Thread: Bench Richards.

OP.
Just no.
MRichards played better than previous games. Not 100%, but better.

Part of last night goes to Sutter. That 4th line got matched up against the ducks top line multiple times. If you're going to let Boudreau get his matchup, prepare to face the consequences.

To bring a little actual information, ZOMG HERE COME THE STATS!
here are the year to date corsi numbers (courtesy behindthenet)
(LOL sample size)
Interesting to see Scuderi at the bottom.

MJarvie,
Strong start.
Lets see more from you.

On the season, as a whole, Richards has not rounded into complete form as of yet. He is improving game to game and he's not playing as badly as some of you guys are making out. He just isn't scoring.

But it's not a matter of effort. Nor do I think a benching would help at all in his case.

Don't agree. He's getting knocked on his butt all the time, can't go in a corner and come out with the puck. He looks like he isn't strong enough to stand up to these guys for some reason...Manhatten maybe???

Originally Posted by darby

On the season, as a whole, Richards has not rounded into complete form as of yet. He is improving game to game and he's not playing as badly as some of you guys are making out. He just isn't scoring.

But it's not a matter of effort. Nor do I think a benching would help at all in his case.

Originally Posted by darby

On the season, as a whole, Richards has not rounded into complete form as of yet. He is improving game to game and he's not playing as badly as some of you guys are making out.

I can't speak for everyone, so this is my beef...

The season started on Jan 19, and he should have been ready to go. He's a guy that has a leadership role, and he should have set an example. THIS season even more so, due to the shortened season. IMO, we shouldn't be having discussions about his game "coming around" 7 or 8 games into a 48 game season.

I LOVE Mike Richards, but I still believe he should be made accountable on some level.

PS-I have no idea if "benching" is a good solution. I do agree with the OP though, that his play has been below satisfactory thus far.

I am not jumping on the bash richards bandwagon but to start the season he really does look disinterested. May be a case of a vet pacing himself but could also be a case of a player who is losing his love the for the game. That said, I gotta agree with Wup-still early in the season and ifs its one thing we all should have learned from last season its that its always better to get hot late in the season than to be hot at the start as painful as it is to watch.

And when we look at the Richards trade-it ended up winning us a Stanley Cup which is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Richards could go into complete suck mode the rest of his career and the trade and having him on the roster would have been worth it.

Originally Posted by Hipcheck

I am not jumping on the bash richards bandwagon but to start the season he really does look disinterested. May be a case of a vet pacing himself but could also be a case of a player who is losing his love the for the game. That said, I gotta agree with Wup-still early in the season and ifs its one thing we all should have learned from last season its that its always better to get hot late in the season than to be hot at the start as painful as it is to watch.

And when we look at the Richards trade-it ended up winning us a Stanley Cup which is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Richards could go into complete suck mode the rest of his career and the trade and having him on the roster would have been worth it.

In fairness to Richards, he always looks disinterested but still plays hard. The team as a whole is disinterested and this is why it is so hard to repeat as a Stanley Cup Champion. I do expect the Kings to win each and every game because they have the players to do so.

As a fan of the Kings we got spoiled because of the playoff run they had. I am not sure if they will ever get back to playing like they did in the Spring. This team is not good right now and have very little time left to get better.

C'mon guys, we just won the cup.What do you expect ? Its a short season, and weve got some major injuries on defense.Give it some time, well be ok.

Originally Posted by anjae11eden

I can't speak for everyone, so this is my beef...

The season started on Jan 19, and he should have been ready to go. He's a guy that has a leadership role, and he should have set an example. THIS season even more so, due to the shortened season. IMO, we shouldn't be having discussions about his game "coming around" 7 or 8 games into a 48 game season.

I LOVE Mike Richards, but I still believe he should be made accountable on some level.

PS-I have no idea if "benching" is a good solution. I do agree with the OP though, that his play has been below satisfactory thus far.

This is exactly how I feel. I believe that Richards took the Summer, Fall and part of the Winter off to celebrate his achievement. It's disappointing considering the amount of money he makes and the responsibility he has to this team. I think he will come around. A lot of players around the league are struggling to get their games going. It's only been 3 weeks since training camp opened. Normally the first real game would be going about now. And normally these guys would only have 3-5 months off. Not 7 to 9 months off. He will be there when it counts, I just hope it's not too late for this team.

Originally Posted by KingSurfer

Originally Posted by mjarvie

Okay, I was at tonight's game and Richards was not bad at all. Stop with the stupid posting people. You're falling down to Duck fan level. If Richards was so bad then why does he have only a -1 in the plus minus.

Wish I could say I stopped reading there. Thanks to our trusty friends at Yahoo Sports, it can be known that Richards is tied with Brown for a team worst -6. Maybe you were just talking about him being -1 in tonight's game?

I say that if Richards spent as much time skating and staying fit during the lockout as he did fishing, hunting, hanging out on the lake, and posting about it on his Twitter he wouldn't look so slow and lost out there. In my opinion he's one of the guys who has achieved his goals (cup, big contract) and is content to just cruise from here on out. I would be thrilled if he proved otherwise... but until then I think Sutter's first message should be the removal of the 'A' on his jersey.

Great post. I thought the same thing when reading his tweets. I'm glad he got to relax and enjoy his summer but in the back of my mind I never saw him mention on or off ice training. I honestly didn't think it would show this much though.

I'm not in the bench Richards club but I do believe something needs to change. He has an "A" on his chest, time to lead and act like one. He has it in him. The guys a proven winner. If he's not going to score he can at least lead by example, work his ass off, hustle, and set up some scoring opportunities.

I miss Mitchell and Greene.