Playing career

Luke Richardson was selected seventh overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft after two successful seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL. Midway through his rookie NHL season, on January 6, 1988, Richardson was the victim of an infamous attack from Dino Ciccarelli of the Minnesota North Stars, who clubbed him over the head several times with his stick. Ciccarelli was later convicted of assault, serving one day in jail and paying a fine of $1000 (Canadian). However, the assault had no discernible effects on the play of Richardson. He remained a regular on the Toronto blueline until 1991 when he was involved in a blockbuster trade, moving to the Edmonton Oilers along with Vincent Damphousse, Scott Thornton, Peter Ing, future considerations, and cash in exchange for Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Craig Berube.

Though not a great point producer, Richardson developed a reputation as an aggressive, stay-at-home blueliner. He would be consistent in that regard during stops with the Oilers, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was with the Flyers that Richardson came the closest to a Stanley Cup appearance in 2000, when the Flyers lost 4-3 in the Eastern Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils.

During the 2005-06 season, his last as captain of the Blue Jackets, Luke was traded back to Toronto on March 8, 2006.

Richardson continued playing in the 2006-07 season when he signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing in 27 games and registering 3 assists and 16 penalty minutes. Richardson was a healthy scratch by the end of the 2006-07 season and playoffs, and became an unrestricted free agent that summer.

On August 7, 2007, Richardson signed a one year, $500,000 two-way contract with his hometown Ottawa Senators, amid the speculation that he would soon announce his retirement from the NHL. On February 15, 2008, Richardson was named the Senators nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, though the award eventually went to Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On September 27, 2008, Richardson re-signed with Ottawa to a one year, two-way contract. During the 2008-09 season, and being used primarily as a reserve defenceman, Richardson announced his retirement as a player on November 27, 2008, having played in just two games that season, with the intentions of pursuing a coaching career. He was hired as an assistant coach by the Senators later that season.

Coaching career

After three seasons as an assistant coach in Ottawa, Richardson joined the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's top minor league affiliate, as head coach. During his rookie season as head coach, Richardson led an inexperienced Binghamton team to a 44-24-1-7 record, finishing fourth in the AHL's Eastern Conference. He was named coach of the AHL Eastern Conference all-star team in 2012-13 after guiding the Senators to the conference's best record at the all-star break. The Senators' organization subsequently rewarded Richardson with a contract extension through the 2014-15 season.

Richardson signed another one-year contract for 2015-16. Richardson turned down an assistant position with Ottawa, seeking to stay as head coach of Binghamton, with an end to pursuing a future NHL head coaching opportunity. At the end of the season, after the Senators had fired Dave Cameron, the Ottawa head coach, Richardson decided to leave the Senators' organization to pursue other opportunities. Richardson had asked to be considered for the Ottawa position but was turned down by new general manager Pierre Dorion.

Personal

On November 13, 2010, his daughter Daron committed suicide at the Richardson family home in Ottawa, Ontario. On November 18, 2010, 5,600 mourners attended a celebration of life ceremony for Daron at Scotiabank Place. Of note, the Philadelphia Flyers (one of Luke Richardson's former teams) held a moment of silence for Daron before their game against the Senators on November 15.

On February 2, 2011, Richardson and his family decided to raise awareness of teen suicide and depression in hopes of preventing further tragedies like this from occurring. Richardson, the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health, the Sens Foundation, and the Ottawa Senators announced the creation of a program to inspire conversations about youth mental health. Called Do it for Daron, the hope was to honour her memory while raising money to prevent teenage suicide.

During the 2011-12 Canada women's national ice hockey team season, his daughter Morgan was a member of the Canadian National Under 18 team that participated in a three game series vs. the USA in August 2011.

Awards

• 1999-2000: Pelle Lindbergh Memorial (Philadelphia Flyers)

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1985-86	Peterborough Petes	OHL		63	6	18	24	57		16	2	1	3	50
1986-87	Peterborough Petes	OHL		59	13	42	55	70		12	0	5	5	24
1987-88	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		78	4	6	10	90		2	0	0	0	0
1988-89	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		55	2	7	9	106		—	—	—	—	—
1989-90	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		67	4	14	18	122		5	0	0	0	22
1990-91	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		78	1	9	10	238		—	—	—	—	—
1991-92	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		75	2	19	21	118		16	0	5	5	45
1992-93	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		82	3	10	13	142		—	—	—	—	—
1993-94	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		69	2	6	8	131		—	—	—	—	—
1994-95	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		46	3	10	13	40		—	—	—	—	—
1995-96	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		82	2	9	11	108		—	—	—	—	—
1996-97	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		82	1	11	12	91		12	0	2	2	14
1997-98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		81	2	3	5	139		5	0	0	0	0
1998-99	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		78	0	6	6	106		—	—	—	—	—
1999-00	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		74	2	5	7	140		18	0	1	1	41
2000-01	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		82	2	6	8	131		6	0	0	0	4
2001-02	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		72	1	8	9	102		5	0	0	0	4
2002-03	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		82	0	13	13	73		—	—	—	—	—
2003-04	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		64	1	5	6	48		—	—	—	—	—
2005-06	Columbus Blue Jackets	NHL		44	1	6	7	30		—	—	—	—	—
2005-06	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		21	0	3	3	41		—	—	—	—	—
2006-07	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		27	0	3	3	16		—	—	—	—	—
2007-08	Ottawa Senators	NHL		76	2	7	9	41		—	—	—	—	—
2008-09	Ottawa Senators	NHL		2	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1417	33	159	192	2014		69	0	8	8	130
OHL totals				122	19	60	79	127		28	2	6	8	74

International play

• Played for Team Canada in the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
• Played for Team Canada in the 1994 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.
• Played for Team Canada in the 1999 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1987	Canada	WJC	6	0	0	0	0
1994	Canada	WC	8	0	1	1	6
1996	Canada	WC	8	0	0	0	12
International totals			22	0	1	1	18

[ Source: Wikipedia ]