Back with a better attitude
Goalie Richards quit with concussion issues, but missed the sport too much
Tyler Richards admits that his coming out of retirement to rejoin the Vancouver Stealth isn’t a feel-good story just yet.
Richards, 29, inked a one-year deal this week with the National Lacrosse League club, the same one based out of the Langley Events Centre that he left in May, citing concussion concerns. A save off Richards’ mask in a March 29 contest caused him to miss five Stealth games — Richards said that it was his third concussion in five years.
Slide ahead to this season, and Richards, the former Vancouver No. 1 goalie, missed the sport so desperately in the opening weeks of the NLL campaign that he went to doctors to see if he could get cleared for competition. With that in hand, he asked the Stealth brass to take him back. Following positive medical reports and some apparent contemplation, they obliged this week, releasing backup netminder Chris Levis in the process.
This is where things get more interesting. Richards, a Coquitlam native, contends he returns a changed person. He admits he hasn’t always been the best teammate in his seven previous years with the club.
That would have been easier to deal with when the Stealth, then based in Everett, Wash., were winning the NLL championship in 2010, along with winding up in the final in 2011 and 2013. In the first two years in Langley, Richards was part of a club that missed the post-season both campaigns, finishing a combined 9-27.
Also at play here is the fact that Levis, 39, is an 11-year NLL veteran who came out of retirement specifically to mentor new Stealth No. 1 netminder Eric Penney, who, at 22, is the youngest starter in the nine-team loop. By all accounts, Levis excelled in trying to guide Penney.
As well, the Stealth are coming off arguably their best game in their three years based out of the LEC, a 15-7 decision over the Colorado Mammoth last Saturday at the LEC that featured 40 saves from Penney.
“I’ve had a lot of personal growth in the last year,” said Richards. “My life is a lot different. I’m a lot happier person than I was last year. I was pretty selfish. It was all about me and what was happening in my head. Sometimes, you need to step away to see things clearly.
“My biggest concern is about what they’ve built so far. The lacrosse I saw them play last week against Colorado was the most fun I’ve seen a Stealth team have maybe ever.
“My biggest challenge is fitting into that dressing room.”
Give him credit. He could have easily tried to paint everything as rosy and simple. Give him, and the rest of the group, even more credit if they make this work.
The Stealth, who carry a 2-3 record into a road game against the Rochester Knighthawks (2-2) on Saturday (4:30 p.m.), are still trying to make a go of it at the LEC. Hosting a playoff game in May would help.
Is Richards the guy to lead them to that? Is he the guy to lead Penney to lead them to? Or is he neither?
We’ll find out. The same goes for whether Richards can put action to his words. “The challenge I have for myself is about bringing the right attitude,” Richards said. “I didn’t always have the right attitude before.
Richards admitted last May that he wasn’t told to retire by doctors, but said that he wanted do so before he was forced out. He admits that he “was more worried about the potential affects than the actual reality.
“I feel way better now than I’ve felt in the past couple of years.”