Hectic time for dad Richards
Hawks center getting acclimated to new teammates, fatherhood
Brad Richards slept on Friday night.
It was the kind of sleep that only a first- time parent knows, the kind of sleep you get when your spouse lets you hole up in another room for one glorious night of actual and uninterrupted rest. And he needed it. Richards became a dad last Tuesday, and in the week since, he lost the second- line center job, missed a couple of practices, went straight from the hospital to Dallas and played two games.
So Richards doesn’t have time to be bummed out about losing ( for now, at least) a chance to play between Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad. He doesn’t have time to sweat the small stuff as he tries to assimilate into a new team with a new system. He doesn’t have time for anything, really. He’s a parent now.
“First time in my career, I’m rushing out of the rink to get home,” he said with a broad smile.
Richards knows not to panic about his place in the lineup or the process of learning coach Joel Quenneville’s systems and coaching quirks. At 34, Richards isn’t working his way into an established roster for the first time. It’s his fourth team, and the transition gets a little easier every time.
“As you get older, you’re a lot more comfortable with different situations and used to different things,” he said. “When I went to Dallas that first time [ after being traded by Tampa Bay in 2008], I kind of felt lost. [ But] each time you do it, you get used to it. You’re a lot more comfortable in your skin and being around the guys.”
Richards said it helps that the roster is so well- established and that he isn’t being asked to carry the team on the ice or lead it off the ice. With Andrew Shaw seizing the second- line center spot, Richards has been skating between Bryan Bickell and Ben Smith on the third line and working as a power- play specialist at the point. Despite a turnover at the blue line that led to a short- handed breakaway goal in the Blackhawks’ home opener Saturday night, Richards has made a career as a power- play point man and will see plenty of time there with Nick Leddy gone.
That said, part of the appeal of the Hawks, and one of the reasons he took such a cheap one- year, $ 2 million contract, was the chance to play alongside Kane. But Richards is quickly learning just how itchy Quenneville’s trigger finger gets.
“I don’t know [ if it’s a] disappointment,” Richards said. “You always want to play with good players, but other players here are good, too. I think I’ve already played with six or eight different wingers, counting the preseason. I haven’t really read too much into it.”
It hasn’t helped that the arrival of his son has kept Richards out of a couple of practices. Other than morning skates and games, he hasn’t really had much of a chance to skate with Bickell and Smith and develop any sort of chemistry. Quenneville’s advice to Richards? Play your game.
“Offensively, trust your instincts, whether we’re talking about Brad or some of the new kids,” Quenneville said. “There’s definitely some growth that’s necessary there, but ‘ trust your instincts’ is what we tell them until they get a little more familiarity. Instinctively, you’re going to go to that right spot, you’re going to anticipate your wingers on certain plays. It’s just a matter of time before it’s natural and they’re all up to speed.”
It’s just a matter of time before Richards’ life settles into a normal rhythm again, too. A new team, a new season and a new baby have made his first month in Chicago a wild one.
“It’s a little bit all over the map, but everything is good,” he said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s good. My mind is on good things.”