Todd Richards (ice hockey)

This article is about the ice hockey player and coach. For the snowboarder, see Todd Richards (snowboarder).
Todd Richards
Richards in 2013 coaching the Blue Jackets
Born (1966-10-20) October 20, 1966 (age 58)
Crystal, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Hartford Whalers
Coached for Minnesota Wild
Columbus Blue Jackets
NHL draft 33rd overall, 1985
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1989–2002

Todd Michael Richards (born October 20, 1966) is an American ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Richards was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He played for the University of Minnesota for four seasons.

He began his professional career with the Sherbrooke Canadiens during the 1989–90 AHL season. After being traded early the next season to the Hartford Whalers organization, he helped the Springfield Indians win the 1991 Calder Cup. Richards also made his NHL debut during that season, playing two games and recording four assists for the Whalers. Richards spent two more seasons with the Indians before beginning to play in the IHL, spending two seasons with the Las Vegas Thunder, and six seasons with the Orlando Solar Bears. He ended his playing career in 2002 with the Genève-Servette HC of the National League A in Switzerland.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Richards spent four seasons as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Admirals. The Admirals advanced to the playoffs each year. In 2004, Milwaukee won the Calder Cup, after sweeping the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in four games.

On August 3, 2006, Richards became the fifth head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. During his first season, he guided Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 51-24-2-4 record and a second-place finish in the AHL’s East Division. The Penguins advanced to the East Division Finals before falling to the Hershey Bears.

Richards signed as an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks of the NHL for the 2008–09 season.

Richards became the second head coach in the history of the Minnesota Wild in June 2009, and the first native of Minnesota to hold the job. After two seasons as head coach and posting a record of 77-71-16, Richards was fired on April 11, 2011. In both seasons, the Wild were in playoff contention most of the season but ended up missing the playoffs. [1] In June 2011, Richards had been hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets as an assistant coach under head coach Scott Arniel.[2] After a poor first half of the season, Arniel was fired on January 9, 2012, and Richards was named as interim head coach.[3]

On May 14, 2012, the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Richards to a two-year contract, making him the sixth full-time coach in team history.[4] On April 19, 2014, Richards led the Blue Jackets to their first ever Stanley Cup playoff victory, a 4-3 double overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.[5] On April 23, Richards coached the Blue Jackets to their first ever Stanley Cup playoff home victory, winning 4-3 in overtime over the Pittsburgh Penguins.[6] On May 27, the Blue Jackets signed Richards to a two-year contract extension through the 2016-17 season.[7] On October 21, 2015, after starting the season 0–7, the Blue Jackets relieved Richards of his duties as head coach.[8]

On June 7, 2016, the Tampa Bay Lightning hired Richards as an assistant coach.[9] On September 28, 2020, he won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning.

On October 23, 2020, the Nashville Predators hired Richards as an assistant coach under head coach John Hynes.[10]

Personal life

Richards is the father of Justin Richards who is under contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.[11] Richards' brother, Travis Richards, is a former ice hockey player.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1984–85 Robbinsdale Armstrong High School HS-MN 24 10 23 33 24 — — — — —
1985–86 University of Minnesota WCHA 38 6 23 29 38 — — — — —
1986–87 University of Minnesota WCHA 49 8 43 51 70 — — — — —
1987–88 University of Minnesota WCHA 34 10 30 40 26 — — — — —
1988–89 University of Minnesota WCHA 46 6 32 38 60 — — — — —
1989–90 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL 71 6 18 24 73 5 1 2 3 6
1990–91 Fredericton Canadiens AHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1990–91 Springfield Indians AHL 71 10 41 51 62 14 2 8 10 2
1990–91 Hartford Whalers NHL 2 0 4 4 2 6 0 0 0 2
1991–92 Hartford Whalers NHL 6 0 0 0 2 5 0 3 3 4
1991–92 Springfield Indians AHL 43 6 23 29 33 8 0 3 3 2
1992–93 Springfield Indians AHL 78 13 42 55 53 9 1 5 6 2
1993–94 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 80 11 35 46 122 5 1 4 5 18
1994–95 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 80 12 49 61 130 9 1 2 3 6
1995–96 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 81 19 54 73 59 23 4 9 13 8
1996–97 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 82 9 36 45 134 10 0 1 1 4
1997–98 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 75 6 37 43 68 17 3 8 11 13
1998–99 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 67 11 26 37 61 16 3 7 10 14
1999–00 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 43 7 18 25 26 6 0 5 5 4
2000–01 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 75 9 28 37 60 16 2 11 13 8
2001–02 Genève-Servette HC NLB 34 11 26 37 18 13 3 13 16 10
IHL totals 583 84 283 367 660 102 14 47 61 75
NHL totals 8 0 4 4 4 11 0 3 3 6

NHL coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Games Won Lost OTL Points Finish Won Lost Result
MIN 2009–10 82 38 36 8 84 4th in Northwest — — Missed playoffs
MIN 2010–11 82 39 35 8 86 3rd in Northwest — — Missed playoffs
CBJ 2011–12 41 18 21 2 (38) 5th in Central — — Missed playoffs
CBJ 2012–13 48 24 17 7 55 4th in Central — — Missed playoffs
CBJ 2013–14 82 43 32 7 93 4th in Metropolitan 2 4 Lost in First Round
CBJ 2014–15 82 42 35 5 89 5th in Metropolitan — — Missed playoffs
CBJ 2015–16 7 0 7 0 0 (fired) — — —
Total 417 204 176 37     2 4  


Awards and honors

Award Year
College
All-WCHA Second Team 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89 [12]
AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1988–89 [13]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1989 [14]
NHL
Stanley Cup champion 2020

References

  1. ^ "Wild hire Todd Richards as head coach". Associated Press. 2009. Archived from the original on 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  2. ^ "Richards Hired as Assistant". The Columbus Dispatch. 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-20.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Blue Jackets fire coach Arniel, Assistant Richards takes over". TSN.ca. 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  4. ^ "Blue Jackets keeping Richards as coach". NHL.com. May 14, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  5. ^ "Columbus Blue Jackets - Pittsburgh Penguins - April 19th, 2014".
  6. ^ "Pittsburgh Penguins - Columbus Blue Jackets - April 23rd, 2014".
  7. ^ "Blue Jackets sign coach Todd Richards to two-year contract extension through 2016-17 NHL season". bluejackets.nhl.com. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  8. ^ "John Tortorella replaces Todd Richards as coach of Columbus (0-7-0)". ESPN. October 21, 2015.
  9. ^ "Lightning hire Todd Richards to serve as assistant coach".
  10. ^ "Predators Hire Todd Richards as Assistant Coach". NHL.com. October 23, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "CBJ sign C Justin Richards to one-year, two-way contract". Columbus Blue Jackets. December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  12. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  13. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  14. ^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
2006–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Minnesota Wild
2009–11 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets
2012–15 		Succeeded by