Essay --

MAURICE â€Å"THE ROCKET† RICHARD Born in August 4, 1921, Maurice Richard was the eldest of eight children of Onesime and Alice Richard. Maurice’s parents moved from Gaspe region to Nouveau-Bordeaux so that his father could work as a machinist at the Canadian Pacific Railway. He started playing hockey when he was a young kid and he was good in boxing as well. In 1937, a young Maurice Richard at age16, was dropped out of school and worked with his father as a machinist and that was his only income other than some income in the winter with the senior Canadiens. The depression hits and Maurice is asked by co-workers to attend meeting to deal with issues of layoff threats but he refuses in order to play hockey instead. Management observes the conversations and tries to get information from Maurice but, he refuses to co-operate therefore was sent to garbage duty after work. Maurice was angered by this but chose to perform his duties completely and even though he used to arrive late, angry and tired for the game, he transformed his aggression into motivation and scored the winning goals that clinched the victory over their only unbeaten team. Richard got married to Lucille Norchet in 1942 against the wish of her father. Mr. Norchet felt they would be poor on a machinist salary and his injuries would ruin his chances at hockey. They married anyway and Maurice was determined to succeed without family help. Trials for the Habs went well but GM Gorman feels he is too frail for the team. But Coach Dick Irvin insists so Maurice made the team. By 1940, he had moved up to the Canadians senior team in the Quebec league. Due to his fractures, he returned and played the whole 1941-42 season for the senior Canadia... ...cted his statement. He sat out the rest of the season and playoffs, Irvin finally admits to his aggressive approach to motivate Maurice to play great hockey. Maurice goes on radio to convince French fans not to cause trouble; he will be back next year. Winters in the village of Ste. Justine were long. That time on school, church, and the hockey rink, and every boy’s hero was Montreal Canadians hockey legend Maurice Richard. Everyone wore Richard’s number 9 to honor him. They laced their skates like Richard. They even wore their hair like Richard. Maurice Richard was the hero of the French Canadian people and his dedication to his game was no different from the dedication to his family and his work and his love for the French Canadian people. He went on to win many awards in hockey and in his personal life that honored him as the role model for all French Canadian.