The Rocket

For sustained loyalty, raucous fanaticism and sheer madness, there are few sporting crowds in the world to equal the hockey fans of Montreal. Whenever Les Canadiens are in town, French Canadians jam Montreal's Forum (capacity: 13,531) to shout bilingually (English and French) for their heroes. Every Canadiens game since World War II days has been a sellout, and it is so hard to get tickets that season-ticket holders have been known to dispose of their seats in their wills.

There are those who consider the current Montreal team the greatest ever in hockey, superior to the Boston Bruins of the '30s or the Detroit Red Wings, who won seven straight championships in the late '40s and early '50s. Last week Les Canadiens won three straight to pull far ahead of the second-place Red Wings.

Even in a game's quiet moments the din at the Forum is incessant. But the normal noise level increases to a rafter-raising roar when an aging, sharp-featured wingman with deep-set flashing jet-black eyes and a mop of black hair cuddles the puck to his stick, nurses it past enemy defenders, skillfully fakes the goalie out of position and flicks the rubber disk into the cage. Shouts of "Rocket, Rocket" fill the air in delirious tribute to Joseph Henri Maurice Richard, the greatest player in modern hockey history.

In the Clutch. Hockey players are considered old at 30. At 37, the Rocket is admittedly past his peak; yet he has still managed 14 goals and 19 assists this season to tie for third place in the scoring standings. No one in the league is close to his career marks for goals (603); only Detroit's Gordie Howe can approach his mark for total points (Richard 1,047, Howe 942). The Rocket still holds the record for most goals in one season (50 in an abbreviated 50-game season, 1944-45). He is also one of the game's great clutch players, has scored the winning goal in 98 games. Says New York Rangers Defenseman Lou Fontinato, who tangles often with the Rocket: "I don't like to see him out on the ice with the score tied, because then he does the most damage."

Too Old to Fight? Taciturn and monosyllabic off the ice, the sinewy (5 ft. 10 in., 196 lbs.) Rocket turns into a ferociously truculent competitor once he takes stick in hand. In his long career, he has been fined a total of $2,500, an all-time record. In one celebrated incident three years ago, Richard attacked an official who was interfering with his assault on a Boston player. League President Clarence Campbell suspended him, thus banishing him from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Montreal fans retaliated by attacking Campbell when he showed up to watch the next game, then surged out into downtown streets, breaking store windows and thumping bystanders to show their displeasure. Maurice insists he has calmed down ("I'm too old to fight"). But just last week his Gallic temper burst out, and he whacked Detroit Forward Norm Ullman with his stick, opened up a 7-in. gash on Ullman's forehead. Explained the Rocket: "Ullman speared me twice. He deserved all he got."

Operating with him on the Canadiens first line are Dickie Moore, third highest scorer in the league, and Maurice's own younger brother and heir apparent, Henri ("Pocket Rocket") Richard, only 22 but already a solid all-round center who has made 29 points this year. Together they form the best line in hockey (40 goals, 55 assists to date)--with the ironic result that the league's leading scorer (40 points), Bernie ("Boom Boom") Geoffrion, is relegated to the second line.

Richard's own brand of hockey contains not so much finesse, as it does sheer drive and, occasionally, just brute force. Canadiens fans still recall fondly the game in the 1945-46 season when the Rocket charged on the Detroit goal in a solo dash. Barring his way was Earl Seibert, a rugged, 225-lb. defenseman. Richard bent low, collided with Seibert, kept his feet, made the goal one-handed, with Seibert still spraddled atop his shoulders.

Some opponents frankly think that Richard's ferocity borders on the manic. Says Gordie Howe: "He sure acts funny at times. Just where do you draw that line between being colorful and being punchy?" But the Rocket, bearing down on opposing defensemen, is still one of hockey's great sights. Says the Canadiens' Executive Frank Selke Jr.: "Richard sets off a chain reaction whenever he gets the puck, even if it's just a routine pass. It's strange and wonderful, the way that he communicates with the crowd." Explains the Rocket simply: "I hate to lose."

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