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NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: KINGS v DEVILSMay 29, 2012Mike RichardsNEWARK, NEW JERSEY: Practice Day THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mike Richards. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: I don't think we needed much more motivation. I think familiarity, coming in here, knowing what it's about. You don't get opportunities very often to get here, let alone two. I think it's a second chance. Jeff and I and the guys that haven't won it before, we're going to relish it. I think we're all excited for it. Q. A lot of people are surprised that an eighth seed are in the finals. Are you surprised? MIKE RICHARDS: No, I don't think we're surprised. We worked hard to get to this point. Had a good team all year. We struggled I think early on with consistency which put us in some holes throughout the regular season. Once we found that consistency, started scoring more goals, playing just with more confidence, I think we've done well in that situation. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, he taught me to be a professional. That's what he did when he was in junior. He ran things with what you would expect from the NHL. That four years he taught me a lot. Probably one of the guys who taught me the most about the game in the sense of coaching‑wise. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: It took a little bit, just the shock of being traded, going to a team that you don't really know too many people, get to know them not only on the ice, but off the ice. It was frustrating. It was something I never had to deal with before. It was new to me. I don't handle change too well. So I think that was an adjustment. But once I got to L.A., everything fell into place. Tried to build chemistry on the ice. I think everyone did an awesome job in welcoming me and helping me feel comfortable. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: We're just excited to get started. It's been a long week. In between rounds we've had time off, but obviously not the built‑up excitement of going to a final. We've had some hard practices. We've had some workouts, some days off. I think we're as ready as we can be for this tomorrow. Once we hit the ice, I think the adrenaline is going to be going, the excitement is going to be there, just getting back to hockey. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, we didn't play a lot together. Him going from center to wing was an adjustment for him. I think the fact we were as good of friends as we were, there was a lot of communication of trying to build chemistry, whether it's him telling me what I want to do with the puck, me telling him where I need him on the ice. I think that built chemistry a lot quicker. When you have a guy coming to a team who is new, you can sometimes have the guy being a little bit shy, not speak up as much, which might take things a little bit longer to know each other's hockey style. I think the fact we knew each other helped things along. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: Well, I think once you get settled in in L.A., you get excited about starting the season. I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason. If this is the road that was intended for us, then so be it. We're happy now. Jeff is living with me. We're having a good time in L.A. It's a beautiful city, a great place to play. Obviously I didn't know too much about the fans before I went there, but we've had sell‑outs all year. I think when we wrapped up the series against St.Louis, I think that was the loudest I've ever heard a building for the last two, three minutes of the game. I'm at a happy state. Obviously, as I said, frustrating at first, but I couldn't be happier now. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: I'm not sure I've ever really looked back at anything. Right now everything has been coming quick. It just seems like you're getting ready for the next team when you finish something. Obviously in the summertime you'll look back, kind of over‑look the season. You'll be able to make assessments then. Right now we're just kind of focusing. Like I said, we're happy to be here, obviously, but at the same time we have expectations as a team and we know what we came here for. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: Well, we do everything as a team around here. Might not have the numbers that you want throughout the regular season. Everyone knows that they have to sacrifice a little bit if they want to play on our team. We're a defense‑first team. We obviously have a great goaltender and defense. It's nice to have 80 points and 40 goals, whatever people score. At the same time we're in the situation because of the way we play, the style that we play. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: We were pretty mad. I'm not going to lie. It's something I've never had before. I've never been traded. Jeff has never been traded. For us to be traded at the same time I think was a lot of venting to each other. Like I said, everything happens for a reason. If that was the path that was intended for us, that's great. Q. The day that you got Carter, were you forewarned that would happen? How happy were you? MIKE RICHARDS: I was at the rink, had a meeting with Dean. I heard rumors. I think Dean just wanted to make sure everything was going all right, what he was expecting to do. But I didn't know until it was official. I called Jeff an hour after the meeting, kind of told him what was going on, what I knew. He relayed some of the things that he knew. I think within the hour when we called again it was official. I think we were both excited. Not only him and I, but at that point we were struggling for offense. Having him come over was a big confidence boost for our hockey team. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: No, we didn't have that expectation, especially with our contracts. We didn't expect this. We were both excited. Jeff was extremely excited to come to L.A. You know, the rest is obviously history. We've had fun together. We've always envisioned I think winning together. Not too many people get that second opportunity, but we definitely have that now and we have to take advantage of it. Q. People say L.A. is not that great of a hockey town. How is it different from East Coast Philly to laid‑back L.A.? MIKE RICHARDS: Might not be as many people. I don't know how many people. You're going to have six million hockey fans. Even when I look in this room right now, 20 hockey fans, a hundred people, it's still a huge market. Like I said before, when we had the opportunity to wrap up the series against St.Louis, that was probably the loudest I ever heard a building probably for that two or three‑minute span. Q. (No microphone.) MIKE RICHARDS: Not really. I couldn't pick out an exact time. I think there came a point in the season where you're starting to get used to teammates, start feeling more comfortable, but you're still not yourself. I think there was a point, I came back from injury, you start getting your legs under you, you start feeling better, you start just being yourself around the rink, feel comfortable with everybody on and off the ice, you have the confidence to go up to somebody and say something about what you want on the ice, and vice versa, people have the confidence to come up to you and say different things, too. I think there's just a feeling‑out process at the beginning of the year once you're traded. Probably mid February, a month after my concussion, you start feeling better on the ice and confident. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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