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Henri Richard: No Player Will Ever Hoist The Stanley Cup As Often

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henri richard montreal canadiens 1965-66 topps hockey cardNearly ever one of his hockey cards made the point of connecting Henri Richard to his older, and seemingly better, brother Maurice Richard. Yet, when it came to hockey, the two were brothers by name only.

15 years separated the two and their styles were a world apart, as well. The Rocket was known for putting pucks in the net, whereas Henri made sure everyone else on his line did the scoring. Maurice scored 1.29 goals for every time he assisted on a marker. Henri assisted on nearly two goals for every one he scored.

Henri joined the Canadiens right out of junior, just in time to get in on the five straight Stanley Cup championships in the late 1950’s. That turned out to not even be half of the championships he would win over his NHL career. Be the time all was said and done, Richard put his name on the Stanley Cup eleven times, one more than any other player. With a 30+ team league, no other player will ever come close.

Junior Career
Hockey Card Collection
NHL Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats

Henri Richard – Junior

From 1951-52 to 1954-55, Henri Richard played four years of junior hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens. At the time, the Juniors played in the Quebec Junior Hockey League. In the modern day QMJHL, these Junior Canadiens descended into the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.


Henri Richard Collection

For the full collection in video form, click the play button to the right. To view the video in a larger version, either click on the title or click play then click the YouTube logo at the bottom of the video.


Over his four years, the impossibly small centre scored 139 and assisted on 154 for 293 points in 193 regular season games. His best year was 1953-54 when he scored 56 and assisted on 53 for 109 points in 54 games. It is said that he weighed just 125 pounds when his junior career started and was a mere 150 pounds when he played his first season in the NHL.

Henri Richard never spent a day in the minors. Right from junior, the Pocket Rocket jumped right to the National Hockey League to play for the Montreal Canadiens in 1955-56.

Henri Richard – NHL

Between 1955-56 and 1974-75, Henri Richard played in 1,259 regular season National Hockey League games, all with the Montreal Canadiens. That number stands as a franchise record for most career games. Over that time, he scored 358 and assisted on 688 for 1,046 points.

In his rookie season, Richard excelled with 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points over 64 games. He added eight points over ten games in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Montreal taking their first of five straight championships. Yet, it was Glenn Hall of the Detroit Red Wings that took the Calder Trophy honours in 1955-56.

In the playoffs, Henri added 129 goals in 180 games. He helped the Canadiens to eleven Stanley Cup championships. This is the most by any NHL player, one more than both Jean Beliveau and Yvan Cournoyer. He won three more championships that his brother Maurice. In both the 1965-66 and 1970-71 championships, he scored the Cup winning goal.

Known for his speed and soft hands, Richard enjoyed his best offensive numbers in just his third season in the league. In 1957-58, Henri scored 28 and assisted on 52 for 80 points over 67 games. He put in career highs for both assists and points. Henri’s assist total placed him first overall in the NHL. He tied for seventh in goal scoring with Don McKenney of the Boston Bruins and was second in the race for the Art Ross Trophy behind teammate Dickie Moore.

Two years later, in 1959-60, Richard set his career high for goals with 30. That mark tied him for fifth in the NHL with teammate Bernie Geoffrion. He was also fourth with 43 assists and tied for fifth with Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings, each with 73 points.

The following year, Henri placed seventh with 44 assists and finished ninth with 68 points. 1962-63 was his last really outstanding offensively productive season, leading the league with 50 assists and tying Frank Mahovlich of the Toronto Maple Leafs for fourth with 73 points.

Despite his long and distinguished career, Henri Richard was named a First Team All-Star centre just once, in 1957-58. Three times, he took Second Team honours. In 1958-59 and 1960-61, he fell behind teammate Jean Beliveau while in 1962-63 Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks was selected to the First Team.

Henri Richard was team captain for the Montreal Canadiens from 1971-72 to 1974-75. The Habs retired Richard’s number 16 in 1975. In 1979, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Bobby Orr and Harry Howell.

Henri Richard – Rookie Card

The Henri Richard rookie card appears as number 4 in the 1957-58 Parkhurst NHL hockey card set. His last card was included in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee set, despite playing just 16 regular season and six playoff games with the Canadiens that year, his final games in the National Hockey League.

Mostly all of Henri Richard’s hockey cards refer to his being the brother of Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard, even over a decade after his brother had retired and Henri was a very successful veteran in the NHL. Most also mention his nickname, the ‘Pocket Rocket’. At least one card refers to his leap year birthday. Henri was born on February 29, 1936.

Henri Richard Career Stats

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
1955-56 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 19 21 40 46
1956-57 Montreal Canadiens NHL 63 18 36 54 71
1957-58 Montreal Canadiens NHL 67 28 52 80 56
1958-59 Montreal Canadiens NHL 63 21 30 51 33
1959-60 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 30 43 73 66
1960-61 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 24 44 68 91
1961-62 Montreal Canadiens NHL 54 21 29 50 48
1962-63 Montreal Canadiens NHL 67 23 50 73 57
1963-64 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 14 39 53 73
1964-65 Montreal Canadiens NHL 53 23 29 52 43
1965-66 Montreal Canadiens NHL 62 22 39 61 47
1966-67 Montreal Canadiens NHL 65 21 34 55 28
1967-68 Montreal Canadiens NHL 54 9 19 28 16
1968-69 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 15 37 52 45
1969-70 Montreal Canadiens NHL 62 16 36 52 61
1970-71 Montreal Canadiens NHL 75 12 37 49 46
1971-72 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 12 32 44 48
1972-73 Montreal Canadiens NHL 71 8 35 43 21
1973-74 Montreal Canadiens NHL 75 19 36 55 28
1974-75 Montreal Canadiens NHL 16 3 10 13 4
NHL Totals 1259 358 688 1046 928

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