14-year Richards, St. Louis friendship going strong

Rangers forward Brad Richards reflects with The New York Post on how his longtime friendship with Martin St. Louis initiated.

“It was my first training camp practice with the Lightning [in 2000] and I’ll never forget it, we were split into intra-squad groups and stretching before our first scrimmage and this guy on the ice next to me grabbed my stick,” Brad Richards said Sunday afternoon.

“He took the stick, started tapping it on the ice and flexing it, and he said, ‘Hey I like this stick, I like this pattern,’” he told The Post. “That was Marty.

“I’d heard the name, Martin St. Louis, I’d known about this French kid being a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award but I’d never met him until then,” Richards said. “And once we met that day, we were friends from that moment on.

“He was just such a positive individual with such a great personality. That hasn’t changed a bit.”

Richards shares several stories with The Post, including a retelling of how, at 'rock bottom,' he reached out to St. Louis last year to help rebuilding his confidence.

“I couldn’t ask for a better friend,” Richards said. “Not ever.”

Source: Larry Brooks, New York Post