Claude Giroux with Mike Richards' dad circa 2009 (via Facebook)

Claude Giroux with Mike Richards’ dad circa 2009 (via Facebook)

Mike Richards is still captaining the Flyers:

A text message from a guy who recently walked in Claude Giroux‘s shoes helped the Philadelphia Flyers captain rediscover his passion so he could start to break out of his scoring slump.

“It wasn’t going right, and I got a nice text from Mike Richards. … I think he gave me a boost to relax and play the game,” Giroux told NHL.com on Tuesday prior to playing the Ottawa Senators at Wells Fargo Center. “It’s a great game. There’s a reason why we play in the NHL. It’s because we know what we’re doing. It’s just about going back to basics, going out there, have fun, play the game.”

Giroux couldn’t remember exactly when he got that text from Richards, the former Flyers captain who is now playing for the Los Angeles Kings. He said it was a couple of weeks ago, well before he scored his first goal of the season against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 9.

Yeah, what a scourge that Richards was. Just ruined the locker room dynamic.

H/T to starter CB reader (@ashaleehart321)