When Ribs was bought out in Arizona and we still needed to go after a center, I wanted no part of him.
After Poile got him I was skeptical, but then I read about what took place before the signing. About how Ribeiro and his wife looked to other players for insight on good, family-oriented places to live so that they could work on their at-home issues without distractions. About how Ribeiro called Poile to talk with him, and about how Poile didn't talk to Mike about hockey, but about life and family.
It seems as though Ribs has really decided he wants to turn it around. He sought help for the problems he had. He looked for ways to continue fighting those problems by moving to a place that might help him. Someone mentioned he asked the NHL to be tested regularly to help keep him motivated. He swallowed his pride and took a 1yr/$1m contract to show that he wants to be better.
The guy has a career .76 PPG average. That puts him just outside of the top 30 active players, and that's after a fairly bad season last year (a year in which his off-the-ice issues got to the breaking point). This year, after he has looked to turn it all around, he's at .87, so above his career average.
Everyone deserves a second chance, and so long as they are taking the right steps towards correcting the things that need to be corrected maybe even more than a second chance is fine. Here's hoping he keeps his head on right, keeps his perspective, especially with regard to his home life, and plays like he has been for the rest of the year.