Todd Richards and his time in Orlando
Explore Assistant Coach Todd Richards' time with the Solar Bears, the Lightning's new ECHL affiliate
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Near the end of Richards' playing career, the right-shot defenseman was with the Orlando Solar Bears of the now-defunct IHL for all six seasons of the franchise's existence, reaching the finals three times and winning the IHL's final Turner Cup following a 4-1 series victory over the Chicago Wolves in the championship round.
Richards scored nine goals that season and added two more in the playoffs while serving as captain of Orlando. After that season, the IHL folded, along with that version of the Solar Bears. Richards played one more season in professional hockey with Geneve Servette of the Swiss-B League before starting his coaching career.
"Lots of things happened in Orlando, both on the ice and off the ice," Richards said. "Both of my kids were born in Orlando. Our team had great success there, won the last Turner Cup. There are lots of good things, great city, great fans, came in when the franchise was new. At the end, unfortunately, the IHL folded at that time but some great memories playing in Orlando, winning in Orlando."
During the recent offseason, Richards was in the process of moving and was rummaging through some boxes stashed away in the basement when he came across old pictures from his Orlando days, including ones from the aftermath of the Turner Cup Championship.
The Solar Bears clinched the title in front of their home crowd and got to share in the celebration with fans, friends and family.
"We had a good time afterwards," Richards recalled. "One of the good memories too, my kids were young at the time…and I got some great pictures of them in the locker room and the wives because they were a big part of that too. So it was special in a lot of ways, special for me, obviously when you play the game, special to win but especially means a lot more when you do it at home and you're able to share it with your family. My wife and my kids are a big part of the career that I had, and to go back and see these pictures again was really special."
Richards, a Second Round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1985 NHL Draft, played eight seasons total in the IHL starting in Las Vegas for two seasons before moving to Orlando for the final six. In his first year with the Solar Bears he recorded career highs for goals (19), assists (54) and points (73). He finished his career as the Solar Bears' second-leading all-time scorer with 260 points in 423 games.
"Florida was new to hockey at that point, but when I did agree or sign to go there, I was playing in Las Vegas at the time with the Thunder in the IHL and that was a new franchise when I first went there," Richards said. "So I went from a really good spot in Vegas to a really good spot in Orlando. And it was kind of neat, it was the first years in Las Vegas, it was the first years in Orlando. To go through that was a lot of fun. We had a lot of players, great players go through there, play in Orlando. When you play there for six years, there's a lot of guys that come and go but still have a lot of friendships from a lot of those guys, in particular the team when we won the championship."
When the Lightning take on the Panthers in preseason game No. 6 for both teams, Richards can look up toward the Amway Center rafters and see the Turner Cup championship banner hanging. The Orlando Arena where Richards and the IHL Solar Bears played has since been torn down, but the banner was brought over and hung in the new facility.
"I don't think we really have any ties left with friends down there, but we've been back (to Orlando) as a family," Richards said. "You do those things with kids because there is a lot to do. It's a different arena than the one we played in. We played in the old, I don't remember what it was called, where the Magic played. They've got that new building now. I have been inside that. It's a beautiful building, so I am excited to get back to Orlando, excited to get back there on the ice and I'm sure I'll take a look up and see the banner and I'll be proud of that."
On August 13 of this year, the Lightning announced they'd entered into a three-year affiliation agreement with the Solar Bears, making Orlando the Bolts' new ECHL affiliate. Orlando is an ideal location for Tampa Bay's ECHL franchise new general manager Julien BriseBois said because it affords the hockey operations staff the ability to drive east on Interstate-4 in a little over an hour and watch their prospects. Orlando is also a major airport hub, which makes it easy for players getting recalled to the AHL or re-assigned to the ECHL to reach their destination quickly.
And, Orlando is, surprisingly, a great hockey town, which Richards can attest to.
"I remember the building being, especially in the Finals -- we went to the Finals the first year and we lost to Utah four straight and I think three of those games were in overtime so it was a tight series -- a lot of those games being sold out," he said. "…Again, great memories things that will always stick with you."
