"Nervous is not the word," [Brad Richards] said of his Dallas debut. "It was like Game 6 and Game 7 again in the Stanley Cup final. They've got such a good thing going here you worry about fitting in. You don't want to disrupt anything. You want to make sure you help keep that winning going.

"I'm not sure I would have done it in the middle of the season if it wasn't for a chance like this," said Richards. "It's a tough situation to leave the closest friends you have and a community that I really grew to love. It was a big decision."

"That's when it got really tough, saying goodbye to them," said Richards. "It was weird to say the least. They've since been in contact and asked me how things are. I'm going to be in touch with them a lot. Vinny's my best friend, we obviously go back a while (to junior).