Mike Richter

Mike Richter
Born (1966-09-22) September 22, 1966
Abington, Pennsylvania, USA
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for New York Rangers
National team  United States
NHL Draft 28th overall, 1985
New York Rangers
Playing career 1989–2003

Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is a former ice hockey goaltender. One of the most successful American-born goaltenders in history, he is best known for having led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup title in 1994 and for repeatedly representing the United States in international play.

Due to his success, Richter was a part of the Class of 2008 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, alongside his former Rangers and U.S. teammate Brian Leetch.

Playing career

Richter grew up in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, and idolized Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Bernie Parent. He attended and played for Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and then Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York, graduating in 1985. He also played at the Wissahickon Skating Club. After playing for the United States in the World Junior Championships in 1985, Richter played for the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1985–1987, and the Rangers made him the 28th overall pick in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He again represented the U.S.A. in the 1986 World Junior Championships, as well as the World Championships and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, before making his NHL debut in the 1989 playoffs. Though he lost the one game in which he played, he was soon a regular member of the Rangers, posting 12 wins against 5 losses in his rookie season as the club's backup goaltender. Over the next two seasons, Richter split goaltending duties with the Rangers' veteran starter, John Vanbiesbrouck, and was selected to play for the U.S. in the 1991 Canada Cup tournament.

The Rangers traded Vanbiesbrouck to the Vancouver Canucks before the 1993–94 season, and Richter had his first campaign as the team's number-one goaltender. He posted a career-best 42 wins and 2.57 goals-against average as the Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy as the league's top regular-season team for the second time in three years. He was also named Most Valuable Player of the NHL All-Star Game, which the Rangers hosted at Madison Square Garden that year. In the playoffs, he ramped up his play, becoming the eighth goaltender to post four shutouts in one playoff season. The Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Finals against the Canucks, and Richter earned a career highlight in Game 4, famously stopping Vancouver sniper Pavel Bure on a penalty shot. The Rangers defeated the Canucks in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup since 1940.

Over the next few years, Richter would be consistently ranked among the world's top goaltenders. He led the United States to victory in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, with his efforts earning him tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Injuries plagued much of his career with everything from MCL sprains, ACL sprains and concussions. At some points they occurred together, but he worked hard to rehabilitate his injuries to always make the return to the ice.

Richter's style of play was very acrobatic and quick. For a small goalie he made himself look big by using his lightning quick reflexes to make saves. He was rarely out of position and always square to his shooters. He was known for making plenty of desperation and sometimes unbelievable saves using his focus, flexibility, and athleticism. Longtime teammate and Hall of Fame Ranger defenseman Brian Leetch once said this about Richter:

"I have never seen anyone more focused than he was. As the game got tougher, he got better. If a goal was ever scored on him I was always surprised."

His last appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs would be 1997, as a series of knee injuries and a string of mediocre Ranger teams saw his personal statistics suffer. Nevertheless, he was selected as the top goalie for Team USA in the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, winning a silver medal in the 2002 Games. A year later a skull fracture and concussion forced him to retire, but not until after he became the first Ranger to record 300 wins. He finished his career as the Rangers all-time leader in wins, later surpassed by Henrik Lundqvist.

Richter's jersey (#35) became the third number retired by the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on February 4, 2004. Though he played his entire career for the Rangers, he twice changed teams between seasons due to a quirk in the NHL rules of free agency, returning to the Rangers each time. Upon his retirement and having played his entire career in New York, the Rangers posted the quote of "Once a Ranger Always a Ranger" from everything to posters, websites, bill boards and arenas. The phrase is still seen all over the place in and near Madison Square Garden.

Post-retirement

In 2007 & 2009, Richter stated that he would be interested in running for Congress as a Democrat in either Connecticut's 4th congressional district or New York's 20th congressional district special election, 2009[1]

After retiring from the NHL, Richter enrolled in Yale University, entering the university through the highly competitive Eli Whitney Students Program, Yale College's admissions program for non-traditional students.[2] and received his degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics with a concentration in Environmental Policy (EP&E).

Richter is currently a founding partner at Healthy Planet Partners, a sustainable power finance and consulting group, and Environmental Capital Partners, a $100 Million Private Equity Fund focusing on resource efficiency.[3] Richter serves on the Board of Directors for Riverkeeper, the Board of Trustees for the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, and sits as a member of the National Advisory Council for the Sierra Club.[4] He recently began collaborating with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in their effort to bring the best ecological practices to the sports industry. He also launched Athletes for a Healthy Planet, an organization dedicated to fostering an understanding of the connections between environmental issues, human health, economy, social justice, and well-being.[5]

He is the chairman of the new Aspen Institute’s Sport and Society Program dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of athletic participation in society, as well as the NHL Ambassador to Beyond Sport, an NGO chaired by Tony Blair, whose mission is to use the power of sport to promote social change. He is a member of the 2010 class of Aspen Institute Catto Environmental Fellows. On December 12, 2012, he participated in the 12-12-12 concert benefit, answering calls from viewers wishing to donate to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

During the 2013-14 hockey season, Let’s Play Hockey newspaper and the Herb Brooks Foundation announced the creation of the Mike Richter Award to annually honor the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA men’s hockey. The inaugural award was presented to Connor Hellebuyck of UMass Lowell at the 2014 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in Philadelphia.

Mike now has 3 sons, all of whom play ice hockey in their home town of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1986–87 Wisconsin WCHA 36 19 16 1 2136 126 0 3.53 .901
1987–88 Colorado Rangers IHL 22 16 5 0 1298 68 0 3.14 —
1988–89 Denver Rangers IHL 57 23 26 3 3031 217 1 4.30 —
1989–90 New York Rangers NHL 23 12 5 5 1320 66 0 3.00 .904
1989–90 Flint Spirits IHL 13 7 4 2 782 49 0 3.76 —
1990–91 New York Rangers NHL 45 21 13 7 2596 135 0 3.12 .903
1991–92 New York Rangers NHL 41 23 12 2 2298 119 3 3.11 .901
1992–93 New York Rangers NHL 38 13 19 3 2105 134 1 3.82 .886
1992–93 Binghamton Rangers AHL 5 4 0 1 305 6 0 1.18 .964
1993–94 New York Rangers NHL 68 42 12 6 3710 159 5 2.57 .910
1994–95 New York Rangers NHL 35 14 17 2 1993 97 2 2.92 .890
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 41 24 13 3 2396 107 3 2.68 .912
1996–97 New York Rangers NHL 61 33 22 6 3598 161 4 2.68 .917
1997–98 New York Rangers NHL 72 21 31 15 4143 184 0 2.66 .903
1998–99 New York Rangers NHL 68 27 30 8 3878 170 4 2.63 .910
1999–00 New York Rangers NHL 61 22 31 8 3622 173 0 2.87 .905
2000–01 New York Rangers NHL 45 20 21 3 2635 144 0 3.28 .893
2001–02 New York Rangers NHL 55 24 26 4 3195 157 2 2.95 .906
2002–03 New York Rangers NHL 13 5 6 1 694 34 0 2.94 .897
NHL totals 666 301 258 73 38,183 1840 24 2.89 .904

Playoffs

Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1987–88 Colorado Rangers IHL 10 5 3 536 35 0 3.92 —
1988–89 Denver Rangers IHL 4 0 4 210 21 0 6.00 —
1988–89 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 1 58 4 0 4.14 .867
1989–90 New York Rangers NHL 6 3 2 330 19 0 3.45 .896
1990–91 New York Rangers NHL 6 2 4 313 14 1 2.68 .923
1991–92 New York Rangers NHL 7 4 2 412 24 1 3.50 .894
1993–94 New York Rangers NHL 23 16 7 1417 49 4 2.07 .921
1994–95 New York Rangers NHL 7 2 5 384 23 0 3.59 .878
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 11 5 6 662 36 0 3.26 .883
1996–97 New York Rangers NHL 15 9 6 939 33 3 2.11 .932
NHL totals 76 41 33 4,515 202 9 2.68 .909

Awards and honors

Mike Richter
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
2002 Salt Lake City Ice hockey
World Cup
1996 World Cup of Hockey Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
1986 Hamilton Ice hockey
Award Year
All-WCHA Second Team 1986–87 [6]

Records

NY Rangers team awards

References

  1. ↑ http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2007-02-28-richter-congress_x.htm
  2. ↑ Yale Herald, Special programs welcome grown-up students to Yale
  3. ↑ Healthy Planet Partners, Healthy Planet Partners Team
  4. ↑ Healthy Planet Partners, Former NHL Goalie Joins Sierra Club Board of Directors
  5. ↑ Healthy Planet Partners, Pro Athletes Visit Gulf Oil Spill
  6. ↑ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  7. ↑ http://rangers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=55319


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