1952-53 Parkhurst 1 Maurice Richard Hockey Card (Front)
1952-53 Parkhurst 1 Maurice Richard Hockey Card (Back)
1952-53 Parkhurst NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
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Playing his 11th season with Canadiens, he has earned a place among NHL’s “greatest”. Known for the power and accuracy of his shots, he holds more individual records than any other NHL player. A groin injury side-lined him for part of last season, or he would undoubtedly have broken Nels Stewart’s life-time record of 323 goals, of which the “Rocket” was 4 short. Look for him to surpass it early this year.
Details
In 1952-53, Maurice Richard bounced back from injury and appeared in all 70 regular season games for the Montreal Canadiens. However, his goal scoring did not rebound. He had just one more goal over 70 games than he had in the previous season playing just 48. In 1953-54, the Rocket would get the touch back and start a run of four consecutive seasons of 30 or more goals.
Richard finished up his National Hockey League career with 544 regular season goals. The total now places him 32nd all-time, three ahead of Stan Mikita and four behind Michel Goulet. What is impressive is that he scored that amount of goals in just 978 games and in an era when overall offensive numbers were not overly high.
For the first time in his NHL career, in 1952-53 the Rocket had more assists than goals. For the player that finished with 544 goals and just 422 assists, he was most often on the end of the pass and not handing it out. On the night of December 18, 1952, Richard showed he could be a playmaker, as well.
In a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers at the Montreal Forum, Maurice did not put a single puck past New York goalie Chuck Rayner. However, he had three assists while helping both Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion to three goal nights.
In the 1952-53 playoffs, Richard came through with seven goals in 12 games as the Habs captured the championship. In game four of the final series, he had a hat trick in a 7-3 win over the Boston Bruins to put Montreal up 3-1. He also assisted on the lone goal in the championship clinching game five 1-0 victory, scored by Elmer Lach.
Between 1942-43 and 1959-60, Maurice Richard appeared in 978 regular season and 133 playoff games in the National Hockey League, all with the Montreal Canadiens. He was an eight time Stanley Cup champion, eight time First Team All-Star and six time Second Team All-Star. The 1946-47 Hart Trophy winner was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. His jersey number 9 was retired by the Canadiens in 1960.