Beautifully stated.An absolute legend. Glad he got more and more respect around here over the years. Learned a lot about him from our late friend C1958.
I'm sure he and Canadiens1958 are talking hockey history right now. At least I like to believe that!
Richard was the central part of a team mutiny against English speaking coach Al MacNeil in 1971 after Game 5 of the SCF in Chicago and the Habs would win the next 2 games to win the Cup but MacNeil was banished back to AHL Nova Scotia.
Richard was the central part of a team mutiny against English speaking coach Al MacNeil in 1971 after Game 5 of the SCF in Chicago and the Habs would win the next 2 games to win the Cup but MacNeil was banished back to AHL Nova Scotia.
Think he's somewhat underappreciated because of playing centre on the same team as Jean Béliveau
RIP
A true Montreal Canadiens legend. Underrated from his first game all the way up to this day.
I read a few months ago that he didn't remember his career at all due to Alzheimer (or some form of dementia), so I take this as a relief that he's not suffering anymore.
Henri Richard said:Some people say it was destiny, but I just think I was in the right place at the right time. That was a great team. There were so many great hockey players. I wouldn't have said it before, but now that it's all over, I thought winning like that was normal.
An absolute legend. Glad he got more and more respect around here over the years. Learned a lot about him from our late friend C1958.
I'm sure he and Canadiens1958 are talking hockey history right now. At least I like to believe that!
By the way, 11 Stanley Cups, can we all agree that we can take this to the bank that this record will outlive all of us? 5 Super Bowls was once the record and it might be safe to say no one surpasses Brady's 6 wins but I think 11 Cups is even harder.
Henri Richard said:No one's going to break that record, it's impossible... I say that without boasting. There are too many teams now and the best players are too spread out.
I don't really consider the 11 Stanley Cups to be that important of a record. Henri was right when he said it was mostly being in the right place at the right time. One of the other guys - Beliveau, Cournoyer, etc. - could just as easily have the record. They all were lucky to play for those great teams.At the very least, I'm sure that his career brought him great joy before Alzheimer's. Henri placed great importance on being able to play with his brother, and Maurice apparently said that he would have retired much earlier if not for Henri's presence on the team (source). And that was just the beginning...
I immediately thought of Canadiens1958 as well.
I'll leave one final quote from Henri himself and let everyone decide:
I think Henri has always been very highly respected and appreciated by Habs fans and others who watched him play and know his game. I don't think it's possible to watch him play a lot and not appreciate his game, and not love his game.An absolute legend. Glad he got more and more respect around here over the years. Learned a lot about him from our late friend C1958.
I'm sure he and Canadiens1958 are talking hockey history right now. At least I like to believe that!
There was no "mutiny", merely Richard spouting off to the French press about his coach being "incompetent", which the French press ran with. Richard was a hothead, like his brother. Beliveau almost immediately took Richard aside and told him to cool his jets for the team's sake and he did, responding with a monster of a Game 7.
The decision to demote MacNeil was mutually agreed to by the coach and Sam Pollock. He had already been the coach of the Voyageurs the previous year and returned to his old position, where he absolutely thrived and became one of the greatest AHL coaches ever.