Richard, "Rocket" (Joseph Henri Maurice)
Hockey
b. Aug. 4, 1921, Montreal, Quebec
d. May 27, 2000
Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall once said about Richard, "What I remember most about the Rocket were his eyes. When he came flying toward you with the puck on his stick, his eyes were all lit up, flashing and gleaming like a pinball machine. It was terrifying."
Richard was a fast, flashy skater who could shoot with either hand. At 6-feet tall and 190 pounds, he was also surprisingly strong, capable of fighting off defensemen to get position for his shot.
Though he showed his ability to score in amateur and junior hockey, there were doubts about whether he could become a true NHL star because he seemed to be injury-prone. Soon after joining the Montreal Canadiens for the 1942-43 season, he was sidelined with a broken ankle.
But in 1943/44 Richard avoided injury and scored 50 goals in a 50-game season. Other players later scored 50 or more goals, but in longer seasons. Only Wayne Gretzky has surpassed Richard by averaging more than a goal per game.
Richard's temper was as fiery as his play. Late in the 1954/55 season, he struck a linesman and was suspended for the duration of the season and the playoffs by NHL President Clarence Campbell. Campbell's presence at a Stanley Cup game in Montreal that spring ignited a riot that resulted in more than $100,000 damage to the city's main shopping area, near the Montreal Forum.
Richard played for eight Stanley Cup champions and was named All-Star right wing eight times. He won the 1947 Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. In eighteen seasons, all with Montreal, he scored 544 goals and had 421 assists in 978 regular-season games. He added 82 goals and 44 assists in 133 playoff games. Eighteen of his playoff goals were game-winners, an NHL record. A slashed Achilles tendon ended his career in 1960.
