Melrose Minute: Richards exactly what Kings need

I watched the Los Angeles Kings lose to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday saw a team that just can't score right now, and gets more chances from its fourth line than its second or third. I thought to myself, "This team needs to do something to right the ship. Are they ever going to call Mike Richards up?"

Funny how that happens sometimes.

By the time the Kings called up Richards on Sunday, it seemed pretty clear that this was a move they had to make. Regardless of his struggles this season, you know Richards has the experience of winning the Stanley Cup twice and that he plays hard every night. Maybe he can give them the juice or the spark the Kings need because that's the way he plays. Maybe he'll be so fired up to be on planes instead of buses that he'll bring a whole new energy to their lineup. That's something the Kings desperately need right now if they're going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs and have a chance to defend their title.

The other thing that's important is general manager Dean Lombardi, who never has been afraid to make a move when he needs to, knows Mike Richards. He knows what this team is getting and he knows what it needs. Richards may not transform the Kings overnight and make them world-beaters again, but he can give them the boost they need.

The Kings clearly didn't think they could win with the lineup they had prior to Sunday. Richards might provide the spark that pushes the Kings to win seven of their final 10 games to overtake the Calgary Flames or Winnipeg Jets for a spot in the postseason.

OTTAWA KEEPS ROLLING

When you take a look at the wild-card race in the Eastern Conference, it's pretty hard to believe we're seeing what we're seeing considering where the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators were one month ago.

The Bruins looked safe but now they're just hanging on the final playoff spot in the East, picking up a point here or a point there. The Senators have gotten 29 of the past 32 possible points they could pick up in the standings. It's pretty tough to hold off a team on that kind of run, and Boston is just hanging on at this point.

I still see the Bruins beating out the Senators for the final wild card, but it won't be easy. I think with the lineup Boston has, the playoff experience in that locker room, I just can't believe the Bruins won't get one more point than Ottawa during the rest of the season.

Obviously Ottawa has made this a lot tougher on the Bruins that we thought they would, but Boston has given us a body of evidence that they're a character team that knows how to win when it needs to.

That said, whether or not they make the playoffs, if you're a fan of the Senators you have to be pleased with how this season has ended compared to how it began. Senators fans now know they have a great young team and a lot of great young players. Fans know now that the future is bright, and it will hurt if the Senators get this close and miss the playoffs. But given where this team was when it coach Paul McLean was fired, it's hard not to be optimistic about what's to come.

GOALIES HAVE HART

Every few seasons we hear that old debate about whether a goalie should win the Hart Trophy when they already have the Vezina. And every time we hear this I have to laugh.

I've been in hockey my whole life and I've never seen it written in stone that a goalie can't be an MVP because he has his own trophy. In my opinion, most seasons a goalie is the MVP. Some goalie always lifts his team with gaudy numbers, and goalies are the only people who play every minute of every game. How can someone who always is on the ice not be the MVP of your team?

We're seeing this again with talk of whether or not Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price should be in the running for the Hart, and I don't really see how he can't be. He's been fantastic and his teammates say after each game without hesitating that Price is their best player. His locker room knows it. The rest of the League should know it.

I'm one of those guys who totally disagrees with the notion that you can't have a goalie as your MVP. A goalie has won the Hart seven times, and not once in the past 13 years, not since Jose Theodore in 2002. I find that ridiculous. If you really think the Hart only should go to skaters, make a rule that says so. Until that rule is in place, though, most seasons it's pretty clear to me that a goaltender is the most important person on the ice. For some strange reason, when it comes to the Hart Trophy, we often just choose not to recognize it.