Goodbye
Contributions from Canadian newspapers and press agencies in the first week after Richard's death.
Quebec mourns the loss of Richard MONTREAL (AP) -- Grieving fans, some
in tears and wearing Montreal Canadiens' jerseys, left cards and
bouquets outside the home of Maurice Richard, mourning one of hockey's
greatest players.Several Montreal TV and radio stations switched to all-Richard programming immediately after his death and continued the blanket coverage Sunday.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Richard "defined and transcended
the game of hockey." |
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Saying
goodbye Hi legend was built upon the fierceness
and determination he brought to the rink for every game. While the NHL
record book is filled with Richard's entries, the Rocket was about much
more than numbers.
In Montreal, he was a cultural icon --
transcending sports with his exploits and his personality. Throughout
Canada, he was bigger than the game, much like Muhammed Ali and Babe
Ruth transcended their sports in the States and Pele became bigger than
soccer throughout South America.
He had a mystique -- built on his
blazing speed, fearless drive, deadly shot and quick temper -- that he
never understood. Richard, by all accounts, thought of himself as
strictly a hockey player, but to others he was so much more. He was the
quintessential Canadian and the quintessential Canadien. He was the
person that millions of Canadians longed to be.
"People recognize what he did for
them, especially the French-Canadians from that time," said Jean
Roy, Richard's longtime friend and agent. "He put them on the map.
People today recognize what he accomplished. His tenacity and his
success were an example to everyone."
Today, those Canadians -- and others
across the world -- mourn the passing of Richard, who died Saturday
after a long battle with stomach cancer. He was 78.
Richard, who was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, was the game's first great goalscorer, a
dervish on the ice that struck fear into the hearts of opposing
defenseman and goalies alike.
"When he played hockey, he was in
another world, on another planet," said Ray Getliffe, ex-teammate
with the Canadiens. "Sometimes he had a look on his face as if he
were the only player on the ice -- as if none of the other players
existed. When I saw him coming toward me with that look, I wanted to
jump over the boards to get out of his way. Can you imagine how the
opposing team felt?"
In 1944-45, the "Rocket' scored 50
goals in 50 games, becoming the first NHLer to reach the half-century
plateau for goals in a season. It was a record that stood until Bobby
Hull scored 54 goals in 70 games in 1956-57.
He was also the first player to reach
500 career goals, reaching that historic milestone on Oct. 19, 1957.
Playing sparingly for the rest of his career, he finished with a
then-record 544 goals when he retired in 1960.
"He carried the flag for an entire
population -- and that's pretty heavy," said Red Fisher of the
Montreal Gazette. "He felt he had to live up to that responsibility
and he did it the way he knew how -- by scoring goals and responding to
every challenge on the ice."
His aura flamed the passions of his
admirers. In 1955, Richard punched a linesman during an on-ice
altercation and was suspended for the season's final three games and the
entire playoffs -- costing him a shot at the Art Ross Trophy and his
team a shot at the Stanley Cup. Four days later, Canadien fans rioted at
a home game to protest the penalty, causing $500,000 damage to the
center of Montreal.
But, true to his personality, Richard
saved his best for when games were on the line -- he excelled under
pressure. While his 15 regular-season records have been surpassed, he
still has, or shares, nine playoff records, including his six career
playoff overtime goals, his 34 goals scored in Stanley Cup Final series
and his 18 playoff game-winning goals. He played on eight Cup-winning
teams, including five straight from 1956 to 1960.
"What set the Rocket apart was his
intensity," former teammate Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion once
said. "If we were down a goal or two, the Rocket was there to tie
it up again.
"As soon as he'd touch the puck,
you could feel the electricity in the crowd. It was amazing to see how
people would react, not only in Montreal, but everywhere he played.
There's never been another one like him."
In 1999, the National Hockey League
honored the living legacy of the great Canadien captain by introducing
the Maurice Richard trophy, which will annually be awarded to the
League's top goal scorer. If the award had been around in Richard's day,
he would have won it five times.
Richard, who had an inauspicious start
to his pro career, was a native Montrealer who longed for nothing more
than to wear the blue, blanc and rouge of his hometown club.
After an injury-filled junior career,
he got the chance as World War II stripped the club of many players.
Unable to serve, despite volunteering twice, because of past hockey
injuries, Richard joined the Canadiens for the 1942-43 season.
He scored five goals in 16 games before
a broken ankle ended his rookie season. The following year -- after the
Habs were unsuccessful in trading him because of concerns over his
durability -- he was paired with Toe Blake and Elmer Lach on the famed
"Punch Line" and scored 32 goals.
The rest, as they say, was history.
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Richard to get state funeral on WednesdayNELSON WYATTMONTREAL (CP) - The decision to give hockey icon Maurice Richard a state funeral is appreciated by his family but his brothers said Sunday they don't want things to get out of hand. "My father was someone very simple," Maurice Richard, Jr. told a news conference where funeral plans for his 78-year-old father were announced. "He didn't like extravagance so we're trying to do it the way he would have liked it. We're a little afraid it will get too big." The funeral is being arranged by the Montreal Canadiens hockey club in consultation with the family. Premier Lucien Bouchard offered Sunday to make the rites a state funeral and the family agreed. Known as the Rocket for his lightning speed on the ice and the blistering power he put behind a puck, Richard became a sports icon after 18 record-setting years with the Montreal Canadiens. He died from respiratory failure on Saturday evening, a time when people are traditionally settling in to watch a hockey game. The legendary right-winger will lie in state at the Molson Centre on Tuesday so his adoring fans can pass by his open casket to pay their respects. Classical music will be played. The centre is about a kilometre from the now-closed Forum where Richard wowed home-town fans. People wanting to pay tribute to Richard with a written message will be able to sign a register at the Molson Centre until 6 p.m. on Wednesday. A book of condolence has also been set up at city hall, said Montreal Canadiens president Pierre Boivin. On Wednesday, the Rocket will be taken to the ornate Notre-Dame Basilica for a Roman Catholic high mass to be celebrated by Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte. The service will be broadcast live on television and projected onto a giant screen to be erected outside the basilica for the expected crowds of admirers. "I would expect people to come from all parts of the world," Boivin said of the funeral. "Maurice touched people during his career and his life well beyond the boundaries of the city of Montreal." Plans are still being finalized for the route of the funeral cortege. Canadiens officials said it will likely travel down Ste-Catherine Street - the scene of many Stanley Cup parades and the avenue torn apart by fans who rioted in 1955 to protest Richard's suspension after a brawl. It was not certain the hearse would pass the old Forum, where Richard notched many of his hundreds of goals. Richard received one of his longest ovations ever when he participated in the Forum's closing ceremonies in 1996. The nearly 10 minutes of cheers and applause left him with tears of gratitude in his eyes and something he later cited as one of his greatest moments. No public events were planned for Sunday. The possibility of holding the funeral at the Molson Centre was discussed but the family rejected it, Maurice, Jr. said. "We had a funny feeling about doing the ceremonies in the Molson Centre," he said. "Maybe it was religious reasons. We didn't want it to be too big. We're trying to keep it simple, like our father was." He noted that, "It's certain that the Molson Centre will not give the same feeling as in a cathedral or a church." Richard said the family were not surprised when Bouchard offered the state funeral and added that the government's help was appreciated. Many former teammates turned out for the news conference, including Yvan Cournoyer, Dickie Moore, and Jean-Guy Talbot. "He was my hero," said Henri Richard, his younger brother and a former teammate. "He was special. Everybody's going to miss him." An outpouring of public sympathy, which began as soon as Richard's death was announced, continued Sunday. People, some dressed in Canadiens sweaters and wiping away tears, left flowers and cards outside the home of the goalscoring great on a quiet, tree-lined Montreal street. Outside an east-end arena named after him, a statue of Richard was surrounded Sunday by flowers and cards and had the Quebec flag draped over one shoulder. In Ottawa, Prime Minister Jean Chretien remembered the excitement of listening to Richard's games on the radio when he was younger. "He has been a star for generations, he was a model, he established standards that will never be met," he said. Richard died Saturday evening after battling inoperable abdominal cancer. He had also been battling Parkinson's disease and died 12 days after entering Hotel-Dieu hospital on May 15. The Rocket lapsed into a coma Friday night but rallied somewhat Saturday morning, surprising hospital officials with his fighting spirit. Several Montreal TV and radio stations switched to all-Richard programming immediately after the death and continued the blanket coverage Sunday. Born in Montreal on Aug. 4, 1921, Richard grew up in a tough part of the city next to the Bordeaux jail. He became the NHL's first 50-goal scorer in 1944-45 and went on to score 544 goals in his career with the Canadiens, an NHL record at the time. He also scored 82 playoff goals and was on eight Stanley Cup championship teams. He was so popular that fans rioted when he was suspended in 1955 for an on-ice fight in Boston. NHL president Clarence Campbell had suspended Richard for the last three games of the season and for the playoffs, days after the Rocket attacked a linesman and used his stick to throttle Hal Laycoe of the Boston Bruins. Teammate Dickie Moore remembered Richard's zeal to score goals. "Maybe now he'll be joining a lot
of friends," Moore said, glancing heavenward. "They're going
to have a heck of a hockey team up there."
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Rocket dies at age 78
"He was a goal-scorer but the
important thing is that he scored the goals when they counted,"
Moore said of Richard, who died yesterday at age 78.
"When we were in a close game and
we needed a goal, the Rocket was the guy we looked to. Many of his goals
were game-winning goals.
"Mr. (Frank) Selke (former
Canadiens general manager) would always say that when a playoff game
went into OT, he was confident the Rocket would get the goal."
"It's a sad moment," said
Elmer Lach, Richard's teammate for 12 seasons. "I think he felt
badly about being sick, but he never showed it. He continued to give
back to the game and the fans. I'll always think of him as a great
friend, a loyal employee, a member of the team.
"He had a great heart and he loved
to score goals. He'd score three goals in a night, and every one of them
would be different. You'd ask him about the goals, and he'd say he
couldn't remember what he did. He was very creative."
Lach and Richard started playing
together with Toe Blake, and Lach said that gave them more freedom on
the rush. "Toe was always there to back us up. My job was to get
the Rocket the puck. His job was to put it in the net."
Broadcaster Dick Irvin Jr., whose
father, Dick Irvin, coached the Rocket, recalled how Richard could raise
the roof at the Montreal Forum.
"I have a theory: whenever he
scored a goal, the cheer at the Forum was just a decibel higher than
when anybody else scored, no matter the importance."
Former Canadiens sniper Guy Lafleur, a
hero to another generation of hockey fans, remembered the Rocket as an
inspiration.
"We all wanted to wear (his) No. 9
when we were kids - not just me," Lafleur said. "This man
played a role in my career through the pride he displayed each time he
wore the sweater of the Montreal Canadiens."
Moore said determination and strength
were the keys to the Rocket's success.
"He had a great centreman in Elmer
Lach, but you knew that if you gave the Rocket a pass, he'd get to the
puck even if there was a guy draped all over him.
"He had great strength and a
determination to get to the puck. Once he got it, it was tough on a
goaltender because he had a great shot - and he also had one of the best
backhand shots ever."
Gordie Howe, whose Detroit Red Wings
battled Montreal for NHL supremacy in the 1940s and 1950s, said the
Rocket's intensity made him stand out. "Rocket had that mean look
on, every game we played," Howe, 71, said. "He was 100 per
cent hockey.
"He set the standard to chase, and
that was the scoring and also his total ability. ... He was a tremendous
influence in the league and for the French population of Canada. A lot
of people attracted a lot of respect around the league, and he was one
of them."
Canadiens great Jean Beliveau, who is
also battling cancer, remembered Richard as a "great leader."
"He didn't talk much,"
Beliveau said. "He preferred to express himself on the ice. I would
tell younger players to watch the fire emanating from his eyes.
"He always played with such
intensity. He loved hockey, the Canadiens and the fans.
Legendary athlete and NHL referee Red
Storey said: "I've run into a lot of athletes with desire, with
intensity, but never into one with more desire.
"Nothing was going to stop him. É
He wasn't the greatest skater in the world, he wasn't the greatest
stickhandler in the world, but the guy upstairs sent him down just to
show everybody how determination could score goals."
"He was a man of great
determination," former Canadiens president Ronald Corey said.
"Just look at his eyes.
"There wasn't a dry eye in the
house when he received a standing ovation at the closing of the Montreal
Forum (in 1996)," Corey recalled yesterday.
"It was extremely moving; I almost
fell to the ground, my knees were trembling so hard."
Current Canadiens president Pierre
Boivin said Richard never lost the common touch. "He was always
very close to the fans, especially the young fans, the kids," he
said.
While Richard's death was not
unexpected, the news still hit hard. "I can't comment on this. It's
too personal," said a distraught Bert Olmstead, a former teammate.
"Hockey fans everywhere are deeply
saddened by the passing of one of the true icons in professional sports
history," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.
"With his pride, his passion, his drive and his determination,
Maurice Richard embodied all the qualities that make hockey great.
"He will live on through his
legend and his legacy of excellence."
Television networks and radio stations
in Quebec immediately began blanket coverage of Richard's death, giving
it the same kind of treatment that accompanied the passing of former
premier Rene Levesque in 1987.
"He was one of the best players
who ever played in the history of hockey," retired great Mario
Lemieux, owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, told Radio-Canada's all-news
channel, RDI. "He was a man who had a lot of respect in the hockey
world."
Lemieux, who had idolized the former
Canadien since he was a boy, said Richard "built the foundation for
francophones" to play in the NHL.
"When he arrived on the scene in
the middle of World War II, we all needed heroes," Quebec historian
Marcel Tessier said. "And French Canadians saw themselves in him,
in his humble roots and in his passion.
"There's a saying that no athlete
is greater than the game he plays, but Richard was. We don't create
heroes; they create themselves. They are monuments, they are mountains.
Premier Lucien Bouchard hailed Richard
as a "Quebec hero" and paid tribute to Richard's battling
spirit.
"He had a solid will to win and
was a tireless worker," Bouchard said.
"Skilled and determined, he was in
all respects an indispensable teammate but also a formidable
opponent."
"Maurice Richard both defined and
transcended the game of hockey," Prime Minister Jean Chretien said.
"He set standards for scoring
which, to this day, are the benchmarks for excellence and stardom in the
NHL. But what truly set him apart - what made him a special hero to the
fans - was his extraordinary intensity. He played with great emotion and
flair and possessed an unmatched will to win."
"He's the best," Don Cherry
told Hockey Night in Canada viewers during last night's Colorado-Dallas
game.
"He'd walk into a room and it was
like a king walked in. I lived in Three Rivers and the people in Quebec,
they loved him, they absolutely loved the guy. He was a great guy."
Preliminary plans call for a private
gathering of family and friends at a funeral home tomorrow. It is
expected that the public will have a chance to view Richard's body as it
lies in state at the Molson Centre on Tuesday, with the funeral to be
held Wednesday at Notre Dame Basilica.
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'Merci, et au revoir'Montreal remembers the RocketMONTREAL -- Slowly and with great reverence, Yves Sarrazin and his two little girls approached the bronzed statue of the great Maurice Richard. A crowd of mourners, many wearing the sainte flanelle -- the bleu, blanc et rouge of the Montreal Canadiens -- milled in front of the decorated sculpture, placing bouquets of flowers amidst hand-written notes. As they approached, Sarrazin's youngest daughter, seven-year-old Maude, stepped shyly behind her dad, pulling his arm as if suddenly frightened by the solemn gathering. Gently, her father bent down and whispered a few words in her ear and the three proceeded forward towards the likeness of, as Sarrazin put it, "The great man." "I felt this was important, to bring them over here on their lunch hour and to show them, tell them about, the great Maurice Richard," the 34-year-old Habs fan said. All throughout Montreal yesterday, fans of Richard, the greatest Hab of them all, paid their respects to The Rocket, who died Saturday afternoon at the downtown Hotel Dieu Hospital after falling into a deep coma Friday. The 78-year-old Richard had waged a long battle with abdominal cancer. The outpouring of grief yesterday was low-key and respectful yet extremely heartfelt. Richard is seen as more than just a great player, but a symbol of what Francophones from humble beginnings can accomplish, without giving up their dignity or pride. "To us Francophones, he is a legend," said Nicolas Renauld of Montreal, who rode up to the Maurice Arena, on the corner of Viau and Pierre de Coubertin Sts., on in-line skates. "We are very proud of him. There are few men like that in any country. To us, he was our hero." But not only French Canadians felt a special affinity for the very private Richard, who avoided being used as a political pawn. "Maurice Richard defined greatness," said Canadian swim team head coach Dave Johnson, who grew up in nearby Hudson, Que. "He had a passion for the game, a passion for winning all of the time. It was great growing up in Montreal during that era." Throughout this city yesterday, Montrealers celebrated the life of the storied No.9, the man whose eyes burned with a passion for the great game. He was the first to score 50 goals in 50 games, a player who fostered national pride in French Canadians. Such was his status he prompted Habs fans to riot on St. Patrick's Day in 1955 after NHL president Clarence Campbell suspended the Rocket for the entire playoffs for hitting a linesman. LIE IN STATE Richard will lie in state at centre ice today at the Molson Centre, giving his fans an opportunity to bid adieu. The Canadiens, sensing the public ached for a chance to express their grief yesterday, erected a tent outside the Molson Centre and people patiently waited for hours to sign a book of condolence. At the Richard home in north Montreal, flowers and notes were left on the front porch, though the family had asked the public for some peace to mourn privately. A book of condolence was set up at City Hall. At the National Assembly in Quebec City, flags flew at half-staff. Perhaps the most appropriate tributes were spontaneous ones, such as the mountain of flowers and notes gathering around his statue. Keeping vigil over perhaps the most French of all the Montreal neighbourhoods, Richard looked down towards Viau St., a Quebec flag draped over his right shoulder, a Canadiens scarf wrapped around his neck. On the base of the statue sat a note, just beside a baseball cap from the St-Leonard Panthers minor hockey league. "Merci, et au revoir," it read. |
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Fans pay respects to The Rocket at Molson CentreMONTREAL -- The Rocket took his legendary place between the blue line and the goal crease one last time today as a steady stream of mourners filed by his open casket to pay their final respects. Some fans lined up outside the Molson Centre as early as 1:30 a.m. to be among the first to view Maurice Richard. The location was fitting, a zone where Richard dominated play to score hundreds of goals during his 18-year career with the Montreal Canadiens. Jim Seed drove five hours Monday from his home in Stroud, Ont. to say goodbye to the childhood idol he admired growing up in Montreal. "I used to live at the Forum," said Seed, his voice breaking with emotion. "To me, guys like Maurice Richard were really hockey players. They played just for hockey, because they loved it." It has been 40 years since Richard played his last NHL game. Many mourners never saw him in uniform. But his popularity seems to have surpassed any age, linguistic or political boundaries. Jonathan Dauchinais, 14, said Richard's place in hockey history is the unifying force. "He helped make hockey what it is today," said Dauchinais, shortly after passing by the casket. "Before hockey was really dull and no one went, but then he came and people started to go and like it." Inside the Molson Centre, the mood was sombre. Strains of classical music filled the dark arena as mourners followed a path lined with shrubs and red velvet ropes. Some wept when they saw Richard, dressed in a dark suit, and spent several moments in quiet reflection. Others made the sign of the cross and quickly passed by. High above Richard's casket hung two large photos, one of The Rocket coming in on the net with a fierce look of determination in his eyes and another of him at the closing ceremonies of the Montreal Forum in 1996. A spotlight shone on a Canadiens banner bearing Richard's retired No. 9. Members of Richard's family were on hand to greet mourners. Fans can view the body until 10 p.m. tonight. Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau was expected to pay his respects this afternoon, as was Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson. Richard, 78, died of respiratory failure on Saturday after a recurrence of stomach cancer. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at the ornate Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal following a funeral procession through downtown. Richard is not the first Montreal Canadien to lie in state on the team's home ice. About 10,000 fans came to the Forum, which closed in 1996, to pay their respects to Howie Morenz in 1937. Morenz, who played with the Canadiens during the 1920s and '30s, was regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and had been a hero to the French-Canadian population.
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PIERRE
OBENDRAUF, GAZETTE / Maurice (Rocket) Richard waves to fans as
they give him a 10-minute-plus standing ovation at closing
ceremonies for the Montreal Forum in March 1996. At right is a
photo of the Rocket at height of his NHL hockey career.