Richard, Maurice

▪ 2001

“the Rocket” 

      Canadian ice hockey player (b. Aug. 4, 1921, Montreal, Que.—d. May 27, 2000, Montreal), skated with electrifying passion, as a star of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty that won eight National Hockey League championship Stanley Cups in the 1940s and '50s. The first player to score 500 goals, the left-handed Richard skated on right wing, attacking opponents' goal nets with speed, an accurate backhand shot, and blazing black eyes—“crazy eyes,” according to his Detroit rival Gordie Howe, who maintained that Richard “set the standard to chase, and that was the scoring and also his total ability.” Over 18 seasons Richard's aggressive play made him a hero among French Canadians. Opposing teams sent their roughest players to hack, slash, or trip him—anything to stop him; his retaliating led to his gaining a reputation for having a hot temper. In 1955, when he was suspended from playing because of fighting, fans in Montreal rioted, and the destruction did not end until after he broadcast an appeal for calm the next day. The son of a former semiprofessional hockey player, Richard broke in with the Canadiens in 1942, and in the next season, with 32 goals, he led his team to the Stanley Cup. In his third season he scored 50 goals in 50 games and set a record that was not broken until 1981. Altogether he led the league in scoring five times; in 1947, after scoring 45 goals, he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy for most valuable player. Meanwhile, the Canadiens won additional Stanley Cups in 1946 and 1953; by the time the star-studded Canadiens won their extraordinary five Stanley Cups in a row (1956–60), Maurice and his brother Henri Richard (“the Pocket Rocket”) were teammates. Maurice scored a total of 544 goals and 965 points in 978 regular-season games, and an additional 82 goals in 133 playoff games. Dignitaries, including Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and former prime minister Brian Mulroney, joined the throng at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal for Richard's funeral, which was broadcast live on national television networks. Richard was admitted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, and during the 1998–99 season the NHL instituted a trophy for the leading goalscorer bearing his name.

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