PowerPoint Slides - P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Maurice “The Rocket”
Richard
and Canadian Identities
History 103: Canadian History through Biography
Hockey

Ken Dryden – part sport, part
entertainment, part business, part
community builder

“Common community experience”?
– Internationally; domestically (FrenchEnglish)

Form of Cultural Nationalism or
Nationalisms?
Themes

Popular culture: sport in
Canadian life

Quebec society in the
1940s-50s

French-English relations

Role of the press in
influencing and reflecting
public opinion
Sports in Society

Form of culture
– Popular or mass culture
– Reflective of society’s values and priorities
– Integral part of society
Background: Sport in Canada
Amateurism to Professionalism
 Amateur code

The First Stanley Cup
Professionalism
Fans eager: money to be made!
 National Hockey Association (1909)

The Montreal Canadiens
Created in 1909
 National Hockey League (1917)

The “Flying Frenchmen”
Aurel Joliat
Georges Vezina
Edouard “Newsy”
Lalonde
Howie “The Stratford
Streak” Morenz
French Canada’s Team
Average annual percentage of French-Canadian players on the
'Original Six' N.H.L. teams from 1926/1927 to 1954/1955
TEAM
Average Annual Percentage
Montreal Canadiens
40.8
New York Rangers
11.5
Detroit Red Wings
8.4
Chicago Blackhawks
6.4
Boston Bruins
6.4
Toronto Maple Leafs
4.7
Source: D. Di Felice, “The ‘Richard Riot’” (MA, Queen’s, 1999), p.76.
The Montreal Canadians: Rivalries

Montreal Wanderers
(1909-1918)

Montreal Maroons
(1924-1938)

Toronto Maple Leafs
(1917 to present)
1938 onward: Toronto Maple Leafs
now the main rival!
Joseph Henri Maurice Richard
born 1921, Montreal
 working class family
 French, Catholic
 Helps to supplement
the family income
 Elementary school;
technical college
(machinist)

Early Hockey Career





Began at age 4
Frozen river or
schoolyard
Organized hockey at
age 11
Continues to work
Montreal Parks
League (age 17)
– 133/144 team goals
Canadien Seniors
Concerns about his
physical size
 3 years of injuries…
 Twice rejected by
army

Too fragile for the NHL?
Makes the NHL again in Fall 1943
Montreal Canadiens, 1943-44 season
Natural Goal Scorer
Heritage Minute
The Records Fall
13-year career
 17 individual
records
 1944-45: 50 goals
in 50 game season
 Eight Stanley Cups

Fire in his eyes… “The Rocket”
The Fighter
Family Man
French Canadian Icon / Symbol
The Hockey Sweater
Roch Carrier, age 10
French Canadian and Quebec
Society (1940s-50s)
Transitional
 English elites control the economy
 Traditional pillars of Quebec society:

– Rural, agrarian family  but urbanization and
industrialization!
– Catholic faith
– French language
The NHL Establishment
Board of Governors: English
 President: English-speaking
 Referees: English

– Favouritism???
Clarence Campbell (1905-1984)
English, privileged,
Protestant, highlyeducated
 War Crimes Unit –
WWII
 President of the NHL
(1946-1977)

Tensions Mount

Richard as “ghost writer”
– Critical of Campbell
Richard Behaving Badly:
13 March 1955
Newspapers and Suspension
French Canadian newspapers: Richard as
victim
 English Canadian newspapers: Richard
as “fiery,” “explosive,” “wild,” “violent,”
and needing of stern punishment
 Campbell: “Richard will be suspended for
all games both league and playoff, for
the balance of the current season.”

Responses: French and English
differences
RICHARD BANNI PAR CAMPBELL
Victime d’une nouvelle injustice
(Richard Banned by Campbell – Victime of a new injustice) –
Montreal Matin, 17 Mar 1955
LA PUNITION JUGÉE TROP FORTE
Grand Surprise Devant La Severité Campbell
(Punishment Judged Too Harsh; Big Surprise of Campbell’s
Severity) – La Presse, 17 Mar 1955
IRATE FANS THREATEN REPRISAL
Montreal Gazette, 17 Mar 1955
Source : Jean-Marie Pellerin, L'idole d'un people: Maurice Richard, p.24.
Montreal fans hysterical: 17 March 1955
"Vive Richard"
"Richard, le persécute"
"Pas de Richard, pas de coupe"
"J'y vais pas - et vous / I'm not
coming are you'?"
"A bas Campbell"
"Dehors Campbell - drop dead"
"La justice est morte"
"Tu veux tuer notre sport
national"
"Injustice au Canada français"
"Campbell, traître aux
Canadiens- français
The Richard Riot

Film Clip:
– The Rocket: Maurice Richard: The Man … The
Legend (NFB, 1998)
Richard calls for restraint
Media Reaction: French
Blame Campbell, support Richard
 André Laurendeau: “On a tué
mon frère Richard”

– Parallels to French Canadian life
and fate more generally?
– Richard and Campbell as national
symbols
– Passions similar to those
surrounding Riel?
Media Reaction: English
Simple hockey hooliganism?
 Campbell as correct; Richard as wrong
 Detroit Red Wings Coach:

“I blame you fellows [in the French Canadian
press] for what's happened. You've turned
Richard into an idol, a man whose suspension
can turn hockey fans into shrieking idiots ...”
Meaning of the Riot?
Symbolism: inequalities
 Underlying tensions in French Canadian/
Quebec society?
 Signal of the ensuing Quiet Revolution?
 What is clear:

– Montreal Canadiens as French Canada’s
national team
– Rocket Richard as French Canada’s national
hero
Lost Season
The Montreal Canadiens, 1954-55 season
Bernard “Boom Boom”
Geoffrion
Returning with a vengeance: Five
Stanley Cups in a Row (1956-60)
A New Generation Emerging
Richard and Jean Beliveau
Maurice and Henri Richard
Last Three Years: Injuries
Leaving on Top (1960)
Retirement
The “Flying Frenchmen” continue to soar
(1960s-70s)!
A French Canadian Icon
The Richard Trophy:
Top Goal Scorer in the NHL
Media Responses to his death

English Canada
– hockey hero

Quebec nationalists
– cultural and political
icon;
– not just a hockey
player!
Hockey Hero? Political Hero?
A Canadian or Quebecois hero? Or BOTH?
“The Champions” of French Canada
QUESTIONS?
Further Viewing
Essay Writing
Thesis Statement = Argument

William Lyon Mackenzie King was a great Canadian prime
minister. This statement contains a weak, evident generality
without an argument to be proven.

William Lyon Mackenzie, as the longest serving prime minister, had
a strong impact on Canadian politics and society. This statement is
slightly better, but still too broad and without sufficient indication of
the argument.

William Lyon Mackenzie King, who served as prime minister for
more than a quarter century, mastered the art of pragmatic politics
and transformed a country divided by the First World War into a
united, prosperous, internationally-engaged “middle power” by the
time he retired in 1948. This statement contains a distinct
argument, stands in need of proof, and can be proven in the
essay. It also indicates the structure of the paper, which is an
optional component of a thesis statement.
Outline
I.
II.
III.
paper
Introduction: state topic and thesis statement, give structure of
Background
a. The history of the National Hockey League
b. The Montreal Canadiens and the “French Canadian” team
c. Quebec society and culture in the 1940s-50s
Maurice Richard
a. Personal background: education, work, hockey, etc.
b. An unlikely hero: from injuries to NHL stardom
c. Richard as “idol” for French Canadians
IV.
The Richard Riot: Hockey as more than a game
V.
VI.
Short overview of the rest of Richard’s career and life
Conclusion: restate thesis statement; why is this paper important?
a. Clarence Campbell vs. Richard: symbols of English and French Canada
b. The Riot, March 1955
c. Explaining the Riot: Journalists and Historians (1955-2000)