Handsome, rich, and a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings, Mike Richards was on top of the world.
But Richards, once the face of the Flyers, finds himself out of professional hockey and trying to stay out of jail after allegedly carrying painkilling prescription drugs across the United States/Canadian border in June. He awaits a Dec. 8 hearing in Emerson, Manitoba, about 70 miles from Winnipeg.
Richards, 30, has battled concussions throughout his career, and there may be a connection between his injuries and the drugs he is accused of possessing.
"I was very shocked because I'm good friends with Mike and still talk to him quite often," Washington winger Justin Williams, who was Richards' teammate with the Flyers and Kings, said last week.