Hockey Den: The Premier Hockey Card and Memorabilia Destination
Visit us at www.hockeyden.net and watch as we attempt the “Ultimate Set Build”, a collection featuring one card from every set ever released!
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”Who Knew?” #3: Maurice Richard
I’m too young to have seen him play. I mean, my own father was a kid when he was playing!! But I’ll be damned if I don’t find Maurice Richard to be one of the most intriguing players of all time. The man was a phenomenal player. On the ice he was part scorer, part leader, part enforcer and ALL intimidation! Off the ice he was all humility, never seeming to understand the extent to which he was a cultural and political icon within Quebec. Nevertheless, he carried the hopes and dreams of many a Quebequois on his shoulders and never faltered. He was and is the face of the sport’s most storied franchise. He was The Rocket…
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• His full name is Joseph Henri Maurice Richard
• He is the eldest of eight children
• He began playing hockey at four years old on a backyard rink his father built.
• He played more than hockey, and was noted for his abilities in baseball and boxing as a teen.
• Richard was slightly hooked on playing hockey, often playing two games a night and four on weekends.
• Foreshadowing the crazed Canadian hockey parent, Richard actually went as far to take on aliases so he could play on more than one team. His best known? Maurice Rochon
• Richard attempted enlisting in the armed forces three times during WWII. He was turned down each time. Twice, when trying to enlist for combat he was deemed unfit as x-rays indicated that his ankle, femur and wrists had all suffered fractures (occurred during junior hockey) and had not healed properly. The final time, when attempting to enlist as a machinist, he was turned down as he didn’t have a high school diploma or technical trade certificate.
• Richard's first child was born in 1943, weighing 9 pounds. He requested to change his number from 15 to 9 as a result.
• March 23, 1944: Richard scored all five goals in a 5–1 Habs playoff win over the Leafs. He was awarded all three stars for that game.
• Richard was the first player to score 50 goals in a season, taking all 50 games of the season to do so (1944-1945).
• In that same season the "Punch Line" was formed with Richard, Elmer Lach and Toe Blake as the Habs top line. They finished first through third that season in league scoring.
• Richard was the first player to score 500 career goals.
• The most he ever earned in a season? $25,000
• His brother Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard, won 11 Stanley Cups in his own career with the Habs, an NHL record for individual cup wins.
• December 28, 1944: Richard had spent the day moving to a new house and had been promised the day off to do so. Exhausted, and not completely finished the job, he was called in late in the day for the game. Finishing the move, Richard then reported to the Forum where he proceeded to score five goals and three assists in a 9–1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
• February 3, 1945, Richard scored a goal while carrying Red Wings defenseman Earl Siebert, weighing 210 pounds, on his back.
• April 8, 1952: After suffering a concussion and facial laceration, a bandaged and dazed Richard returned to the game and proceeded to score the series-winning goal of the 1952 Stanley Cup semifinals.
• March 13, 1955: After striking a linesman during a scrum on the ice (he claims he thought the official was a Bruins player), Richard was suspended for the balance of the regular season and all of the playoffs by NHL president Clarence Campbell. In a very odd choice, Campbell then announces he will be attending the next Habs home game versus Detroit, four days following handing down this suspension which has Montreal fans in an uproar.
During the first period of that game, Campbell and his fiancée took their seats, at which time the Montreal fans began showering them with food and other objects. This continued until a tear gas canister was set off in Campbell’s vicinity, which sent the fans into a panic. Campbell decided that the game would be forfeited to the Red Wings, igniting a riot among the already keyed up fans outside. The ensuing damage to the Forum and the St. Catherine’s St storefront businesses was estimated at $500,000. Hundreds of stores were looted and vandalized within a 15-block radius of the Forum. Twelve police and 25 civilians were injured, and numerous arrests were made. The riot lasted until 3 a.m.
- Richard was the first head coach of the Quebec Nordiques of the WHA (now Colorado Avalanche of the NHL). He stepped down after the first game after deciding he wasn't cut out to coach.
• In the early 1980s, Maurice Richard starred in a commercial for Grecian Formula , a hair coloring product. In the commercial Richard plays a referee, he mentions that he leaves a touch of natural grey, because his wife likes it. At that point a trainer calls out, "Hey Richard, two minutes for looking so good!" a line that has since become famous.
• At the closing of the Montreal Forum in 1996, Richard received the longest standing ovation in the CITY’S history. This has to be one of my top sports moments EVER. This shows how much The Rocket transcended hockey. He was nothing short of a cultural hero and icon in Quebec, and the fans, many of whom were not even alive to see him play, showed him how much the legend of Maurice Richard crossed generations that night. Richard is the quintessential Canadien. In addition, Richard’s response was one that spoke volumes. The proverbial tough guy brought to tears by the outpouring, almost ashamed of the attention he was receiving, yet almost in a way reacting as though he was too humble to have ever realized that he meant that much to people. He would tell you he was only a hockey player, but everyone else knew different and told him that night.
• Over 100,000 people of paid their respects while his body lay in state at Montreal's Molson Centre. Furthermore, the Montreal Expos baseball team wore a black number 9 on their uniforms for the duration of the 2000 season, and flags were lowered to half mast as Quebec's National Assembly was suspended for the day. Richard was given a provincial state funeral that was broadcast live across Canada, the first time such an honour was bestowed on an athlete.
• The Rocket was the centerpiece of this classic Canadian story "The Hockey Sweater," originally published in 1979 by Quebec author Roch Carrier. This story of his youth was animated into a short film that if you have 10 spare minutes is well worth the watch!
Remember to visit www.hockeyden.net and watch as we attempt the “Ultimate Set Build”, a collection featuring one card from every set ever released!
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