IceGators sign Bruce Richardson

Published on September 3, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Lafayette, LA – The Louisiana IceGators have signed free agent center Bruce Richardson to a standard player's contract for the upcoming season, head coach and vice president of hockey operations Dave Farrish announced Tuesday. The 25-year-old Richardson, who registered 31 points (10g, 21a) in 22 games for Louisiana in the 2000-01 season, becomes the sixth player to sign with the IceGators for 2002-03.

"This is a tremendous signing for the Louisiana IceGators organization," said Farrish. "People had a taste of Bruce's play when he was here two years ago. He's small in stature, but he's a bulldog, a Tasmanian devil. He left a very favorable impression on the fans in Lafayette with his relentless style of play and his involvement in the community. He keeps coming at you."

Richardson, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound native of Ville St. Pierre, Quebec, comes off a full season with the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, where he played 57 games while accumulating 17 points (5g, 12a) and 113 penalty minutes.

"I had some offers in the AHL, but I've got to think about my family now," said Richardson, who is married to wife Julie and has a one-year-old son, Blake. "I was here for less than two months, and the people were just so unbelievable. I was so fortunate to be a part of that team. I'm so happy."

Richardson began the 2000-01 campaign with the IceGators, failing to record a point in just five of 22 games while leading the IceGators to a 16-4-2 mark. Louisiana was an amazing 16-0-1 when Richardson had at least one point. He went on to play with both IHL Manitoba and AHL Hershey in 2000-01, combining for 49 points (18g, 31a) and 218 penalty minutes in 77 games at all three stops.

"I'm somewhere where I know I'm going to stay," said Richardson. "I'm not looking to go up (to the AHL) and down all season. I have a contract with Louisiana. If someone like Hershey or Manitoba wants to call me up for three games, I don't want to do that kind of thing all year. I want to help the IceGators team. I didn't even talk to other ECHL teams. I talked to Dave, listened to several AHL offers, but I decided that it was the best for me and my family to be in Lafayette."

"Bruce was a Detroit contract and he got called up to their affiliate in Manitoba," said Farrish. "He competed so hard up there, they couldn't send him back. That contract is up now. Bruce expressed that if he was going to play in the ECHL this season, he wanted it to be in Lafayette. The fans were so great to him when he was here before; he loved Lafayette. So rather than signing a two-way deal with an AHL team, Bruce wanted to come here. This is a coup for us to get a great guy."

Richardson is also known throughout hockey for his charity work. Last season in Cincinnati, he set up a charity auction with another player that helped raise $30,000 for cancer research. "He's another guy who has very strong community involvement," said Farrish. "He's got a great work ethic that will serve as an example to all of our other players."

"I called all my contacts in the NHL, got some Joe Sakic jerseys, a picture of Patrick Roy, and some Tiger Woods items as well," said Richardson. "I want to set up that same program here to have both silent and live auctions to help out a charity in Lafayette."

Richardson began his pro career in the 1997-98 season, seeing time with both ECHL Chesapeake and AHL Hershey. He played for UHL Quad City as well as Hershey in 1998-99, while spending 1999-2000 with Hershey and ECHL Pensacola.

Richardson has played in 252 career professional games, recording 112 points (40g, 72a) and 795 penalty minutes. He has been especially potent in 53 ECHL games, averaging nearly a point a game. Richardson has 51 points (17g, 34a) and 192 penalty minutes in his ECHL career. Richardson has played for seven teams as he enters his sixth professional season.

"Bruce plays a very physical type of game despite his size," said Farrish. "He's ultra-competitive. He strives to do his best every practice, every shift, every game."

"First of all, Dave was a big part of (the decision)," said Richardson. "He's a coach that asks 100 percent. It's a winning team. At my age, I want to go somewhere where I can win. I didn't finish the work I came there to do. I'm going to try to win the Kelly Cup with a great group of guys that Coach Farrish has assembled, guys like Bobby Brown and Shawn McNeil. And I know he's working on some other guys that will make this team great."

The Louisiana IceGators open up their eighth ECHL season on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Arkansas at 7:05 p.m. The IceGators play their home opener on Sunday, Oct. 13 against the RiverBlades at 4:05 p.m.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from September 3, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central