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Flyers captain Mike Richards clears the air about his role as captain and more

Mike Richards

Philadelphia Flyers’ Mike Richards speaks to reporters Monday, April 25, 2011, at the team’s NHL hockey training facility in Voorhees, N.J. The Buffalo Sabres are scheduled to play the Flyers in Game 7 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series on Tuesday..(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

AP

Flyers captain Mike Richards has already had a more than tumultuous offseason in Philadelphia. While the Flyers were swept out of the playoffs by Boston, Richards came under fire from many people upon the conclusion of the year. After all, when you’re the captain of a high profile team, these things will happen.

Richards was accused of having a rift with coach Peter Laviolette. He also had the finger pointed at him by some for not being a good enough captain for Philadelphia, a stunning accusation given what the Flyers have been able to do under his watch. With Richards having undergone surgery on his wrist this offseason, an injury that severely hampered his abilities against Boston, the slings and arrows have been sailing in from all directions, in particular some members of the media, CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio and Sun Media’s Steve Simmons, who Richards sounded off at on Twitter.

Richards took time out from vacationing in Cabo to talk with Flyers Files Chuck Gormley to clear the air about a few things. If you’re a Flyers fan or curious onlooker, it’s a must read but here’s a few key points Richards hits on.

On the captaincy:

Whenever things go wrong, there are always going to be people blamed and fingers pointed. That generally comes with the job of being the captain. The first person in line is usually me. It sucks more that we lost and we’re in this situation than what’s being written. You just learn from your mistakes and try to do better in the future.

On what the Flyers need to do with goaltending next year:

I have full confidence in Bob (Sergei Bobrovsky) coming in and playing well. If you look at what he was accustomed to before coming to the NHL, that’s a lot of games for a goaltender who switches over. You saw how well he played in the beginning of the year when he was rested, strong and feeling good about himself. It’s a long season and sometimes you get tired out. As a player who has been there before you make adjustments, train differently and learn as you go and I think Bob is going to do that. He’s going to be a good goaltender in this league and hopefully I can go through it with him.

On his wrist injury in the playoffs:

I think so. I don’t want to make excuses by any means, but faceoffs were a big thing for me and, man, it’s frustrating. It’s a part of my game I pride myself in and we just didn’t get that, especially against (Boston Bruins center Patrice) Bergeron. To me, that was the flashing light that I didn’t have that strength to face him. My shot wasn’t as good as I would like to see, but at the same time, everybody plays with injuries. I wish I would have gotten (surgery) done at the beginning of the year when I had the opportunity to, but we didn’t know that it was going to keep getting worse instead of better throughout the year. It was unfortunate, but you live and you learn.

Such openness from an NHL player and team captain is refreshing and seeing him be as frank as he is about just about everything that came into question at the end of the season is honestly great to read. Richards will still have to do a lot on the ice next season to make people put the bitterness about the Flyers playoff failure this year behind them. As great as their run to the Stanley Cup final was in 2010, it’s just as disappointing for them to get bounced in the second round this year.

While Richards’ game comes with a certain edge and then some, how he comes back next year (and likely with a chip on his shoulder) should make the Flyers all the more dangerous next season.