News Article: Richards Being Wasted

[JXC]

Originally Posted by Crescent Street

Maybe because Crosby is a top 3 talent in the world? Just because Crosby has had insane success vs the Flyers doesn't diminish Richards defensive strengths.

Well of course it does.

Originally Posted by Flyskippy

Seriously. Imagine how much Crosby would score if we didn't have Richards out there.

I guess he'd score at the same rate as he does against other teams.

(although looking more at numbers, it doesn't look to me like his success against the Flyers has been alll that extreme, but the numbers exclude playoffs)

[chimrichalds18]

Originally Posted by JXC

I cannot explain Crosby's success against the Flyers without questioning Richards' defensive godliness. Can you?

I think this came up in the past. I don't feel like looking it up, but if you go back -- let's say the last two years -- and look at Crosby versus us, I don't think Richards is as 'responsible' for Crosby's success as you think. I don't even know that he's the one on the ice against Crosby all that much (when Crosby has scored). Of course, PP points is one thing. I'm referring to 5-on-5 play.

[JXC]

Originally Posted by chimrichalds18

I think this came up in the past. I don't feel like looking it up, but if you go back -- let's say the last two years -- and look at Crosby versus us, I don't think Richards is as 'responsible' for Crosby's success as you think. I don't even know that he's the one on the ice against Crosby all that much (when Crosby has scored). Of course, PP points is one thing. I'm referring to 5-on-5 play.

Agreed. There have been some teams that have shut him down over the past couple years. The Flyers aren't one of them but there are a number of teams he has lit up. I couldn't find playoff data.

That being said, Crosby's numbers vs Philadelphia are approx 1.3 ppg over the past two years. That's a pretty good number for a guy who has had a premier "shutdown" center deployed against him.

Perhaps there are too many factors (like goalkeeping) in play for those numbers to mean anything...

[HoverCarle*]

1. Crosby is a generational talent, he can make anyone look like a ;pylon

2. Richards can only defend him when he is on the ice. What are Richards stats against pittsburgh?

[Chris Shafer]

Originally Posted by Hovercraft

What are Richards stats against pittsburgh?

(Pittsburgh) 3 GP - 0 G - 2 A - 2 P - 0.67 PPG - -3 - 9 PIMs - 7 H - 4 SOG

vs.

(Season) 15 GP - 3 G - 10 A - 13 P - 0.87 PPG - -2 - 17 PIMs - 22 H - 35 SOG

[CanadianFlyer88]

Per the title...

Mike Richards being wasted?:

[Giroux tha Damaja]

Originally Posted by JXC

I cannot explain Crosby's success against the Flyers without questioning Richards' defensive godliness. Can you?

I'll volunteer my take on it, for whatever it's worth. Setting aside all of the other factors that make a purely statistical analysis of Richards versus Crosby difficult, Richards isn't that kind of defender.

There are a couple of ways to be an amazing defender in my estimation (and of course there are great defensive forwards who's skills are a combination of the two).

The first are guys like Jordan Staal who are big, deceptively quick, rangey and bear-strong. Staal can usually stick someone, and completely neutralize him. You just can't do anything because he's blanketed all over you. Staal obviously has some defensive savvy working for him too, but it's just the handiest example of a good 1 v. 1 defender I can think of.

Then there are guys like Richie who aren't really supremely physically talented, and are more cerebral guys. They don't defend individual players as oppressively as J. Staal might, but they operate very, very well in the team's defensive concept and over the course of the game are consistently putting themselves in position to make plays. Richards is this kind of player IMO.

Guys like Richie shine against teams that don't have a superstar but generate offense by committee, and guys like Staal really shine when they have one guy to erase. Of course Richards can still play man defense better than average and Staal is still quite good against teams that spread it around, but you get what I mean.