The Rocketman

'Maurice Richard' by Charles Foran. 166pp. Penguin Canada. 2011. With an introduction by John Ralston Saul.


   It was tough being Maurice  'Rocket' Richard.
   Richard was the Montreal Canadians or Canadiens' most famous hockey player during the team's glory days from l956 to l960 when they won five Stanley Cups in a row.  Born Joseph Henri Maurice in l921 in Montreal, Richard was the son of a carpenter Onesime Richard and his wife Alice.
   Even before the economic crash of 1929 author Charles Foran points out "unemployment rates around the city of Montreal hovered at 25 per cent." Pay was low, medicare didn't exist, there was no welfare or decent old age pensions. Life was tough.
    The Richard family were French-Canadians scuffling for survival, while a few English-speaking Canadians ruled the roost. Charles Foran has outlined the main parts of Richard's climb to fame, if not fortune. Foran stresses Richard's clashes with rival hockey players on the ice and rich English-Canadians off it.
    For most of his playing life, the Canadians were owned by the powerful Molson family, who paid him and otrher hockey players pitiful wages by to-day's standards. Richard's suspension, by Clarence Campbell, the head of the then six team National Hockey League in l955, sparked the famous 'Richard Riot' in Montreal. This riot matched Vancouver's famous hockey riot in 2011.
    For Foran, Richard symbolized French Canadians in his playing years. He stood as one part of Quebec, while the other Maurice, Maurice Duplessis, the dictatorial premier, guarded Quebec's poltical gates.
    "Being pre-T.V.," writes Foran, "probably worked in Richard's favour, editing out the shocking visual evidence of his lack of restraint, and his disturbing capacity for violence."
      Richard hit, smahed and beat opponents who did just the same to him. He scored 50 goals in l944 but assaulted many players on the ice. He retired in 1960, forced out by the Canadian top brass. In retirement he remained a conservative as the French Canadians morphed into the more affluent assertive Quebecois. He  had a brood of seven children  and always went to church on Sundays. This man was no separatiste.
     If you want to learn more about this working class hero and the political background of his life, Foran's book is a good place to start.