Tampa, Fla. — A few days ago, when the Tampa Bay Lightning were on the ropes in the Stanley Cup final, coach John Tortorella hit upon a brainwave: Put all three of his primary scorers on a single line.
There was Vincent Lecavalier, the No. 1 player chosen in the 1998 entry draft, the man chosen to become the public face of the franchise. There was Martin St. Louis, the undrafted free agent, who blossomed in a Tampa uniform and will soon be annointed the NHL's most valuable player.
Most importantly, there was Brad Richards, the quiet, unassuming 24-year-old from tiny Murray Harbor, PEI. Richards may not possess Lecavalier's flash or St. Louis's dash, but he quietly evolved into one of the finest players in the NHL.
Richards's coming-out party came during the 2004 playoffs, in which he established an NHL single-season playoff record by scoring seven game-winning goals. Altogether, Richard scored or assisted on 10 of the 16-game winning goals in the playoffs.
In the end, that achievement won him the 2004 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoffs' most valuable player. Richards set up Ruslan Fedotenko for the opening goal in Monday's 2-1 Tampa win over the Calgary Flames, which gave the Lightning in an ultra-close seven-game Stanley Cup final.
"I'm from a small place," said Richards, afterwards. "There's not many of us in the NHL. I'm so proud of where I'm from. They're behind me every day, every minute. I've had so many calls, posters, whatever you can think of was sent to me.
"This is for them."
Richards had just a so-so first half, but went home for the holidays on a whirlwind 24-hour trip and it gave him a whole new appreciation for how good his life in the NHL really was.
"It was an awful first half," said Richards. "It seemed as if all our top players went into slumps. I think I had three or four goals and I thought the world was falling apart. So I went home and really enjoyed my family and it made me realize just how fortunate I was to be in the NHL and decided just to go have fun with it."
Richards's last game-winner came in Game 4 of the series, but one could argue that his most important goals came in last Saturday night's 3-2 overtime win over Calgary. That night, with the Lightning on the playoff ropes, Richards scored two goals in regulation and then set up Martin St. Louis for the overtime game winner to keep Tampa's championship hopes alive.
For Monday's game, Murray Harbor virtually emptied out and came to Florida to watch the Lightning go for the Cup and were there to see him accept the Conn Smythe Trophy from commissioner Gary Bettman.
"It's unbelievable," said Richards. "I have the greatest family in the world. Relatives, parents, sister, they all flew in today. That makes it even more special - that they could all be here."
Richards grew up idolizing the Colorado Avalanche's Joe Sakic and in many ways, Richards looks like a young Sakic, right down to the jersey No. 19. He is stylish, quick, smart, skilled. In a series decided by special teams' play, Richards dominated with the man advantage.
Two years ago, the Lightning were considered one of the worst franchises in professional sports, but they made the playoffs last spring, won a playoff round and then went all the way in their second shot at it.
"Every year, it just got better and better here," said Richards. "It's just perfect. Not much changeover helped this team jell. From the first day I was here until now, it's unbelievable what's happened."
