Late daughter Daron inspires Canadiens coach Luke Richardson

When Chris Therien lost his sister in 2006, old Flyers teammate Luke Richardson was one of the first people there for support. Therien repaid that in 2010 when Richardson’s daughter Daron died by suicide at the age of 14.

“That broke my heart,” Therien said. “It broke a lot of guys’ hearts because we knew the character of a guy like Luke Richardson and what he meant to us as teammates and people.”

Therien was one of many to attend a memorial ceremony for Daron Richardson in Ottawa, an event that showed how much her father mattered to the hockey community near and far. Eleven years later, Richardson has taken over as acting coach in Montreal and has the Habs a handful of victories from the Stanley

Cup, with Daron on his mind and countless people in the sport glad to see him getting this opportunity.

“He’s always thinking of others, always thinking about how to better the situation,” said Toronto forward Nick Foligno, who knew Richardson for years before playing with and for him in the NHL. “There’s no surprise as to how his career has unfolded as a coach and how many people care about him. He’s a guy that I think every player that played for him or with him absolutely loved.”

The 52-year-old Richardson was thrust into running Montreal’s bench for Game 3 of the semifinals against Vegas last week after interim coach Dominique Ducharme tested positive for coronavirus. After a thrilling comeback victory in overtime, Richardson tapped the DIFD heart pin on his lapel that signifies the Do It For Daron youth mental health program he and wife Stephanie, started in their late daughter’s memory.

“Daron is always in my heart and in our hearts,” Richardson said. “I just thought it was a perfect time to pay a little tribute to her because we definitely miss her.”

Richardson played almost 1,500 NHL regularseason and playoff games and went into coaching after retiring. How he and his family managed the grief of Daron’s death in Nov. 2010 and beyond showed other players and peers his strength and willingness to put others first.

“I still don’t know how he handled it as well as he did because to have something like that happen, it shook everybody,” said Toronto’s Jason Spezza.