I remember the Sabres losing both Danny Briere and Chris Drury after a conference finals loss, and my reaction to todays trades by the Flyers is pretty much the same...
The Flyers, much like that Sabres team that lost to eventual Cup-winner Carolina, had everything break right, yet the team couldn't close the deal. Remove the emotion and make a business decision - you can either keep falling short or you can retool and try again. This collection of Flyers, and Buffalo before them, weren't good enough to win a championship. Those Sabres were given the choice to overpay for their co-captains and, as Einstein said, display insanity by expecting different results from the same roster (apology for the Liberty, Mr. Einstein) or they could cut bait, get what the could from the most marketable of their assets and try again with a new roster.
Claude Giroux ascended to top line center status in this year's playoffs, Danny Briere's clutch play is perfectly suited for the 2nd until Braden Scenn's potential is realized, and there is finally balance to the Flyer's forward corps after the addition of gritty 22 year-old Wayne Simmonds and former Blue Jacket winger Jakub Voraek.
Mike Richards was no longer the perfect fit as Bobby Clarke 2.0 in Philly. E.J. Hradek quoted a former Flyer in a reactionary peice for nhl.com today stating that Richards had a falling out with coach Peter Laviolette. Seems the Flyers' bench boss wanted a relationship with his captain similar to the one he had with Rod Brind'Amour in Philly. The source staed "Mike's not that kinda guy." Ouch.
Brind'Amour had a reputation as a stand-up, lead by example, rallying type of captain. Kind of what the Canadian media types have been billing Richards as since he captained Canada to World Junior Gold prior to being drafted in 2003. As somone who has watched many Flyers games, his play hasn't screamed "clutch leader" to me recently. Briere has been the one who seemed to bury pucks when Philly has needed them most recently, and in this years' playoffs, the ascension of both Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, along with Ville Leino, has made Richards expendable. I do remember, however, Richards laying questionable hits (hello, David Booth and Rule 48) and losing his composure on more than one occasion.
The fact that he didn't wind up in Toronto speaks volumes to the way his sparkling image has started to taint. Everyone and their mother knows Brian Burke wants a top-line center to skate with Phil Kessel and is willing to overpay. But, as eported in articles on both ESPN.com and NHL.com, he wouldn't give up Nazem Kadri and Nikolai Kulein for him.
Needless to say, I'm not a huge Mike Richards fan at this point. But, I am willing to admit that maybe he will fit better in LA as a 2nd line center and without the "C" on his chest. He can focus on playing a gritty 2-way game and not be the franchise face when things get bumpy. He can do his job and go home, leaving captain Dustin Brown to lead the team. This is definitely Brown and Anze Kopitar's team. But they now have Richards under contract for the next 9 years. Hard to imagine, after all the praise he received comin out of junior, that this new role may come to define the now-former Flyer captain.
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