News has come out of Florida that former Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild bench boss, Todd Richards, has been hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant coach. It didn’t take very long for Richards to find his way back into the NHL coaching scene, after he parted ways with the Blue Jackets early last season.
Todd Richards Hired as Red Wings Assistant
Despite how badly last year went, it wasn’t anywhere near bad enough to tarnish the reputation Richards has built as a very capable coach. The Lightning have been doing a bit of spring cleaning with their coaching staff, after falling out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Richards replaces assistant coach Steve Thomas. The hiring of Richards is widely regarded to be a very smart decision, as he has shown himself to be a great hockey mind and a very capable addition to any coaching staff.
Richards started his coaching career as an assistant coach for the AHL organization, the Milwaukee Admirals, where he spent four years. During his time with the Admirals he was part of a playoff appearance every year, and even helped them to winning a Calder Cup as well. After his tenure with the Admirals, Richards moved on to become the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. After his first head coaching job with the Penguins AHL-affiliate, he got his first coaching job in the NHL as an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks, where he spent a single season before being hired as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild. He spent two seasons with the Wild, missing the playoffs in both seasons with the team, and compiled a record of 77-71-16.
After leaving the Minnesota Wild, Richards was hired as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he became the winningest coach in franchise history. During his five seasons in Columbus he compiled a record of 127-112-21 in 260 games at the helm. After being fired by Columbus, Richards has most recently been in the coaching set up with USA Hockey when they went to Russia for the 2016 IIHF World Championships as an assistant coach.
Main Photo:
