Henri Richard

"Pocket Rocket" redirects here. For the miniature motorcycle, see Minibike. For the snooker player with this nickname, see Graeme Dott.

Henri Richard
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1979
Born	(1936-02-29) February 29, 1936 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight	160 lb (73 kg; 11 st 6 lb)
Position	Centre
Played for	Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1955–1975

Joseph Henri Richard (born February 29, 1936) is a former professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1955 to 1975. He was the brother of hockey legend Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard and consequently, because he was 15 years younger and three inches shorter, he was given the nickname The Pocket-Rocket.

Playing career

Although the Rocket shot left (left hand lower on the stick), Henri shot right. Maurice played off wing and Henri played centre. Throughout, the two brothers' style of play was quite different. Henri led the league in assists in 1957–58 and 1962–63, a feat never matched by his famous brother.

Henri won 11 Stanley Cups, more than any other player in NHL history. Former teammate and predecessor as team captain Jean Béliveau has 17 Stanley Cup titles, but only 10 as a player (the other 7 as an executive.) Only one other athlete in North American professional sports has achieved winning eleven championships in his respective league - Bill Russell of the NBA's Boston Celtics.

The 11 Cup titles gave Henri the unusual claim of having more championship rings than he had birthdays at the end of his career. He was born on February 29 during a leap year, so his birthday came around only 9 times before he played his final game.

In 1957–58, he was named to the First All-Star Team and in 1959 he was named to the Second All-Star Team.

In his career, he scored 358 goals and earned 688 assists in 1256 games. His 1256 regular-season games played in a Canadiens uniform are a franchise record.

He scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal at the 2:20 mark of the first overtime in Game Six to win the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals for the Canadiens against Detroit.

He was named captain of the Canadiens in 1971 and always wore the number 16 which was retired December 10, 1975 by the Canadiens in his honour. Henri retired in 1975 and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979. In 1998, he was ranked number 29 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. He currently serves as an ambassador to the Canadiens' organization.

Career statistics

• *Stanley Cup champions

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1952–53	Montreal Royals	QSHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1952–53	Montreal Junior Royals	QPJHL		46	27	36	63	55		—	—	—	—	—
1953–54	Montreal Junior Canadiens	QPJHL		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
1955–56*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	19	21	40	46		10	4	4	8	21
1956–57*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	18	36	54	71		10	2	6	8	10
1957–58*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	28	52	80	56		10	1	7	8	11
1958–59*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	21	30	51	33		11	3	8	11	13
1959–60*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	30	43	73	66		8	3	9	12	9
1960–61	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		70	24	44	68	91		6	2	4	6	22
1961–62	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		54	21	29	50	48		—	—	—	—	—
1962–63	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	23	50	73	57		5	1	1	2	2
1963–64	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		66	14	39	53	73		7	1	1	2	9
1964–65*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		53	23	29	52	43		13	7	4	11	24
1965–66*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		62	22	39	61	47		8	1	4	5	2
1966–67	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		65	21	34	55	28		10	4	6	10	2
1967–68*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		54	9	19	28	16		13	4	4	8	4
1968–69*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	15	37	52	45		14	2	4	6	8
1969–70	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		62	16	36	52	61		—	—	—	—	—
1970–71*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	12	37	49	46		20	5	7	12	20
1971–72	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	12	32	44	48		6	0	3	3	4
1972–73*	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	8	35	43	21		17	6	4	10	14
1973–74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	19	36	55	28		6	2	2	4	2
1974–75	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		16	3	10	13	4		6	1	2	3	4
NHL totals				1256	358	688	1046	928		180	49	80	129	181

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• Notable families in the NHL
• Maurice Richard
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

External links

• Henri Richard biography at Legends of Hockey
• Henri Richard career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database