Brad Richards Bradley Glenn Richards ( born May 2 , 1980 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Early career . Born and raised in Murray Harbour , Prince Edward Island . Richards has been friends with Vincent Lecavalier since the age of 14 , when they met at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame , a boarding school with an excellent hockey program in Saskatchewan , Canada . They were roommates and soon became good friends as they were both the youngest players on their hockey team . Since then they have gone on to being teammates for the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL and Tampa Bay Lightning . Lecavalier was also responsible for suggesting to the Lightning management after they had drafted him to draft Richards . In his final season with Rimouski , Richards won nearly every honor possible for a Canadian junior player in the QMJHL : he earned the Jean Béliveau Trophy after leading the league with 186 points , as well as the Telus Cup , given to the league ' s best offensive player ; he won the QMJHL and Canadian Hockey League Plus / Minus Awards with a plus - 80 mark , and was a First - Team All - Star in both the Quebec circuit and the CHL , as well as the CHL Player of the Year and Leading Scorer . In the postseason , Richards took home both the Guy Lafleur Trophy as MVP of the ' Q ' league playoffs , then the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as MVP of the Memorial Cup , as the Océanic won both the QMJHL playoff title and the CHL national championship . Playing career . Tampa Bay Lightning . Richards was drafted in the 3rd round , 64th overall , by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft , despite recording 82 assists and 115 points in his draft year . During that same draft , the Lightning selected Vincent Lecavalier , Richards ' teammate at the both Athol Murray College of Notre Dame and Rimouski , with the first overall pick . Richards went on to win the Conn Smythe and the Lady Byng Trophies in 2004 . He also won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 . Later that same year , he won the World Cup of Hockey Championship playing on Team Canada . Richards holds the record for game - winning goals in a single playoff season with seven in 2004 , overtaking Joe Sakic ' s and Joe Nieuwendyk ' s record of six . Richards played for Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League during the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout on a team with fellow NHL ' ers Ilya Kovalchuk , Alexei Kovalev , Vincent Lecavalier , Michael Nylander , Alexei Zhitnik , Dany Heatley , and Nikolai Khabibulin . Richards played for Team Canada in the 2006 Olympics . After the team was eliminated from the 2006 playoffs , Richards signed a 5 - year contract with the Lightning worth $ 39 million ( US ) . Dallas Stars . On February 26 , 2008 , roughly 3 hours before the NHL trade deadline , Richards was traded to the Dallas Stars in a blockbuster deal along with goaltender Johan Holmqvist for goalie Mike Smith , centre Jeff Halpern , winger Jussi Jokinen and a 2009 4th round draft pick . Richards set a career high and made Stars franchise history by recording five assists in his first game as a Star . The Stars defeated the Blackhawks 7 – 4 , and Richards was named the number one star of the game . In the 2008 Playoffs , Richards tied an NHL record by scoring four points in a single period in game 2 against the San Jose Sharks . During the 2008 – 09 season , Richards tallied 16 goals and 48 points in 55 games before sustaining a broken right wrist following a check from Columbus Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voráček on February 16 , 2009 . Richards met with a specialist the following day and missed 15 games . Richards returned to the Dallas Stars lineup March 21 , but the former playoff MVP then broke his other hand in the third period of Dallas ' loss to San Jose Sharks . He would not return for the rest of the 2009 season , and the Stars missed the playoffs . In the 2009 - 10 offseason , the team removed GMs Brett Hull and Les Jackson who had traded for Richards , and fired coach Dave Tippett who was replaced by Marc Crawford . Despite the new regime and the team ' s woeful finish in the standings for the second straight season , Richards enjoyed a career year matching a personal high with 91 points playing mainly alongside Loui Eriksson and roommate James Neal . Richards finished 7th in the NHL points standings that year , just behind former teammate Martin St . Louis . He also finished fourth in total assists , and second in powerplay production in the league . The Stars however would fail to reach the playoffs again . After the season , Richards was named a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy . New York Rangers . After becoming an unrestricted free agent , Richards signed a nine - year contract worth $ 60 million with the New York Rangers on July 2nd . He was also approached by the Calgary Flames , Los Angeles Kings , Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning . On October 8 , 2011 , Richards scored his first goal as a New York Ranger in a 2 - 1 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks . The game was played at the Ericsson Globe in Sweden . Personal . During the offseason , he goes back to Prince Edward Island , his childhood home . Richards has hosted the Brad Richards PEI Celebrity Golf Classic for the past six years . The event supports two charities : Children ’ s Wish Foundation , Prince Edward Island Chapter and Autism Society of Prince Edward Island . He is friends with CBC ' s " Hockey Night in Canada " host Ron MacLean , who spends a lot of time in PEI . Richards is also a well known wine aficionado and filmed a segment about wine tasting for nhl . com . Also a big football fan , he considers the Green Bay Packers to be his favorite NFL team . Richards rented a suite at the St . Pete Times Forum for several Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games and invited families dealing with various forms of pediatric cancer to use it . After each game he would go and visit the children who had come to watch the game . It began during the 2002 - 2003 season and ended in 2008 . When he was traded to the Dallas Stars he continued his charity work with the Children ’ s Medical Center ’ s Oncology Department , supplying tickets for sick children . He also donates tickets to every home game to men and women in the military . Richards underwent arthoscopic hip surgery on April 23 , 2010 , to repair a small labrum tear . Rehabilitation from this surgery usually requires 8 weeks . In September 2010 , Richards donated $ 500 , 000 to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island , Canada . International play . Played for Canada in : International statistics