Henri Richard
| Henri Richard | |
|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1979 | |
 | |
| Born | February 29, 1936 Montreal, QC, CAN |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| 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 was the brother of hockey legend Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard and consequently, because he was 15 years younger and three inches shorter, he was given the nickname The Pocket-Rocket.[1]
Playing career
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.
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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.
Career statistics
- *Stanley Cup champions
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1952–53 | Montreal Royals | QSHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1952–53 | Montreal Junior Royals | QPJHL | 46 | 27 | 36 | 63 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1953–54 | Montreal Junior Canadiens | QPJHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 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 | ||||
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
External links
- Henri Richard's biography at Legends of Hockey
- Henri Richard's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
| Preceded by Jean Beliveau |
Montreal Canadiens captain 1971–75 |
Succeeded by Yvan Cournoyer |
|