Bruce Richardson

Bruce Richardson (born June 8, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player best known for his time playing for Braehead Clan and the Nottingham Panthers in the British Elite Ice Hockey League and for the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League.

Richardson was often a favourite with fans wherever he went, due to his aggressive style of play and determination.

He is remembered fondly by the Bears fans, racking up a total of over 150 games in his two spells there, and was named their 'Unsung Hero' for the 1998-99 season.

Hershey is also where Richardson met Tim Wedderburn and Jordan Krestanovich, who he became friends with and signed for the Braehead Clan in his first coaching role.

Richardson also played for the Manitoba Moose, in Winnipeg, in the final season of the now defunct IHL.

During his first year there he was coached by Bob Hartley, who went on to become a Stanley Cup winning coach with the Colorado Avalanche in 2000-01.

He tore a knee ligament in 2000, and a broken left eye socket in 2002.

This was often attributed to the fact that Bruce played with such aggression and determination, and was willing to put his body on the line for his team.

Despite not ever playing in an NHL game, Richardson did take part in the Detroit Red Wings pre-season in 2001.

On September 17, 2001 in a game against the New York Rangers Richardson, wearing the number 68, had a fight with Richard Scott.

Richardson also got to take to the ice in Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers, an achievement which he classes as his greatest memory in hockey.

Richardson had a fairly successful season in 2004-05 with the Danbury Trashers in the UHL.

The Trashers came second in the Eastern Division, qualifying them for the play-offs.

They saw off Adirondack Frostbite, winning 4 games to their 2 in the Quarter-Finals.

They then fell to eventual play-off champions Muskegon Fury in the Semi-Finals, winning only 1 game to their 4.

Richardson was the Thrashers overall top point scorer for the season, with 25 goals and 62 assists in the regular season and a further 2 goals and 6 assists in the play-offs.

During his time playing hockey in North America, Richardson played alongside many future NHL players.

These included Eric Perrin, Raitis Ivanans, Jason Williams, Jordan Krestanovich and many others.

It is often suggested that had Bruce been slightly bigger, he may have made it there himself.

Richardson was sometimes considered injury-prone, due to suffering some major injuries in his career.

Richardson continued to play for many different clubs all across North America until 2005, when Richardson realised that his dream of playing in the NHL may be over.

With this in mind, he took on a new challenge and joined the Iserlohn Roosters in the German Hockey League, after a major summer restructuring that saw twelve players leave the club.

The Roosters signed him to lead their fourth line, which included two younger players.

They wanted Richardson to help their development with his experience.

Richardson returned to North America after just one season in Germany, to become a player/assistant Coach with the Fort Wayne Komets in the UHL.

This was Richardson's first coaching job, which would become a passion of his in the years to come.

Upon arriving at the Fort Wayne he had praise heaped on him by a former Komet, Jeff Worlton:

"He's one of the nicest hockey guys I’ve ever met in my life, but he's tough as nails. He’ll do anything you need for the team. He’ll fight anybody. I’ve seen him fight guys my size. The only reason he didn’t make it to the show was because of his size."

Richardson eventually helped lead the Komets to the Semi-Finals of the UHL playoffs in what could be considered a fairly successful season.

In the 2007/8 season, he left Fort Wayne and moved to Wichita, Kansas, to return to a normal playing role at the Wichita Thunder.

He was Wichita's top point scorer for the season, with 57.

It was here that he would meet Kyle Bruce, a Canadian winger who he eventually signed for Braehead Clan in his first coaching role.

In 2008, Richardson made his second trip to Europe in his career, this time to Britain to become a player/assistant coach at the Nottingham Panthers in the Elite Ice Hockey League under Corey Neilson.

He quickly became a fan favourite at the Panthers, winning the clubs 'Team Spirit Award' and was rewarded by being re-signed for a second season.

In the 2009-10 season he won the Challenge Cup with Nottingham.

This was Richardson's first and only major career trophy.

He was the head coach of the Victoriaville Tigres in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2014 to 2016 and now coach of Armada Blainville-Boisbriand in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

Bruce Richardson started his 18-year playing career in Quebec, with the Sherbrooke Faucons in the QMJHL.

He stayed there for 3 and a half years, playing over a hundred games before moving onto the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the same league.

Most of Richardson's time in North America was spent at the Hershey Bears in Hershey, Pennsylvania.