Maurice Richard

Maurice "The Rocket" Richard was born on Auguest 4, 1921 in Verdun, Quebec, Canada. Richard came through the Montreal Canadiens system and broke into the NHL in the 1942-43 season. Injuries plagued "The Rocket" throughout his career, including his rookie year when a broken ankle limited him to only 16 games. The thought of quitting came to his mind, but Richard persevered and made a recovery and returned to hockey in the NHL. In 1944-45 Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games establishing a single season record for goals scored. That record wouldn't be broken until Bobby Hull would score 54 goals, though in a much longer, 70 game season. Wayne Gretzky would eventually break the record for fastest to reach 50 goals by accomplishing the feat in just 39 games.

Maurice Richard scored his 500th career goal in 1957 and would eventually retire after the 1959-60 season as injuries caught up to him. Richard was one of the most prolific scorer in the six-team NHL, including scoring 82 post season goals and have 26 games with three or more goals scored. Richard made fourteen All-Star appearances and added eight Stanley Cup Championships, including one in his final season. Richard spent his entire career with the Montreal Canadeins and his 544 career goals to date remain the highest in Montreal Canadiens history. The Rocket was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961 and as of the 1998-99 season, the National Hockey League has started awarding the "Maurice Richard Trophy" for the regular season league leader in goal scoring.

Here is a summary of Maurice Richard's NHL accomplishments;

Year    Team                 GP   G   A   Pts   Pim
1942-43 Montreal Canadiens   16   5   6    11     4 
1943-44 Montreal Canadiens   46  32  22    54    45
1944-45 Montreal Canadiens   50  50  23    73    46
1945-46 Montreal Canadiens   50  27  21    48    50
1946-47 Montreal Canadiens   60  45  26    71    69
1947-48 Montreal Canadiens   53  28  25    53    89
1948-49 Montreal Canadiens   59  20  18    38   110
1949-50 Montreal Canadiens   70  43  22    65   114
1950-51 Montreal Canadiens   65  42  24    66    97 
1951-52 Montreal Canadiens   48  27  17    44    44 
1952-53 Montreal Canadiens   70  28  33    61   112
1953-54 Montreal Canadiens   70  37  30    67   112
1954-55 Montreal Canadiens   67  38  36    74   125
1955-56 Montreal Canadiens   70  38  33    71    89 
1956-57 Montreal Canadiens   63  33  29    62    74 
1957-58 Montreal Canadiens   28  15  19    34    28 
1958-59 Montreal Canadiens   42  17  21    38    27 
1959-60 Montreal Canadiens   51  19  16    35    50  
NHL Totals                  978 544  421  965  1285 



Trophies
Hart Memorial - 1 (1947)


Championships
Stanley Cup - 8 (1944, 1946, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)

Team Pages:
Montreal Canadiens

Other Maurice Richard Resources