Mike Richards

VANCOUVER - Mike Richards skated onto the ice for the loudest, most intense opening face-off of his life. "It was wild," the Flyers' captain said moments after winning an Olympic gold medal. "It was loud. It was exciting. It was crazy, You couldn't even hear yourself think. You just wanted to get that first [shift] under you, play it safe, and then move on from there. " Richards started the game because he and his line of Jonathan Toews and Rick Nash had emerged as a solid and hardworking example of what Canadian coach Mike Babcock wanted.

EDMONTON - Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are one again. After weeks of rumblings, the Blue Jackets finally declared the Carter Experiment in Columbus a failure on the 8-month anniversary of acquiring him. Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson sent Carter to Los Angeles, a team desperately in need of scoring, last night in exchange for defenseman Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round pick. The deal hinges upon both players passing a physical exam within 48 hours.

RALEIGH, N.C. - With captain Mike Richards sidelined by the flu, the Flyers needed someone - anyone - to pick up the slack Friday night at the reverberating RBC Center. It came from two unlikely sources: fourth-line center Blair Betts, who scored his first goal in 45 games, and Braydon Coburn, a defenseman who notched his second goal of the season and first in 15 games. But those heroics were overshadowed by Erik Cole's late game-winner, enabling the Carolina Hurricanes to celebrate Rod Brind'Amour Night with an exciting, 3-2 victory.

As he pulled on his gear for his first game as a professional last night at the Wachovia Center, Mike Richards had an understandable case of the jitters. The only way anyone could be sure was because the 20-year-old center, a first-round pick by the Flyers in 2003, said so after he made an impressive debut while helping the Phantoms beat the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-1, in the first game of the best-of-seven American Hockey League East Division finals. Richards scored a power-play goal that gave the Phantoms a 2-0 lead early in the second period.

Before a preseason game nearly two weeks ago, Mike Richards skated to center ice, received his C jersey from Flyers chairman Ed Snider, and shook hands with 11 of the team's former captains, who were there for farewell-to-the-Spectrum festivities. Never before had a new Flyers captain received such a welcome. The beloved Spectrum, site of the Flyers' first Stanley Cup championship in 1974 and in the final year of its existence, shook with applause as the fans saluted the symbolic passing of the captain's jersey to the 23-year-old Richards.

1. MICHAEL LEIGHTON, Flyers: Made 30 saves in first start since March. 2. MIKE RICHARDS. Flyers: cored the first goal and assisted on the game-winner. 3. KIMMO TIMONEN, Flyers: The defenseman played more than 28 minutes and was a plus-1.

It won't take the Flyers long to see their old friend and captain Mike Richards. The Flyers play host to Richards and the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, Oct. 15. Jeff Carter won't be long forgotten, either. Carter and the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 5. In the NHL's unbalanced schedule, the Flyers will not visit either Los Angeles or Columbus this season. New goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will get two cracks at his former team, the Phoenix Coyotes.

LET'S PLAY "Guess the team . " A trade intended to solidify a key position has been sabotaged by injury, long-range health uncertainty and roster adjustments. Trading perceived strengths to balance the salary-cap hit of a big acquisition has not exactly panned out, either. And the pedigreed coach brought in to revive a winning tradition? Well, on most nights he appears as frustrated as the fans sitting behind him. If this sounds like the 76ers to you, that's because the huge shadow Andrew Bynum's status has cast over this harsh winter has saved the Flyers from the same kind of scrutiny about their attempts to improve, and how those attempts have affected their current outside-looking-in playoff status.

Even though his Flyers have not been over .500 this season and have had their share of major injuries, head coach Peter Laviolette has remained upbeat. Laviolette playfully chided reporters Thursday for their negative questions and wondered why he couldn't get some positive energy at his daily news conferences. Well, out of respect to the coach's Dr. Norman Vincent Peale plea, here are some positive observations you may not have known about the Flyers: The Flyers have won their last two road games.

SUNRISE, Fla. - When Mike Knuble packed his bags at the end of a disappointing playoff run against the Penguins in 2009, he did so kicking and screaming. He knew there was a strong possibility that he would not be back for another season. Sure, Knuble was happy to accept a 3-year, $7.6 million deal from the then-promising Washington Capitals. But his heart belonged in Philadelphia. He had his best seasons in Philadelphia, stringing together 221 points in 310 games with the Flyers. The Flyers wanted him back, too, but lacked the salary-cap space - with big names Mike Richards and Jeff Carter soon requiring mammoth contract extensions - to keep him. "I never really wanted to go, and I said that at the time," Knuble said Friday.

WHEN CLAUDE Giroux arrived as an emergency call-up for his first NHL game in Ottawa on Feb. 19, 2008, the highly touted first-round pick was skinny and shy, deferring to his elders. When Giroux steps on the ice on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, an iconic 'C' will be threaded onto his familiar orange sweater. Fewer than 5 years have passed, but the Flyers are his team now. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren officially anointed Giroux as the 19th captain in franchise history, the team announced on Tuesday night.

WHENEVER THIS salvaged (or savage) NHL season finally gets under way, after the votes are counted and the signatures dry on the contracts, the Flyers should name Claude Giroux the 19th captain in franchise history. Giroux is young. He turns 25 on Saturday, about the time training camp will open. He is the face of the Flyers. He is quickly becoming one of the most electrifying players in the league. He is well-respected and well-liked in the Flyers dressing room. And he will bring some much-needed stability to a leadership position which has changed more jerseys (six)

Lots of local hockey fans would love to see the Stanley Cup. But maybe not if it's being presented by two former Flyers who helped win it just this season for another team. The Flyers' last championship came in 1975, and fans have since endured the heartbreak of losing in the finals a half-dozen times. Thursday afternoon at Caesars Atlantic City, the famous trophy will be accompanied by Los Angeles Kings forward Justin Williams and Kings assistant coach John Stevens, with Trenton Titans assistant coach Todd Fedoruk, another ex-Flyer in attendance.

SCOTT LAUGHTON was fulfilling a childhood dream on June 23 to a smattering of boos, when he first pulled the bright-orange Flyers jersey over his head at the NHL draft in Pittsburgh. For Laughton, a new rivalry was born in an instant, when Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren called his name and the sour Penguins fans proudly offered their disapproval. Laughton, 18, has had a little more than 2 weeks to digest the news. On Monday, he was wearing that same Flyers crest — only this time, on the ice with his new organization at the team's annual prospect camp.

PITTSBURGH — When the Flyers open their season for the second consecutive year against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11, at least this time they won't have to wait through an agonizing Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony. For one, the Flyers will be at home at the Wells Fargo Center. And two, the Bruins are no longer keepers of the Cup. The Flyers' home opener, scheduled to be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network, is part of a quartet of games to open the 1,230-game NHL schedule for 2012-13.

NEWARK, N.J. - Mike Richards was honest. Sitting at the podium on Tuesday, in front of a gaggle of reporters, he did not talk about the Los Angeles Kings' ridiculous 12-2 run to the Stanley Cup Finals or about how they steamrolled through the West as a No. 8 seed. The conversation was not about Richards' second Finals in three years or his hunger to add to his overflowing trophy case - he has already won the Memorial Cup, the Calder Cup, and an Olympic gold medal. Instead, the conversation was predictably about his trade from Philadelphia and how he landed in Los Angeles, reunited and seated next to teammate and close friend Jeff Carter.

Memorial Cup winner. Olympic gold medalist. World Junior champion. Stanley Cup champion. All that is missing from the glittering resumé of Los Angeles Kings center Mike Richards is the fourth item, and he came within two victories of holding the Cup two years ago with the Flyers. And now, coincidentally, standing between Richards and the Stanley Cup happens to be Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was his coach during their successful Memorial Cup campaign with the Kitchener Rangers in 2003.