Henri Richard

"Pocket Rocket" redirects here. For the miniature motorcycle, see Minibike. For the snooker player with this nickname, see Graeme Dott. For the sailboat class, see Laminex Pocket Rocket.
Henri Richard
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1979

Richard on a Chex card
Born (1936-02-29) 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

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