Henri Richard

Henri Richard
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1979
Richard on a Chex card
Born	February 29, 1936 Montreal, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Right
Played for	Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1955–1975

Joseph Henri Richard (born February 29, 1936) is a former professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975. He is the brother of Canadiens legend and fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard. Fifteen years younger and three inches shorter, he was given the nickname "The Pocket-Rocket". In 1998, he was ranked number 29 on The Hockey News list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Playing career

Henri Richard signing autographs in 2011

The two Richard brothers' style of play was quite different. While Maurice shot left (left hand lower on the stick), Henri shot right. Maurice played right wing and Henri played centre. Henri led the league in assists in 1957–58 and 1962–63, a feat never matched by Maurice though the latter had led the league in goals five times. Lastly, Henri totaled over 1000 points, a mark never reached by Maurice.

Henri won 11 Stanley Cups, more than any other player in NHL history. Former teammate and predecessor as team captain Jean Béliveau has 17 Stanley Cup titles, but only 10 as a player (the other 7 as an executive). Only one other athlete in North American professional sports has achieved winning eleven championships in his respective league - Bill Russell of the NBA's Boston Celtics.

In 1957–58, he was named to the First All-Star Team and in 1959 he was named to the Second All-Star Team. In his career, he scored 358 goals and earned 688 assists in 1256 games. His 1256 regular-season games played in a Canadiens uniform are a franchise record.

He scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal at the 2:20 mark of the first overtime of Game Six in the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings. In the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals, Richard scored the game-tying and Stanley Cup-winning goals in Game Seven against the Chicago Blackhawks.

He was named captain of the Canadiens in 1971 until his retirement in 1975, after his team was eliminated in the playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres. He always wore the number 16 which was retired December 10, 1975 by the Canadiens in his honour. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979. In 1998, he was ranked number 29 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. He currently serves as an ambassador for the Canadiens' organization. It was announced in 2015 that Richard had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.^[1]

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1951–52	Montreal Nationale	QJHL		49	23	32	55	35		4	1	0	1	0
1952–53	Montreal Nationale	QJHL		46	27	36	63	55		7	4	5	9	4
1952–53	Montreal Royals	QSHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1953–54	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	QJHL		54	56	53	109	85		7	6	7	13	6
1954–55	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	QJHL		44	33	33	66	65		4	3	1	4	2
1955–56	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	19	21	40	46		10	4	4	8	21
1956–57	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	18	36	54	71		10	2	6	8	10
1957–58	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	28	52	80	56		10	1	7	8	11
1958–59	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	21	30	51	33		11	3	8	11	13
1959–60	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	30	43	73	66		8	3	9	12	9
1960–61	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	24	44	68	91		6	2	4	6	22
1961–62	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		54	21	29	50	48		—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	23	50	73	57		5	1	1	2	2
1963–64	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		66	14	39	53	73		7	1	1	2	9
1964–65	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		53	23	29	52	43		13	7	4	11	24
1965–66	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		62	22	39	61	47		8	1	4	5	2
1966–67	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		65	21	34	55	28		10	4	6	10	2
1967–68	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		54	9	19	28	16		13	4	4	8	4
1968–69	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	15	37	52	45		14	2	4	6	8
1969–70	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		62	16	36	52	61		—	—	—	—	—
1970–71	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	12	37	49	46		20	5	7	12	20
1971–72	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	12	32	44	48		6	0	3	3	4
1972–73	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	8	35	43	21		17	6	4	10	14
1973–74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	19	36	55	28		6	2	2	4	2
1974–75	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		16	3	10	13	4		6	1	2	3	4
NHL totals				1256	358	688	1046	928		180	49	80	129	181

Achievements

NHL Award Year(s) All-Star Game 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1967, 1974 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy 1974 First All-Star Team 1958 Second All-Star Team 1959, 1961, 1963 Stanley Cup 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973 See also List of Stanley Cup champions Notable families in the NHL Maurice Richard List of NHL players with 1000 points List of NHL players with 1000 games played References http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2015/08/29/une-pensee-pour-henri-richard External links Henri Richard's biography at Legends of Hockey Henri Richard's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database