RICHMOND BIG BONUS FOR KNIGHTS
By Morris Dalla Costa
London Free Press

Another piece of the London Knights puzzle has fallen into place.

By the time this team is done plugging in all the pieces, the completed
work could well spell "contender."

Finding this piece, though, is as big a bonus as any Ontario Hockey League
team has found this offseason.

Danny Richmond will leave the University of Michigan to play with the Knights.

Richmond is a bona fide big-league prospect. He was selected 31st, the
first player in the second round, in the 2003 NHL draft by the Carolina
Panthers. The six-foot-one, 185-pound, 19-year-old defenceman was second in
scoring among defencemen on his team last year. He was named to the Central
Collegiate Hockey Association all-rookie team, was a member of the 2002
U.S. junior national team and attended the selection camp for this year's
U.S. junior team this month.

The Knights used a 15th-round pick in the 2002 OHL draft to select
Richmond, even though they believed there was little or no chance he would
come here. It may be the most lucrative 15th-round pick in junior history.

Richmond played a year in the United States Hockey League with the Chicago
Steel, where he led the league in scoring for defencemen.

He had 22 points in 43 games with the Wolverines as a rookie last year.

Knights GM and co-owner Mark Hunter was beyond thrilled about getting
Richmond.

"This is a pretty exciting moment for us," Hunter said. "When you get a guy
of Danny Richmond's calibre, it's going to be exciting for the fans, No. 1,
and for us because he's going to win hockey games."

When someone manages to grab this kind of player, it's a combination of
luck, foresight and planning. There was a little bit of all those involved
in this situation.

Steve Richmond, Danny's father, is a scout with the Washington Capitals and
a friend of Knights coach Dale Hunter. When the Hunters inquired about his
availability as a midget-aged player, it was obvious that Danny was going
to play in Michigan.

"But Steve said, 'Go ahead and draft him because you never know,' " Mark
Hunter said.

The you-never-know turned out to be a guess-what-we-got-him. When Richmond
was selected at the top of the second round, he realized he'd get a real
shot at playing pro. At that point, Richmond decided the best way to
prepare for the pros was to compete in a more intense playing schedule.

"He wanted to play a lot more games than just 42," Hunter said. "And I
think the relationship Dale had with (Danny's) father, and the fact they
liked the way Dale coaches, had a lot to do with it."

How good is Richmond?

Just about anyone in the hockey world knows the roads to the pros are paved
with the remnants of good prospects who never made it.

There's no lack of accolades for this young man, either.

Hunter said Richmond is a Chris Chelios-type player with enormous offensive
skills and "a real edge to him."

Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said on draft day he
expected Richmond to quarterback his power play in the future.

"I saw him play as a midget and he was good, very good," Hunter said.

Hunter was at a USHL game when Richmond took the puck behind the net,
trapped it on the blade of his stick and scored a goal in the top corner of
the net, lacrosse-style. "I almost jumped out of my seat."

It's an appropriate remark.

If the moves the Knights are making turn out to be as successful as they
think they'll be, there will be plenty of rumps for Richmond to move from
those John Labatt Centre seats.