	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS: FLYERS v BLACKHAWKS

May 27, 2010

Mike Richards

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Practice Day

Q. There's been a lot of comparisons between you and Jonathan Toews. What was it like playing him on Team Canada?
MIKE RICHARDS: He's a great player. He makes his line mates better, makes his teammates better, and I learned a lot from him at the Olympics. I enjoyed my time playing with him, and obviously he's having a great Playoff right now.

Q. Did you guys have a chance to become friends?
MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, we're friends. Talk to each other a little bit. He's from Winnipeg, and I'm from Kenora, which is pretty close, too.
So we're friends now. We talk. But, obviously on the ice, you know, it will be a little different. We'll play hard against each other, but I think that's expected.

Q. What made that line click the way it did?
MIKE RICHARDS: I'm not sure. I mean, he's easy to play with. He makes, like I said, the linemates better and he's always in the right position. He's great defensively, and he's got great offensive skills.
So he's easy to play with, just supporting him. And I enjoyed my time with him.

Q. You see the similarities, we talk about similarities between the two of you, do you see them when you're actually playing, do you see something about him that maybe is in your game, too; do you see that?
MIKE RICHARDS: I don't really look for that when I watch him. But I'll take that as a complement, if you see that. He's a great player.
I mean, he's so tenacious on the puck. He works hard. He's a great offensive player, and I think just his competitive level on the ice, I think, is what makes him a great player.

Q. He talked about what he wanted to do in Olympics as far as the leaders in that room. Did you feel the same way, being captain of your own team and going there and seeing everybody, did you take a lot out of it as well?
MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, I did. And it's funny how different people handle pressure situations, and that many leaders who have been in so many different situations to handle it differently, and you obviously grab some things; and Chris was there with me, kind of guiding me through a lot of it, too. It's nice to have those leaders around and somebody's who's been through it before to help you out.

Q. Comparisons with these two organizations, three years ago both last place in the division. What does it say about the league, it's a shorter period of time (Indiscernible).
MIKE RICHARDS: Yeah, we have a very similar team build, too. I thing if you look at the lineups are very similar in defense and come from a lot of draft picks and obviously a couple signings too.
But I feel on paper we're very similar. So I think it's just going to come down to who plays the best the longest.

Q. You obviously played with him, do you think you'll get to play against him a lot? Do you think the match ups will go that way and if so how will you play?
MIKE RICHARDS: I'm not sure. I'll play him hard if he's matched up against us. They obviously have the last change. So we won't get to decide that. But I will see how the first couple games go, and then I guess we'll make adjustments when we get to Philadelphia.
But I'm sure, I mean, he understands and I understand it's going to be competitive out there, and we're probably going to play each other tough.

Q. You guys won both of those at so many different levels. How much does that help prepare you for this?
MIKE RICHARDS: I think the pressures of the different series and especially Olympics, just dealing with the pressures there and now dealing with the pressure of being here, obviously, is a lot of the same things.
But, I mean, we're going to use, or I'm going to use a lot of the experiences I've gone through in different Playoff series and try to put them towards us.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297