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Joseph-Henri-Maurice "Rocket" Richard PC , CC , OQ (born August 4 , 1921 in Montreal , Quebec , Canada , died May 27 , 2000 in Montreal, Quebec) was a professional Ice Hockey player, and played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1942 to 1960 . He was also the first coach of the Quebec Nordiques , but resigned after losing his first game. PLAYING CAREER Maurice Richard (pronounced ree-SHAR) was the first to score 50 goals in one season (the 1944-45 NHL Season ), doing so in 50 games and the first to score 500 goals in a career. " 50 Goals In 50 Games " continues to be a marker of scoring excellence to this day, and few players have surpassed that mark. Richard also played on eight Stanley Cup teams in Montreal, and was elected eight times to the first all-star team and six times to the second all-star team, and played in every National Hockey League All-Star Game from 1947 to 1959 . In his career, he scored 544 goals, amassed 421 assists for a total of 965 points in 978 games. Teamed with Elmer Lach as Centre and Hector 'Toe' Blake playing Left-wing , they formed the "Punch Line". Richard was the quintessential '' Québécois '' hero. He pulled off a five-goal game after a day spent moving house - including the piano - in 1944, and scored the series-winning goal of the 1952 Stanley Cup semifinals as blood dripped down his face from an earlier injury. Richard's role as a ''Québécois'' icon was epitomized in the short story ''Le Chandail De Hockey'' ("The Hockey Sweater") by Roch Carrier . Richard was turned down a total of three times by the military, twice for combat and once as a machinist. The first time was in 1939 at the beginning of World War II when he was 18 and the second time the following year. X-rays showed that his ankle and femur as well as his wrists had broken and had not healed properly during Junior Hockey and he was therefore unfit for military action. In 1940, Richard inquired about a position as a machinist in the military, but was again refused citing his lack of a high school diploma or technical trade certificate. Richard tried to explain that he had dropped out of school to help his family and had been working as a machinist at a local factory since he was 16. They still refused, and he was told he needed a machinist certificate. Upon hearing this he decided to train as a machinist at the Montreal Technical School the following year and therefore fulfill his desire to help in the war effort. The war was over before Richard received his certificate, which took four years. He was disappointed that the Canadian military had not given him the opportunity to participate in some capacity. Although Richard was often perceived as a pre- Quiet Revolution hero excelling in an anglophone world, he always insisted that he was an apolitical man playing hockey for the love of the sport. Richard's career began and ended before the beginning of huge salaries. The largest yearly salary he ever made was $25,000. His jersey #9 was retired on October 6 , 1960 by the Canadiens, less than a month after he announced his retirement. His brother Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard joined him with the Canadiens in 1955 and would go on to win 11 Stanley Cups with the team, an NHL record. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1961, the customary three-year waiting period being waived in his honour. The Richard Riot As Montreal's great star, it was common for Richard to be antagonized on the ice. Teams would reportedly send one or two players to do nothing more than annoy him, and throughout his career Richard was fined and suspended several times for retaliations and assaults on officials. One such incident would spark one of the worst hockey-related incidents in history. On March 13 , 1955 , Richard was given a Match Penalty for deliberately injuring Hal Laycoe , in a game against the Boston Bruins . Laycoe had moments earlier high-sticked Richard in the head, and dropped his gloves to fight as Richard skated towards him. The incident was exacerbated by Richard repeatedly breaking away to attack Laycoe with hockey sticks, and then assaulting linesman Cliff Thompson who attempted to restrain him. Richard later said at a league hearing that he thought Thompson was one of Boston's players grabbing him. Given that it was Richard's second assault on an official in that season alone, a formal inquiry took place after which NHL president Clarence Campbell suspended Richard for the remainder of the regular season and the entire Stanley Cup playoffs, a move considered by many in Montreal to be unjust and severe. Detroit GM/Coach Jack Adams leapt to Campbell's defence, saying that Richard was becoming "too big for the league" and needed to be "put in his place." The suspension came when the Rocket was leading the NHL in scoring and the Canadiens were battling for first place with the Detroit Red Wings. Richard's suspension also cost him the Scoring Title , the closest he ever came to winning it. When teammate Bernie Geoffrion passed him on the last day of the regular season, he was booed by the Montreal faithful. Public outrage from Montreal soon poured in. Local radio call-in shows became so inundated with calls that radio stations were begging people ''not'' to call in. For his part, Campbell did not budge, and announced that he would be attending the Habs' next home game against the Detroit Red Wings in four days. Security was increased at the game, which itself was uneventful. However, it saw many protesters with signs that read "A bas Campbell" or "Vive Richard", with much of the crowd noise directed at Campbell, and few paying attention to the game or to the fact that Richard had also taken a seat at the game. As Montreal coach Dick Irvin pointed out, "the people didn't care if we got licked 100-1 that night." Midway into the first period, Campbell arrived with his fiancee. Outraged Habs fans immediately began pelting them with eggs, vegetables, and various debris, with more being thrown at him each time the Red Wings scored, who built up a 4-1 lead. The continuous pelting of various objects stopped when a tear gas bomb was set off inside the Forum not far from where Campbell was sitting. The Forum was ordered evacuated and Campbell ruled the game forfeited to the Red Wings. The victory would ultimately provide Detroit with the margin it needed to win first place overall and be guaranteed home ice throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. Said Detroit GM/Coach Jack Adams after the game: "I blame media for what's happened. You've turned Richard into an idol, a man whose suspension can turn hockey fans into shrieking idiots." The tear gas bomb and forfeiture had also altered the mood of the incident, turning it destructive and violent. A riot ensued outside the Forum, causing $500,000 in damage to the neighborhood and the Forum itself. Hundreds of stores were looted and vandalized within a 15-block radius of the Forum. Twelve policemen and 25 civilians were injured. The riot continued well into the night, with police arresting people by the truckload. Local radio stations, which carried live coverage of the riot for over seven hours, had to be forced off the air. The riot was eventually over at 3 am, and left Montreal's Rue Ste-Catherine in a big mess. Reporters lined up to see both Campbell and Richard that day. Richard was reluctant to make a statement, fearing that it could start another riot, but eventually gave the following statement:
His words would prove prophetic, as the Habs would lose the Cup final to Detroit in seven games, but would win the Cup in the year after - and the four years after that. Richard retired in 1960 after the Canadiens' fifth straight Stanley Cup (still a league record). HONOURS ]] In 1999 , the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy was donated by the Montreal Canadiens hockey club to the NHL to be awarded annually to the goal-scoring leader during the regular season. In 1996 at the closing of the Montreal Forum , a tearful "Rocket" received the longest standing ovation in the city's history. Over 16 minutes of adulation poured over him, chanting his name over and over again. Richard, always the reluctant hero, looked around in surprise for the first few minutes. When he realized the crowd was not letting up and their love for him real, he gave in to his popularity, and broke down in tears all the while waving and mouthing "thank you". He rarely showed this side of himself, as he always tried to remain humble. The last few minutes of adulation saw Richard closing his eyes, while the crowd chanted, "GO HABS GO!" over and over again. Richard later stated that when he closed his eyes and heard the crowd, it brought him back to his younger days. He thought it was a very loving gesture by the fans. Although long retired by the time of his death in 2000, an estimated 115,000 people of all ages paid their respects while his body lay in state at the Montreal Canadiens' Molson Centre . Flags were lowered to half mast as Quebec's National Assembly was suspended for the day. He was given a state funeral broadcast live across Canada, the first time such an honour was accorded an athlete. Among those who attended were Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau , various politicians ( Jean Chrétien , Lucien Bouchard ), and then-team captain Saku Koivu . He was buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges in Montreal. A junior hockey team is also named after him, the Rocket de Montreal, playing out of the Maurice Richard Arena (in 2003-04 this team moved to Prince Edward Island ). On June 27 , 2001 , the Canadian government unveiled a monument in Jacques-Cartier Park, in Hull, Quebec honouring Maurice Richard. He has been inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame . In 1967 he was made an Officer of the Order Of Canada (one of the first distributions of the Order) and was promoted to Companion in 1998. In 1992, he was made a member of the Privy Council Of Canada . However, his appointment by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was somewhat controversial. Richard was married to Lucille Norchet from September 17 , 1942 until her death on July 18 , 1994 . They had 7 children. DEPICTION IN POPULAR MEDIA
Ramos, Howard, and Kevin Gosine. 2001. "'The Rocket': Newspaper Coverage of the Death of a Quebec Cultural Icon, a Canadian Hockey Player." Journal of Canadian Studies 36(4): 9-31; 2002, JCS 37(1): 250 (published erratum). CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECORDS
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