Brad Richards is locked out by the NHL, but is keeping busy with hurricane relief. (Getty)

P.E.I. native and New York Ranger Brad Richards is hard at work during the NHL lockout helping with recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.

The New York Times said Richards, the son of a lobster fisherman from the tiny community of Murray Harbour, "is definitely a New Yorker now."

Richards will captain a celebrity hockey game called Operation Hat Trick in Atlantic City on Saturday, but only agreed to an interview with the Times about the game if the paper did not ask about his other volunteer work. Richards said he didn’t want that work to turn into a photo op promoting him.

In addition to raising money with the hockey game, Richards has been getting his hands dirty gutting flood-damaged homes so they can be rebuilt from the frame out. Last week Richards worked behind the bar at a relief party for the New York neighbourhood, Rockaway.