Off-topic: B-Rad goes "home"

Mathieu has been traded so many times, his return to a former team barely warrants a mention. Maybe the play-by-play guys will throw in a "Schneider, a former -fill in the blank- " during the game, or a newspaper will get a quote from him about how great his time in -fill in the blank- was. But nothing compares to the storyline today of Brad Richards returning to play in Tampa Bay tonight. Why is this key?

• It is the only other team he's ever known
• He has often expressed his love for the area, and has said he will probably retire there (he still has his house there, and his parents live there during the worst of the winter months in PEI)
  
• He was long thought to be one of their core "lifers"
• There was that whole winning the Stanley Cup thing
• And that Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP after he scored 7 game winning goals for the Lightning on route to their championship
  

But of course the biggest story line, and the heart-string tugger is that he will, for the first time in his life, play against his best friend Vincent Lecavalier. They've been on the same team since they were 14 years old: in high school, in juniors, on various Team Canadas, with Ak-Bars Kazan in the Russian Elite League during the lock-out, and of course at Tampa Bay.


The media is all over this, so here are the links:

Stars' Richards Makes First Return to Tampa (Tampa Bay Online)
Dallas Stars' Brad Richards Returns to Face Tampa Bay Lightning for First Time (St. Petersburg Times)
It's Reunion Time when Dallas Stars Face Lightning (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Tampa Bay has Familiar Look to Dallas Stars (Dallas Morning News)

He said Sunday night might be a sleepless night, and "it's just going to have a different feel in my stomach before the game." I know the knot in even my stomach is different!