There are approximately 4,550 miles between Anchorage, Alaska, where Brad Richard plays professional hockey, and his hometown of New Bedford.

There are approximately 4,550 miles between Anchorage, Alaska, where Brad Richard plays professional hockey, and his hometown of New Bedford.



Hockey scouts might think that the distance between his upstate New York college (Hobart) and a position of impact on the best team in the East Coast Hockey League is even greater. But the 5-foot-10, 194-pounder finished the regular season as the Alaska Aces' top-scoring defenseman and has been named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team on the eve of the playoffs, which start Friday.



"When I was a junior at Kent School I never thought I'd be here, I was just trying to get into a college. I just love to play," said Richard, who put up 6-24-30 scoring totals, a plus-20 and 50 penalty minutes in 61 games during the regular season. "The beginning of the year was a little rocky, but I figured out pro hockey a little bit more. It's a big difference from Division III (college) hockey."



The life of a student-athlete at a low-profile school is a far cry from getting paid to represent the only show in a far-away town. Sports is still fun but it's a job now, and a trip to the local grocery store is bound to put a hockey star in the pathway of his admirers.



It's a life he is embracing for now.



"I am, and I love it. Alaska, we're the only pro team up here. Our fans love seeing us," said Richard, who volunteers for community programs reading to children in elementary schools and speaking in assemblies afterward. "We talk about bullying and respect and listening to your teachers. Rookies are usually the ones to go to those, but it's not a problem for me. I like doing that stuff."



Richard did not develop his hockey skills in a community setting. He attended Coyle-Cassidy high school in Taunton for three years, then repeated his junior year at the Kent School near the Connecticut/N.Y. line.



Looking last year to try his hand at the pro game, Richard signed with the Aces on Sept. 6. His credentials were impressive. He had played four years — serving as captain his final two seasons — at Hobart, where 22-42-64 totals in 97 college games rank him second on the Statesmen's all-time scoring list.



The adjustment to pro hockey was rocky at first, and Richard was in and out of the Aces' lineup. Making the world — and Sullivan Arena's Olympic-size rink — a little bit cozier was former Providence Bruins head coach Rob Murray, now in his third season behind the Aces' bench.



"It's really no different than anywhere else in the states. It's an American city. You've got your Costco, Sam's Club — but everything's here. So far it's been a great experience," said Murray, who runs the show behind the bench and in the front office. "It's all up to me. I don't have general manager in my title, but I do all that stuff, all the salary-cap work, all the immigration, that goes through me.



"Me and my assistant coach, Louie Mass, we recruit. Sometimes it turns out, sometimes it doesn't. You generally look for that diamond in the rough. It's a lot of work, but when it pays off it's rewarding."



The rewards are coming in for Richard. It's holding onto players like this that Murray finds extremely difficult, particularly in Alaska.



"I think a lot of the guys here, they've got that one eye on potentially going up (to the AHL), and one eye on potentially playing in Europe," he said. "They want to do well at this level, the turnover is so great."



On the inaugural Hockey Heritage weekend hosted by the Aces in February, the team retired all-time ECHL leading goal scorer Wes Goldie's No. 16. But it wasn't the reunion of teammates that it would have been in the NHL or even the AHL.



"There was only three guys that (Goldie) played with two years ago," said Murray. "You have to replace and try to improve at all times, and with that try to maintain some consistencies, especially with the fan base. We lost two last year to Europe."



Richard, who turned 25 on Feb. 21, is in a long-distance relationship with another high-achiever, a girlfriend in medical school back east. Whether his hockey career progresses from here or plateaus, no player is bound to stay in Alaska for very long.



"Right now I'm not too interested in the European thing," he said. "Down the road I'd love to get a shot in the AHL, but that's not even on my mind yet."



An economics major at Hobart, Richard would eventually like to go into investments similar to his father's line of work.



"Hopefully not too much of a desk job," he says.



For more on Brad Richard's hockey journey, visit Rink Rap at blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins