Playing career Mike Richards

1 playing career

1.1 years
1.2 philadelphia flyers
1.3 los angeles kings
1.4 washington capitals

playing career
early years

richards grew playing minor league hockey in hometown of kenora, ontario. played level rep hockey kenora thistles until being drafted fourth overall in 2001 ohl priority selection kitchener rangers. richards not noted prospect prior selection. after receiving tip friend in kenora, rangers general manager jamie macdonald traveled see richards play on 2 occasions.

richards began major junior career rangers in 2001–02. member of dominant 2003 kitchener team captured memorial cup , led team in scoring during regular season, 87 points. following canadian hockey league (chl) championship victory, richards chosen team captain. summer, philadelphia flyers selected him 24th overall in 2003 nhl entry draft second of team s 2 first round picks season.

upon being drafted, richards returned rangers 2 more seasons. in last season of junior, 2004–05, embarked on memorial cup run kitchener, despite remarkable 28-point performance richards in 15 playoff games, rangers eliminated london knights in ohl semi-finals. kitchener eliminated, flyers assigned richards philadelphia phantoms, american hockey league (ahl) affiliate, playoff run. averaging on point per game, became key part of phantoms 2005 calder cup championship.

philadelphia flyers

richards flyers october 2010.

richards made nhl debut flyers following season, 2005–06, , scored goal in first game on october 5, 2005, against new york rangers. later in season, scored first career nhl hat-trick, included 2 short-handed goals, against new york islanders on february 8, 2006. hat-trick first flyer rookie since mikael renberg on february 15, 1994. richards finished nhl rookie season 34 points in 79 games, third among flyers rookies, behind jeff carter (drafted same year richards, 11th overall) , r. j. umberger, respectively.

following injury-shortened sophomore season – richards kept 32 points in 59 games due stomach surgery – richards emerged star flyers in 2007–08 , topped team in scoring 75 points. recognizing ascent leader on team, richards named 1 of flyers alternate captains @ outset of season , signed lengthy 12-year contract extension worth $69 million on december 13, 2007. shortly after signing deal, richards selected represent eastern conference @ 2008 nhl all-star game in atlanta. in first nhl all-star game of career, richards registered assist.

as flyers entered 2008 stanley cup playoffs against third-seeded washington capitals, richards scored first playoff goal on penalty shot against washington goaltender cristobal huet in game 3. in doing so, became second player in nhl history score first playoff goal on penalty shot (the first wayne connolly did minnesota north stars in 1968). flyers defeated capitals in 7 games , upset montreal canadiens before falling pittsburgh penguins in eastern conference finals. richards finished 2008 playoff run 14 points in 17 games.

richards captained flyers 3 seasons.

before start of 2008–09 season, on september 17, 2008, richards named 17th captain in flyers history, succeeding previous captain jason smith, had signed ottawa senators in off-season. on february 15, 2009, richards became first player in nhl history score 3 career three-on-five short-handed goals when beat new york rangers goaltender henrik lundqvist in 5–2 win. 6 days later, on february 21, richards became first flyer in team history score short-handed goal in 3 consecutive games , first nhl player since joe sakic in 1998. finished season second in team scoring jeff carter 80 points go league-leading 7 shorthanded goals.

facing pittsburgh penguins second consecutive year in 2009 playoffs, richards added 5 points in 6 games, not flyers being eliminated. after richards season ended, announced finalist frank j. selke trophy, awarded nhl s top defensive forward, along pavel datsyuk of detroit red wings , ryan kesler of vancouver canucks. next day, on april 29, 2009, revealed richards required surgery on both shoulders. had reportedly felt discomfort since training camp , on anti-inflammatory medication throughout season. richards narrowly missed out on selke, have been philadelphia s first individual player trophy since eric lindros won hart memorial trophy in 1995. datsyuk won vote 945 942 in closest selke trophy race since inception.

richards (left) , jeff carter prior flyers game during 2008–09 season.

the 2009–10 season started richards, scored 5 goals in first 3 games, including second career hat-trick in second period of flyers home opener against washington capitals on october 6, 2009. against florida panthers on october 24, richards delivered shoulder hit david booth s head. knocked unconscious, booth fell awkwardly on head , neck , had carried of ice on stretcher. richards given game misconduct, not suspended nhl.

from outset of season, richards involved in ongoing feud philadelphia media. issued verbal boycott against media in october 2009 after asked if trade of forward joffrey lupul anaheim ducks result of partying lifestyle many players on team accused of sharing. accusations of team players drinking , partying excessively continued throughout season, richards , jeff carter. team began lose, richards criticized local media in interview hockey news throwing team under bus. told philadelphia daily news drinking accusations fabricated. following loss washington capitals on january 17, 2010, richards reportedly engaged in verbal exchange reporters outside flyers locker room, telling them unhappy how team being covered in media. on february 1, 2010, richards scored 100th career nhl goal. flyers barely scraped playoffs, winning in shootout in last game of season secure place. however, embarked on remarkable run 2010 stanley cup finals, run in richards cemented captaincy , scored important goals leading renewed comparisons bobby clarke, ended in stanley cup finals when flyers lost 4–3 in overtime of game 6 chicago blackhawks.

richards scored 23 goals go along 43 assists during 2010–11 season flyers earned second seed in eastern conference, , played buffalo sabres in first round of 2011 playoffs. after eliminating sabres in 7 games, richards , flyers eliminated boston bruins in four-game sweep. richards recorded 1 goal , 6 assists during playoffs.

los angeles kings

richards , flyers prospect rob bordson traded los angeles kings on june 23, 2011. in return, flyers received wayne simmonds, brayden schenn , los angeles 2012 second-round draft pick. richards reacted major deal saying, shocked. @ first shocked , excited – i’m excited move out l.a. , part of team has ton of great players. i’m looking forward helping them out. dan gross article suggested richards hard-partying ways influenced flyers decision trade richards. however, flyers general manager paul holmgren stated preposterous partying had trade. jeff carter traded, being sent columbus blue jackets. richards , carter reportedly traded due long contracts , clear cap space ilya bryzgalov.

on october 15, 2011, richards returned philadelphia , received standing ovation crowd. assist on winning goal, kings won game 3–2. richards suffered concussion , missed 8 games during season. later reunited carter on february 23, 2012, upon carter s trade kings columbus blue jackets. on may 3, 2012, during game 3 of western conference semifinals, richards recorded first career gordie howe hat trick when got fight jamie langenbrunner of st. louis blues @ 14:00 of first period, scored goal @ 9:31 of second , recorded assist @ 11:48 of third. on june 11, richards won stanley cup kings, recording 4 goals , 11 assists in 20 playoff games. following campaign, recorded 32 points in lockout-shortened 2012–13 season kings fail in bid repeat cup champions, losing eventual champion chicago blackhawks in 2013 playoffs.

on june 13, 2014, richards became stanley cup champion second time when kings defeated new york rangers 3–2 in double overtime in game 5.

on january 26, 2015, richards placed on waivers kings. next day, on january 27, richards cleared waivers , joined kings ahl affiliate, manchester monarchs, , after tallying 14 points in 16 games monarchs, recalled kings on march 22.

on june 29, 2015, kings general manager dean lombardi announced club had exercised right terminate richards s contract, had 5 years remaining, material breach of standard player s contract. termination resulted incident @ us-canada border in royal canadian mounted police arrested richards possession of oxycodone, controlled substance, without prescription. richards 12-year, $69 million contract, had signed in 2008 while captain of philadelphia flyers, had $22 million remaining on when terminated. on august 10, announced national hockey league players association (nhlpa) had filed grievance on behalf of richards contest contract termination. on october 9, 2015, kings announced had reached settlement richards making him free agent.

washington capitals

on january 6, 2016, washington capitals , richards announced had agreed one-year contract worth $1,000,000. came after richards cleared league sign nhl contract.