Athlete: Hockey
Year Inducted: 2024
Date of Birth: March 26, 1969
Born in: Ottawa

Hard-working, gritty, reliable, leader – Luke Richardson was a coach’s dream. So it’s only fitting that he’s now become a coach himself.

For 21 seasons, Richardson was a rock-solid NHL defenceman. He competed in 1,417 games, which ranks him 36th all-time.

The Ottawa West Golden Knights product enjoyed two standout seasons with the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey League and was selected seventh overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft.

Richardson broke into the NHL as an 18-year-old and spent four seasons with the Leafs, followed by six years with the Edmonton Oilers and five with the Philadelphia Flyers.

In 1994, he helped Canada to an IIHF world championship gold medal. In 2000, he helped power the Flyers to an Eastern Conference regular season title and an appearance in the conference final, before falling in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion New Jersey Devils.

Richardson went on to captain the Columbus Blue Jackets before dressing for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto again. The stay-at-home blueliner then came back home to the Ottawa Senators. He snuck past the 200 career points mark in his second year with the Sens and concluded his run of over two decades in the league in 2008.

In 2010, Richardson and his wife Stephanie launched the “Do it For Daron” initiative following the tragic death of their 14-year-old daughter by suicide. The family has been instrumental in raising money and awareness to support youth mental health in Ottawa and beyond.

Richardson slid into an assistant coach’s role with the Senators upon his retirement as a player, and he also coached for the Ottawa Lady Sens junior women’s hockey club. He later took over as head coach of the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate at the time.

Richardson returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders. He then served as an assistant for the Montreal Canadiens and reached the Stanley Cup final in 2021. Richardson recently completed the second season of his first NHL head coaching assignment with the Chicago Blackhawks.