MURRAY HARBOUR, P.E.I. – Brad Richards, already a member of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Hall of Fame, was recently named to the league’s all-decade team for 1990-2000.
In three seasons with Rimouski, the Murray Harbour native ripped through the QMJHL, tallying 143 goals and 289 assists in 190 total regular season games. He added 30 goals and 90 points in 42 playoff games. The regular season statistics included 71 goals and 115 assists in his last year in 1999-2000.
Richards and Oceanic teammate Vincent Lecavalier, who was also named to the all-decade team after recording 217 points in two seasons, terrorized QMJHL goaltenders in 1997-98 for a combined 77 goals and 230 points.
Richards and the Oceanic won the Memorial Cup in 2000 and he was named Memorial Cup MVP.
Richards, drafted in the third round, 64th overall by Tampa Bay, played 16 seasons in the NHL with Tampa Bay, where he won a Stanley Cup with Lecavalier in 2004. He also played for the Dallas Stars, the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, where he won his second Cup in 2015, and Detroit Red Wings.
Richards also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP in 2004.
One of the ways the league is marking its 50th anniversary is unveiling all-star teams for each of its past five decades.
Each team is comprised of 23 players and two coaches.
The rest of the forwards include Daniel Brière (Drummondville), Mike Ribeiro (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec), Yanic Perreault (Trois-Rivieres), Alexandre Daigle (Victoriaville), Martin Lapointe and Denis Chalifoux (Laval), Pavel Rosa and Martin Ménard (Hull), Martin Gendron (St. Hyacinthe, Hull), Ramzi Abid (Chicoutimi, Acadie-Bathurst, Halifax) and Steve Larouche (Trois-Rivieres, Chicoutimi).
Defencemen are Patrice Brisebois (Laval, Drummondville), Jonathan Girard (Laval, Acadie-Bathurst, Moncton), Philippe Boucher (Granby, Laval), Derrick Walser (Beauport, Rimouski), Steve Gosselin (Chicoutimi), Frédéric Bouchard (Granby, St. Hyacinthe, Rouyn-Noranda, Chicoutimi) and Stéphane Robidas (Shawinigan).
Goaltenders are Roberto Luongo (Val-d’Or, Acadie-Bathurst), Félix Potvin (Chicoutimi) and Jean-Sébastien Giguère (Verdun, Halifax).
The coaches chosen were Michel Therrien (Laval, Granby) and Claude Julien (Hull).
Richards’ 2000 Oceanic team was also finalist for the Canadian Hockey League’s team of the century competition.
