Montreal Canadiens 100 Seasons Facts And Triva

Robert L Note: I found this list of 100 Habs facts at the Sportsnet site, and cruising through it I found the usual misconceptions and erroneous information when it comes to Montreal Canadiens history spoken about from an Ontario perspective. I go off on a rant about this type of research and journalism, but the simple truth is these facts have been misrepresented for so long now, people don't even bother to check up on them. It won't be today that non Canadiens fans will seek to look into such things more deeply, so it becomes my job to set the record straight. What follows here is the Sportnet list of (what they call) facts as they were published at their site. I've added my comments to about 50 of them, to either clarify, correct or further the statement. My precisions are in brackets, highlighted.

1. Jean Perron coached the Canadiens to their 1986 victory in the Stanley Cup playoffs in his first year behind the bench. (Should read behind an NHL bench, to be precise, which is a feat also accomplished by Al McNeil in 1971, Claude Ruel in 1969, and Toe Blake in 1956. Balke actually won Cups in his first five seasons as coach. Jacques Demers won the Cup with Montreal in his first season behind the Canadiens bench in 1993. Pat Burns, in 1989, made it to the final, losing to Calgary in six.)

2. Joe Malone scored the first goal in Montreal Canadiens history. (Malone scored the Canadiens first NHL goal in 1917. Canadiens history began nine seasons earlier, in 1909 - hence the centennial.)

3. Henri Richard leads the franchise for most years in the playoffs with 18 years from 1955 to 1975. (That should be 19 seasons. The only missed year from 1956 to 1975, was 1970.)

4. Larry Robinson holds the club record for most playoff games played in the Montreal uniform at 203. (Robinson also hold the club record for consecutive seasons in the playoffs with 17. Jean Beliveau (16), Bob Gainey (16) and Henri Richard (15) follow.)

5. Canadiens superstar Maurice Richard was the first head coach of the Quebec Nordiques. He coached the first two games and then resigned. He was replaced by Maurice Filion.

6. Maurice Richard is the Montreal Canadiens all time leading goal scorer in the playoffs with 82 goals.

7. Jean Beliveau’s 176 playoff points are the most all time for a Canadiens player.

8. Maurice Richard has scored three goals in one game on seven occasions in the playoffs. (Includes four goals on two occasions and one five goal game.)

9. In 1916 the Canadiens beat the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association to win their first Stanley Cup.

10.The Canadiens and four other NHA team executives formed the NHL in 1917. (The other three clubs were the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas.)

11. In 1919, tragedy struck the Stanley Cup final when the Spanish Flu pandemic hit Seattle, and Canadiens star Joe Hall died. The remainder of the series was cancelled. (The series was tied at two wins apiece, with Game 4 ending in a scoreless tie. The epidemic actually hit the city of Victoria, B.C. first, where the Canadiens had become infected while practicing there. Joe Hall died after the cancellation of the final two games.)

12. The Canadiens had the worst record in the league by the 1935-36 NHL season. Stunned by such a horrible performance, the NHL gave the Habs rights to all French Canadian players for two years. (Barely a shred of truth here! In 1936, the NHL gave the Canadiens the rights to the best Quebec born players not already signed to C-Forms for seven seasons, ending in 1943. Due to the best prospect already having been scooped up, the Canadiens only used the provision 10 out of 14 times. Most barely played for the Canadiens, if they even made the club at all. Most were sent to their Providence Reds farm club. They were: Jean Pusie (1936), Maurice Crogan and Edouard Ambois(1938), Joffre Desilets and Armand Raymond (1939), Gerald Tapin (1940), Marcel Bessette and Aime Renaud (1942), Ronald Forget and Maurice Courteau (1943). Only Desilets, Raymond, and Pusie would play for the Habs.)

13. In 1945, Rocket Richard made NHL history by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in one season, reaching the mark on the final night of the season. The night before in Montreal, he missed scoring his fiftieth on a penalty shot.)

14. In 1957, brothers Tom and Hartland Molson, owners of the Molson brewery, purchased the team.

15. Between 1951 and 1960, the Canadiens made the finals every year, winning six times (Including a record five straight from 1956 to 1960, and in 1953. In 1954, they lost in overtime of the seventh game to Detroit. Doug Harvey reached up to swat down a dump in shot by the Wings Tony Leswick and in ended up in the Canadiens net. The following year, the Rocket Richard - less Habs again went seven again the Wings before losing. With a little better fortune, it could have been eight in a row).

16. In 1959, goalie Jacques Plante became the first goalie to regularly wear a mask. (If you've ever seen "Silence Of The Lambs", you'll know what he looked like.)

17. When Rocket Richard was suspended for the rest of the season in 1955 for striking an official in a game against the Detroit Red Wings. Montrealers rioted in the streets, causing millions of dollars in damage. The Canadiens had to forfeit the game, and went on to lose in the finals to the Red Wings. (The Canadiens were forced to forfeit the game because NHL President Clarence Cambell, against sounder judgement and warning from local police, showed up for the game after suspending Richard, thus causing the riot. The forfeited game cost the Canadiens two points in the standings, which was the margin Detroit needed with three games left to surpass Montreal in the standings. Game seven of the playoff was then played on Detroit ice. Montreal lost the final, 4 games to 3).

18. In 1956 the Canadiens established a farm team in Peterborough, now known as the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. (The club was then known as the T.P.T.'s, which stood for Toronto - Peterborough Transport, the team's sponsor. It's first coach was Scotty Bowman.)

19. The Canadiens lost to the Maple Leafs in the 1967 Stanley Cup Final, the last time the two hated rivals met each other in the final round and the last time Toronto won the Cup.

20. The Canadiens missed out on a playoff spot in 1970 on the final day of the regular season thanks to a tiebreaker and since Toronto missed out as well, it meant the only time in NHL history no Canadian teams made the playoffs. (The Canadiens were eliminated by a goal differential caused by a thrown game between the Red Wings and Rangers. Knowing the Rangers were four goals behind Montreal in the tiebreaker, Wings coach Sid Abel "rested" his better players, allowing for a 9-5 win by New York. The Rangers fired 65 shots at the Detroit net.)

21. In 1976-77, the Canadiens set a NHL record by losing only eight games in an 80 game schedule. (The team record was 60-8-12. In the 1943-44 season, the Canadiens went 38-5-7 in a 50 game schedule.)

22. In 1995 the Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. (The season had been shortened to 48 games due to a player's strike.)

23. In December 1995, after Patrick Roy allowed nine goals against the Detroit Red Wings and after head coach Mario Tremblay pulled him well after the game was out of reach, Roy approached then team president Ronald Corey and told him, "I just played my last game in this town.” (He'd play in the town again as a member of the Colorado Avalance. Roy said to Corey, "I've played my last game for the Montreal Canadiens".)

24. On March 11 1996, the Canadiens defeated the Dallas Stars 4-1 in the final game at the historic Montreal Forum. (Andrei Kovalenko, the most disposable element of the Roy trade, scored the final goal in the Forum.)

25. Current owner George N. Gillett Jr. was the Canadiens only interested buyer when the Molson family sold it to him in 2001. (Totally untrue! Several factions were interested, but raising the needed collateral was a problem with financial institutions scared off by the perceived decline in value of the franchise. Former Canadiens star Dickie Moore, was a most interested party caught in this dilema. Former Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut also attempted to form a buyers group. Other prominant Montreal and Quebec businessmen were also at the same stage when Gillett bought the club.)

26. On November 22, 2003, the Canadiens participated in the Heritage Classic in Edmonton, the first outdoor hockey game in the history of the NHL. (It was the first regular season outdoor game. Tampa and Los Angeles had previously played on artificial ice during an exhibition game. Montreal beat the Oilers 4-3.)

27. On September 19, prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, the Canadiens announced that they had adopted Youppi!, the popular former Montréal Expos mascot who was left behind when the Expos moved to Washington. (The press released at the time "joked" that the club had signed him as a free agent.)

28. The championship season in 1992-93 still marks the last time that a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup. (At least 15 years isn't 40!)

29. The Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups (including their first in 1916, before the NHL existed), more than any other team. (In total for both the NHA and NHL, there are 26 league titles for the Canadiens.)

30. The team moved to the Montreal Forum for the 1926-27 season. In 1996, the Habs moved from the Montreal Forum, their home during 71 seasons and 22 Stanley Cups, to the Molson Centre. (In 1926, the club shared home ice with the Montreal Maroons.)

31. The Canadiens were founded by J. Ambrose O'Brien on December 4, 1909 as a charter member of the National Hockey Association. (The actual founding date was December 2, 1909, when O'Brien reached an agreement with Wanderers president Jimmy Gardner. The deal was announced two days later.)

32. According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was American Tex Rickard, owner of Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants." It actually stands for hockey. (Rickard was a Texas born promoter, who had spent time in the province of Quebec. He was familiar with the term "Habitants" in regards to rural farmers. It was his notion that this was where Canadiens players originated from.)

33. Guy LaFleur is the team’s all time points scoring leader. (Lafleur is never spelled with a capital F.)

34. Henri Richard has played the most seasons at 20 and most games at 1256.

35. Maurice Richard leads the club in goals with 544.

36. Guy Lafleur has the most assists in club history with 728.

37. 1980's enforcer Chris Nilan has the most penalty minutes in club history with 2,248. (Nilan bought the penalty box at the Forum closing auction.)

38. Most shutouts: George Hainsworth, 75.

39. Most Stanley Cups: Henri Richard, 11.

40. Most goals in a season: Steve Shutt & Guy Lafleur, 60.

41. Most assists in a season: Pete Mahovlich, 82 (1974-75).

42. Most points in a season: Guy Lafleur, 136 (1976-77).

43. Most shutouts in a season: George Hainsworth, 22 (1928-29)* League record.

44. Jean Beliveau, 1961-71 is the longest serving captain in team history. (Beliveau served ten seasons as captain, Saku Koivu is beginning his ninth season as captain, Emile "Butch" Bouchard and Bob Gainey served eight seasons each.)

45. Saku Koivu, 1999 to present is the first non-Canadian captain in club history. (False. American born Chris Chelios was one of two Canadiens captains named for the 1989-90 season.)

46. Dick Irvin, 1940-55 is the longest-serving head coach in team history. (Toe Blake coached from 1955 to 1968.)

47. In the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Canadiens boast the second most enshrined Hall of Famers with 42. All of their inductees are from Canada with the exception of former defenceman Joe Hall, who was from England. (Misleading at best! The Canadiens have 44 enshined members, not counting coaches and managers. The Bruins are listed as having 46 members, but their total includes long time Canadiens Sprague Cleghorn, Sylvio Mantha, and Guy Lapointe - three player's whose reputation was made wearing the CH. The HHOF lists 54 Canadiens players as being in the Hall, but 10 of those are not counted by the Habs as they have played two seasons or less with the club, and made their names elsewhere, prior to, or preceding their tenures with the Canadiens. Rod Langway was born in the U.S.A.)

48. The Canadiens have retired 13 numbers, by 14 players, in their history, the most of any team in the National Hockey League, and the fourth highest total of any North American professional sports franchise. 11 of the honourees were born in Canada. (All 14 players are Canadian born.)

49. Patrick Roy will have his No. 33 retired in a pregame ceremony on November 22, 2008. (The same night Wendel Clark has his jersey "honoured" in Toronto.)

50. The Bruins and Canadiens have played each other more times than any other two currently existing teams in NHL history. The rivalry is considerably one sided, with the Canadiens winning 24 out of 31 of their head to head playoff series, and all seven of the Final series.

51. In 1956 Jean Beliveau was the first NHL'er to land on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

52. Serge Savard, with eight Stanley Cups, has the record for most by a NHL defenceman. (Next is Habs Jean Guy Talbot with 7 - and he's not in the HHOF!)

53. Larry Robinson owns the team record for best +/- in a season with +120 in 1976-77.

54. The club’s longest winning streak is 13 games (03/16/1987 - 04/12/1987) regular season: 9, playoffs: 4.

55. The longest undefeated streak in team history is 28 games (23-0-5) from 12/18/1977 to 02/23/1978.

56. The longest losing streak is 12 games set from 02/13/1926 to 03/13/1926.

57. The most team goals scored in a season is 387 set in 1976-77.

58. The most team goals scored in a single game is 16 in a 16-3 win over Quebec in 1920.

59. The most goals allowed in a single game is 11 (six times) most recently on Dec. 12, 1995, Patrick Roy’s last game as a Canadiens. (That keeps being brought up! The Canadiens acquired Roy with the 51st pick in the 1984 draft from trading Robert Picard to Winning. They acquired Picard in a trade with Toronto for goalie Bunny Larocque.)

60. Toe blake won eight Stanley Cups as a coach between 1956 and 1968.

61. Jean Beliveau was the first ever receipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1965, with three game winning goals in 13 playoff games. (Oddly, or perhaps not, the great evalauator of talent Smythe once scoffed at the notion of Beliveau being the best non NHL player in 1952. He regarded Eric Nesterinko as being superior!)

62. Current Canadiens GM Bob Gainey had his name misspelled on the Stanley Cup in 1975-76. It was spelled “Gainy.” (Jacques Plante's name is mispelled three times, three different ways!)

63. In 1916, The Canadiens are identified as the “Canadians” on the Cup.

64. In 1965 when they won their 12th Stanley Cup, Maurice Richard was working as assistant to the president and is listed on the Cup as “ass to press.”

65. After winning the 1924 Cup, the Canadiens headed over to owner Leo Dandurands house for a drink. Georges Vezina and two other players crammed into a Model-T but the car stalled on a Cote st. Antoine Hill. They left the Cup on the curb when they pushed the car up the hill, before driving back later to pick it up in the same spot they left it. (It was a flat tire that needed changing, and it was a totally blasted Sprague Cleghorn who was guilty of leaving the Cup behind.)

66. Six Montreal teams have won the Cup including the Canadiens, AAAs, Victorias and Shamrocks. In all there have been 41 titles for the city. (The other two were the Wanderers and Maroons.)

67. Jean Beliveau’s name appears the most times on the Cup at 17. Ten as a player, and seven as senior VP from 1973-93.

68. The then longest Cup drought in team history ended in 1944 when coach Dick Irvin created the punch line with Richard, Toe Blake and Elmer Lach. They scored 10 of 16 goals in final. (The 13 year dryspell is now the second longest, and the current 15 seasons is the new record.)

69. In 1954 Irvin told the Habs not to shake hands with the Red Wings after losing the Final. There was a white hot rivalry and they lost in Game 7. “If I had shaken hands, I wouldn’t have meant it,” said Irvin.

70. Despite his greatness, Rocket Richard never won a scoring title. The closest he came was finishing one point behind teammate Bernie Geoffrion, 75 points to 74. (Thanks in no small part to his punching a referee with three games to go in 1955 and being suspended. Geoffrion was given death threats and booed when he passed Richard a week later.)

71. In its 72 year history 16 cups were presented at the Montreal Forum.

72. The 1989 Calgary Flames were the only visiting team to win the Cup on Forum ice.

73. During the 1971 Finals and in the midst of a five game benching, Henri Richard called coach Al Macneil “the worst coach that I have ever known.” In Game 7 Richard returned to score twice including the Cup winner. (Richard's role was reduced, but the most he was benched for was one period. He called McNeil, "The worst coach I have ever played for.")

74. The seeds of the NHLPA were planted at the 1956 all star game in Montreal, spearheaded by Ken Lindsay and Doug Harvey. (That would be Ted Lindsay, of the Detroit Red Wings.)

75. Canadiens forward Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion is credited with inventing the slapshot in the 1950s. 76. Maurice Richard has the most hat tricks in team history with 26. (The Boomer only popularized it. The shot is as old as hockey itself. Canadiens star Didier Pitre was known for his slapper in the early years of the NHA. It terrified Ottawa goalie Riley Hern so badly, he retired because of it.)

77. Guy Lapointe’s 28 goals in the 74-75 season are the most in Canadiens history by a defenceman. (Sheldon Souray came close in 2006-07, with 26. Other Habs defensemen with 20 include Mathieu Schneider, Chris Chelios, and Serge Savard.)

78. The first goalie ever selected first overall in the NHL Draft was the Canadiens Michel Plasse in 1968. (The Canadiens were using a new version of a territorial rights rule from 1963 to 1969 to select Plasse. The draft was then known as the Amateur Draft, and it's creation involved the phasing out of players signed to C and B Form contract. Since the Canadiens were the club that had the most players signed under the older contract terms and were set to lose the rights to the most players under the phasing out, Sam Pollock bargained for and gained the rights to use the first two picks in drafts from 1963 to 1969 to select unsigned Quebec born players only. The option was passed over for the first five seasons. After selecting Plasse in 1968, he used the second pick on Roger Belisle. In 1969, Pollock chose Rejean Houle and Marc Tardiff.)

79. Ken Dryden was drafted by the Boston Bruins, 14th overall in the 1964 Amateur Draft. The Canadiens acquired him for three players, none of whom ever played a single game in the NHL. (Dryden was acquired for two players, not three. The deal was the rights traded to Montreal by Boston with Alex Campbell for Guy Allen and Paul Reid on June 28, 1964. The deal was originated by Bruins GM Milt Schmidt, who desperately wanted Reid. Dryden did not learn that he was drafted by the Bruins until 1974 as Boston never phoned to say they had selected him. Days later, he was acquired by Montreal.)

80. When Guy Lafleur first joined the team he was asked to wear Jean Beliveau’s number but refused, saying the pressure would be too much to live up to. (Lafleur was not asked to wear it, he was offered it by Beliveau.)

81. While GM of the Winnipeg Jets in 1979, former Canadien John Ferguson tried to sign former teammate Henri Richard for the Jets playoff run following an old timers game. Richard, who had retired in 1975, declined.

82. Guy Lafleur was the first rookie in the modern era to record three hat tricks in one season.

83. Between 1971 and 1973 the Canadiens went a club record 185 consecutive games without being shutout.

84. Doug Jarvis has the club record for most consecutive games played at 560. (Jarvis also won Cups in his first four season, surpassed only by Henri Richard, who was on the five Cups from 1956 to 1960.)

85. Maurice Richard and Bert Olmstead share the club record for most points in a single game with eight.

86. Jacques Plante owns the club records for most games played (556) and wins (312) by a Canadiens goaltender.

87. In 1986, 20 year old Canadiens goalie Patrick Roy became the youngest player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

88. The Montreal Canadiens NHL record of 32 consecutive winning seasons ended in 1983-84 when they finished 35-40-5.

89. During the 1988-89 season, Patrick Roy went undefeated at the Forum posting a 25-0-4 mark.

90. The Canadiens team motto is: To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high.

91. In 1945, Rocket Richard made NHL history by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in one season, reaching the mark on the final night of the season. (Second time I read this, I think! I'll replace this double post with this: In the 1919 playoffs - the year the Cup was cancelled due to influenza, Newsy Lalonde scored 17 goals in 11 playoff games, in cluding six against Seattle.)

92. In 2002 Jose Theodore became the first Canadiens goalie to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. (That should read the first since Jacques Plante in 1961-62.)

93. Goaltender Carey Price was selected 5th overall by Montreal in the 2005 Entry Draft. The Canadiens gained their draft position via a lottery following the lockout. (It was a weighted lottery based on standings over the three previous seasons.)

94. Jacques Plante won the Stanley Cup five consecutive years from 1956-60 and his name was spelled differently every time on the Cup.

95. Larry Robinson set a club record for most points in a season by a Canadiens defenceman with 85 (19-66) in 1976-77.

96. The Royal Canadian Mint is releasing over 10 million one-dollar coins commemorating the Canadiens' 100th anniversary. (Collect them all!)

97. During the 2008-09 season, the Canadiens will host 12 Centennial Jersey Nights, with players wearing past jerseys.

98. When the Edmonton Oilers broke the record for the longest undefeated streak to start a season in 1984-85, they surpassed the 1943-44 Canadiens start of 11-0-4.

99. A movie is slated for release on the storied hockey club's 100th birthday next year. "Pour toujours, les Canadiens" (The Canadiens Forever) has begun filming in earnest and will include members of the Canadiens past and present. (Ernest will not be in the movie!)

100. Canadiens coach Toe Blake was fined a then astronomical $2,000 for punching referee Dalton McArthur during the 1961 playoffs. (Blake walked the width of the ice to smack him. It was game three of the semi final, and the Canadiens had just lost 2-1 in overtime, in what many have called the dirtiest game ever played. Montreal evened the series at 2 games with a 5-2 win on Chicago ice two nights later. Hawks goalie Glenn Hall then shut the door for a pair of 3-0 blanking. Blackhawks haven't won a Cup since.)

We'll that's all folks. Maybe Sportsnet will get all these right in time.

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Maurice Rocket Richard - The Sports Illustrated Interview 1960

Robert L Note: As all of you who read my site regularly surely know, I have been undertaking the heavy endeavor of documenting the Montreal Canadiens 100 seasons. Close to a dozen posts have been published so far, and I am currently working on the middle 1940's, researching and writing on just about all I can get my mits on that I find interesting. Early this morning I came across this Sports Illustrated interview with The Rocket - Maurice Richard, done late in the 1959-60 season.

The piece, taken from The Rocket's final NHL season, literally, it blew me away!

As I read through it a second time, the human being inside the legend began to emerge and layers were pealed away from what we all always recognized as Habs fans, in Richard, as being a larger than life figure.

Revealing, isn't the word!

The perception that comes out of this article, is of a mortal being, not unlike you and I, who is staring straight at a career crossroads.

I could have saved this for the 1959-60 season post, but the interview to me, felt like a piece of history that stood alone, beyond the Montreal Canadiens story.

I immediately felt that it had to be shared amongst fans!

The SI feature link has no photos attached, so again I went digging through my files and folders for shots I felt would bring the piece to life. I hope you enjoy this glimpse inside The Rocket's heart and mind, in early 1960.

I wish to dedicate this post to all of you younger Habs fans out there. I urge you to find the time to dive headlong into your favorite hockey team's history. It will not only bring you a greater appreciation for the team, it might just springboard you into your grandfather's life and times.

One Beer For The Rocket

Maurice Richard, the violent Canadien, watches his temper and his weight in his 18th year of ice hockey

"What makes Toronto tick?" asked the TV announcer.

"What makes Toronto dead?" Maurice (The Rocket) Richard asked back.

Richard, who has played right wing for the Club de Hockey Canadien Inc. every winter since 1942, sat, his shoes off, in a dark room in the Royal York hotel, laughing at Red Skelton and smoking a cigar - a burly man of 38 with an erect carriage, tilted, somber, devout face, inflexible eye, abundant black hair which also thickly mats his chest and back, making him look like a mangy bear, and queer, thin, knobby legs.

"If he had another hair on his back, he'd be up a tree," says Kenny Reardon, who is vice-president of the Montreal Canadiens.

Richard's roommate in Toronto, Marcel Bonin, who once wrestled a toothless, suffering bear in a carnival ("I never win," he admits) was out somewhere in the cold, solid city. The Ontario Good Roads Association made roisterous marches up and down the long, dim hotel corridors, X's on the backs of their red necks and violent apocalypses on their broad neckties. One of them hammered on Richard's door.

"Go to bed, damn it!" Richard shouts.

"That's my whole life trouble," he said, "trying to sleep. My mother was the same way. If I sleep four or five hours a night, it's good. TV puts me to sleep every time. Where would we be without TV, eh? And what did we do before?

"Eighteen years of this," he said. "In the town. Out of the town. I really get tired of all these trips." He got up and closed the transom, shutting out the racket. "People bother me," he said. "The young ones, they're all right. It's the old ones who have had a drink or two too much, yelling at you, asking all sorts of questions."

He made a face.

"I was at this sports banquet. A famous person got up to speak. He had too much to drink, like James Dean in that movie. He kept on talking and no one knew how to stop him. It was embarrassing. I'll never be like that."

And no one, certainly, will ever be quite like Maurice Richard, who next week, as their captain, leads the Canadiens toward their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup. Not even himself.

"You should have come up five years ago," he had said in the men's room of a Montreal - Detroit sleeper several days before, where he has sat so many nights reading until the porter fills the room with hockey players' shoes.

"It's getting to be my time now. I'm getting near the end. I have had some good times, some bad. I started out with three bad injuries [fractured left ankle, left wrist, right ankle] and am ending with three bad injuries [sliced Achilles' tendon, fractured left tibia, depressed fracture of facial bone]. The old days are gone. These are the new days. I'll never score five goals in one night."

He looked out the window at the dismal, glaring snow, listening to the wheels as the train bore him to his 1,091st game. Behind him, the glorious past, the records: 50 goals (and in a 50-game season); five goals in a playoff game; 18 winning goals in 14 playoff series, six of which were in overtime; 26 hat tricks (three or more goals in a game); 618 goals; 1,076 points; at least one goal in nine straight games; etc.



















"He was a wartime hockey player," says Frank J. Selke, the 66 year old managing director of the Canadiens. "When the boys come back, they said, they'll look after Maurice. Nobody looked after Maurice. He looked after himself. When the boys come back, they said, they'll catch up with him. The only thing that's caught up with Maurice is time."



















"It's changed. I'm the oldest; the rest are kids," Richard said one night in a Detroit bar which advertised a stereophonic juke box. ("I'd go where the boys go," he had said, "but it's not a nice place. This is a quiet little bar on the corner.") "I know I'm not playing good hockey now. I'm weak now. My legs are tired. After a minute and a half, I'm tired. I'm so tired. I will try to diet. I weigh 194 pounds. I've been playing at that weight for the last five years, but I'm so heavy I'm floating on air. I got to take off five or six pounds before the playoffs. Only one beer. That's all I'll drink. I'll drink gin. That isn't fattening."





















He watched on TV a tape of the game he had played in an hour earlier. He had scored two goals. The bartender got in front of the TV set while he scored the first goal and Richard did not see it. He was told he had been chosen the game's outstanding player. "Me?" he said. "I don't believe it. I did not deserve it. Luck."

"If I can wake him up!" Selke says. "He kids himself that if he's feeling well, he's at the right weight. You don't feel well at the right weight. You're crabby. But he makes so much money! ( Richard 's salary is estimated at $30,000.)

He's wonderful to sign," Selke says. " 'How much do you want?' I ask. 'How much do you want to give me?' he says. I always give him a little more than anyone else I hear about through the grapevine. He has done so much for the game."

Richard 's annual income has been estimated at $60,000, total worth at $300,000. He is a public relations man for Dow Brewery and Quebec Natural Gas, has part interest in a store which sells gas appliances, has bought a tavern which he is calling No. 9 after his uniform number and referees professional wrestling matches.

"They're smart guys, the wrestlers," he says. "Ninety percent of them are educated. I know most of the guys. I like them. I wrestle a lot with Boom Boom [Geoffrion] in the room. Do a lot of crazy things."




















"I've been in hockey 53 years and I've never had an aging athlete admit he was through," Selke says. "He misses passes he never missed. He tops the puck like a golfer. He never did that. He's got too big in the middle. I'd bench him. He'd damn well get in shape. I wouldn't sign him for another year. I wouldn't let him make a fool of himself in front of a crowd."

Richard had played ineptly the night before, and Selke, like a proud, rigorous, loving father, spoke not in intemperate anger but with old, gruff affection, hurt by loss and memory. If his Maurice wanted to play next year, he would probably relent.


















"If I make bad," Richard says, "people will talk. I like to leave the game before people criticize me, boo me. When I'm ready, I'll go tell Mr. Selke. Fifty percent of goals are luck. You have to work for the others. I used to be like that. I lost all that. I used to skate a little better, go around the fence a little better. I've got to watch myself. I don't want to get another accident. The day of the game I'm afraid to get hit. I know when I feel that it is getting close to the end. Everyone should wear helmets. It's just up in the mind. It would be a good thing. It's a dangerous spot, the head. We've tried; they bothered us, were too warm. But if everybody wore them it would be the same.

"I have to work so hard all the time," he says. "When a guy is a natural he doesn't have to drive and force himself. Some guys.... If Howe would work a little harder, he'd be better."

"He used to be a whirlwind," says Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings. "Now he's just a whirlwind half the time. But when he's not doing a lot, you notice it. Not like the others."

"I'm a little too old to be called Rocket," says Maurice Richard.

"I first saw him in 1942," says Reardon. "I was playing for an Army team. I see this guy skating at me with wild, bloody hair the way he had it then, eyes just outside the nut house. 'I'll take this guy,' I said to, myself. He went around me like a hoop around a barrel. 'Who's that?' I asked after the game. 'That's Maurice Richard,' the guy said. 'He's a pretty good hockey player.' 'Yes,' I said, 'he is.'"

"When he's worked up," says Selke, "his eyes gleam like headlights. Not a glow, but a piercing intensity. Goalies have said he's like a motorcar coming on you at night. He is terrifying. He is the greatest hockey player that ever lived. I can contradict myself by saying that 10 or 15 do the mechanics of play better. But it's results that count. Others play well, build up, eventually get a goal. He is like a flash of lightning. It's a fine summer day, suddenly...."

"Holy Dirty Dora!" says Montreal coach Toe Blake. "You got to give it to the fellow. The fellow was fantastic. That's why you got to give it to the fellow. That will!"


















"In all my experience in athletics, academic pursuits, business," says National Hockey League President Clarence S. Campbell, "I've never seen a man so completely dedicated to the degree he is. Many people who prosper take prosperity for granted. He doesn't to this day. He is the best hockey player he can be every second. You know, he is the eldest of a fairly extensive family raised in relative poverty. Back of it all, somehow or other, he was going to lift himself, one way or another. He has an inner urge to transcend."

"He is not the Pope...." says Camil Desroches, the Canadiens' publicity man, wistfully.

"He is God," says Selke.

Richard is regarded in Canada as no athlete is in the United States. He is not only a sports idol, he is the national idol, particularly among the French speaking people of Montreal and the province of Quebec. When Maurice Richard scores a goal in the Forum, even an insignificant goal in a meaningless game, it touches off a unique celebration. First, an astonishing, prolonged din of cheering and applause, then newspapers, programs, galoshes, hats are thrown onto the ice. Richard skates in abstracted, embarrassed, lonely circles through the heavy snow of objects. The game has to be stopped until the attendants clear the ice. But adulation sits on him like an uneasy crown.




















"Nothing goes in my head," he says. "I don't believe in anything. It's nice. I like to forget about it. I don't think I deserve it. That's my whole trouble all the years. It's just the way it went. There are better hockey players but they don't work as hard. I like to win."

"We were playing Toronto once in a benefit softball game," Selke says. "Instead of just using the Maple Leaf players, they used the best softball players they had in their entire organization. They were beating us 25-5. Maurice was playing third base. Someone laughed about the score. 'You might think it's funny getting licked 25-5 in front of 14,000 spectators,' Maurice said to him. 'I don't think it's a bit funny.' "




















"I never did like to see anybody laughing," Richard says, "making a farce out of something. I don't like to lose. They won't forget about me but when they stop writing about you, when they stop talking, it won't be the same. It will be a different life. I like to meet people, but not to talk about hockey when we had a bad game and lost. I stay away from everybody and go home. That's why I like fishing, to be quiet. When I'm traveling around the provinces I go fly fishing for an hour or two at night. Hunting is nice, too, because I like to be in the woods. They all talking about you but I don't like it. In front of me, it feels funny. Another player, they wouldn't have done it. But I'm afraid to let the French people down. That's why I'm worried out. Before, I could work hard, follow everybody. I don't want to be kept on the ice through sympathy."

"He is more important than the cardinal or Duplessis," explains one fan. "There are many cardinals. Duplessis was only the head man of Quebec. Maurice Richard was not only the best of the French but of the English as well. He came to epitomize the desire of superiority of the French Canadian nationalists. He was one of their best expressions. But you must understand that he has no personal interest in it. Maurice Richard never did a thing to accentuate it. He was a person to fix their eyes. Here was a demonstration."

While an idol, Richard has also been a figure of controversy. He fought a lot on the ice, violently and well, although the sight of blood makes him ill. "I see myself bleeding or anyone else bleeding," he says, "I feel funny. Once I cut my hand as a little kid and I passed out." In 1955, after a series of incidents culminating in the slugging of a linesman, Campbell suspended him for the last three regular season games and the playoffs. That decision caused the notorious Forum riot and inspired a ballad to the tune of Abdul Abulbul Amir:

Now our town has lost face
And our team is disgraced,
But these hot headed actions can't mar
Or cast any shame on the heroic name
Of Maurice (The Rocket) Richard.





















Richard has also been called aloof, sullen, moody, peculiar, uncommunicative, tight. "I'm unpredictable," says Richard , cheerfully.

"He is difficult with difficult people," says Junior Langlois, a teammate.

"His difficulty was the language barrier, a very modest formal education and the disparagement of no war service," the fan says. "He was tagged with aspersion."

"Somewhere at the back of his mind," says Selke, "there is a feeling that someone is trying to put it over on him. He has a tremendous dread of poverty."

"You can say that again," Richard says, laughing.

"You can say a lot of things to Maurice," Selke says, "but you got to be careful of your adjectives. Maurice just can't take anything. If he could, he would not be Maurice Richard. Frenzy makes him! But there is no meanness in Maurice Richard. He's 100% solid gold; someone you'd be proud to have as the husband of one of your daughters; faithful, devoted."


















"For 15 years he's been a law unto himself," Reardon says. "He has been so good he didn't have to do the things others did. The time hasn't come when he realizes he's human and has to do the things everyone else does. But if he wasn't so obstinate, he couldn't have done the things he has done. He was watched, watched, watched until he finally blew. There are more sly ways to get at a man with the stick. The stick stings. You know who gave it to you. When he blew, he blew good. No one could have taken it as long as he did and done less about it."

"It's different," says Richard . "Today they don't have to bother me like before. But every fight I've been in, every suspension, I was not the first. I'm not the type to hit a guy. Many times I don't like a guy, but I get on the ice I forget all about it. Now it's no use to fight. Ten minutes, $25 fine. If you keep fighting too long, they send you out. It's a match penalty, $100 fine!"

"I told him," says Selke. "You don't prove anything at your age to take on a young buck. You win? You've won so many fights already. You lose? They'll say you let a bandy rooster lick the cock of the walk."

"I am a very quiet man," says Richard. "At the beginning of my career I didn't know what the English people were talking about. Even today, I like to go somewhere and want to go somewhere, but they ask me to make a speech. I like to, but I am a man of few words."

"Richard the sphinx!" says Reardon. "He used to ride all the way to Chicago, sitting in the corner. He didn't even read a book. Henri, his brother, was that way, too. After Henri had been with the club two years, a reporter asked the coach if he could interview him. 'Sure,' he said, 'go ahead.' 'Does he speak English?' the reporter asked. 'Hell,' said Blake. 'I don't even know if he speaks French.' Maurice is just a great company man. He shows up for the game. Does a great job and disappears into his shell."

"He's like the lion who's let out of the cage twice a week," says Selke's son, Frank Jr., the Canadiens' public relations man.

Richard's cage is a spacious one story house by the Back River on the rim of Montreal . "I have six kids," he says. "One for each 100 goals. If I have to reach the 700 mark, I'll have to get another one, but I think I'll have to stop. I mean, there's no more on the way yet. My oldest is Huguette. She is 16 and studying to be a beautician. All she does now is ski. She doesn't do her skating anymore. I'd like to do figure skating too, but I'm embarrassed. Then there is Maurice Jr., who is 14. He's good at school. Not too bad. He's a fair hockey player, right wing. He wants to play hockey, too. He is an inch and a half taller than me. Normand is 9. This one is the one that likes every sport. A right wing, too. He's a natural. Just fair in school. Then André, who is 5. He is starting to go to school this year. He's kind of young, but he's all right. Suzanne is 2 and Paul, we call him Paulu, is one. My wife Lucille has missed only two hockey games in 18 years. She was sick for a week this year."

Richard adores children and is, perhaps, most at ease with them. He always carries postcards with his picture on them which he signs and gives away. Children adore Richard . If they are not French, he asks them if they speak French. If they do, they proudly and hurriedly say their few words of high school French and flee with their autographs.

"I never wanted to have a fan club," Richard says, "because of the exploitation. I have fans but no clubs. Instead of the kids spending money on us, let us spend money on them."

Richard often skates with kids or referees their games. "The kids all call this one place where we skate Maurice Richard Park," he says. "That's not the real name. In Montreal most of the people things are named after are dead people. Parents should spend more time watching their kids play," he says. "I come out after the game starts and stand hidden in a corner. I like to play with them in the park. The kids get such a kick out of it. They talk of nothing else for a week afterward."

One night in Detroit several weeks ago, Richard sat at the bar in a steak house with some businessmen friends. "When I got friends," he says, "I keep them and stay with them all the time." He had been telling his friends about Varadero Beach in Cuba, groping for words to describe its beauty. "The wife and I were swimming 50 or 60 feet offshore," he said. "Fish of all different colors came around us and touched our legs. The wife got scared. It was so beautiful. The water was all different colors—" Suddenly he stopped and drank his screwdriver. "You never know what you want to do in life, eh," he said. "I'm fed up with hockey, I don't want to skate anymore."

"You said that last year," a friend said.

"And four years ago," Richard said, and smiled thinly.





















"No, I'm not fed up with hockey," he said, as he walked back the dark blocks to his hotel through the snow in his deep blue overcoat and a hat with a red feather in the band. "That's my living. I'm fed up with the traveling, the fear of accidents, the...I...good night," he said, "I'm going to watch The Late Show until I get sleepy."

There is a poster on the wall of the Canadiens' dressing room in the Forum. It is a quotation from Abraham Lincoln. It reads, in part, "I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end."





















"I read that almost every game," Richard says. " Dick Irvin (the late Montreal coach) put that up. It's right in front of me."

At the NHL meeting last year there was some facetious talk of the end, the day when Richard would get so old Montreal would no longer protect him and he would be available for the $20,000 waiver price. "I'd pay $20,000 for him," said Phil Watson , then coach of the New York Rangers. "I'd put him in a glass case in Madison Square Garden and say, 'Pay your money and take a good look at the great Maurice Richard!' "



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Habs For Breakfast - The Biggest Of The Biggest Games Of The Year

The Canadiens are not standing quite on the edge yet, but the outcome of their season rests on tonight's outcome.

Can the Habs continue to outhit, outshoot, outchance, and outplay the Flyers and still lose?

Will the Flyers keep on complaining about officiating that's been kinder to them than they know?

Will Brière continue to whine about no one talking about what the Flyers are doing right?

Two things will answer these question in Game 4. For starters, it would be nice if the Canadiens scored the first goal for a change. Secondly, Carey Price will bounce back, because he's a character kid and is confident he can do better.

And yes, Price will play. Coach Carbonneau is being coy with the media, and perhaps Price as well, when he calls it a game time decision. Forget about it. Anyone who thinks Halak is about to play hasn't been watching hockey long enough to understand that it's just not done in this situations, for three reasons.

It throws the team into a panic mode.

Halak has played what, 4 games with the Canadiens this season? You want the players to feel confident out there, not concerned. The have faith in Price and he would be their choice, no doubt.

Again, from a coaches standpoint, the move isn't about shaking up a team that has done alot well except score. It is teams who lose or win together, and replacing the goalie would absolve the players and their recent mistakes.

It's not a different goalie who will help the team convert all those missed chances. Halak will not create better zone coverage and defensive conscience. All he would be doing is stopping that first puck.

Think about it?















Will It Be Price Or Halak? - Gazette

"The decision to start Carey Price in the Canadiens net tonight was not made yesterday. Or at least it was not announced. Coach Guy Carbonneau says we won't know until 7 p.m. whether Price or backup Jaroslav Halak will get the call to face Philadelphia in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semi-final, the Flyers leading the best-of-seven series 2-1." - Dave Stubbs

Hospital Visit Created Fan For Life - Gazette

"Win or lose tonight, nothing can dampen Robert Vanden Abeele's enthusiasm for the bleu-blanc-rouge. The retired customs officer has been a loyal Canadiens fan since 1955, when he turned 17 and Habs legend Maurice (Rocket) Richard paid a surprise visit to his bedside at St. Mary's Hospital - not once, but twice." - Alan Hustak
















Look For Price - Gazette

"Carbonneau has little choice as the Canadiens hope to avoid falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. While Price has not played well in the three games against the Flyers - he has a 3.79 goals-against average and an .853 save percentage - the Canadiens have to look at the big picture." - Pat Hickey

Flyers, fans not feeling love from refs, hockey world - Gazette

"There's nothing like a dose of paranoia - that feeling of us vs. them - to get folks jacked up for a hockey game. The feeling here in the City of Brotherly Love is that the hometown Flyers haven't been getting enough love from the officials in their Eastern Conference semi-final showdown against the Canadiens." Pat Hickey

"Penney's From Heaven" - Gazette

"Steve Penney has a better idea than most about the pressure Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is under these days.That's because Penney - like Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy - also once shouldered the hopes and dreams of hockey's most storied franchise as a hot rookie goalie in the Stanley Cup playoffs." - Mark Cardwell

















Price's Cinderella Story Takes An Unhappy Twist - Globe Sports

"I don't like talking about my feelings," he says when the grilling is over and the cameras and microphones have finally retreated. "Maybe it's just a guy thing." Carey Price smiles, but the smile is tired and slips away as fast as a Montreal Canadiens lead in recent playoff games. The thing is, everyone wants to know about his feelings." - Roy MacGregor

Was Brière Right? - Lions In Winter

"Our outrage at first must surely have been fueled by our fear that what Briere said may be true. But, at the same time, we all watch hockey and we know the Flyers don't have any Kostitsyns, any goaltending prospects and were for the most part the same team that managed the least regular season points in recent memory." - Topham

A Fly On The Wall - The H Does Not Stand For Habs

"A conversation between Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey today:
GC: (deep breath) Bob, I want to start Halak next game.
BG: (steeples fingers, regards Carbo intently) Hmmmm...I don't know about that Guy.
GC: Well, Bob, the kid is shaken. He's nervous when he plays the puck, he's missing long shots through the simplest of screens, his glove is slow and he's getting down on himself when he allows a goal. The team is expecting him to give up the lead every game, and it's hurting their confidence.
BG: Well, we've got a lot riding on Carey, and we don't want him to feel like he's failing." -J.T.

Price: "Je n'ai qu'à rebondir" - La Presse

"Carbonneau pourrait-il vraiment décider de faire appel à Jaroslav Halak, qui n'a reçu que deux tirs en troisième période lundi et qui n'a pas joué depuis le 29 mars dans une défaite de 4-2 encaissée à Toronto?" - François Gagnon

Des arbitres qui favorisent le CH? - La Presse

"Pendant que nous, par ici, on se demande ce qui se passe avec Jesus Price, à Philadelphie, eux, ils se posent une autre question, bien différente mais tout aussi douloureuse: les arbitres seraient-ils du bord du Canadien?" - Richard Labbé

Price n'est pas le seul à blâmer - RDS

"Le premier but de Scottie Upshall a été marqué quand il avait la vue voilée. Le deuxième, celui de Mike Richards, a dévié sur Mike Komisarek. Le troisième but des Flyers compté par R.J. Umberger est survenu à la suite de deux revirements. C'est sûr qu'il est là pour réparer les erreurs de ses joueurs mais ses coéquipiers n'ont pas bien joué devant lui en deuxième. Quand un gardien fait les arrêts clés alors que le tien ne les fait pas, les chances de gagner sont très minces." - Benoît Brunet























Price reste de marbre - Le Journal

"La faune médiatique l'attendait en grand nombre à son arrivée dans le vestiaire, elle qui n'avait pu le rencontrer à la suite de sa contre-performance de la veille sous l'ordre de Guy Carbonneau. Pour vous montrer à quel point c'était fou, disons que le jeune gardien n'aurait absolument aucune chance de voir la rondelle si les Flyers pouvaient placer autant de joueurs devant son filet." - Marc de Foy

"On doit aller chercher le premier but" - Le Journal

"Ne soyez pas étonnés si Patrice Brisebois effectue un retour au jeu ce soir pour le quatrième match de la série entre le Canadien et les Flyers. Le vétéran défenseur a rejoint les siens dans la Ville de l'amour fraternel, lui qui a raté les deux dernières rencontres en raison d'une blessure à une jambe. Brisebois s'est blessé durant une séance d'entraînement, samedi dernier." - Marc De Foy

"Personne ne parle en bien des Flyers": Daniel Brière - Le Journal

"Les Flyers ont de la difficulté à obtenir le mérite qui leur revient. Aucune équipe ne voulait affronter les Capitals en première ronde et ils ont réussi à les éliminer." - Pierre Durocher

More from Habs Inside Out, RDS, La Presse, and Le Journal

Oh yeah, and if you enjoyed the "Fly On The Wall" scenario by J.T., here's a look back on one that was posted here last summer.
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Habs Welcome Robinson To The Club - At Long Last

Perhaps it is fifteen years later than when it should have happened, but the Canadiens are finally getting around to doing the right thing with Larry Robinson's number 19.

Numbers could possibly place Robinson in a Habs franchise perspective quicker than a paragraph.

In regular season and playoff points, only Beliveau, Lafleur and two guys names Richard surpass him. In games played, only the Pocket is ahead of - by 31. In playoff games played, Robinson leads all Canadiens with 203, twenty three more than Henri.

Not too shabby for a 17 seventeen year stint playing on a team in which he never missed the playoffs.

In his career, he sits 30th in all time games played, 78th in points scored, and 7th in points by a defenseman.

He holds one sturdy, unbreakable record claim - 20 straight seasons without missing the playoffs.

Larry Robinson's story is that of a farmer's lanky son, growing up in small town Marvelville, Ontario with a passion for the game. He is converted into a defenseman at age 17, and plays only one season of OHA hockey before being drafted by the Canadiens. He grooms for a season and a half with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, winning a Calder Cup while being admirably tutored by an old vet named Noel Price. He is an emergency call up to the Habs the next season, and never returns to the minors. That season, he wins the Stanley Cup - his best contribution being an overtime goal against the Flyers. From there on, he builds a legend that sees him voted to the Canadiens all time Dream Team in 1984.

My personal 10 Unforgettable Larry Moments:

1 - He is cut from the 1970 Cornwall Royals training camp for refusing to cut his hair. The Kitchener Rangers happily snap him up. Royals win the Memorial Cup regardless. People still chuckle and wonder about that in this town.

2 - His overtime goal celebration against the Flyers in 1973. Worthy of an inpromptu lottery winning happy dance, Robinson launches into a flailling skip and jig that earns him the dreaded "Big Bird" nickname he so much hates.

3 - Robinson versus carpentry. Larry perfectly lines up his 220 lb frame against that of the equally sized Gary Dornhoefer at the Canadiens blueline, throwing the boards right off their hinges. A hush comes over the Forum as the maintenance crew, crowbars in hand, yank it back into place.

4 - The defanging of Dave Schultz. In the midst of an all out brawl between the Flyers and Habs, Robinson finds Schultz about to pounce onto a Canadiens player already involved in a scrap. Robinson administers the ultimate of corrections to Schultz by pummelling him senseless with a series of one handed haymakers like only a good farmboy could. The Flyers were never the same threat again.

5 - Imitating Orr. In one particluar game against the Bruins, Bobby Orr had just beaten the Canadiens for a goal with one of his patented ice long rushes when Robinson duplicated the feat in the third period. The sight of Robinson gingerly tiptoeing up ice, while scanning and then dodging all comers was something to behold. Unfortunately for highlight reel lovers, he played on a team which didn't require him to use this skill all that often.

6 - The wagging index finger. After having proven himself in the fisticuffs departement, Larry stopped receiving offers to tangle. In scrums, Robinson was often in the middle, gloves off, and pointing that digit in some feisty players nose to further deter any thoughts of continuing. Dryden kidded Larry that this was fast becoming his cariacature moment.

7 - The Dream Team. I was watching with my father the night the Habs all time team was unveiled. I was proud that one player from my era, had joined with 5 from his. Hearing my old man say Robinson belonged there was of no small consequence to me. Watching Larry laugh it up with a clowning Aurel Joliat and his leather cap was quite rememberable as well.

8 - Robinson buys a dozen worms off me - I think! One summer when I was 15, a tall gentleman in a pickup truck pulls over at my roadside "Worms for Sale" stand to get some fishing bait. He looks like Larry, minus the long hair, sideburns and mustache. I thought to myself that it could be him, so I hesitantly ask. He throws me an awkward glance and says "No, but I get that alot". Off he goes and I'm still wondering. A few days later, someone mentions to my father that they saw Robinson about town. The following weekend I see his truck approaching again. I wave, he waves back, and keeps on going! I waited until the start of the season, to judge from his new look, if it was indeed him. Gone were the sideburns and long hair, and the handlebar mustache was trimmed to a more sedate look. I guess I'll always wonder if it was him.

9 - Rebirth. Robinson was a rejuvenated veteran on a youth propelled 1986 Canadiens. Watching him hoist the recaptured Stanley Cup with joyfilled eyes was a prized moment. The Canadiens weren't supposed to be there, and Robinson was as exhuberant as a teenager in this victory.

10 - An unfitting end. Robinson should have retired a Canadiens player for life, but a contract squabble with GM and former defense partner Serge Savard messed up what should have been a glorious sendoff. Savard felt Robinson was done as a player, and reneged on giving him his due traditional one years free salary upon retirement. Savard then discontinued the tradition and blemished Robinson's name suggesting that Larry attempted to negoatiate his own jersey retirement. (More on this in an upcoming post.)

Habs Goalies: The Early To Mid 1940's

(Robert L Note: I hope that everyone is enjoying the chronological look back at the goaltenders in Montreal Canadiens history. It is a very busy time for me, due to a lot of reasons, so hopefully soon I can get back to posting a new addition each day. One of the things I have become proudest of most with this site is the reader interest and their willingness to make a contribution. Readers really seem to care about this space, which is way more than I could have ever envisioned when I so humbly began over a year ago. Testament to that, is the time spent by one reader to research the initial post in this series, "Habs Goalies Of 1909 - 1910". Chuck, from the Toronto area, went into great detail to breakdown what likely occured between the pipes during the Habs first season - one that had been very poorly documented due to several factors. With Chuck's research, logic, and clarity, the roles and sequence of events that season are now much more clear. Check out that first post again here, and see what Chuck has added to it. On a similar note, I would also like to add that if any readers should feel they have something larger to say or add to this series, or to this blog site in general, they can e-mail me with their notions. I'd welcome whatever it is you have to offer. Thanks again for your contributions and steady flow of encouraging and kind words - and Chuck, the first cold one is on me at the next Summit!)

In the later stages of the 1930's and the early years of the 1940's, the Canadiens started turning the corner on their darkest years. Bolstered by the genius of two great builders, T.P. Gorman and by 1940's end, Frank Selke Sr, the Canadiens were putting the seeds in place to build a feeder system of clubs, which would allow the Canadiens to sign and develop a great amount of talent within the next decade. After Toe Blake had been literally robbed from the Montreal Maroons, players such as Elmer Lach, Maurice Richard, and Emile Bouchard would come along, one piece at a time, laying the foundation for the Canadiens first Stanley Cup in 13 seasons.

The Canadiens next great goaltender in the Vezina and Hainsworth mould, was Bill Durnan, who would come to the club in 1943. Between Wilf Cude and Durnan, Bert Gardiner and Paul Bibeault raised the bar for Habs netminders by simply being just more than adequate. While both enjoyed interesting NHL careers, it soon became obvious that the Canadiens would need more prominance at the position to reach the Stanley Cup. For the time being though, Gardiner, and then Bibeault kept the Habs competitive.

Gorman's feeder system had yet to begin producing quality netminders for the Canadiens, but certain talents were toiling in the Habs ranks, which surely kept goaltenders looking over their shoulders more than before. Two such goalies were Lionel Bouvrette and Al Picard, who were asigned to the Quebec Aces and Buffalo Bisons respectively. While both were hot commodities for short periods of time, neither ever played for the Canadiens, with only Bouvrette seeing NHL action in game for another team while on loan, a common practice in Original Six years.

There were likely other goaltending prospects for the Canadiens in this time, but records from the day make determining such signings and association rather incomplete to qualify as fact.

Gardiner, Bibeault, Bouvrette, and Picard are all profiled here.

Bert Gardiner 1940 - 1942























Goaltender Bert Gardiner was born in Saskatoon in 1913 and played his minor hockey there before moving west where he led the Calgary Jimmys of the CCHL to two consecutive Memorial Cup appearances in 1932 and 1933.

Gardiner returned to Saskatoon for a season before signing a contract with the New York Rangers in October, 1935. He played one game between the pipes with the Rangers in 35-36 and another 6 in the 38-39 playoffs.

He remained the NHL property of the Rangers until being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in April, 1940.

In the 1940-41 season, Gardiner played in 42 games going 13-23-6. He played ten more games with the Habs the following season ( 1-8-1, 4.06 ) and then in 1942-43 was loaned to the Chicago Blackhawks. They took good advantage of the loan, using Gardiner for 50 games.

Montreal traded Gardiner to the Boston Bruins in 1943 along with cash for the right to repurchase him if they desired. He played 41 games with the Bruins, retiring at the end of the season.
After hockey he lived in the Chicago area for many years before heading to California in the 70s where he remained until his death on August 28, 2001. He is buried in the Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Lionel Bouvrette - In The System 1941 - 1947
























Goaltender Lionel Bouvrette is one of the many former players who fit in the category of "One-Game Wonders" in the NHL.

Bouvrette's rights were owned by the Montreal Canadiens, but they agreed to loan him to the Rangers on March 18, 1943, to fill in for the injured Jimmy Franks.

For Bouvrette, who grew up near Ottawa, Ontario, his NHL career was short and perhaps not so sweet. During the 1942-43 season, with many regular NHL stars off fighting in World War II, he suited up for one contest as a member of the New York Rangers and lost the game by a 6-0 score. Bill Beveridge, Steve Buzinski and Franks were the others who tended goal for New York that season.

Bouvrette himself missed some playing time due to the war effort, but eventually returned to the ice as a member of the Quebec Aces in the QSHL. In 31 games, Bouvrette had one shutout and posted a 3.71 GAA in 1944-45. He led the QSHL three times in shutouts, once as a member of the Montreal Concordia and twice with the Aces and in 1944 was the recipient of the Vimy Memorial Trophy, awarded to the MVP of the QSHL.

After playing just eight games in 1946-47, Bouvrette retired from professional hockey at the age of 32.

"I don't think I could live if it wasn't for sports. As long as you can stand on two feet, you can do it," said Lionel Bouvrette in 1994. Bouvrette had just taken home a bronze medal in a shuffleboard tournament in Delray Beach, Florida.That love for sports included a stint in professional hockey

In the 1942-43 season Bouvrette got the chance to play at the top level, the NHL, when the New York Rangers needed an emergency replacement. Bouvrette went between the pipes for the blueshirts and gave up six goals in his NHL debut. The next game Bouvrette was back with the Quebec Aces

The following season Bouvrette was able to celebrate an Allan Cup championship with the Aces. Bouvrette had two more strong seasons before his skills started to decline.Lionel Bouvrette never did get another chance to play in the NHL. Bouvrette passed peacefully away at the age of 85 years old in Delray Beach, Florida on February 8, 2000.

Al Picard - In The System 1943 - 1946

Al Picard was a goaltender in the Montreal Canadiens system who played for the Buffalo Bisons from 1943 to 1946, and for the Dallas Texans in 1945-46.

Early in the 1945-46 season, the Canadiens assigned Picard to the Dallas Texans (USHL), a short lived affiliation for the Habs. The 20 year old goalie was said to be highly rated by Texans coach Leroy Goldsworthy, who was well aquainted with Canadiens prospects from having previously worked in their organization.

Dallas had an option to sell of Picard's contract to an NHL team, according to one press release, should the team perform well and the Canadiens not resign him by season's end.

No sale of Picard materialized, as the Texans weren't successful on or off the ice. Picard appeared in 24 games, allowing close to four goal per game.The goaltender toiled in fringe league teams such as the Oakland Oaks (PCHL), the Houston Skippers / Huskies (USHL), the Vancouver Canucks (PCHL), and finally the lowly North Bay Black Hawks of the North American Hockey Association in 1951.

The Dallas Texans franchise lasted beyond the Habs ties, existing less than a decade in total. At one point they employed former Habs, Leafs, Bruins, and Black Hawks stopper Paul Bibeault.

Paul Bibeault 1941 - 1946
























Goalie Paul Bibeault played over 200 games for four different clubs during the 1940s. He was a consistent and durable competitor whose solid work often came as an emergency fill in for established star who was called to military service. His other claim to fame was being the son-in-law of the legendary Frank Selke.

The Montreal native impressed the Canadiens' scouts while he starred with the Verdun Junior Maple Leafs and was signed as a free agent on March 6, 1941. He played four games for the Habs in 1940-41 then gained further seasoning with the senior Canadiens and the AHL's Washington Lions.

On March 15, 1941, Bibeault was involved in the oddest of shared shutout games when Montreal coach Dick Irvin rotated Bibeault and Bert Gardiner every seven minutes of their 6-0 victory over the New York Americans.

Bibeault played nearly two full years with Montreal and led the NHL with 50 appearances in 1942-43.






















After serving briefly in the army, Bibeault was discharged and joined the Toronto Maple Leafs in December, on loan for the last half of the 1943-44 season. In so doing he became the third goalie after George Hainsworth and Lorne Chabot to play for both the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens. Bibeault excelled for the Maple Leafs with five shutouts and earned selection to the NHL second all-star team. In 1944, Bibeault became a Boston Bruins, on loan from the Habs again, after Boston lost star netminder Frank Brimsek to military service.

Bibeault was recalled from Boston to Montreal, acting as an injury replacement for Bill Durnan, January 6, 1946. In September of that year, Bibeault was dealt to Chicago Blackhawks for George Allen, with both teams holding recall rights. The Canadiens exercised that right on June 2, 1947, recalling Bibeault one last time.

After playing 41 games for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1946-47, Bibeault spent the remainder of his career in the minors. His finest season came in 1948-49 when he starred for the USHL's Dallas Texans. Bibeault was placed on the league's first all-star team, won the Charles Gardiner Memorial Trophy as the top goalie in the USHL, and was presented the Herman W. Paterson Cup as the league MVP. He retired in 1955 after playing a couple of games for the IHL's Cincinnati Mohawks.



















What follows here is an excellent piece, courtesy of Dave Stubbs, and published in the Montreal Gazette in 2007 about the journeyman goaler who left us in 1970 at the age of 51, losing a battle to cancer.

It was Paul Bibeault who was in Toronto's net at the Forum on March 23, 1944 when Maurice (Rocket) Richard exploded for all five of the Canadiens goals in a 5-1 Game 2 semi-final playoff series victory, starting the puck rolling toward Montreal's fifth Stanley Cup win.




















The story is one of many about Canadiens legend Maurice (Rocket) Richard, a playoff performer for the ages who would dial up his scary intensity a few notches for the postseason.

But too seldom does it include the name of the late Paul Bibeault, the little goaler who helped - not by choice - the Rocket write another chapter of National Hockey League history.

Bibeault’s name came to light again 10 days ago when Pointe-Claire announced plans to build a second 50-metre indoor pool. In 1965, Bibeault served as the first manager of the city’s new civic centre - an arena and Canada’s first Olympic-size indoor pool.

Two decades earlier, the Montreal native had played a key role in one of the Rocket’s most remarkable games.

The 1943-44 Canadiens arrived at their semi-final against the Toronto Maple Leafs with the best record in NHL history: 38 victories, just five losses and seven ties in the 50-game schedule.

It was the Rocket’s first season as No. 9, having switched from No. 15 to celebrate the weight of his first-born child. He finished his sophomore year with 32 goals in 46 games, becoming only the fourth Canadien to score 30 or more goals in a season.

Coach Dick Irvin had assembled the Punch Line: the left-shooting Rocket on right wing, Elmer Lach playmaking at centre, Toe Blake on the left.

So it was that the Canadiens, having finished 25 points ahead of regular season runner up Detroit, met No. 3 Toronto, 33 points inferior, in the semi-finals and were stunned 3-1 in the March 21 Forum opener.

Toronto’s Bibeault was brilliant, making 60 saves in a glorious homecoming for a goaler who could change addresses more quickly than his socks.

From 1940-47, through his 214 NHL games, he played for the Canadiens twice, the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Chicago Black Hawks, loaned to Toronto and Boston as a replacement for war-bound Turk Broda and Frank Brimsek.

A huge hit with the Canadiens francophone fans, Bibeault played 92 games for Montreal from 1940-43, including all 50 in 1942-43. He lost his job the following year to Bill Durnan, a future Hall of Famer.

And so Bibeault wound up in Toronto, playing while serving in the Canadian army reserve, to draw the assignment of facing Richard’s mighty Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs.

Leafs defensive winger Bob Davidson, the Bob Gainey of his day, threw a checking blanket over the Rocket in Game 1, and Bibeault was magnificent.

Richard and the goaler had been friends since childhood, and even the fiery Rocket had praise for the man who had made five dozen saves.

"You were too hot for us, Paul," he told Bibeault between games, quoted in the book Maurice Richard: Reluctant Hero. "But I’ll give you something to think about in the next one."

He didn’t, at first, held off the scoresheet in the first period of Game 2 on March 23. But then the Rocket slammed home three goals in the second, his first two 17 seconds apart, and two more in the third. Blake earned five assists; Lach had four.

Richard 5, Leafs 1.

Wrote the Toronto Star’s Andy Lytle: "There was a flashing brilliance to each of Richard’s goals because he moved in fast and struck with deadly effect as he fled across the goal mouth, his check hopelessly beaten and Bibeault at his mercy when he fired because all of the shots were oblique and pasted into the nets a split second before Bibeault could move."

Montreal Herald sports editor Elmer Ferguson was lustily booed when he selected the Rocket his third star. But then he announced Richard as his second star. And his first.

Montreal steamrolled the Leafs in five games, outscoring them 23-6. Bibeault went the whole way, finally swamped in an 11-0 series clinching loss.

Montreal then swept Chicago 4-0 to win their fifth Stanley Cup, their first in 13 seasons.

Bibeault was shipped to Boston, playing 42 games for the Bruins from 1944-46, and returned to the Canadiens for 10 starts in 1946, subbing for an injured Durnan. His NHL career ended with 41 games in Chicago in ’46-47 and a frantic drive to his spring wedding, which earned him a speeding ticket.

He’d met his bride, a switchboard operator at Maple Leaf Gardens, while playing in Toronto. She was Evelyn Selke, daughter of Leafs and future Canadiens manager Frank Selke Sr.

In his 2003 book Players, author Andrew Podnieks charts Bibeault, then just 28, next finding work in the American and United States minor-pro leagues, settling in the fall of 1949 as the International circuit’s Cincinnati Mohawks backup goaler and box-office manager.




















Bibeault is the goalie on the right.

He ran the Rochester War Memorial Arena in the late 1950s, was named the first manager of the new Pointe Claire Civic Centre in 1965, and was appointed a ticket manager for Montreal’s Expo 67 world’s fair.

Bibeault was 51 in 1970 when he succumbed to cancer on the Selke family’s Rigaud farm.

Thirty-seven years later, he remains in the NHL record book as one of five goaltending victims of a player’s five goals in a single playoff game.

On Dec. 28, 1944, nine months after his postseason rampage, Maurice Richard moved his family - and its piano - up a winding staircase into the second floor of a Montreal duplex. Against the Detroit Red Wings at the Forum that night, the Rocket scored five times and assisted on three more. Wings goaler Harry Lumley, all of 19, was merely a spectator in Detroit’s net.

Better Harry than me, Paul Bibeault thought. That evening in Boston, the goalie’s Bruins were beating Chicago 2-1.

1941 Gazette caricature courtesy the collection of Howard McIntyre.