championship playing on Team Canada.

On September 26, 2004, the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL retired Richards' jersey.

Richards played for Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Superleague (RSL) during the 2004–05 NHL lockout on a team with fellow NHLers Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Vincent Lecavalier, Michael Nylander, Alexei Zhitnik, Dany Heatley and Nikolai Khabibulin. Richards also played for Team Canada at the 2006 Olympics.

After the Lightning were eliminated from the 2006 playoffs, the Lightning re-signed Richards to a five-year, US$39 million contract extension.

Dallas Stars

On February 26, 2008, roughly three hours before the NHL trade deadline, Richards was traded to the Dallas Stars in a blockbuster deal (along with goaltender Johan Holmqvist) in exchange for goaltender Mike Smith, centre Jeff Halpern, winger Jussi Jokinen and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick. Richards set the Stars' franchise record of most assists in a player's team debut game with five; the record is also a career high for Richards. In the game, Dallas defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 7–4, and Richards was named the game's first star.

In the 2008 playoffs, Richards tied an NHL record by scoring four points in a single period in a game against the San Jose Sharks.

During the 2008–09 season, Richards tallied 16 goals and 48 points in 55 games before sustaining a broken right wrist following a check from Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voráček on February 16, 2009. Richards met with a specialist the following day and missed 15 games. Richards returned to the Stars' line-up on March 21, but he then broke his other hand in the third period of Dallas' loss to San Jose. He would not return for the rest of the season, and the Stars missed the playoffs.

In the 2009–10 off-season, the team removed general managers Brett Hull and Les Jackson, who had traded for Richards, and fired head coach Dave Tippett, replacing the latter with Marc Crawford. Despite the new regime and the team's woeful finish in the standings for the second-straight season, Richards enjoyed a career year, matching a personal high with 91 points scored, playing mainly alongside Loui Eriksson and roommate James Neal. Richards finished seventh in the NHL points standings that year, just behind former Lightning teammate Martin St. Louis. He also finished fourth in the NHL in total assists and second in powerplay points. However, the Stars failed to reach 2010 playoffs. After the season, Richards was named a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy.

New York Rangers

Brad Richards Rangers
Richards with the New York Rangers in October 2011

After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Richards signed a nine-year, $60 million contract with the New York Rangers on July 2, 2011, reuniting him with John Tortorella, his head coach from the 2004 Lightning team that won the Stanley Cup, and another member of that 2004 team, Ruslan Fedotenko. He was also approached by the Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

On October 8, 2011, Richards scored his first goal as a Ranger in a 2–1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks. The game was played at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm. He would go on to record 25 goals along with 41 assists during his first season with the Rangers, as well as six goals and nine assists in 20 playoff games, as the Rangers were ultimately eliminated from the 2012 playoffs by the New Jersey Devils.

On April 19, 2013, Richards scored his first career NHL hat-trick in a game against the Buffalo Sabres.

On March 5, 2014, the Rangers acquired Martin St. Louis, reuniting the two, who were previously teammates when the Lightning won the cup in 2004. St. Louis and Richards both played integral roles in the Rangers' run to the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, which they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.

On June 20, 2014, the Rangers used a compliance buyout on the remaining seven years of Richards' contract in an effort to increase salary cap space. This rendered him an unrestricted free agent, and ended the brief reunion between him and St. Louis.

Chicago Blackhawks

On July 1, 2014, Richards signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He wore number 91 for the Blackhawks, the first player in team history to do so, as his usual #19 was already being worn by Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews Richards played in his 1,000th career NHL game on November 16, 2014, against his former team, the Dallas Stars. In 76 regular season games with the Blackhawks, Richards scored 12 goals with 25 assists.

The Blackhawks, with Richards, later faced one of his former teams, the Lightning, in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago would prevail in six games, giving Richards his second Stanley Cup title. He assisted on Patrick Kane's late 3rd period goal in the deciding Game 6 at the United Center, sealing the victory.

Detroit Red Wings

On July 1, 2015, Richards signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings, worth up to $4 million with playoff bonuses. With Richards' traditional #19 retired for Steve Yzerman and #91 not having been worn in Detroit by anyone since Sergei Fedorov, Richards chose to wear #17 with the Red Wings, becoming the 3rd Prince Edward Island native to wear the jersey number with the club after Forbes Kennedy in 1958-60, and Gerard Gallant in 1985-93.

The Red Wings narrowly made the playoffs for the 25th consecutive season. Richards' late-season efforts included a game-tying goal against his former Rangers teammates on March 12 with 32 seconds remaining (the Red Wings later won the game 2–1 in overtime), and a two-point game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 2. He'd finish the season with 10 goals and 18 assists in 68 games.

In the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, Richards scored one goal as the Red Wings were eliminated in five games by the Lightning in Round 1. Had the Red Wings advanced, Richards was due a $250,000 bonus with an additional $750,000 available if they had won the second round as well.

On July 20, 2016, Richards announced his retirement from professional hockey. In a statement issued by the National Hockey League Players Association, Richards reflected on his Cup wins: "Winning the Stanley Cups in Tampa Bay and Chicago was the best part of my career and I will never forget those moments. Nothing compares to enjoying that night with your team and knowing what you have accomplished together."

Personal life

During the off-season, Richards goes back to his birthplace of Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island. Richards has hosted the Brad Richards PEI Celebrity Golf Classic for the past six years. The event supports two charities: Children's Wish Foundation, Prince Edward Island Chapter and Autism Society of Prince Edward Island. He is friends with Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean, who spends a lot of time in PEI. During his time with the Rangers, Richards lived in an apartment in Manhattan.

Richards rented a suite at the St. Pete Times Forum (now called the Amalie Arena) for several Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games and invited families dealing with various forms of pediatric cancer to use it. After each game, he would go and visit the children who had come to watch the game. It began during the 2002–03 season and ended in 2008. When he was traded to the Dallas Stars, he continued his charity work with the Children's Medical Center's Oncology Department, supplying tickets for sick children. He also donates tickets to every home game to men and women in the military.

Richards underwent arthroscopic hip surgery on April 23, 2010, to repair a small labrum tear. In September 2010, he donated $500,000 to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, PEI.

Richards and his Australian wife Rechelle have two children. Richards speaks both English and French.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1996–97 Notre Dame Hounds SJHL 63 39 48 87 73
1997–98 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 68 33 82 115 44 19 8 24 32 2
1998–99 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 59 39 92 131 55 11 9 12 21 6
1999–00 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 63 71 115 186 69 12 13 24 37 16
2000–01 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 21 41 62 14
2001–02 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 20 42 62 13
2002–03 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 17 57 74 24 11 0 5 5 12
2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 26 53 79 12 23 12 14 26 4
2004–05 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 6 2 5 7 16
2005–06 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 23 68 91 32 5 3 5 8 6
2006–07 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 25 45 70 23 6 3 5 8 6
2007–08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 62 18 33 51 15
2007–08 Dallas Stars NHL 12 2 9 11 0 18 3 12 15 8
2008–09 Dallas Stars NHL 56 16 32 48 6
2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL 80 24 67 91 14
2010–11 Dallas Stars NHL 72 28 49 77 24
2011–12 New York Rangers NHL 82 25 41 66 22 20 6 9 15 8
2012–13 New York Rangers NHL 46 11 23 34 14 10 1 0 1 2
2013–14 New York Rangers NHL 82 20 31 51 18 25 5 7 12 4
2014–15 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 76 12 25 37 12 23 3 11 14 8
2015–16 Detroit Red Wings NHL 68 10 18 28 8 5 1 0 1 7
NHL totals 1,126 298 634 932 251 146 37 68 105 65

International

Medal record
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
World Cup
Gold 2004 Canada
World Junior Championships
Bronze 2000 Sweden
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2000 Canada WJC 7 1 1 2 0
2001 Canada WC 7 3 3 6 0
2004 Canada WCH 6 1 3 4 0
2006 Canada OLY 6 2 2 4 6
Junior totals 7 1 1 2 0
Senior totals 19 6 8 14 6

Awards and honors

Award Year
CHL/QMJHL
CHL Player of the Year 2000
CHL Leading Scorer 2000
CHL Plus/Minus Award Winner 2000
CHL First All-Star Team 2000
QMJHL All-Rookie team 1998
QMJHL First All-Star Team 2000
Michel Brière Memorial Trophy 2000
Jean Béliveau Trophy 2000
Guy Lafleur Trophy 2000
AutoPro Plaque 2000
Telus Cup 2000
Paul Dumont Trophy 2000
President's Cup Champion 2000
Memorial Cup Champion 2000
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy 2000
Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2000
NHL
All-Rookie team 2001
YoungStars Game 2002
Stanley Cup champion 2004, 2015
Conn Smythe Trophy 2004
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 2004
All-Star Game 2011

Records

  • Most game-winning goals in a single playoffs seasons (7; 2004)

See also

  • List of NHL players with 1000 games played
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