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Will there be fireworks in Philly tonight when Mike Richards faces off with P.K. Subban?

Toronto Maple Leafs v Philadelphia Flyers

XXXX # 00 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates past XXXX #00 of the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period of a hockey game at the Wells Fargo Center on October 23, 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Paul Bereswill

Is there a chance we’ll see Philadelphia’s Mike Richards and Montreal’s P.K. Subban have a war of words and fists tonight in Philadelphia? If you’re a fan of blood wars on ice, you might want to fulfill your blood lust somewhere else.

In case you’ve forgotten what happened last week, after the Canadiens beat the Flyers in Montreal, the Flyers captain Mike Richards decided to vent a little bit about Subban saying that he was too cocky for his age and that he should “earn some respect in the league” or else.

With the teams set to square off tonight in Philadelphia so soon after Richards’ outburst, tonight’s game has a little extra juice to it even though both teams think things are a bit overblown. Mike Morreale of NHL.com has the story.

There was plenty of discussion following the morning skates of both teams at Wells Fargo Center here Monday in preparation for the second meeting between the teams. And while Subban and Richards were unavailable for comment, Flyers forward Danny Briere said it’s all water under the bridge at this point.

“I don’t think Mike’s comments were made to create such a big story,” Briere said. “Knowing Mike, he’s a quiet guy and there were lots of emotions behind it and he just said what he felt and what most of the players felt. It was just honesty speaking, but Mike wasn’t looking to make a big story with the whole thing.”


Whether he was looking to make a story out of things or not, saying something like what Richards did after their game with the Habs last week will get you noticed. After all, what are we meant to think when he says this:

“You have to earn respect in this league. It takes a lot. You can’t just come in here as a rookie and play like that. It’s not the way to get respect from other players around the league.

“Hopefully someone on their team addresses it, because, uh, I’m not saying I’m going to do it but something might happen to him of he continues to be that cocky.”


Harsh words and a veiled threat of payback will get you noticed. As for Subban, he’s not making very much of things tonight as he tells Sun Media’s Mike Zeisberger.

“To be honest, I know that’s the way the public and media will handle it,” Subban told QMI Agency. “Things like that can get blown out of proportion.

“To be honest, that situation has nothing to do with me. It’s not me saying anything. I just kind of keep my mouth shut.

“We have games to play here. I can’t worry. I just take care of what goes on in this dressing room. I can’t focus on anything else.

“It’s tough enough being a rookie having played just 20 games in this league. I can’t worry about all that other stuff.”


Sounds like if anyone is going to teach P.K. Subban a lesson tonight, it’s going to come from the boos of the Philadelphia faithful instead of the fists of Mike Richards.