Stéphane Richer

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For other people named Stéphane Richer, see Stéphane Richer (disambiguation).
Stéphane Richer
Richer in 2010
Born (1966-06-07) June 7, 1966 (age 57)
Ripon, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 218 lb (99 kg; 15 st 8 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Right
Played for New Jersey Devils
Montreal Canadiens
Tampa Bay Lightning
St. Louis Blues
Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL Draft 29th overall, 1984
Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1984–2005

Stéphane Joseph Jean-Jacques Richer (French pronunciation: [stefan ʁiʃe]; born June 7, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger.

Playing career[edit]

Richer was drafted 29th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. He played in 1,054 career NHL games, scoring 421 goals and 398 assists for 819 points. Richer won the Calder Cup in 1985. He won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986; Richer scored four goals and one assist in the 16 games in which he participated that playoff season.

Montreal traded Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Kirk Muller and Roland Melanson on September 20, 1991. Richer won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995; Richer scored six goals and 15 assists in the 19 games that he played in during that playoff season. The ensuing year after winning the Cup, New Jersey missed the playoffs, and the New Jersey Devils traded Richer to Montreal for Lyle Odelein on August 22, 1996.[1] Montreal traded Richer, Darcy Tucker, and David Wilkie to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Igor Ulanov, Patrick Poulin, and Mick Vukota on January 15, 1998.

Richer also played for the St. Louis Blues, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a second stint in New Jersey before retiring.

Richer is among the all-time leaders (tied in second with six other players) in playoff overtime goals, with four:

  • April 8, 1989 – At 5:01 of overtime, the Canadiens defeat the Hartford Whalers in Game 3 of the Adams Division Semifinals
  • April 19, 1991 – A mere 27 seconds into overtime, Richer ends Game 2 of the Adams Division Finals with a 4–3 win over the Boston Bruins.
  • May 7, 1994 – At 14:19 of overtime, Game 4 ends of the Eastern Conference Semifinals ends with a 5–4 Devils victory over the Bruins.
  • May 15, 1994 – Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals concludes with a 4–3 New Jersey win over the New York Rangers at 15:23 of the second overtime.

Richer scored 50 goals for the Montreal Canadiens in 1987–88 and 51 in 1989–90, joining Guy Lafleur as the only Canadiens players to score 50 or more goals during a season more than once in their career (Lafleur scored 50 or more goals in a season six times). To this date, Richer is the last player to have scored 50 or more goals during a season for the Montreal Canadiens.

Richer confirmed during the 2001–02 season that he has been battling depression during the majority of his career.

Playing style[edit]

Richer was known to have one of the hardest shots in the NHL during his playing days, coupled with an extremely quick release. Unlike many other players, Richer only had to wind up his stick to about waist height to achieve full power on his shot. Recognition of his hard shot was noticed even more when Fleer trading cards included Richer in their "Slapshot Artists" limited set for the 1994–95 season.[2] During the 1994 New Jersey Devils team-only skills competition prior to the All-Star Game, Richer recorded multiple slapshots that exceeded the 100 mph mark.

In a well documented[by whom?] legend,[according to whom?] during one pre-game warm up session in New Jersey, Richer fired a slapshot at his own goalie, Martin Brodeur, which shattered the cup in Brodeur's jock strap, leaving him bruised and nauseated. Brodeur had to leave the ice and change equipment moments before the game started.[citation needed]

A fast skater with a big body (approx. 6'3", 225 lbs.), Richer used skill and his shot to beat opponents as opposed to a hard-hitting power forward style which was prototypical of an NHL player of his proportions.

Scouting reports frequently criticized Richer for not squeezing more production out of his talent, given his physical gifts (size, skill, skating ability). He was sometimes described as "coasting" during the regular season and playing hard only when the playoffs began, although his statistics do not support this perception (his career regular-season points per game of 0.78 is higher than his 0.73 average in the playoffs).[3]

Retirement[edit]

In October 2009, Richer began competing as a pairs figure skater on the CBC Television reality show Battle of the Blades with Marie-France Dubreuil.

On February 8, 2011, Richer appeared along with Darryl Strawberry on a documentary by Michael Landsberg to talk about his past battle with depression.[4]

Records and achievements[edit]

  • Youngest Montreal Canadiens player to score 50 goals in a season- 21 years old[5]
  • Youngest Montreal Canadiens player to score 100 goals in his career- 22 years, 205 days[6]
  • One of only two Montreal Canadiens players to have two 50 goal seasons with the team (Guy Lafleur did it six times)
  • 2x Stanley Cup Champion (1986 and 1995)

Career statistics[edit]

Regular season and playoffs[edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1982–83 Laval Insulaires QMAAA 48 47 54 101 86 — — — — —
1983–84 Granby Bisons QMJHL 67 39 37 76 62 3 1 1 2 4
1984–85 Granby Bisons QMJHL 30 30 27 57 31 — — — — —
1984–85 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 27 31 32 63 40 12 13 13 26 25
1984–85 Montreal Canadiens NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1984–85 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL — — — — — 9 3 6 9 10
1985–86 Montreal Canadiens NHL 65 21 16 37 50 16 4 1 5 23
1986–87 Sherbrooke Canadiens AHL 12 10 4 14 11 — — — — —
1986–87 Montreal Canadiens NHL 57 20 19 39 80 5 3 2 5 0
1987–88 Montreal Canadiens NHL 72 50 28 78 72 8 7 5 12 6
1988–89 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 25 35 60 61 21 6 5 11 14
1989–90 Montreal Canadiens NHL 75 51 40 91 46 9 7 3 10 2
1990–91 Montreal Canadiens NHL 75 31 30 61 53 13 9 5 14 6
1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL 74 29 35 64 25 7 1 2 3 0
1992–93 New Jersey Devils NHL 78 38 35 73 44 5 2 2 4 2
1993–94 New Jersey Devils NHL 80 36 36 72 16 20 7 5 12 6
1994–95 New Jersey Devils NHL 45 23 16 39 10 19 6 15 21 2
1995–96 New Jersey Devils NHL 73 20 12 32 30 — — — — —
1996–97 Montreal Canadiens NHL 63 22 24 46 32 5 0 0 0 0
1997–98 Montreal Canadiens NHL 14 5 4 9 5 — — — — —
1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 26 9 11 20 36 — — — — —
1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 64 12 21 33 22 — — — — —
1999–2000 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 20 7 5 12 4 — — — — —
1999–2000 Detroit Vipers IHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1999–2000 St. Louis Blues NHL 36 8 17 25 14 3 1 0 1 0
2001–02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 58 13 12 25 14 — — — — —
2001–02 New Jersey Devils NHL 10 1 2 3 0 3 0 0 0 0
2004–05 Sorel-Tracy Mission LNAH 8 2 6 8 0 — — — — —
NHL totals 1,054 421 398 819 614 134 53 45 98 61

International[edit]

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 Finland[7] Ice hockey
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
1985 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 4 3 7 2
Junior totals 7 4 3 7 2

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stephane Richer bio on HockeyDraftCentral".
  2. ^ "1994-95 Fleer Slapshot Artists".
  3. ^ "Stephane Richer Stats".
  4. ^ CTV.ca
  5. ^ "Player Season Finder".
  6. ^ "Player Season Finder".
  7. ^ "WJHC History (Gold) - 1985". Archived from the original on 2008-12-31.

External links[edit]

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