Brad Richards

Brad Richards
Born	(1980-05-02) May 2, 1980 Murray Harbour, PE, CAN
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb)
Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	New York Rangers Tampa Bay Lightning Dallas Stars
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	64th overall, 1998 Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career	2000–present

Bradley Glen Richards (born May 2, 1980) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has also played for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars. He won the Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Lightning, where he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player during the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Early career

Born and raised in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island. Richards has been friends with Vincent Lecavalier since the age of 14, when they met at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, a boarding school with an excellent hockey program in Saskatchewan, Canada. They were roommates and soon became good friends as they were both the youngest players on their hockey team. Since then they have gone on to being teammates for the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL and Tampa Bay Lightning. Lecavalier was also responsible for suggesting to the Lightning management after they had drafted him to draft Richards.

In his final season with Rimouski, Richards won nearly every honor possible for a Canadian junior player in the QMJHL: he earned the Jean Béliveau Trophy after leading the league 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 CHL, as well as the CHL Player of the Year and Leading Scorer. In the postseason, Richards took home both the Guy Lafleur Trophy as MVP of the 'Q' league 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 national championship.

Playing career

Tampa Bay Lightning

Richards with the Lightning in 2007

Richards was drafted in the 3rd round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, despite recording 82 assists and 115 points in his draft year. During that same draft, the Lightning selected Vincent Lecavalier, Richards' teammate at the both Athol Murray College of Notre Dame and Rimouski, with the first overall pick. Richards went on to win the Conn Smythe and the Lady Byng Trophies in 2004. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004. Later that same year, he won the World Cup of Hockey Championship playing on Team Canada. Richards holds the record for game-winning goals in a single playoff season with seven in 2004, overtaking Joe Sakic's and Joe Nieuwendyk's record of six.

On September 26, 2004 the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL retired Richards jersey. Richards played for Rimouski Océanic from 1997-2000.

Richards played for Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League during the 2004–05 NHL lockout on a team with fellow NHL'ers Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Kovalev, Vincent Lecavalier, Michael Nylander, Alexei Zhitnik, Dany Heatley, and Nikolai Khabibulin.

Richards played for Team Canada in the 2006 Olympics.

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

Dallas Stars

On February 26, 2008, roughly 3 hours before the NHL trade deadline, Richards was traded to the Dallas Stars in a blockbuster deal along with goaltender Johan Holmqvist for goalie Mike Smith, centre Jeff Halpern, winger Jussi Jokinen and a 2009 4th round draft pick. Richards had the Stars franchise record of most assists in a player's first game with five. The record is also a career high for Richards. The Stars defeated the Blackhawks 7–4, and Richards was named the number one star of the game.

In the 2008 Playoffs, Richards tied an NHL record by scoring four points in a single period in game 2 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 Dallas Stars lineup March 21, but the former playoff MVP then broke his other hand in the third period of Dallas' loss to San Jose Sharks. He would not return for the rest of the 2009 season, and the Stars missed the playoffs.

In the 2009–10 offseason, the team removed GMs Brett Hull and Les Jackson who had traded for Richards, and fired coach Dave Tippett who was replaced by 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 playing mainly alongside Loui Eriksson and roommate James Neal. Richards finished 7th in the NHL points standings that year, just behind former teammate Martin St. Louis. He also finished fourth in total assists, and second in powerplay production in the league. The Stars however would fail to reach the playoffs again. After the season, Richards was named a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy.

New York Rangers

After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Richards signed a nine-year, $58.5 million contract with the New York Rangers on July 2, reuniting him with his coach when winning the 2004 Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, John Tortorella and another teammate from 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 New York Ranger in a 2–1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks. The game was played at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. 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 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the New Jersey Devils.

On April 19, 2013, Richards scored his first career NHL hat trick in match against Buffalo Sabres.

Personal

During the offseason, he goes back to Prince Edward Island, his childhood home. 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 CBC's Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean, who spends a lot of time in PEI. During the season, he lives in an apartment in Manhattan.

Richards is also a well known wine aficionado and filmed a segment about wine tasting for Nhl.com. Also an American football fan, he considers the Green Bay Packers to be his favourite NFL team.

Richards rented a suite at the St. Pete Times Forum 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 2002–2003 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 arthoscopic hip surgery on April 23, 2010, to repair a small labrum tear. Rehabilitation from this surgery usually requires 8 weeks.

In September 2010, Richards donated $500,000 to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Awards

• 1999–2000: CHL Player of the Year
• 1999–2000: CHL Leading Scorer
• 1999–2000: CHL Plus/Minus Award Winner
• 1999–2000: CHL First All-Star Team
• 1999–2000: QMJHL Michel Brière Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player)
• 1999–2000: QMJHL Jean Béliveau Trophy (Leading scorer)
• 1999–2000: QMJHL Plus/Minus Award Winner
• 1999–2000: QMJHL Guy Lafleur Trophy (Playoff MVP)
• 1999–2000: QMJHL First All-Star Team
• 1999–2000: Memorial Cup Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (MVP)
• 1999–2000: Memorial Cup All-Star Team
• 2000–01: NHL All-Rookie Team
• 2001–02: NHL YoungStars Game participant
• 2003–04: NHL Stanley Cup
• 2003–04: NHL Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP)
• 2003–04: NHL Lady Byng Trophy (Sportsmanship)
• 2010–11: Played in the NHL All-Star Game

Career statistics

				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	+12	44		19	8	24	32	—	2
1998–99	Rimouski Oceanic	QMJHL		59	39	92	131	+18	55		11	9	12	21	—	6
1999–00	Rimouski Oceanic	QMJHL		63	71	115	186	+80	69		12	13	24	37	+6	16
2000–01	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		82	21	41	62	−10	14		—	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		82	20	42	62	−18	13		—	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		80	17	57	74	+3	24		11	0	5	5	−3	12
2003–04	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		82	26	53	79	+14	12		23	12	14	26	+5	4
2004–05	Ak Bars Kazan	RSL		6	2	5	7	+2	16		—	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		82	23	68	91	0	32		5	3	5	8	−5	6
2006–07	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		82	25	45	70	−19	23		6	3	5	8	−4	6
2007–08	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		62	18	33	51	−25	15		—	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Dallas Stars	NHL		12	2	9	11	−2	0		18	3	12	15	+1	8
2008–09	Dallas Stars	NHL		56	16	32	48	−4	6		—	—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Dallas Stars	NHL		80	24	67	91	−12	14		—	—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Dallas Stars	NHL		72	28	49	77	+1	24		—	—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	New York Rangers	NHL		82	25	41	66	−1	22		20	6	9	15	−2	8
NHL totals				854	245	537	782	-73	199		83	27	50	77	−8	44

International play

Played for Canada in:

• 2000 World Junior Championships (bronze medal)
• 2001 World Championships
• 2004 World Cup of Hockey (gold medal)
• 2006 Winter Olympics (failed to medal)

International statistics

Year	Comp		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000	WJC		7	1	1	2	0
2001	WC		7	3	3	6	0
2004	WCH		6	1	3	4	0
2006	Oly		6	2	2	4	6
Senior int'l totals			19	6	8	14	6

External links

• Official Website
• Brad Richards's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Brian Campbell	CHL Player of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Simon Gamache
Preceded by Jean-Sébastien Giguère	Conn Smythe Trophy winner 2004	Succeeded by Cam Ward
Preceded by Alexander Mogilny	Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner 2004	Succeeded by Pavel Datsyuk