Who is Bruce Richardson?
Bruce was born in Ville Saint-Pierre, Quebec on June 8th 1977. When Bruce turned three his Dad (Rick) brought him to the local arena and introduced him to the game of hockey. Bruce went on to play his minor hockey Atom AA for West Luc Saints then joined the North Shore organization where he played his Peewee and Bantam AA hockey. Bruce made the Midget AAA squad with the Lac St-Louis Lions at the young age of 15 and was coached by Blair Macasey and excelled as the team Ass-Captain. At the young age of 16 Bruce was drafted by the Sherbrooke Faucons of the QMJHL in the 2nd round (13th overall) where he played for 3 ½ years as their captain. He was then traded to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, the team that took him to the Memorial Cup tournament in Hull, QC in 1997.
After a successful 4 year career at the junior level Bruce was never drafted into the NHL but because of his determination he was offered a try-out with the American Hockey League Hershey Bears and landed a 2 year contract with one of the greatest organization in the world of hockey. During these two seasons Bruce, was privileged to be coached by two great teachers of the game, Mr. Mike Foligno and Mr. Bob Hartley who as you know went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanches in 2001.
In 2001, After 3 years in the Hershey organization Bruce decided to contact every team in the NHL himself hoping to convince someone to give him a chance at pursuing his life long dream of playing in “The Show”. One team responded: the Detroit Red Wings.
After having a solid training camp where he had a chance to play a pre-season game, the Red Wings agreed to sign him to a 2-year contract. It was during that stint that Bruce met, who will end up being the most influential coaches in his career, Mr. Mike Babcock, Mr. Randy Carlyle and Mr. Dave Farrish all who have won the prestigious Stanley Cup.
He also had the chance to play in the DEL one of the top Europeen Hockey League for the Iserlohn Roosters.
For the last 7 years Bruce has been coaching at different levels of pro hockey including UHL/IHL, ECHL and EIHL. Prior on his return to Canada, Bruce had the privilige of been the Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operation for the new expansion team the Braehead Clan of the Elite Ice Hockey League based in the UK.
He is now starting his 3rd year as the Head Coach of the Chateauguay Grenadiers Midget AAA Hockey Club and just took on a new position as Technical Director for The new AAA-AA Arsenal Hockey.
In closing, Bruce organises several development camps during the off season for young players aspiring to become better hockey players.
