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Mike Richards VIII Kings vs NHLPA

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It seems the ones who are defending Richards and criticizing Lombardi are the same ones who wanted Richards to center Carter and play on the PP.
 
I think we're past the point where we need to blame Lombardi for anything about Richards' play. You can not like his comments, but to suggest it's anyone's fault but Richards' is road apples. His play has spoken for itself. And I was one of the biggest defenders that he could rebound but this last season he was just toast.

No need to criticize other posters indirectly either, though. Either respond to someone directly so there can be discussion or leave it be, because talking 'about' a topic without involving the posters obviously involved is just insulting.

Edit: this wasn't intended to be @Herby; just a general observation. I didn't even see his post before writing mine.
 
Just want this behind us and want to move forward. If MR wants to wait until later to post a statement, have at it. But glad he's gone, hope he gets help. DL needs to move on and get back in the present.
 
The only person responsible for Mike Richards poor play on the ice is, Mike Richards.

Just like Kopitar is not the victim of poor line mates, Kopitar is responsible for his poor play, just like Mike Richards was responsible for his own.
 
Exactly.

Instead of getting help with his issues (which is no more available than ever in the NHL), getting in shape and staying in LA during the summers, MR went home, partied and lived the lifestyle he has lived for years.

That is not Lombardi's fault. That is not Sutter's fault. Not us fans for being hard on him. It is his fault.
 
Herby said:
And as far as what his teammates think, seriously, who cares? I think it's become painfully obvious that despite being great on the ice, the Kings had some really troubled dudes on their team. We already know what happened to Slava, Stoll was busted and it's obvious he was bringing in the drugs for all the other boys and now the Richards situation.
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You are kidding yourself if you think this isn't the case on every single team in the league. The Kings got really unlucky by getting caught but every team in the league has these kinds of off-ice issues. It just usually doesn't get as public as the Kings issues did. This is the way the NHL tends to be these days. Not saying it's right, but the Kings are not the exception here.
 
Holden Caulfield said:
You are kidding yourself if you think this isn't the case on every single team in the league. The Kings got really unlucky by getting caught but every team in the league has these kinds of off-ice issues. It just usually doesn't get as public as the Kings issues did. This is the way the NHL tends to be these days. Not saying it's right, but the Kings are not the exception here.
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I dunno, seems like you're making a bit of an outlandish statement. We had two players get busted for drugs and another get deported in one offseason. I've never seen anything close to that before, and If every team had guys like this as you contend, you'd see this sort of thing all the time.
 
Holden Caulfield said:
You are kidding yourself if you think this isn't the case on every single team in the league. The Kings got really unlucky by getting caught but every team in the league has these kinds of off-ice issues. It just usually doesn't get as public as the Kings issues did. This is the way the NHL tends to be these days. Not saying it's right, but the Kings are not the exception here.
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Anyone that doesn't believe this needs only to look at the fact that cocaine and marijuana aren't on the list of banned substances by the NHL-NHLPA joint drug testing program.
 
Thrice said:
Anyone that doesn't believe this needs only to look at the fact that cocaine and marijuana aren't on the list of banned substances by the NHL-NHLPA joint drug testing program.
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Agreed. The league and PA need to start dealing with this. No way this is just bad luck with 2 drug incidents on one team.
 
Thrice said:
Anyone that doesn't believe this needs only to look at the fact that cocaine and marijuana aren't on the list of banned substances by the NHL-NHLPA joint drug testing program.
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Agreed 100%. The one thing all these fiascos has revealed is that the NHL drug testing program as a whole is a joke. It's about as close to not testing as you can possibly get.
 
The Tikkanen said:
Agreed 100%. The one thing all these fiascos has revealed is that the NHL drug testing program as a whole is a joke. It's about as close to not testing as you can possibly get.
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The NHL has just kind of plugged it's ears and went 'nananananananana' when it comes to drug use. There are tons of stories about the use of blow in the NHL, it's very easy to find. While they are usually not from recognized sources, and if posted here would be considered libelous, the volume of them is hard to ignore. It's good to see them moving on it now, and in concert with the NHLPA.

Daly might be surprised if it was more than 20 guys, but I wouldn't be. The stuff leaves your system relatively quickly. It takes a pretty heavy user to have a detection window more than a couple weeks.
 
Herby said:
Wonder how Laviolette feels, he was mocked for the Dry Island stuff and he was 100% correct.
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I think he just went about it the wrong way. Demanding that a bunch of young male hockey players not drink at all was a doomed strategy, especially when they have to put their names on a board in the locker room. He effectively split the room, even though he may have had good intentions.
 
Herby said:
Wonder how Laviolette feels, he was mocked for the Dry Island stuff and he was 100% correct.
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As rightly he should have been mocked. You don't treat grown men like children. Pledges and signing your name crap. Be a real authority figure.

We'll never know ultimately how much that was a contributing factor though. Most players drink, most players party, hell most use drugs. Did Richards really take it that much further? Was it more a product of not putting in the off-season work the others did to counter the party aspect? Or was it merely the product of a small man playing a big mans game and wearing down and the partying wasn't the major factor? It's really impossible to say for sure

Fishhead said:
The NHL has just kind of plugged it's ears and went 'nananananananana' when it comes to drug use. There are tons of stories about the use of blow in the NHL, it's very easy to find. While they are usually not from recognized sources, and if posted here would be considered libelous, the volume of them is hard to ignore. It's good to see them moving on it now, and in concert with the NHLPA.

Daly might be surprised if it was more than 20 guys, but I wouldn't be. The stuff leaves your system relatively quickly. It takes a pretty heavy user to have a detection window more than a couple weeks.
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More than 20 is what he said? I'd guess 1/4-1/3 of NHL players use illegal drugs from time to time. Most don't necessarily abuse them, maybe you get down to closer to 20-40 if you talk addicts (both alcohol and illegal drugs). Most teams will have a few.

It was an open secret in Winnipeg two years ago that Setoguchi was out drinking past 2am every single night. Surprise surprise two years later and he is talking about how he went through rehab. It's shockingly common. Back when I was more "tuned in" the hockey community in Edmonton in 04-07 range the stories I could tell about some those guys (coughStollcough).
 
Herby said:
It seems the ones who are defending Richards and criticizing Lombardi are the same ones who wanted Richards to center Carter and play on the PP.
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You and I have gone at it about Richards more than once over the past year, but I'm on Dean's side here, 100%. I work in addictions treatment, and nothing he said surprises me at all, the disbelief, the anger. Richards clearly has a problem, and it seems like Lombardi became way to co-dependent with him over the years.

Sad situation all around. Hopefully Lombardi learns from this and moves on.
 
Fishhead said:
The NHL has just kind of plugged it's ears and went 'nananananananana' when it comes to drug use. There are tons of stories about the use of blow in the NHL, it's very easy to find. While they are usually not from recognized sources, and if posted here would be considered libelous, the volume of them is hard to ignore. It's good to see them moving on it now, and in concert with the NHLPA.

Daly might be surprised if it was more than 20 guys, but I wouldn't be. The stuff leaves your system relatively quickly. It takes a pretty heavy user to have a detection window more than a couple weeks.
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And you're just talking about recreational drugs. NHL players would greatly benefit from the use of PED's, namely EPO during the season. To think these guys are mostly shredded now, they have gotten much faster, much stronger and to assume in our modern world it's being done all naturally is completely false. 82 game season, getting banged around each game, getting on a plane, sleeping in a hotel room-these guys are the perfect fit for the BALCO gummy bear program where you'd wake up every day feeling 100%, injuries heal quicker, oxygen intake is peaked, more points are scored, more money made.
 
The 30 for 30 should start out on a serene lake somewhere in Canada, a line is cast out, camera pans up to find Jason Allison, Kyle Wellwood and Mike Richards fishing together.
 
The Tikkanen said:
And you're just talking about recreational drugs. NHL players would greatly benefit from the use of PED's, namely EPO during the season. To think these guys are mostly shredded now, they have gotten much faster, much stronger and to assume in our modern world it's being done all naturally is completely false. 82 game season, getting banged around each game, getting on a plane, sleeping in a hotel room-these guys are the perfect fit for the BALCO gummy bear program where you'd wake up every day feeling 100%, injuries heal quicker, oxygen intake is peaked, more points are scored, more money made.
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Might force the owners and players to take a look at the length of the season as well. There is no need to be playing hockey in June.

A 72-game regular season would be plenty.
 
KopitarFAN said:
Nobody has heard the exact number yet, but it is safe to assume that the number for the first 5 years will be no higher than $2.2M or so, based on McKenzie's tweet.
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Thank you for the response.

So that's the upper limit. I know he said he was guessing, but I think that's assuming he would be entitled to the full salary this season plus the buyout for the remaining ones.

Even if he went into stage 2 of the drug policy under the CBA, I think that's without pay. So arguably any "perfectly in the middle settlement" would be less.

And if any season is lost due to an immigration issue, that also could be a suspension without pay if the kings had gone the suspension instead of termination route.

Just for arguments sake, if an immigration issue wipes out 5/6 of this season. He'd only get $1 million plus the buyout.

Anyway, just speculating out loud so to speak.
 
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