It’s time for me to admit to everyone that I was completely wrong about the trade for Brad Richards.
I admit it. I was wrong.
To be fair, let’s keep in mind that I didn’t dislike Brad Richards, I disliked the idea of a trade. Any trade. I was petrified by fear that the idyllic season we were having by the time the trade deadline arrived was going to be shattered by the shock of a trade.
I was a little concerned about his contract and his plus-minus, but once the deadline passed and Boucher hadn’t been traded, I was able to look at him a little more objectively.
But after the trade, the Stars dug a trench. They had an abysmal March. At one point I was pretty distraught after they had lost to the Kings again and I compared the trade to the road spikes that cops use to stop fleeing criminals. Pookie started calling Richards “Road Spikes” and no amount of protesting that I meant the trade, not the player, would stop her.
After his performance in the playoffs, I kind of like the name, if you think of him being our weapon against the opposing team. So if you hear me call him “Road Spikes,” it’s a compliment.
In Brad’s first game with the Stars, he got FIVE assists. It is a new franchise record for assists in a game. Everybody was telling him that he might have have oversold himself. He was beaming in the post-game interviews and Nik Hagman, who used three of those assists for his first career hat trick, couldn’t say enough about being on a line with him.
As I got to know him over the first month he was here, I decided right away that I liked him. He is much younger than I thought. He won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay four years ago and he’s only 27. He was drafted by Tampa Bay and had never been traded before so he was shaken up by it a little.
He had a no-trade clause in his contract so he could refuse the trade if he wanted to, but he did a little research and decided he liked the Stars organization and approved it. He had a great first game, but then struggled quite a bit in March as Tippett tried to decide where to put him.
He seemed very upset that he wasn’t blending in early. He always talked about fitting in and not upsetting the chemistry and just doing what he can to help. I felt sorry for him.
By the end of March I was pretty upset that the Stars were in such a funk and I blamed the trade. But I didn’t think it was Richards’ fault. I felt the loss of Mike Smith was screwing with Turco’s mind and the loss of Jeff Halpern was messing up the penalty kill.
In all the talk about Brad Richards coming to town, nobody ever neglected to point out that he won the Conn Smythe as the Playoff MVP in 2004. His reputation as a playoff monster preceded him. I read that he was determined to get a place to live and all his personal stuff settled before the playoffs began so that he could concentrate on nothing but the playoffs. He takes the playoffs very seriously.
And he proved it. He was great in the playoffs. He had 15 points in 18 games.
He was fun to watch, too. He had a highlight-reel assist on Trevor Daley’s goal against the Red Wings. Turco bounced it off the boards to Hagman, who bounced it off the boards to Brad Richards, who took it into a crowd of Red Wings then passed it deftly between his legs to Daley, who scored.
It’s stuff like that that makes me think he’s a keeper.
He has a kind of odd skating form, but he’s much faster than he looks. He has out-skated defenders and caught up to forwards and then stolen the puck from them. He’s a creative playmaker and has made some amazing passes for assists on goals.
And to further endear himself to me, he’s damn good defensively. He had a bad plus-minus in Tampa Bay, but who wouldn’t? They came in dead last. But I’ve seen his defensive play and I like it. He can steal a puck just like Mike Modano. He can skate back fast enough to catch a breakaway, and he can penalty kill. He even plays the point on the power play regularly. If Tippett wanted to, he could play five forwards on the power play, because Modano and Richards both have a lot of experience on the point.
All of this is just my way of saying I’m sorry I doubted the trade. I’m thrilled that Brad Richards is a Star.
Yay! You know how I love Brad. I was pretty bummed when he was traded, especially to the Stars (sorry, I’m a Sharks fan), but I think it has turned out well. He is starting to find his way, and starting to get comfortable. (Not to mention, the Stars, and their fans, have really proven themselves to me to be top-notch). He’s not your typical hockey dude. A lot of them talk about how they just play and that’s it, but he’s actually pretty sensitive about drama, you know, like a real human. The trade was really hard on him, and showed. But the bottom line is he’s a great player and a hockey addicted. He is a real student of the game, and with the new season, my hope is unlimited.
The trade was really hard on him, and showed.
I found this very endearing. Especially since he was able to fight through it and didn’t just pout.
You shouldn’t be sorry you doubted the trade — you had really valid reasons to be concerned! But I’m glad Road Spikes proved you wrong. Also, Road Spikes is like the greatest nickname ever. It’s like Scrap Iron but less retro. I love it. I wish I were called Road Spikes.
I dunno…Scrap Iron is a darn good one. That might be the best ever.
As long as Brad knows I mean it as a compliment, I’m going to start calling him that all the time.
When he’s defending a guy with the puck and just reaches out and pokes it off the guy’s stick, and the guy has to stand on his brakes in order to turn around and chase Brad, that’s what I’m talking about when I call him Road Spikes.
Also, Road Spikes is like the greatest nickname ever.
I agree! Glad you have come around on the name, Patty. It’s just too great not to use!
He really is amazing to watch, you never know what he is going to do next. When he made that through the legs pass to Daley, Hubbie & I both were yelling, “Did you see that! Did you see that!” Too fun.