Created : August 12, 2005|
“Rocket” Richard: The Legend — The Legacy About the Exhibition The exhibition covers approximately 140 square metres or 1,500 square feet. Divided into six zones, the exhibition covers Richard’s career from its earliest days to the accolades he received at the height of his career, and to his enduring reputation as a true Canadian idol. The exhibition also examines the social impact of the 1955 Richard Riot, said by many to be the first manifestation of Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. Storyline Zone 1 — Only a Hockey Player? Through video, photographs and newspaper clippings, this introductory zone makes visitors aware of the legendary status of Maurice Richard and how he was admired by generations of Canadians as a hockey player and as an icon. Zone 2 — Fire on Ice Zone 3 — The Rocket in Orbit Zone 4 — One of Us Zone 5 — Maurice Richard Forever Through photographs, newspaper clippings, hockey awards and popular culture items, this section shows the time span of 40 years between Maurice Richard’s retirement and his death. Some interesting artifacts in this section include Maurice Richard’s blazer with its Canadiens emblem, a Kellogg’s Cornflakes box featuring The Rocket’s picture and replica autograph, the Hockey Hall of Fame ring belonging to Maurice Richard and books and CDs showing the Rocket’s impact on Canadian life. Zone 6 — Number 9 Artifact Highlights
78 rpm Records Saga of Rocket Richard / B. Hill (Bobby Hill and his Canadian Country Boys) Maurice Richard / Y. Dupuis, J. Laurendeau (Jeanne D'Arc Charlebois/J. Laurendeau et son ensemble) Le Rocket Richard / Oscar Thiffault (Oscar Thiffault et son orchestre)
Compact Discs “Maurice Richard,” Pierre Létourneau, Pierre Létourneau, 1971. “Rocket (On est tous des Maurice Richard)” Les Boys II, Éric Lapointe, 1999. “Rocket Richard Reel” L’Harmonica: une passion, Gabriel Labbé, 1999. "Rocket" Richard: The Legend – The LegacyCareer Highlights1921: Maurice Richard is born in the Montreal neighbourhood of Saint-Denis. 1925: Richard receives his first pair of skates. 1939: Richard joins the Verdun Maple Leafs, a Canadiens farm team. 1942: Richard signs with the Canadiens. On November 8, he scores his first NHL goal at the Forum in Montreal. A game-winning goal, it earned The Rocket an ovation lasting several minutes. A little over a month later, he is injured in a game against the Boston Bruins and remains out until the final game of the season. 1943: Richard changes the number on his sweater to 9, in honour of his newborn daughter Huguette, who weighs nine pounds at birth. In December, Richard scores his first hat trick. By the end of Richard’s second season with the Canadiens, the team plays to record crowds. He helps lead his team to its first Stanley Cup in 13 years. 1944: In March, Richard scores his 30th goal of the season, making him only the fourth player ever to score 30 or more goals in a single season. During the playoffs later in the month, he scores the fastest four, then five, goals in NHL history. During the season, he sets a record for the longest consecutive goal-scoring streak, scoring 14 goals in nine straight games, as well as a record for the most goals scored in a single season — breaking the previous record of 44 goals. This is also the year he earns the nickname “The Rocket” after a sportswriter overhears a fellow Canadiens player exclaim about one of Richard’s manoeuvres, “He went in like a rocket!” 1945: Richard becomes the first player ever to score four player points in a single period and scores a record setting 50 goals in 50 games. 1947: The NHL awards Richard its Hart Trophy for Most Valuable Player. 1949: Richard scores the 200th goal of his career. 1951: Richard scores all three goals in a 3-0 shutout against the New York Rangers, and a hat trick against the Boston Bruins in the first five minutes of their game. This same year, he scores the winning goal in one of the longest running games in NHL history — at 1:10 a.m., during the fourth overtime period. Finally, during this year, he also scores the 300th goal of his career. 1952: Richard becomes the first player in NHL history to score 325 goals. The puck is gold-plated and sent to the future Queen Elizabeth II, who had expressed an interest in his career after seeing him play the previous year. 1954: Richard scores the 400th goal of his career. 1955: After hitting a linesman, Richard is suspended for the rest of the season, including the Stanley Cup playoffs, by NHL President Clarence Campbell. His suspension leads to the 1955 “Richard Riot” of March 17, when large crowds of people took to the streets of Montreal to protest the suspension and charge that it was a case of anti-French-Canadian bias. Richard appears in public the following day, appealing for calm. The following year, The Rocket leads his team to the first of five consecutive Stanley Cup championships. 1957: Richard scores the 500th goal of his career. During this season, he becomes the highest-paid player in the NHL, with an annual salary of $20,000. 1958: For the third time in his career, Richard is presented with the Lou E. Marsh Memorial Trophy, awarded by the Canadian Press to the outstanding Canadian athlete of the year. 1959: Richard is invited to attend a world congress on amateur hockey in Prague, Czechoslovakia, as a guest of the Czechoslovakian government. He is greeted as a hero by tens of thousands of hockey fans and is presented with a car. 1960: Richard scores his 544th and final regular season goal, and his 626th and final career goal during the playoffs. He helps the Canadiens win their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup and retires from professional hockey on September 15, 1960 in a broadcast radio speech. 1972: When the Quebec Nordiques are formed as part of the new World Hockey Association, Richard accepts an offer to become the team’s first coach. Realizing that he is not really cut out for coaching, he quits after 15 days. 1980: Richard renews his association with the Canadiens and Molson Breweries, following a series of business ventures — some successful, some not. Until the 1970s, NHL players did not negotiate major retirement packages, and most went into business for themselves or obtained endorsement contracts. 1991: Richard is inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame. Two annual awards are named in his honour: the Maurice Award, given to Quebec’s Athlete of the Year, and the Maurice Richard Trophy, awarded for athletic excellence. 1996: Maurice Richard appears at the closing of the Forum before 15,000 people. He receives a standing ovation lasting 8 minutes. 1998: Governor General Roméo LeBlanc presents Maurice Richard with the country’s highest civilian award, the Companion of the Order of Canada. 1999: The NHL institutes the Maurice Richard Trophy, presented annually to the player scoring the highest number of regular-season goals, thus making Richard’s name forever synonymous with goal-scoring excellence. Had the trophy existed during Richard’s NHL career, he would have won it five times. 2000: Maurice Richard dies on May 27. His death is reported in news media around the world. At his funeral, more than 115,000 mourners file past him as he lies in state; thousands more line the streets of Montreal and applaud as his funeral cortège passes by. “Rocket” Richard: The Legend — The Legacy
Me, a hockey fan? I’m a fan of who he was and how he got there: the fierce competitor, the high scorer, the most exciting hockey player of his day. Furthermore, I’m a fan of Maurice Richard because of what he meant and still means to his fans. From Folklore to “The Rocket” As a folklorist, my idea of a hockey treasure is the Eaton's or Dupuis catalogue that someone's grandfather stuffed in his sock for a shin pad when he played shinny on the slough. As a result, when it comes to Maurice Richard's Number 9 sweater, the real point to me is how Canadians react to it. I’m interested in what it is that turns an old, patched, red, blue, and white wool jersey into a revered relic that summons up – for those who understand its power – a man, a sport, a place, a time, and a heightened sense of who they are and what they've come through. I hope this exhibition will make this transformation clear, even to visitors who, as I once was, are unfamiliar with The Rocket and his significance to all Canadians. What he means to his fans
Once you’ve seen these fans as an inseparable part of the story of Maurice Richard, you will understand why Maurice Richard was more than, as he put it, “just a hockey player.” Maurice Richard is both a window and a mirror offering a unique perspective on Canada itself. His story is the kind of story we tell here at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. For hockey fans, the numbers “626” and “9” represent one of the most important figures in the history of Canadian hockey: Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. For 18 seasons — from 1942 to 1960 — the Montreal Canadiens’ right winger in sweater Number 9 dominated the sport, electrifying spectators and blazing his way into the record books with 626 career goals. His “fire on ice” awed journalists and won the hearts of fans. Hockey old timers who played with The Rocket or against him still reverently declare, “From the blue line in, there was no one like him.” 626 by 9 shows The Rocket’s scoring career as a timeline of 626 numbered pucks. It tells the stories behind the important goals, with pictures of The Rocket in action, the sticks he used to score the milestones, and the awards and trophies he won for setting record after scoring record. Nearly all of the items pictured are part of the Maurice “The Rocket” Richard Collection at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the main part of which was purchased in 2002 with a grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Details 36 pages plus the cover
For more information about the book, please contact Chantal Beauchamp, Canadian Museum of Civilization, (819) 776-8248 chantal.beauchamp@historymuseum.ca |
Web page design and production: Harry Foster
Created : August 12, 2005
