In the continuing effort to clear all forwards off of our NHL roster, Brad Richardson has been sent to the AHL. Actually, he was sent down to make room for Tyler Arnason, a case of reality being funnier than my own joke.
Richardson has been caught in the ice time / production vicious circle this year. He hasn’t done much, which results in less ice time, which results in lower production, which results in less ice time…and so on and so on and so on. It speaks volumes that Richie missed last night’s game, and I didn’t even notice until afterward.
I really like Richardson, and I don’t think he was given a fair shake with the team - he was miscast as a 4th line player last year. He isn’t, and he kind of got stuck in a role he just isn’t suited for. With all due respect to Adrian Dater, I don’t know that I buy Richardson reinventing himself as a “grinding, checking, irritating player”. I have a tough time picturing his body standing up to that sort of rigor. I still think Richardson can be a scorer in the NHL…but it sounds like this particular opportunity has passed him by for now.
But who knows? Maybe Joel Quenneville will call him up to play defense next week…
This seems like weird timing considering all the injuries… could it be a rehab assignment to heal his shoulder?
Dater says he’s healthy (which seems odd, considering the reports we heard just yesterday that he was having trouble with his shoulder).
And Smytty has an ankle sprain
I’m speechless. Richardson is in a doghouse for reasons I just don’t understand. Who ever thought this kid was a defensive grinder never paid attention to his developement. What a waste. Boychuk and Cumiskey playing forward while Richardson and Jones are in the AHL. Now, Theo will get the next start for sure. I’ve been reluctant to side with the fire Q crowd but I’m quickly starting to sour on him. He’s horrible with goalies, can’t figure out the power play with a truck load of talent and is supposed to be a defensive guru but doesn’t recognize the deficiencies of players like Skrastins to the point he plays two defensemen as forwards. I’m at a loss.
This move is just plain stupid. Richardson is a very good two-way forward. He has the ability to be a Konowalchuk-type 3rd line forward, center even, and that’s something we sorely need.
But our idiot coach demotes him so they can bring back useless-ass Arnason?
It’s getting to where I don’t even root for them to win anymore. Wins just prolong the inevitable; they help this worthless piece of trash hang on to his job that much longer.
I hate Q for being an awful coach, for screwing this team up since he took over this job, for taking a team talented enough to contend and absolutely running it into the group.
But most of all, I hate the piece of trash for making it to where I can’t even root for my team to win anymore.
Fuck you, Joel Quenneville.
Besides Tuesday, that is.
There is no way I could ever root for the Avs to lose to the Wings and the arrogant, ignorant, trashy vermin that call themselves Red Wing fans.
This move is especially curious. The one impact where coaches have more impact than anything else is in personnel choices. Demoting Richardson, who I think we all like, when you are short on forwards is pretty indefensible.
To me, this move reeks of arrogance on the part of Quenneville. I believe he thinks he’s so good that he can take guys and play them out of position.
No matter how much Richardson has struggled (even setting aside the fact that I think his struggles have a LOT to do with the way he’s been used), it’s preposterous to think that either Cumiskey or Boychuk will help this team at forward more than he can.
Joel Quenneville is effin stupid to demote Richardson. What a prick. Richardson is way better than Arnason even though he has been struggling. Besides, the way he uses Richardson is plain stupid.
I’m a huge Richie fan, but I’ve never understood why he’s been relegated to the 4th and 3rd lines almost his whole career. Let’s be honest, he’s not the greatest passer or defender (though not poor at either), but he’s a fast guy and works hard, he can cycle well, and has some excellent finishing skills.
Doesn’t that seem like a guy that should be playing top 6 minutes, with people that can truly set him up? Apparently not.
something else to chew on: according to you, DD, he scored 3 goals in 6 games with Sakic last year, and I seem to recall him scoring one in the only game he spent with Sakic this year. So in the 7 games he’s spent as a top forward with Sakic, he’s scored 4 goals. Gee, let’s send his ass down, he’s terrible!
That said, he hasn’t looked great since the start of this year — not much jump, and that sweet shot hasn’t been seen all year. Sending him to Lake Erie to get top line minutes and and get his confidence/shot back might be good things in the long run.
But he still hasn’t gotten a fair shake with the Avs. Here’s hoping he gets another chance this year or next with proper usage, like McCormick.
believe me, Doc, I know about the Sakic thing. In fact, I said the same thing in his final grade this spring:..
“Had 3 goals in the 6 games he played with Sakic and Brunette and generally played well enough in those games to warrant more ice time on the top line”
http://inthecheapseats.com/final-grades/04-25-2007/final-grade-brad-richardson
something else I said this spring:
“Has a deceptively good wrist shot, which he needs to use more often”. I think that still applies - he doesn’t seem like he’s got enough confidence in his shot, which is too bad because it’s really quite good. Perhaps he’ll find that confidence in Cleveland.
I have been one of the leader’s of the fire Q’s ass sooner than later, but this move has even more people jumping on our wagon. I questioned the move to bring Boychuk up instead of Jones or Stewart, though I wasn’t surprised with Cuminksy playing forward. Remember Klee did that a lot last year when Q had the “play 7 d-men” stick up his ass.
One of the reason Richardson hasn’t played more on the top tier lines is the play of Stastny, Wolksi, and lately Svatos. Hard even for a guy like Richardson to break in with your top guys being Sakic, Smyth, Hejduk, Stastny, Brunette, Wolski, and Svatos. While I agree he did play well with Sakic and Bruno, he tends to play better on the 3rd or 4th line than Svatos or Wolski does (at least IMHO). No it isn’t fair to him, but at least last year our 3rd line was as good as any 2nd line in the league. Personally I’d play Richardson any day over Arnason, but it’s probably easier to send Richardson down to LE then it would be to send Arnason down (waivers and all), not that it wouldn’t be worth it.
Another question is why hasn’t Liles been given the forward shifts? I’ve never understood why guys like Klee and Bougner were given shifts as a forward when more talented skaters and shooters were available. In Lile’s case he gets the bench treatment anyway during crunch time and doesn’t have to play the PK. In the end I think the answer to this is relatively simple. Coach Q is grasping at straws and has no clear direction. If he did, I think he would evaluate abilities rather than statistics with his coaching decisions (ala Goaltending starts, forward lines etc..).