Mike Richard's Revenge on Philadelphia Flyers Personifies His Legacy: Cheap

As I sit here writing this, hopefully everyone in Flyer nation has used up their kleenex supply crying about the Mike Richards divorce. This is like the friend whose hot wife leaves him for the guy with the bigger bank account. Who cares?

Now he's free to get a hotter wife.

Watching that game last night, I saw a typical Mike Richards out there. Yes, he got the assist on the game-winning goal. Big deal. The penalty on James van Riemsdyk which led to that goal was the biggest dive in Simon Gagne's career. Maybe NHL history.

Throughout the game, aside from that play in overtime, the only other thing Richards did was put a nice hit on Jakub Voracek. Wow, Mike. Where were you when Drew Doughty got laid out? Terry Murray made sure you were out there for the first shift.

I already received a phone call from a fellow Flyers' fan who wanted to whine about the trade. "See we shouldn't have let him go, blah blah blah."

Look I'm not going to say Mike Richards was awful, but he was not great.

What we have seen from Wayne Simmonds so far has me convinced the team got its money's worth. Once Paul Holmgren can get the cap situation straightened out, we will get to see what Brayden Schenn can do.

That game last night was lost in a cheap fashion. The cup run of 2010 was vintage Richards cheapness too.

The Devils just imploded in the first round. Great as the 0-3 comeback was against Boston, the Bruins had a depleted roster.

Then receiving the over achieving Montreal Canadiens for the third round.

If you think the Flyers beat the Penguins had they made it, you're dreaming. The goaltending  and Richard's MIA status in the next round proved the Flyers would have went down.

"What is he getting at?" you ask. Unless the odds were completely in his favor, Mike Richards never really did much to lift this team. Last night's game was a microcosm of that. He didn't do a whole lot until he had a cheap four-on-three in overtime.

His legacy as a Flyer captain is tainted with not being able to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in two different series. He wasn't what the Flyers hoped for.

Enjoy the Sunset Strip, Mike. We'll be thinking of it with the cup on broad street in June.