Richardson to hit 1,000 games for Cardiff

Photo: Cariff Devils

Great Britain and Cardiff Devils captain Mark Richardson will mark his 1,000th game with the Welsh side on Wednesday night.

The defenseman has already played over 1,000 games in the Elite League, but will ice in a milestone game for the Devils at the Vindico Arena. He made his debut for the Devils in 2005/06 and spent two years there before departing for Nottingham in 2007. After splitting a season between the Panthers and Basingstoke, Richardson returned to Cardiff in 2009. Other than a brief 13-game stint in Kazakhstan in 2012, and playing abroad during COVID-10, Richardson has spent 16 years with the Devils. 

Richardson will soon pass current Devils assistant coach Matthew Myers for second on the EIHL's All-Time Games Played list. Jonathan Phillips leads on 1,177, with Myers having played 1,115 and Richardson six back on 1,109. Robert Lachowicz (949) and Ben Davies (924) are the two closest players to next reaching the 1,000-game milestone.