Interview With Former LA King Brad Richardson

On June 11th, 2012, history was made as the Los Angeles Kings’ won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, defeating the New Jersey Devils in 6 games. It was a night that many a Kings’ fan will remember forever, especially for those of us that have cheered on and suffered with this team for a very long time. That night, it was as if all past disappointments and heartbreaks (and illegal sticks) were finally washed away and replaced with something that none of us had ever experienced before … glory.

I remember vividly being in my sport’s room (or as my wife calls it, my man cave) and having my face almost pressed up against the HD television, balling my eyes out like a new-born baby and surrounded by every LA Kings’ jersey that I had ever owned around me, (you know, so they could witness the historical event as well). I thought it was only fitting and appropriate that if I would ever be fortunate enough to interview someone from that Stanley Cup winning Los Angeles Kings’ team, (and actually talk about that team and Cup victory, as I have interviewed Dustin Penner twice, but we talked about the Oscars instead), I would do so in this very same room. I finally achieved that goal by being fortunate enough to talk to former LA King and 2012 Stanley Cup Champion Brad Richardson … and I almost goofed it up.

It didn’t occur to me that doing the interview in this room was probably not such a great idea, as the room is full of pictures, banners and flags of that 2012 (and 2014) Stanley Cup winning Los Angeles Kings’ teams. When Mr. Richardson was talking about that Cup run and victory with his LA King teammates, I happened to look up and all of the memories and emotions from that time and championship day (which also happened to be my birthday) came flooding back to me. I then got nervous when it finally really hit me that I was talking to THE BRAD RICHARDSON OF THE 2012 LA KINGS and had to fight with myself from fully fan boying out! Luckily for me, Brad Richardson is one of the most friendliest and kind hearted people that you could ever talk to.

Born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada on February 4, 1985 and drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2003 NHL entry draft, (which is now known as one of the most deepest and talented draft pools in NHL history), Richardson arrived to Los Angeles in 2008 and instantly made himself at home. A bit older than his younger and inexperienced teammates, Richardson became a trusted and reliable member of the Kings, whose hard work and energetic hustle was an important piece of the complete puzzle that allowed the Kings to plow through their opposition and win that 2012 Stanley Cup. Now with the Arizona Coyotes, it was a complete honor and a pleasure to talk to Mr. Richardson over the phone and talk about his time with the Los Angeles Kings’ and winning that beautiful Stanley Cup.

Thank you again Mr. Richardson for doing this interview today.

Oh, no worries.

You were traded to the Los Angeles Kings from the Colorado Avalanche in 2008.  How was that early experience of playing with the Kings, who at the time weren’t making the playoffs often yet?

For me it was a good move because things didn’t go great in Colorado for me and I was ready to move on. LA was kind of a young and up and coming team and it was nice to play with these younger guys that got a chance to play and kind of grow with guys that came in that year like Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds and guys like that and that was nice. You get in there and you feel comfortable. That first year, we weren’t very good but we kept getting better every year.

How did you find living in Southern California and what were some of your favorite things to do there?

Well there’s not too many better places to live in. Living in Southern California is pretty nice and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get good weather about ninety percent of the time. There’s a lot of flip flops and board shorts and hanging out at the beach. Probably one of my favorite things was hanging out at the beach and playing volleyball, hanging out and maybe going for a swim. Stuff like that, and we all lived pretty much within 5 minutes of each other and we would walk or ride our bikes right up to each other’s houses and we became quite a tight knit group in a hurry.

You had previous experience of playing in the playoffs with Colorado and in 2010, You and the Kings made it to the playoffs, which was the first time in 7 years for the team and played the Vancouver Canucks.  What was it like for the team to be finally playing in the post season, especially since most of your teammates were doing so for the first time in their careers?

It was a great experience. You know, when I got there, there was a lot of younger guys so there wasn’t much expectations and we didn’t do very well but we kind of grew off of that. Then we had a good season and we got into the playoffs and that was an accomplishment just in itself when you’re a young team, that’s just kind of your goal, to get there. Then when you get there, you kind of want to do other things and try and win the series and get past the series, but we were against a pretty tough opponent in Vancouver. We played pretty hard but they were just a better team that year and we were still a little too inexperienced.

Before and during the 2011-12 season, The Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi pulled off some big trades to help the team. First it was Mike Richards and Colin Fraser, and then he brought in Jeff Carter at the trade deadline. What was your thoughts and opinions when you found out those players were coming to LA?

I think the first one was the Mike Richards trade, which was huge. We all knew his track record from “Philly” and what kind of player he was, and his competitiveness, so I think that kind of gave us the thought, “Okay, we’re going to be a good team,” and it made the team committed to winning. Then you have the kind of player like Colin Fraser come in and he had experience and was a hard working, grinder type of guy and he brought some leadership, so that was good. You know, that year we started in Europe and got back feeling tired and didn’t get off to a great start. Then our coach (Terry Murray) got fired but we got Jeff Carter around the trade deadline, and that certainly made everything start to click. We then went on a huge run to get into the playoffs and then we took it as far as we could go!

Yes, you certainly did! In those 2012 playoffs, you and the Kings had a rematch against the Vancouver Canucks and everyone remembers the Jarret Stoll overtime, series winning goal that advanced the Kings into the next round and then beyond. What some might not remember is that the Kings were losing 1-0 for most of that game and it was you that tied things up in the third period that led to that overtime. Can you take us back to that historical game 5 and tell us about what you remember most about your big goal and that series win?

Yeah, it seemed like Vancouver had been on top of the food chain in our conference for a while and they had taken us out in the playoffs, so they were that team that you loved to hate. We were so excited that we got to match up against them again, even though we were the 8^th seed and they were number 1, we had a feeling that we were gonna beat them. Then for me personally, I had my appendix out, had an emergency appendectomy before that series started, so I missed the very first two games of it. I then came back into it right away and in that game, like you said, we were down going into the 3^rd period and I just kind of remember that I just went to the net and Drew Doughty saw me for an empty net tap in. You know late in the 3^rd, we were looking to close out the series and we didn’t want to give them any momentum, so to get that goal to tie it up was nice and then we got to overtime and “Stolly” made one hell of a shot to close it out. After winning that series we knew that we could really cause some damage.

You guys definitely did some damage, steamrolling to the Stanley Cup with a 16-4 record. LA had some great lines during that run but I always felt that the combination of you, Colin Fraser and Jordan Nolan on the quote/unquote “fourth” line was the bread and butter, or even the heart and soul of that playoff run. No offense of course to Simon Gagne, who was a phenomenal player and he deserved a chance to get his name on the Cup too, but he was injured for most of the  year and I never agreed with coach Darryl Sutter for replacing you with him on that line after game one or two in that Cup final. I’m sure he was still very rusty from being off for so long and it can’t be easy to just jump right back in, especially during the Stanley Cup finals, but that line lost some of the fire it had when you were on it. This isn’t really a question, but more of a rant that I’ve held in for four years and if I was coaching, I wouldn’t have pulled you out of that line in the final because you guys had such great chemistry and played so great together. I think I just always wanted to tell you that. *Laughs*

Oh thank you. *Laughs* That’s very nice of you. Well you know, it is what it is.

You guys had such energy and hustle, and a great ability to either get under the skin of your opponents, or to just have them on their heels. What was it about the three of you playing together that just worked so well?

Well that’s just it, when you’re in that fourth line role, it’s all hard work and effort and that’s the way you get to play. A lot of times in those series, you know obviously your stars do their thing and they have to be good and all that, but you need the energy too and you need some guys to bring the juice and jam that the other guys can feed off of. For any team that ever wins, you’re gonna need guys like that, that can bring that energy and accept that role and try to do the best they can.

You and the Kings then completed that historical and NHL record breaking run, becoming to first 8^th seeded team ever to beat the first, second and third seeded teams and win the Stanley Cup. How did you feel and what did it mean to you personally to win the Stanley Cup and with a franchise like Los Angeles, who had never won it before?

You know, it was a lifelong goal that was accomplished. Obviously, every kid that has ever played hockey has thought about lifting the Cup and to finally reach that and to do it with guys that you played and grew up together with, you know we were so tight knit, it was unbelievable. That run we had where it just seemed that nothing could go wrong and we were playing about as good as you can get.

Oh yeah.

There was so many good things and LA had never won for so many years, and then everything just came together that you almost kind of believe that it never actually happened.

What did you get to do with the Stanley Cup during your “Day with the Cup?”

It seems like we had a lot of days with the Cup. *Laughs*

For my personal day, I took it back to Belleville, Ontario, where I’m from and just had friends and family around. We did a couple of little things at City Hall and stuff so other people can see it and get some pictures and we went to a kid’s arena and surprised them with it as well. Then later with friends and stuff, we sat around and told some hockey stories and had some drinks in it, you know, it was just a great day. Honestly the coolest thing for me was seeing my friend’s reactions and sitting back and watching them have fun and then drinking out of it and doing all that, that was really cool.

Well Mr. Richardson, on behalf of CaliSports News, and for myself, a long time LA Kings’ fan who isn’t afraid or ashamed to admit that I cried like a baby when you and the Kings won and lifted up that Stanley Cup, especially since I live here in the east, so when Dustin Brown and the rest of you finally raised up that Stanley Cup and passed it around, it was past midnight here and officially June 12^th, which made it my birthday. That was the greatest birthday present that I ever had.

Oh wow, that is really cool.

So thank you Mr. Richardson, not only for this interview, but for helping the Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012, which made each and every LA Kings’ fan’s dream come true. Best of luck to you in the upcoming season as well, of course not against the Kings, I’m sure you understand, but again, thank you so much.

*Laughs* Awesome, I really appreciate it and it was great chatting with you.

*Special thanks to Brad Richardson, Lauren Richardson, Theresa Walsh Duarte, Mario Hicks and my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brother from a different mother, Craig Brown for their help with this article.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, all the time!

 

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2 Comments

1. 

   Faye Howell Walsh

   September 25, 2016 at 2:34 pm

   Jeff, I remember that day, because that is when we gave you some LA Kings things for your birthday, and the day they won the cup. You were so very very excited and happy. Keep up the amazing and great job. Take Care.
   • 

     Jeff Duarte

     October 10, 2016 at 8:55 am

     Yes it was! What amazing gifts on what became an amazing day!