By Woodrow Carroll
Former Montreal Canadiens’ ice hockey star Henri Richard died March 6 at the age of 84. Richard, with ties to all manner of other hockey greatness, had a couple of distinctions of his own.
Henri Richard was born February 29, 1936. A February 29 birth, as we are all aware, is rare. Richard is alone at the top in another category.
Richard, who played for Montreal in the National Hockey League (NHL) from the 1955-1956 season through the 1974-1975 season, was a member of 11 Stanley Cup championship teams. No other NHL player has played on as many Cup championship teams.
Henri Richard’s first five seasons with the Canadiens found him teaming with older brother, Maurice. Maurice, 15 years older and three inches taller than little brother, was the team’s star. Henri, however, soon earned his place on the team.
Twice Henri Richard scored the goal that gave Montreal the Stanley Cup.
In 1966, Richard scored an overtime goal in game six of the Stanley Cup finals against the Detroit Red Wings. The goal that gave the Canadiens a four games-to-two series championship.
For many Blackhawks fans, Richard is an ugly memory! Game seven of the 1971 Stanley Cup finals between the Blackhawks and Canadiens still rankles Blackhawks’ fans, The Blackhawks home first at the Chicago Stadium took a 2-0 series lead. Montreal made it 2-1 before Richard took over.
Twice in the late going, Richard roared past Blackhawks’ defender Keith Magnuson to put Montreal in front, 3-2. The visitors fought off a late Blackhawk surge and came away with a victory. The Stanley Cup, within reach for Hull and Mikita, had slipped away. It would had been the’ first Blackhawks’ first Cup championship since 1961. Thirty-nine years later, in 2010, Blackhawks won the Cup.
The passing of Henri Richard leaves only three players from the Magnificent 12 who played on all five Montreal Stanley Cup teams,1956-1960.
Gone are the Richard brothers, Jean Belliveau, and some of the more illustrious Canadiens’ names from that time.
The three players remaining are Don Marshall. Bob Turner, and Jean Guy Talbot, all good enough to play with the best, even if lacking star power.
How about Richard’s coach? When Henri Richard joined the Canadiens in 1955, the Montreal coach was “Toe” Blake in his first year as coach. Similar to Henri Richard, Blake had some unusual distinctions.
Joseph Hector “Toe” Blake was born in Victoria Mines, Ontario in 1912. Victoria Mines is now a ghost town! Blake’s little sister never pronounced Hector properly by turning it into “hectoe” with the Toe part sticking.
Blake played with Maurice Richard on the Canadiens when Richard was early in his career. Maurice Richard was a fractious, combative, individual and those in the Montreal organization felt his old teammate, Blake, might be a calming effect when he became coach of the club.
Blake’s background proved a plus in Montreal. Blake’s father was an Anglo. His mother was French Canadian. Blake grew up fluent in both English and French. In the 1950s and 1960s, the lineup of the Canadiens was closely scrutinized as to who was playing often based on the last name with ethnicity coming into play. Blake’s background with the Canadiens and command of both languages proved to be a godsend.
Blake coached Montreal 13 seasons and retired after winning the Stanley Cup for an eighth time in 1968.
Today, the NHL has gone world-wide with players from all parts of the globe. The ability to speak both French and English likely would be no more valuable among NHL players than a command of a dozen other languages.