I had originally planned to close this series with Mike Richards, but, browsing across the net last night and reading some reviews on the young captain made me change my mind. I decided to do a three part series on him instead. In fact, after studying up on him more and more it actually changed my mind on my favorite Flyer. Ever since I can remember watching hockey, I always loved the scorers so naturally Simon Gagne has been my favorite for a while now. Then along came Richards, full of stamina and spirit for the game, born to lead. Needless to say after all of the legendary captains the Flyers have had in the past, nobody expected Richards to fill any one’s shoes right away. Soon after the “C” was sewn on his jersey, we realized high expectations were to be filled, and filled fast.

Statistically speaking, Richards isn’t exactly a top 10 goal scorer, but within the last two years as captain he has really stepped up his production. 75 points in the 07-08 campaign and a career high in goals-30, assists-50, points-80, plus/minus rating-+22, short handed goals-7, and shots-238 in the 2008-2009 season. Along with the staggering offensive production in only his 4Th year in the NHL, he is probably in most people’s top 5 defensive forwards. Nominated for the Selke trophy after his performance this past season, at just 24 years old he hold the record for most 5-on-3 short handed goals in a career with 3. I think it’s safe to say that the number will raise in the many years to come. Many have compared Richards to Flyers great Bobby Clark with good reason. Heart and soul wise yes Richards plays with just as much if not more. And with his production on offense stepping up steadily every season I think Richards could be as good offensively as Clarke. The only other thing missing for Richards to complete the comparison of Clarke is the cup.

Now obviously at such a young age I wasn’t around for the Bobby Clarke era of the Flyers, but with the power of the internet nowadays I have watched many of his games and I can see the comparison made between the two above. If the consistency is there for Richards as in was for Clarke, we have another 10 years of a great leader and a solid scorer. With a solid left wing in Simon Gagne, all our top line is missing is a consistent, healthy right winger to come in and contribute 30-40 goals a year to make that line the best in the league. All of us die hard Flyers fans are ready to see this young captain hoist the cup in the near future and we all know he has the skills to lead a team all the way. Here’s to hoping it’s this season.