Mike Richards (ice hockey)

Lore & Background

Richards grew up playing minor league hockey in Kenora, Ontario, and played level A rep hockey for the Kenora Thistles. He was drafted fourth overall in the 2001 OHL Priority Selection by the Kitchener Rangers, after Rangers general manager Jamie MacDonald traveled to see him play on two occasions following a tip from a friend in Kenora. Richards began his major junior career with the Rangers in 2001–02 and was a member of the dominant 2003 Kitchener team that captured the Memorial Cup, leading the team in scoring during the regular season with 87 points.

He was later chosen as team captain. After being drafted by the Flyers, he returned to the Rangers for two more seasons, and in 2004–05 he recorded 28 points in 15 playoff games before the Rangers were eliminated by the London Knights. He was then assigned to the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL, where he became a key part of their 2005 Calder Cup championship.

Richards made his NHL debut with the Flyers in 2005–06, scoring a goal in his first game against the New York Rangers. He scored his first career hat-trick later that season against the New York Islanders, becoming the first Flyer rookie to do so since Mikael Renberg in 1994.

He was named captain of the Flyers in 2008 at age 23, leading the team to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2010. In 2011, the Flyers traded Richards to the Los Angeles Kings, where he was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2012 and 2014. The Kings terminated his contract in 2015 after Richards was arrested for possession of oxycodone without a prescription; the drug charges were later stayed by the judge, effectively ending the case.

Reader's Guide

Richards' career is marked by both significant team success and individual achievement. He won the Memorial Cup in 2003 with the Kitchener Rangers, the Calder Cup in 2005 with the Philadelphia Phantoms, and the World Junior Championship in 2005 with Canada. He represented Canada at the senior level, winning an Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In the NHL, he was named captain of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008 at age 23, leading them to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

He was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 2011 and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014. Richards was a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2009, narrowly losing to Pavel Datsyuk in the closest Selke Trophy race since its inception. He led the NHL in shorthanded goals in 2008–09 with seven, and became the first player in NHL history to score three career three-on-five shorthanded goals. His career ended abruptly when the Kings terminated his contract in 2015 following his arrest for possession of a controlled substance, though the charges were later stayed.