Mike Richards is doing his best to turn this into his own personal blog rather than one for all Nike Bauer athletes.

Richards was named the NHL's First Star of the week for his latest performaces on the ice. He scored a league high eight points in the Flyers two games this week, which included three goals and five assists. He had career highs in both points (5) and plus/minus rating (+5) during the Flyers 6-3 win against the Sabres and then picked up a goal and two assists against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Richards now leads the Flyers in assists (37) and hits (106) and shares the club lead in points (23-37--60) and plus-minus (+23).

He and his teammates will look to improve their spot in the standings on Tuesday night with a much anticipated matchup against the Washington Capitals.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers is quickly redefining what it means to be a scoring threat everytime you hit the ice. For the third straight game Richards scored a shorthanded goal, his latest coming against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Richards stole a cross ice pass in his own zone, skated the length of the ice and went five-hole to bring the Flyers faithful to their feet.

Richards became the first player in the NHL to score a shorthanded goal in three straight games since 1998. He now has a league high seven goals while on the penalty kill, and a total of 23. "He anticipates as well as anyone in the game," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "He does that time and time again, and with the game on the line."

During Saturday's game, Richards also recorded two assists which helped him collect his 200th career point. Both Richards and the Flyers probably hope that he doesn't have the opportunity to make it four straight games with a shorty, which would mean Philly wouldn't be shorthanded during Tuesday's game against the Capitals.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals has certianly proved by now that the term "sophomore slump" won't be associated with him or his game.

The second year center scored his 14th goal of the year last night against the Montreal Canadiens and then scored the deciding goal in the shootout to help the Caps gain a 4-3 win.

Backstrom now has a four game point streak and has picked up 13 points in his last nine games. He has a team high 47 assists, which is also good for fifth overall in the league. He and the Caps currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference and will take on the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

NBH would like to congratulate Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning for recording his first career natural hat trick. The rookie center reached the milestone on Tuesday night when the Lightning hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. The 'Hawks pulled out a 5-3 win, but it didn't take away from such an impressive performance.

Stamkos scored three straight goals starting in the first period when he got Tampa on the board, tying the game at one. In the second period, Stamkos gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead when he fired home a wrist shot to the top shelf. Just over a minute later, Stamkos buried a one-time slapper to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead and to complete the natural hat trick.

"Anytime you get a hat trick it's pretty special, but to do it on home ice, in Tampa in my rookie season is a dream come true," Stamkos said. "This was one of the best feelings of the year for me so far, but I would much rather have it in a win."

It was a milestone event that Stamkos will always remember and an event that gave Lightning fans a glimpse of what they can expect for many years to come. Stamkos becomes the first rookie in the Lightning's franchise history to ever record a hat trick. For the season, Stamkos now has 10 goals and 15 assists, including 11 points in his last 14 games. He and the Lightning will be back in action on Thursday night when they host New Jersey.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Congratulations are in order for Flyers captain Mike Richards. Richards set an NHL record during Sunday's 5-2 victory against the New York Rangers by scoring his third career 3-on-5 goal. No other player has scored that many goals in such an undermanned situation.

"It's not something that I knew or obviously was trying for, but we always try to score shorthanded," Richards said. "When you kill a penalty or a 5-on-3 like that it just gives you that much more momentum and an energy boost."

On the season, Richards now has 20 goals and a team high 32 assists for 52 points. Of his 20 goals, five of them have come shorthanded which is good for the league lead. The Flyers have a few days off now and will be back in action on Thursday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Nike Bauer recently caught up with Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers to talk about the game of hockey, what it's like to play in the city of Philadelphia and his passion for the game he plays. Check out the video below and let us know what you think. If you liked this video, make sure to check out the new Nike Bauer Player Section on nikebauer.com where you'll find more videos like this about Nike Bauer athletes.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Scott Niedermayer and the Anaheim Ducks knew they were in for a tough game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night and their expectations were met full on. Both teams battled all night long trading goals and hits, but the Ducks were able to outlast the Flames and pulled out a 3-2 overtime win.

Niedermayer scored his seventh goal of the season on the power play during the second period. His goal tied the game at one, but at the end of regulation the teams found themselves tied at two. Just 55 seconds into overtime though, Niedermayer ended the game, as he is accustomed to doing, with a backhand goal to give the Ducks a huge two points.

"You know you're going to be in a battle with that team because they play a hard brand of hockey," Niedermayer said. "They're all big points for us because of where we are right now. We need every point we can get." The Ducks currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference with 61 points, just two points ahead of Minnesota and Dallas.

The 35 year old defenseman, who is currently is his 17th NHL season, certainly has not been slowed down as he is averaging over 27 minutes of ice time per game. His amount of ice time is good for second most in the entire league.

With the overtime winner, Niedermayer now has an NHL-record 11 overtime goals in the regular season. He and his teammates will be back in action on Sunday when they host the Atlanta Thrashers.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Jack Johnson loves to have the game on his stick at the end of the game and that's exactly what he got last night. The Kings and the Islanders had played through overtime with both teams deadlocked at three. In the shootout, the first five shooters for both teams were stopped, thus it was all up to Johnson as to whether the game would end or continue.

As he skated in, Johnson made a strong deke to his backhand, brought the puck back and finished it off on the forehand. It was a beautiful move that capped off a terrific road trip for the LA Kings. "I have a couple moves that I kind of keep in the back of my head. Fortunately by shooting third, I got to scout the goalie a little bit", Johnson said. "I had somewhat of an idea of what I wanted to do...so I kind of had an idea that I wanted to deke him. I came in with a lot of speed. That's pretty much what I was thinking."

The 4-3 win gave the Kings a 4-1 record on their five game roadtrip and pulled Los Angeles to within two points of the final playoff spot in the West. Over their last eight games, the Kings are 7-1-0 and have scored 32 goals as a team during that stretch.

"This is what we needed and this is what we're starting to expect, coming into games. We've got great goaltending. We've got pretty balanced scoring coming up, and the Kings come into games now expecting to win", Johnson said.

Jack and the Kings will be back in action on Thursday night when they open up a three game homestand against the Calgary Flames.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

NBH would like to congratulate a few NBH athletes on some big milestones on their respected careers. Both Jeff Carter and Evgeni Malkin recently scored their 100th goal of their careers.

Malkin hit the milestone against New Jersey on January 30 and now has 24 goals on the season. In his three seasons in the league, Malkin has picked up 33, 47 and 24 goals respectively. He has quickly become one of the most dangerous players in the league and is a constant threat to leave defenders and goalies looking behind them.

Carter scored his 100th career goal on Sunday against the Atlanta Thrashers and now has 34 goals on the season. In his four seasons in the league, Carter has accumulated 23, 14, 29, and now 34 goals in each season. Carter's 34 goals this season currently put him second in the league and are clearly a career high. Goalies have quickly found out that his wrist shot is deadly from any area on the ice.

Finally, NBH would like to congratulate Luke Schenn of the Toronto Maple Leafs on scoring his first career goal. The 19-year old rookie defenseman has been playing tremendous hockey for the 'Leafs all season long and has logged over 21 minutes of ice time per game. He recorded the milestone goal on Saturday during Toronto's 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens. Schenn and the Maple Leafs will be back in action tonight against the Panthers down in Florida.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Evgeni Malkin gave the Pittsburgh Penguins exactly what they needed on Wednesday night. Trailing 3-0 entering the third period, Malkin brought the Pens back by scoring his 23rd goal to make it 3-1, and then picked up an assist on the game tying goal to even the score at three.

In overtime, Jordan Staal battled to get the puck behind the net, center the puck to Malkin, who promptly ended the game with his 24th goal of the season. A three point night for Malkin and a huge two points for the Penguins could go a long way if the Pens want to make the playoffs.

"We talked after the second period and said, 'Let's go, guys, we have to shoot the puck,'" Malkin said. The third year center now has a league high 79 points, including 55 assists to go along with his 24 goals.

The two points give Pittsburgh 55 on the season and bring them to within one point of the final playoff spot. Malkin and Pens will certainly be looking to start a long winning streak when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

Posted By: Luke Ventura