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Wide-eyed Richards stares success in eye

Lightning rookie center adjusting very well on and off the ice.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 27, 2000

TAMPA -- So there was Lightning center Brad Richards, leaning in to take a faceoff at Madison Square Garden against, of all people, Mark Messier.

Head rush.

"I looked at him and thought for a second, "I'm really facing off against Mark Messier,' " Richards said. " "He's considered one of the greatest leaders in the history of sports. He's done it all.'

"After that split second, I had to do my job."

Tampa Bay's 20-year-old center lost two faceoff chances to Messier. But Richards' two assists in Sunday night's 4-2 Lightning victory made him a league leader.

Richards has two goals, eight assists. His 10 points led all rookies going into Thursday night's games, as did his eight assists. And he was tied for the rookie lead in power-play points with six.

He was sixth in the league in assists.

"It's a dream come true to look at that," Richards said. "It's something that you take pride in, but you don't expect."

"He really sees the ice," general manager Rick Dudley said. "He's a playmaker, and he can score."

Dudley was concerned with Richards' skating in training camp.

"But the last three games he's been very good," Dudley said. "If he's a little above average skater, he'll be dynamite."

Richards already is having a blast.

In the past two weeks, he has been on the ice with Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, Detroit's Sergei Fedorov and the Stanley Cup champion Devils. Tonight's game against the Senators at the Ice Palace might bring him face-to-face with Alexei Yashin.

And how about that first trip to New York?

"I loved it," said Richards, who went to Times Square and did some shopping. "It's the place to be. My head was spinning everywhere."

Vinny Lecavalier knows the feeling.

As an 18-year-old rookie from Ile Bizard, Quebec, the Lightning center fell under the protective wing of Enrico Ciccone. The former Lightning defenseman helped Lecavalier do the necessary, but daunting, tasks of getting a Social Security number, an apartment, a bank account and a ride.

Lecavalier is Richards' Ciccone.

The two have been best friends since the ninth grade, when they attended Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Richards, from Prince Edward Island, stayed in Lecavalier's Tampa apartment during training camp.

"The biggest thing is he's helped me off the ice," Richards said. "I wasn't thinking about being cut or what the coach was thinking. He always made me feel comfortable."

That comfort zone extended to the ice.

"It took me 20 games to adjust," Lecavalier said. "He was there right away. He's going to be a superstar in this league for sure."

First, Richards has to bulk up. He is listed as 6 feet 1, 198 pounds, but looks more like 185. The added strength, which Richards guarantees he will acquire over the summer, will enable him to add an edge to his game and help him in battles down low and along the boards.

He also has to get into a shooter's frame of mind. Eight shots in eight games just don't cut it.

"Maybe I'm looking for (Fredrik Modin) and Vinny on the power play too much, but that's the way I've always played," Richards said. "I need to take more shots, but I need to take them for a reason."

Dudley doesn't want Richards shooting for shooting's sake, either, especially on the power play. Better to wait until a crowd gathers in front of the net to create a screen.

"Otherwise," Dudley said, "it's like giving the goaltender the puck."

Still, you don't want his game to become predictable. Dudley said he isn't concerned.

"I think it has to be dictated by what's in front of him," he said.

Right now, that appears to be a bright future.

Tonight: Ottawa at Lightning, 7:30.

RADIO: WDAE-AM 620.

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Gary Shelton