Andre Racicot - when was he first 'Red Light'?

[panorama01*]

I have seen on wikipedia anyway the theory that Racicot was so named by Don Cherry in the 1993 season. My memory, however, is that he got the name more or less during his first game which unfortunately for him was against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night during the 1989-90 season. I think he gave up three goals on six shots or something before being relieved by Patrick Roy. It's possible that Cherry dubbed him 'Red Light' during that game's Coach's Corner segment but I did not see the game nor the Coach's Corner.

When Racicot stuck with the Canadiens in January 1991 (after Jean-Claude Bergeron's failed attempt to replace Brian Hayward as backup) and he even was the starter when Roy was out with an injury, Racicot did a decent job and Jack Todd tried to have him known as "Rah! Rah! Racicot" (sort of like that Rasputin song) and he may have mentioned the Red Light moniker... at any rate, the Red Light name sort of resurfaced if not in '92-'93, certainly in '93-'94 during which the Canadiens lost patience with him and had him replaced.

So did he become Red Light in 89-90 during his first match on Saturday night against the Leafs?

Click to read more...

 

[Goose]

I'd be interested in this as well, as I think it was earlier as well.

His GAA for the 89/90 season is 13.85 (one game, 3 saves and 3 goals on 6 shots). I think this was the game that earned him the nickname, and for some reason (this might be entirely wrong) I think it was a Montreal newspaper the next morning that gave him the name.

 

[cyris]

bwwahahahahaha I forgot all about ole Red light Racicot.
One of the greatest nicknames(or worse) in sporting history.

thanks for this little reminder

 

[Roke]

In Dick Irvin's My 26 Stanley Cups he mentioned that Red Fisher dubbed Racicot "Red Light".

 

[cupcrazyman]

i'm surprised those Red Wings goalies from the 70's & 80's didn't earn that nick name back in the day.

 

[Big Phil]

First I heard it was, like you said, from Cherry in '93 or so. How in the world does he have a Cup but Eddie Giacomin doesnt?

Come to think of it, how unfair is it for Gilbert Dionne to have a Cup and Marcel not to?

 

[Bill McCreary]

Remember, Montreal fans wanted to start him over Patrick Roy in the middle of the 92-93 season and again during the Quebec series after Roy lost the first two.

 

[Goose]

Remember, Montreal fans wanted to start him over Patrick Roy in the middle of the 92-93 season and again during the Quebec series after Roy lost the first two.

That would have been good.

 

[Rob]

I remember Racicot from his days with the Fredericton Canadiens. While I don't know the exact date he received the moniker I do know that it was definitely before '93.

Also, rumour had it that the only reason he stuck with Montreal for as long as he did was because he was buddies with Roy.

 

[Hab-a-maniac]

By 93-94 it was obvious he was nothing special. Watching his goals when he actually played in game 5 of the Habs-Nords series is funny because he's so out of position. He'd been seen as a possible future if Roy bottomed out. Well 1993 erased those doubts for sure and the Habs went after Ron Tugnutt when they realized Chabot sucked and Racicot was no backup. After 1994 the Habs used a 2nd rounder on Jose Theodore and pretty much invested in the future.

 

[panorama01*]

Chabot was not with the Canadiens then. Upon the end of the Racicot era, Les Kuntar was called up to replace him. When Kuntar was clearly not the answer, Stephane Lebeau was sent to Anaheim for Tugnutt.

During the 1992-93 season there were no calls for Racicot to become the starter, not that I remember, and certainly not during the playoffs. There was worry in fact when Roy had to cede his place for several minutes to Racicot because of injury. Racicot did have a good win-loss record but he padded that against teams like Ottawa and Hartford.

Racicot did serve as starter in January and February 1991 after Roy was injured in an afternoon match against Boston. Though Jean-Claude Bergeron won the backup job in training camp, his poor play caused the Canadiens to try Racicot and when Roy was injured, Racicot won the starter job instead of Bergeron.

 

[Phil Parent]

I remember Racicot from his days with the Fredericton Canadiens. While I don't know the exact date he received the moniker I do know that it was definitely before '93.

Also, rumour had it that the only reason he stuck with Montreal for as long as he did was because he was buddies with Roy.

Non-threatening buddy. Roy didn't see eye to eye with backups who had some potential to start games.

 

[Bill McCreary]

During the 1992-93 season there were no calls for Racicot to become the starter, not that I remember, and certainly not during the playoffs. There was worry in fact when Roy had to cede his place for several minutes to Racicot because of injury. Racicot did have a good win-loss record but he padded that against teams like Ottawa and Hartford.

This is absolutely wrong. I remember watching a special about the 1993 Habs on the NHL Network and a newspaper in the Montreal area ran a poll asking who should be the starter, Racicot or Roy? Over 50% said Racicot. After the Habs went down 2-0 to Quebec with Roy playing very average, again, there were screams for Racicot to start. Demers should get major props for sticking with Roy when there was a lot of pressure to go the other way.

 

[panorama01*]

My own experience being in Montreal at the time and following the team was very different from that. I'm sure it was even that year when people on the radio dubbed Racicot "the worst goalie in the league". Racicot's glory days were early 1991 - he was never the same after that. Why, they even gave the job he won to Roland Melanson who was out of the league for years at the beginning of 1991-92, bringing Racicot back when Melanson suffered a career-ending injury... Racicot also shouldn't have changed his number from 40 to 37....


I suppose it was probably the next year that crystallised opinion between Roy, the "best goalie in the league", and Racicot dubbed the "worst"... Racicot's win-loss record was impressive compared with Roy's, but he almost never drew Boston or Quebec and a large percentage of his games were against Hartford and Ottawa... he also drew Winnipeg, a team always defeated by the Canadiens during that time, and a not very good Philadelphia team (post Duchesne-pre Desjardins)... Again my memory was that there was fear when Racicot replaced Roy because of injury during the 1993 playoff against Quebec and relief when Roy returned to his crease.

 

[David]

I'm pretty sure that my brother and I were calling him Red Light before the 93 season but I'm not exactly sure how much earlier.

 

[panorama01*]

Racicot was completely dismantled in his NHL debut on Saturday night against the Maple Leafs in 1989-90. This was when the Canadiens' goalies were Patrick Roy and Brian Hayward - for whatever reason, Hayward was not available for that game. He became a bit of a joke then and after Hayward made it clear he was not coming back, Racicot was not really considered as Hayward's replacement - Jean-Claude Bergeron won that role. Bergeron, however, was terrible as Roy's backup and so they tried Racicot in early 1991 and got better results. Roy was quickly injured in January 1991 and Racicot served as the starter, shutting out Edmonton and winning many First Star selections and playing reasonably well. Jack Todd then wanted him dubbed "Rah Rah Racicot" (I presume that the Red Light name had been used already)... Racicot became backup when Roy returned - when the Canadiens acquired Roland Melanson to start 1991-92, Racicot was returned to the minors. When Melanson was injured for the rest of the year sometime in December, Racicot was back. He remained the backup to Roy until January or February 1994...

As for people turning against Roy, this is possible. After his astounding 1986 performance, he was still considered to be inconsistent after that, there were people who preferred Hayward, considering him to be steadier. Hayward indeed had better stats in 1986-87 and played most of the playoffs into a Stanley Cup semifinal appearance. 1987-88 was similar though he clearly gained on Hayward... 1988-89 was really the year Roy established himself as clearly superior to Hayward, setting a team record for not losing at home, for instance, and played the whole playoffs through the final (though many thought he was outplayed by Vernon there)...

Though Roy's reputation was better than ever, 1989-90 was a disappointment (though losing Chelios for most of the year had a lot to do with that)... Hayward played less than ever and his stats were worse. Roy was outplayed by Andy Moog in the playoffs in 1990, 1991 and 1992... by 1992-92, his regular season stats were not as good as usual. Clearly, there were doubts if he was as great as he had been made out to be - but enough for people to want Racicot to start?

It was really the 1993 Cup performance that cemented Roy's legend in Montreal - Jack Todd took to calling him "St-Patrick" after that. He was "the greatest goalie" in the league the next year and a miracle worker and the rest of it. In 1994-95, with the team becoming worse, and with coach Demers giving Roy too much space seemingly and with his price tag, there was serious talk of moving him... he was not able to keep the team from missing the playoffs and his status as miracle worker suffered...

 

[JETStender]

 

[SC2008]

WTF, is that Kris Draper?

Anyway, I'll always have fond memories of Red Light.

As a Shark fan Pat Falloon's goal to tie the game with .2 seconds left was classic.

 

[Jumptheshark]

If memory serves me correct(and i think i am right here) Racicot earned the name Red Light after a few bad games when he was still playing in the Q for Granby--there were a few games they got blown out on a regular basis. for two seasons in a row his GOA was over 4.00--

also--his rookie season with the longueuil Chevaliers in 3 games he let in 19 goals for a 6,33 average

I remember him being called red light on his draft day

 

[Stray Wasp]

There's a Sports Illustrated article from 93 that mentions calls for Racicot to replace Roy after the first two games of the Quebec series.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138527/2/index.htm

 

[member 51464]

I'll admit this for your collective amusement: I had heard of him before I ever read this board, and thought he was a badass scorer back in the day and was always lighting the lamp.