Travis Richards

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| position = Defense

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 195

| played_for = Dallas Stars

| league =

| ntl_team = USA

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|3|22|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Crystal, Minnesota, U.S.

| career_start = 1993

| career_end = 2006

| draft = 169th overall

| draft_year = 1988

| draft_team = Minnesota North Stars

| image = Travis Richards.jpg

| image_size = 230 px

| caption = Richards with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2005

| former_teams =

}}

Travis John Richards (born March 22, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played briefly in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars.

Richards played ten seasons for the minor-league Grand Rapids Griffins. He is the first player with his jersey retired by the club, and was the only until Michel Picard's uniform was retired on February 19, 2022

Playing career

Richards graduated from Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minnesota in 1988. Richards was a member of the University of Minnesota Gophers hockey program before making his professional debut during the 1993-94 season. A child psychology major, Richards would spend four years at the University of Minnesota where his brother Todd was a Gopher from 1985 to 1989. Earning WCHA Second Team All-Star honors on defense in 1992 and in 1993, Richards would join the US National Team at the 1993 World Championships at the end of his senior year.

Drafted by the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League in the ninth round (169th overall) of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, Richards played only three games in the NHL for the Dallas Stars.{{cite web| url = http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=4554 | title = Travis Richards player statistics | website = hockeydb.com | date = 2010-03-04 | accessdate = 2010-03-04}} On July 26, 1996, Richards became the second player ever to sign with the Grand Rapids Griffins, then of the International Hockey League, now of the American Hockey League. Richards played in each of the team's first ten seasons and became team captain in 2001. He holds the record for most career games as a Griffin with 655. Richards's number 24 was retired by the Griffins upon his retirement, becoming the first number retired by the club.{{cite web| url = https://griffinshockey.com/news/travis-richards-night-nov-24-1 | title = Travis Richards night Nov. 24 | publisher = Grand Rapids Griffins | date = 2006-09-14 | accessdate = 2017-02-03}}

Personal

For a time, Richards was the hockey director at The Edge Ice Arena in Holland, Michigan.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} He resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan and has three children. Richard’s is co-owner of Southside Ice Arena in Byron Center. Travis is hockey director for all Tier 1 hockey at Fox Motors Hockey Club also plays out of Southside Ice Arena.

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Regular season

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

1986–87

| Robbinsdale Armstrong High School

| HS-MN

| 22

| 6

| 16

| 22

| 20

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1987–88

| Robbinsdale Armstrong High School

| HS-MN

| 24

| 14

| 28

|

| —

1989–90

| University of Minnesota

| WCHA

| 45

| 4

| 24

| 28

| 38

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1990–91

| University of Minnesota

| WCHA

| 45

| 9

| 25

| 34

| 28

| —

1991–92

| University of Minnesota

| WCHA

| 44

| 10

| 23

| 33

| 65

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1992–93

| University of Minnesota

| WCHA

| 42

| 12

| 26

| 38

| 54

| —

1993–94

| United States

| Intl

| 51

| 1

| 11

| 12

| 38

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1993–94

| Kalamazoo Wings

| IHL

| 19

| 2

| 10

| 12

| 20

| 4

| 1

| 2

| 0

1994–95

| Kalamazoo Wings

| IHL

| 63

| 4

| 16

| 20

| 53

| 15

| 1

| 5

| 6

| 12

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1994–95

| Dallas Stars

| NHL

| 2

| 0

| —

1995–96

| Michigan K-Wings

| IHL

| 65

| 8

| 15

| 23

| 55

| 9

| 2

| 4

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1995–96

| Dallas Stars

| NHL

| 1

| 0

| 2

| —

1996–97

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| IHL

| 77

| 10

| 13

| 23

| 83

| 5

| 1

| 3

| 4

| 2

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1997–98

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| IHL

| 81

| 12

| 20

| 32

| 70

| 3

| 1

| 2

| 4

1998–99

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| IHL

| 82

| 9

| 23

| 32

| 84

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1999–2000

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| IHL

| 71

| 5

| 23

| 28

| 47

| 17

| 1

| 7

| 8

| 16

2000–01

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| IHL

| 75

| 5

| 30

| 35

| 42

| 10

| 0

| 5

| 8

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2001–02

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| AHL

| 72

| 6

| 23

| 29

| 36

| 5

| 0

| 1

| 2

2002–03

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| AHL

| 73

| 6

| 21

| 27

| 52

| 15

| 0

| 4

| 6

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2003–04

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| AHL

| 76

| 2

| 22

| 24

| 48

| 4

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 2

2004–05

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| AHL

| 35

| 1

| 3

| 4

| 30

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 2005–06

| Grand Rapids Griffins

| AHL

| 13

| 0

| 4

| 10

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | IHL totals

! 533

! 55

! 150

! 205

! 454

! 63

! 7

! 24

! 31

! 48

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 3

! 0

! 2

! —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 269

! 15

! 73

! 88

! 176

! 24

! 1

! 5

! 6

! 10

=International=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em"

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Year

! Team

! Event

! Result

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

1993

| United States

| WC

| 6th

| 5

| 0

| 1

| 0

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1994

| United States

| OG

| 8th

| 8

| 0

| 2

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="4" | Senior totals

! 13

! 0

! 1

! 2

Awards and honors

class="wikitable"

! Award

! Year

!

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

| colspan="3" | College

All-WCHA Second Team

| 1991–92

|

All-WCHA Second Team

| 1992–93

|

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

| colspan="3" | AHL

All-Star Game

| 2004

|

References

External links

{{icehockeystats|elite = 71705}}

{{succession box | before = Corwin Saurdiff| title = WCHA Most Valuable Player in Tournament | years = 1993| after = Chris McAlpine}}

Category:1970 births

Category:Living people

Category:American men's ice hockey defensemen

Category:Dallas Stars players

Category:Grand Rapids Griffins (IHL) players

Category:Grand Rapids Griffins players

Category:Ice hockey players from Minnesota

Category:Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics

Category:Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players

Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players

Category:Minnesota North Stars draft picks

Category:Olympic ice hockey players for the United States

Category:People from Crystal, Minnesota

Category:Ice hockey people from Hennepin County, Minnesota

Category:20th-century American sportsmen