Richards gets knocked loopy in LA

[mojo1917]

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=40304227

the hit isn't vicious, but he took another big shot to his shoulder, i think he's going to have this shoulder injury the rest of his career , and while i liked him when he was here, the flyers may have dodged a bullet by trading him. i think his days of "playing larger than his frame" are numbered if not over..

[idahophilly]

Is he out injured?

[Mad Dog]

Is he out injured?

Seems to be. He left the game in the 2nd period (or after the 2nd) and didn't return.

It really is a shame. He plays like a power forward without having a body of a power forward. He is not built like Keith Tkachuk, Iginla, Wendel Clark, or Cam Neely. Yet he plays their style. I said long time ago that playing this all-out style will end his career one day. It hasn't yet, but one has to wonder how much of continuing beating his body is capable of taking at this point before he doesn't have much of the body left.

Edited December 2, 2011 by Mad Dog

[mojo1917]

@Mad Dog

he's not a fitness freak yet either, if he were in the gym all the time, even the off season , he might have a better shot at staying healthy, i don't think he's put it together yet or if he has; he hasn't been healthy enough or interested to start seriously taking care of himself.

Edited December 2, 2011 by mojo1917

[terp]

he's not a fitness freak yet either

Very good point. I think the world of Mike Richards and I don't by the bad rap he got from a lot of people in Philly. But I think it is pretty clear that he could prepare better off ice. I hope he gets religion about this soon because it is a potential career changer for him.

[Bakanekimiwa]

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=40304227

the hit isn't vicious, but he took another big shot to his shoulder, i think he's going to have this shoulder injury the rest of his career , and while i liked him when he was here, the flyers may have dodged a bullet by trading him. i think his days of "playing larger than his frame" are numbered if not over..

I think you are generally right about his style of play... But, this hit had nothing to do with that. It was a good, clean hit. Richards very selfishly, and unsmartly, over retaliated. He should have just taken a number and tried to lay a big hit later... Legally.

Edit: I meant to say that it was a clean hit ON him and not BY him... And that's the point that doesn't jive with OP comment

Sorry to see he's injured, though... He's been doing great.

Edited December 2, 2011 by Bakanekimiwa

[Mad Dog]

@Mad Dog

he's not a fitness freak yet either, if he were in the gym all the time, even the off season , he might have a better shot at staying healthy, i don't think he's put it together yet or if he has; he hasn't been healthy enough or interested to start seriously taking care of himself.

You know, interesting you mentioned this. I recall in his either first or second year with the Flyers (Hitch was still the coach, which tells you how far back it goes), I read that he was lifting weights like crazy. I even remember someone saying that at taht pace, Sylvester Stallone owuld be jealous of Mike's large muscles. I guess he understood that to be able to play th style he wanted to play, he needed to build a frame.

But after awhile (his second year in the NHL, I guess), he hardly set a foot in a gym. I wonder what happened. But something must've happened for him to abandon that plan.

[SoCalFlyfan]

Richards planned this in advance. He spoke with Bergenheim before the game and asked him if he could drill him in the shoulder and make it look bad. Apparently, speculation is that Richards was running low on painkillers in LA .

--sarcasm alert ...

[mojo1917]

But after awhile (his second year in the NHL, I guess), he hardly set a foot in a gym. I wonder what happened. But something must've happened for him to abandon that plan.

i wonder if the separated shoulders have have put the kiabosh on strength training at that time and he's not gotten back to any sort of routine, the gym was always better for me when it was just part of the day;, if you can't do it, or have to have special supervision, or whatever it makes it easy to skip.

[canoli]

Seems to be. He left the game in the 2nd period (or after the 2nd) and didn't return.

It really is a shame. He plays like a power forward without having a body of a power forward.... wonder how much of continuing beating his body is capable of taking at this point before he doesn't have much of the body left.

Good point - but of course if he doesn't play that game then he's basically an average forward. The key to Richards' game is intensity, whether it's hitting or stealing the puck on the PK or whatever. Obviously every NHLer's game is "about intensity" but for Richards it's everything. We saw it clearly in Philly. Those "nights off" weren't actually so bad they were just so much less than when Richards is on his game. He's not a natural skater, he doesn't have a sniper-release and he's not big - compared to the big guys in the NHL. But not many guys make up for their lack of natural ability better than Mike Richards - when he's playing with that intensity.

I can't fault the guy for how it ended in Philly. Whatever off-ice stuff, whatever locker room drama he was responsible for, at the end of the day it's probably good to remember how hard it is to play the way he plays. It takes a huge toll on the body but just as much on the mind, the spirit - whatever you call it. To be that intense night in night out - it's damn near impossible I guess. No wonder he ended up on crack (!).

[spacin007]

Good point - but of course if he doesn't play that game then he's basically an average forward. The key to Richards' game is intensity,

Well, that's selling him quite short.

He was (and is) one of the best two way players in the game...with very good intangibles. There is a reason he played in every situation when with the Flyers, and has succeeded at just about every level. He was an average goalie away from a Stanley Cup here in Philly and has been on fire as of late.

Huge loss for LA if he's out for a while, and to be honest...I'd want him back and would give up Schenn and Simmonds to get him

[Mad Dog]

Good point - but of course if he doesn't play that game then he's basically an average forward. The key to Richards' game is intensity, whether it's hitting or stealing the puck on the PK or whatever.

Well, I don't know if I can say he is an average player if he plays Mark Recchi-type game. It never hurts to play with intensity anyway. Richards just played with an extra edge, which is fine as long as you have a body of a power forward. That's why, like Mojo pointe dout, he really should've been spending time bulking up in the gym if he really wanted to play this way. Now God only knows how long he will be out and, more importantly, how much longer he can continue playing this way before he serioulsy starts breaking down.

[Mad Dog]

Well, I don't know if I can say he is an average player if he plays Mark Recchi-type game. It never hurts to play with intensity anyway. Richards just played with an extra edge, which is fine as long as you have a body of a power forward. That's why, like Mojo pointed out, he really should've been spending time bulking up in the gym if he really wanted to play this way. Now God only knows how long he will be out and, more importantly, how much longer he can continue playing this way before he serioulsy starts breaking down.

[GAFlyer]

Richie's on Injured reserve. And Willie Mitchell. "Maintenance weeks". j/k Hope he's OK, better a re-injured shoulder than a concussion. But, from LA Times write-up:

But the nature of Richards' injury became clearer when Kings President and General Manager Dean Lombardi was asked about the league's quiet-room protocol, in which a player suspected of having sustained a concussion is evaluated by a doctor.

So I guess we'll see...

[OH1FlyersFan]

While we're on the subject of former Flyers, here's what the Columbus Dispatch had to say about Richards' pal Carter.....no surprise, out injured again.

"-- C Jeff Carter missed the game with a sprained left ankle suffered in the latter stages of Thursday's 4-3 shootout win in Calgary. Arniel said Carter is day-to-day, that he could play Tuesday in Montreal."

This is as of December 3. I'm really, really glad we traded both those guys - if for no other reason Voracek and Couturier have been healthy. Look at the stats on the Carter trade, for example.

Carter - 15 games played, 3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points, -1 +/-, 51 SOG, 5.9 %

Voracek - 24 games played, 4 goals, 12 assists, 16 points, 4 +/-, 47 SOG, 8.5%

Couterier - 24 games played, 5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points, 8 +/-, 37 SOG, 13.5%

I thought Bergenheim's hit on Richards looked good.