- The Panthers suspended head equipment manager Teddy Richards from all team activities and facilities
- Richards was arrested Friday in Coral Springs on misdemeanor battery/domestic violence and 911 misuse counts
- Read below for the team’s full statement and what the booking record shows
The Florida Panthers have suspended their head equipment manager.
Teddy Richards was arrested in Broward County on Friday, and the club moved before the day was out. He is barred from all team activities and facilities while the case is investigated.
Florida addressed the arrest in a short statement posted Friday afternoon:
“The Florida Panthers organization has been made aware of an incident involving the arrest of Equipment Manager Teddy Richards. Effective immediately, he will be suspended from all team activities and facilities pending investigation.”
Broward County’s booking record files him under his legal name, Thaddeus James Richards, dates the arrest to Friday and names Coral Springs police as the arresting agency. Two counts sit against the 43-year-old:
Count one is touch or strike/battery/domestic violence, filed under Florida statute 784.03-1a1. Count two is unauthorized use of 911 services, statute 365.172-14a.
Both counts are misdemeanors, and jail records had Richards at the Broward Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale as of Friday night, per Matt Moret of The Athletic.
Neither count has been tested in court, and Richards has not been convicted of anything.
He is not a small name inside that room. Richards has run the Panthers equipment staff since 2016-17 and worked for the Penguins before landing in Sunrise.
Three Stanley Cup rings came out of those stops, two with Florida in 2024 and 2025 and one with Pittsburgh in 2016.
USA Hockey has leaned on him too. Richards handled equipment for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 and again at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
No timeline came with the suspension, and the Panthers have said nothing beyond the statement. The team opens its season Sept. 29 in Carolina.
