AN EMBLEMATIC ICON OF THE MONTREAL CANADIENS, MAURICE RICHARD’S INFLUENCE AND IMPACT TRANSCENDED THE GAME.

Maurice Richard always maintained that he was nothing more than a hockey player. Few others share that opinion of the man who represents the heart and soul of the Montreal Canadiens’ long and illustrious history. For 18 brilliant seasons, Richard proudly wore the colors of the only team that ever mattered to him, taking on all opponents and rewriting the NHL record book along the way.

Richard had one job to do and he did it better than any man alive; he scored goals. He was unstoppable from the blue line in and, with eyes blazing, he single-mindedly attacked nets around the league, filling them with rubber night after night.

Richard showed promise in 1942-43, but broke his leg 16 games into the schedule. The next season, there were whispers that perhaps he wasn’t strong enough to withstand the rigors of life in the NHL.

The 1943-44 campaign silenced the critics. Richard notched 32 regular season goals before adding another dozen in the playoffs. He guided the Habs, who lost only six games from October on, as they rolled to their first Stanley Cup Championship in 13 years.

The most exciting new player to hit the NHL in a generation, Richard filled arenas with spectators with the same consistency that he filled nets with rubber in 1944-45. Playing with Toe Blake and Elmer Lach on what would famously become known as the “Punch Line”, he raised the bar for all scoring sensations to come, becoming the first NHLer to light the lamp 50 times in the same season.

Richard was consistently among the top scorers in the league. In an era when scoring 20 goals in a season turned a player into a star, Richard bettered the mark 14 consecutive years. He scored 30 or more nine times and broke the 40-goal plateau on five occasions. He was named to 14 straight All-Star teams and led the league in goals four times.

If Richard got one goal, odds were, others would follow. On 26 occasions, Richard potted three or more in the same game. In 1944, he set an NHL record that would stand for over 30 years when he scored eight points in a single game. The Rocket’s postseason play eclipsed his performances in the regular schedule; the bigger the stakes, the better he played.

Opponents assigned to shadow Richard found that they had a choice to make if they wanted to counter the game’s greatest offensive force. They could keep their efforts within the rules and get burned most of the time, or they could use prohibited tactics to try to slow down the superstar. Neither approach yielded the desired results on a regular basis.

Richard didn’t go out of his way to look for trouble and rarely took issue with men who played a tough but clean checking game. Those who chose more brutal tactics soon found out that Richard was willing to retaliate in kind, more than able to handle himself in the heavy going.

Richard’s place in the hearts of hockey fans was never more evident than late in the 1954-55 season. After being ejected for fighting against the Bruins on March 13, Richard was suspended three days later by NHL President Clarence Campbell for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs. The controversial decision sparked an outpouring of support from enraged fans in Montreal, resulting in what came to be known as "The Richard Riot", one of the most notorious events the hockey world has ever seen.

As his personal star ascended, so did that of the Montreal Canadiens. Richard’s career formed the backbone of teams that won eight Stanley Cups in three different decades. Elected captain before the 1956-57 campaign, he led by example, driving the team to four consecutive titles before hanging up his skates in the spring of 1960.

When he left the ice for the last time, Maurice Richard did so as the NHL’s all-time scoring leader, with 544 goals and 965 points to his credit in regular season play. In the playoffs, he tallied 82 markers, amassing more goals than any player preceding him.

The Hockey Hall of Fame waived the usual three-year waiting period and immediately inducted Richard in 1961. Maurice Richard’s number “9” was retired and raised to the Forum’s rafters on October 6, 1961.

Since 1999, the NHL has awarded the Maurice Richard Trophy to the league’s leading goal scorer during the regular season.

The hockey world went into mourning upon hearing of Richard’s death in 2000, as thousands filed past his casket to pay their last respects. His nationally broadcast state funeral was the first ever accorded a Canadian athlete.