Quotes of the day: Richardson

MONTREAL - Everyone in the hockey world is itching to get back to playing puck in the near future, perhaps no one more than Canadiens assistant coach Luke Richardson. Responsible for managing things on the Montreal backend, the veteran of 1,417 NHL games spoke to the media via Zoom on Tuesday and gave his take on the state of the Habs' blue line and more.
Read on for highlights from the call.

Many of Tuesday's questions centered around Alexander Romanov. Here's some of what Richardson had to say about the exciting young defensive prospect:
"I've had a chance to see him play some games in the World Juniors. He's a really competitive player, and we saw that on the first day and from the first practice. He laid out a couple of our guys; we weren't expecting him to do that, but he's competitive and a no-apologies type of player. He was very wide-eyed, open, asking questions, listening. He's really eager to come over here and show his stuff and we're excited to have him.

"Both ways, he loves to get up the ice and shoot the puck. He's a very active player. Defensively, he hits hard. He loves getting down. He's not afraid of blocking a shot. He loves to take the low pass away on two-on-ones. He's very good at getting down low, but then recovering and getting right back up on his feet. He's very athletic and agile. And he just plays every drill with energy; you just love to watch him go.

"Obviously, we have to let him have a chance to come in and earn that spot and prove it, but it's there for him to do that. From all indications of watching him just practice and play some games in the World Juniors... we've evaluated players before and seen them come out of the World Juniors as stars, do very well in the NHL and [become] top players. We're expecting nothing less than that from Romanov. He's exciting to watch; he plays with passion and excitement, and that's always fun. That'll look really great on a Saturday night at the Bell Centre."
Richardson believes that with the additions general manager Marc Bergevin has made this offseason, the Canadiens' blue line cupboard is well-stocked with established players and prospects alike:
"We have Romanov coming in and getting [Joel] Edmundson at the same time, with our 'Big Three' [Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, and Ben Chiarot] who played so well in the in the playoff bubble and who are healthy, signed, and ready to go. And then we have guys like [Brett] Kulak and [Victor] Mete who can really skate, and then guys like [Noah] Juulsen, [Josh] Brook... [Cale] Fleury played some really good games for us. That's a really good depth chart for us to have in the NHL."
Despite a series of injury setbacks, Richardson is confident that Juulsen can still carve out a spot for himself on the backend:
"He's got all the attributes. Everybody's seen: he's had some great nights in the NHL and some great opportunities to play as a young player, and that experience alone will go a long way for him. Unfortunately, with the injuries he's had, it took a while [for him to recover]. I think he has an opportunity; he's still young and he has lots of NHL experience. Now, he needs to go back and play some games. It's not going to take long for him to get back up to speed, it's just that he's going to need some game time."
Having played for the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators over the course of his 21-year career, Richardson is stoked about the possibility of the Habs playing in an all-Canadian division for 2020-21:
"A great example would be a Saturday night with the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs: how much better can you get? Nothing's been determined yet, but that would definitely be exciting. We're open to anything to get back to hockey. I think it would be an extremely competitive division. It's the NHL, it's the best league in the world. But if there's a Canadian division, there are definitely going to be some more bragging rights to fight for. It'll make all the games even more intense and it would be very fun to see.
"I think the fans are going to love it, I think people are going to eat it up, and it'll be definitely exciting for everybody."