Mike Richter

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mike Richter
Richter lifting the Stanley Cup in 1994
Born (1966-09-22) September 22, 1966 (age 57)
Abington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2002 Salt Lake City Ice hockey
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1996 World Cup of Hockey Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Hamilton Ice hockey

Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is an American former professional

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, alongside his former Rangers and U.S. teammate Brian Leetch
, in 2008.

Playing career

Richter grew up in

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.

Vanbiesbrouck was traded to the Vancouver Canucks

NHL All-Star Game, which the Rangers hosted at Madison Square Garden. 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, including MCL sprains, ACL sprains, and concussions.

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 saves using his focus, flexibility, and athleticism. Longtime teammate and Hall of Fame Ranger defenseman Brian Leetch once said 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."[2]

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.

Richter was selected by the

1998 NHL Expansion Draft
, but as a UFA chose to eventually return to the Rangers that summer.

On June 30, 2002, Richter's rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations.[3] The Oilers were unable to sign Richter, and he returned to the Rangers on a new contract a few days later on July 4.[3] 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.

Post-retirement

Richter is currently the President of Brightcore Energy, a provider of end-to-end clean energy solutions to the commercial and institutional market, including, high-efficiency renewable heating and cooling (geothermal), commercial and community solar, LED lighting and controls, electric vehicle (EV) charging, battery storage, smart building solutions and other emerging technologies.[4] He is also a leader in arena of sustainability.

In 2007 and 2009, Richter stated that he would be interested in running for Congress as a Democrat in either

New York's 20th congressional district special election, 2009.[5]

After retiring from the NHL, Richter enrolled in

Eli Whitney Students Program, Yale College's admissions program for non-traditional students.[6]
He received his degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics with a concentration in Environmental Policy (EP&E).

He was previously a founding partner at Healthy Planet Partners, a sustainable power finance and consulting group, and Environmental Capital Partners, a $100 million

Nature Conservancy, and sits as a member of the National Advisory Council for the Sierra Club.[8] 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.[9]

He is the chairman of the 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.

Richter is scheduled to play in a UN Environment Programme-sponsored hockey game planned to be held near the North Pole.[10] The idea for the game was conceived by Russian hockey legend Viacheslav Fetisov, and is intended to raise awareness of receding ice in polar regions due to climate change.

Richter has three sons, all of whom grew up playing ice hockey in their hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut.[11]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season
 Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1982–83 Germantown Academy HS-PA — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1983–84 Philadelphia Jr. Flyers NEJHL 36 23 10 3 2160 94 — 2.61 — — — — — — — — —
1984–85 Northwood School HS-Prep 18 — — — 1374 52 2 2.27 — — — — — — — — —
1985–86 University of Wisconsin WCHA 24 14 9 0 1394 92 0 3.96 .886 — — — — — — — —
1986–87 University of Wisconsin WCHA 36 19 16 1 2136 126 0 3.54 .901 — — — — — — — —
1987–88 United States National Team Intl 29 17 7 2 1559 86 — 3.31 — — — — — — — — —
1987–88 Colorado Rangers IHL 22 16 5 0 1298 68 0 3.14 .902 10 5 3 536 35 0 3.92 —
1988–89 Denver Rangers IHL 57 23 26 0 3031 217 1 4.30 — 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 23 12 5 5 1320 66 0 3.00 .904 6 3 2 330 19 0 3.45 .896
1989–90 Flint Spirits IHL 13 7 4 2 782 49 0 3.76 .900 — — — — — — — —
1990–91 New York Rangers NHL 45 21 13 7 2596 135 0 3.12 .903 6 2 4 313 14 1 2.68 .923
1991–92 New York Rangers NHL 41 23 12 2 2298 119 3 3.11 .901 7 4 2 412 24 1 3.50 .894
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 23 16 7 1417 49 4 2.07 .921
1994–95 New York Rangers NHL 35 14 17 2 1993 97 2 2.92 .890 7 2 5 384 23 0 3.59 .878
1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 41 24 13 3 2396 107 3 2.68 .912 11 5 6 662 36 0 3.26 .883
1996–97 New York Rangers NHL 61 33 22 6 3598 161 4 2.68 .917 15 9 6 939 33 3 2.11 .932
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 1,840 24 2.89 .904 76 41 33 4,515 202 9 2.68 .909

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1985 United States
WJC
 3 — — — 43 6 0 8.37 —
1986 United States WJC 4 3 1 0 208 9 0 2.60 —
1986
 United States
WC
 1 0 1 0 53 5 0 5.66 —
1987
 United States WC 2 0 2 0 80 8 0 6.00 —
1988 United States OLY 4 2 2 0 230 15 0 3.91 .802
1991 United States CC 7 4 3 0 420 22 0 3.14 .904
1993
 United States WC 4 1 1 2 237 13 0 3.29 —
1996 United States WCp 6 4 2 0 371 15 0 2.43 .923
1998 United States OLY 4 1 3 0 237 14 0 3.54 .849
2002 United States OLY 4 2 1 1 240 9 1 2.25 .932
Junior totals 7 — — — 251 15 0 3.59 —
Senior totals 32 14 15 3 1868 101 1 3.24 —

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-
Second Team
 1986–87 [12]

Rangers' team awards

  • Crumb Bum Award – "For service to New York youngsters" (1997)
  • Frank Boucher Trophy – "Most popular player on and off the ice" (1991, 1999, 2000, 2002)
  • Good Guy Award – "For cooperation with the media" (1991)
  • Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award – "Best rookie of training camp" (1988)[14]
  • Player's Player Award (1991, 2000)
  • Team Rookie of the Year (1991)
  • Team MVP (2000, 2002)

Rangers' team records

  • Single season wins: 42 (1993–94)

References

  1. ^ "John Vanbiesbrouck trades - NHL Trade Tracker". nhltradetracker.com. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  2. ^ Andrew Graziano (August 11, 2013). "Top 10 List: #3 Mike Richter". Blue Line Station. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Offseason NHL transactions". CBC Sports. October 2, 2002. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "This hockey legend is making buildings more energy-efficient". Canary Media. October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  5. ^ "Ex-Ranger Mike Richter considers run for Congress - USATODAY.com".
  6. ^ Yale Herald, Special programs welcome grown-up students to Yale Archived 2006-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Healthy Planet Partners, Healthy Planet Partners Team Archived 2013-01-25 at archive.today
  8. ^ Healthy Planet Partners, Former NHL Goalie Joins Sierra Club Board of Directors
  9. ^ Healthy Planet Partners, Pro Athletes Visit Gulf Oil Spill
  10. ^ Kennedy, Sarah (December 6, 2019). "Hockey players are planning a game at the North Pole". Yale Climate Connections. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  11. ^ Branch, John (February 27, 2015). "Brain Injury Awareness Improving, Richter Says". New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  12. ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  13. ISBN 978-0470736197
    . Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  14. ^ "New York Rangers - Rangers Records".

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by WCHA Freshman of the Year
1985–86 		Succeeded by
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