Mike Richards named captain of Flyers

[BDog]

Wow! How this guy has taken off!
Two season\'s ago he was a throw in with a draft pick on a deal I had made and that owner let him go not protecting him going into last season.
Now he\'s the freaking captain of the Flyers!
I\'m not a Philly fan by any means but this is a cool story and what a fantasy gem he turned out to be.

[Atomic Wedgy]

Stephane Richer wrote:

This isn\'t a vote of confidence regarding Simon Gagné\'s status with the team. I believe he wanted that honor http://www.dobberhockey.com/componen...50634/catid,6/. He was mentionning that he would feel honored if the Flyers asked him to be captain: http://www.canoe.com/sports/nouvelle...06-082800.html. This may be a sign that the Flyers brass don\'t believe in Gagné\'s capacities that much anymore.

Unfortunately or not, you cant just appoint someone to be the leader of the team. You can see that kind of failed experiment with Forsberg. He was not captain material. Great player, world class in fact, but not a captain.

I would say that Richards, whether he likes or admits it, became the leader of the Flyers last season. To name someone else captain would only be working to derail the momentum from a great season.

Putting the C on his shirt makes a lot of sense. This is who they see leading the team for the rest of his contract.

Great move by the Flyers brass.

[Atomic Wedgy]

BDog wrote:

Wow! How this guy has taken off!
Two season\'s ago he was a throw in with a draft pick on a deal I had made and that owner let him go not protecting him going into last season.
Now he\'s the freaking captain of the Flyers!
I\'m not a Philly fan by any means but this is a cool story and what a fantasy gem he turned out to be.

The path for Richards\' career was paved the day that he was drafted. It should come as no surprise to anyone that he is now the Flyers captain. That C was his for a long time, they just did not sew it on until recently.

You could be slightly surprised that he made such huge strides offensively last year, but in terms of being a leader, he is only doing what has been expected of him when the Flyers originally scouted him.

Awesome draft pick.

[fungchen3]

mister_mcgoo wrote:

#1: if you bleed orange and black, whats with the avatar?
#2: I love Richards too but lets not speak of him in the same breath as either CLarke or Gilmour for quite some time, he has a LONG way to go before he matches either

Phaneuf is my current favorite player in the NHL and in my keep league. Yes, I am a born and raised South Philadelphian who has been a Flyers fan for 34 years.

Richards game is very similar to Clarke and Gilmour when they were at his age. He is one of the most complete forward packages in the game right now. And, this is not just a biased Philadelphian talking here, as I am sure you heard all the Mike Richards love from the \"hockey people\" during the season and playoffs. The kid plays in ALL game situations, hits, fights, works his tail off and leads by example. Oh, and he is among the top scorers on his team. Now he is named captain at age 23. Even his coach at Kitchener labelled him a Clarke clone (and that was 4 years ago).

[Rusty Pickles]

I see option B in response to yesterdays question.

There is a good chance Giroux will be on PP1 if they continue to employ Richards at the point, which after last years 30+ PP pts I suspect they will. \"The French Connection\" is already being thrown around (giroux, gags, and briere) as a potential pp line. Knuble is too slow for top 6 minutes, that became very very clear in the Pittsburgh series. He will be moved or on the third line and pp2. I think his days are numbered here (with the glut of forward talent on its way there is not much of a surprise there). Knuble definitely is a guy willing to do the dirty work and will get a lot of trash (which is why he did well with carts who shoots a ton).

I am most impressed with Richards\' SH ability as he has won me that cat many weeks all by himself. Those familiar with my ramblings know I love pointing out that the only player in the league who has more shp since Richards hit the NHL is Danny Alfredson.


And a big YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for all my south philly people. (as that is where i rest) B)