After being placed on waivers earlier this week by the Los Angeles Kings, forward Mike Richards made his American Hockey League season debut on Friday night with the Manchester Monarchs.
Although Richards was a member of the 2004-05 Calder Cup winning Philadelphia Phantoms team, the 29-year-old had never played a regular season game in the AHL. Richards talked openly with Andy Tonge of Kings site Mayor’s Manor about his first game with the Monarchs.
ATTENTION Rogers and Shaw customers.
Already enjoying Sportsnet ONE? Now get access to digital editions of Sportsnet magazine at no extra cost.
The Monarchs topped the Portland Pirates by a final score of 3-1. Richards totalled two shots on goal and also picked up a two-minute penalty for hooking. He wasn’t exactly impressed by his own performance.
“I wasn’t great,” Richards told Mayor’s Manor. “I had some good shifts, did some good things, did some bad things, had some bad shifts. [You can] only go up from here.”
Richards on how he found out about hitting waivers:
“Dean [Lombardi] called me on Sunday night and told me. That was that.” [Reporter: Did he have any specific message for you?] No. It was a pretty quick conversation. ‘I’m putting you on waivers tomorrow. See you later.’ There’s nothing you can really say to be honest. It is what it is. He’s not going to say anything that’s going to make it any easier.”
The move from Los Angeles to an AHL outpost in New Hampshire can hardly be viewed as desirable for a two-time Stanley Cup champion like Richards, but the veteran knows it’s a part of the job.
“It’s not easy,” Richards said. “That’s for sure. But, at the end of the day, I’m a hockey player. I [did] what I was told in LA. Whether it was third line, second line, fourth line, I do what I was told. I got told to come down here and play, so I do what I’m told. It’s what being a hockey player is all about.”
The Monarchs don’t play again until Wednesday, February 4. Richards expects to have a better feel for his game by then.
“I think we [have] four or five days until the next [game], so it gives you some time to get used to it [and] get your legs under you. I’ll probably feel a lot better then.”
Richards has five goals and 15 points in 47 games with the Kings this season.
