Brad Richards

Bradley Ray Richards (born May 2, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre.

Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and played for the Lightning, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings during his National Hockey League (NHL) career.

Richards was drafted in the third round, 64th overall, by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, having recorded 82 assists and 115 points in his draft year.

During that same draft, the Lightning selected Vincent Lecavalier, Richards' teammate at both the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame and Rimouski, with the first overall pick.

In the post-season, Richards took home both the Guy Lafleur Trophy as MVP of the QMJHL 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 Memorial Cup.

During the 2003–04 NHL season, the Lightning would win their first Stanley Cup, with Richards' contributions during the playoffs earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason, which included a record seven game-winning goals, overtaking Joe Sakic's and Joe Nieuwendyk's record of six.

He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy that season.

Later that year, he won the World Cup of Hockey Championship playing on Team Canada.

Richards is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, having won in 2004 with the Lightning, where he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs.

On September 26, 2004, the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL retired Richards' jersey.

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

Richards also played for Team Canada at the 2006 Olympics.

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

On February 26, 2008, roughly three hours before the NHL trade deadline, Richards was traded to the Dallas Stars in a blockbuster deal (along with goaltender Johan Holmqvist) in exchange for goaltender Mike Smith, centre Jeff Halpern, winger Jussi Jokinen and a 2009 fourth-round draft pick.

Richards set the Stars' franchise record of most assists in a player's team debut game with five; the record is also a career high for Richards.

In the game, Dallas defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 7–4, and Richards was named the game's first star.

In the 2008 playoffs, Richards tied an NHL record by scoring four points in a single period in a game 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 Stars' line-up on March 21, but he then broke his other hand in the third period of Dallas' loss to San Jose.

He would not return for the rest of the season, and the Stars missed the playoffs.

In the 2009–10 off-season, the team removed general managers Brett Hull and Les Jackson, who had traded for Richards, and fired head coach Dave Tippett, replacing the latter with 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 scored, playing mainly alongside Loui Eriksson and roommate James Neal.

Richards finished seventh in the NHL points standings that year, just behind former Lightning teammate Martin St. Louis.

He also finished fourth in the NHL in total assists and second in powerplay points.

However, the Stars failed to reach 2010 playoffs.

After the season, Richards was named a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Richards signed a nine-year, $60 million contract with the New York Rangers on July 2, 2011, reuniting him with John Tortorella, his head coach from the 2004 Lightning team that won the Stanley Cup, and another member of 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 Ranger in a 2–1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

The game was played at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm.

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 playoffs by the New Jersey Devils.

On April 19, 2013, Richards scored his first career NHL hat-trick in a game against the Buffalo Sabres.

He also won in 2015 as a member of the Blackhawks.

Richards was born and raised in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island.

Since age 14, Richards has been friends with Vincent Lecavalier after they met at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, a boarding school with a renowned hockey program in Wilcox, Saskatchewan.

They were roommates and soon became good friends as they were both the youngest players on their hockey team.

Since then, they went on to become teammates for the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Lecavalier was also responsible for suggesting to Lightning management after they had drafted him to draft Richards.

In his final season with Rimouski, Richards won nearly every honour possible for a Canadian junior player in the QMJHL: he earned the Jean Béliveau Trophy after leading the QMJHL 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 Canadian Hockey League (CHL), as well as the CHL Player of the Year and Leading Scorer.