Stéphane Richer

This article is about the ice hockey forward. For ice hockey defenceman, see Stéphane J. G. Richer.

Stéphane Richer
Born	(1966-06-07) June 7, 1966 Ripon, QC, CAN
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shot	Right
Played for	New Jersey Devils Montreal Canadiens Tampa Bay Lightning St. Louis Blues Pittsburgh Penguins
NHL draft	29th overall, 1984 Montreal Canadiens
Playing career	1984–2005

Stéphane Jean-Jacques Richer (French pronunciation: [stefan ʁiʃe]; born April 28, 1966) is a retired professional ice hockey left winger.

Playing career

Richer was drafted 29th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. He played in 1,054 career NHL games, scoring 421 goals and 398 assists for 819 points. Richer won the Calder Cup in 1985. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 and with the New Jersey Devils in 1995.

After his Stanley Cup run in New Jersey, he found himself bouncing from team to team through trades including Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, a second stint in Montreal, and even a trip back to the minors before ultimately retiring.

He was openly criticized by other players for his comments during the NHL lockout of 1995 leading to 1/2 the normal season when he stated "...we should be playing hockey", when asked about the strike and his feelings about the negotiations.

Richer is among the all time leaders (tied in second with six other players) in playoff overtime goals, with four:

• April 8, 1989 – At 5:01 of overtime, the Canadiens defeat the Hartford Whalers in Game 3 of the Adams Division Semifinals
• April 19, 1991 – A mere 27 seconds into overtime, Richer ends Game 2 of the Adams Division Finals with a 4–3 win over the Boston Bruins.
• May 7, 1994 – At 14:19 of overtime, Game 4 ends of the Eastern Conference Semifinals ends with a 5–4 Devils victory over the Bruins.
• May 15, 1994 – Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals concludes with a 4–3 New Jersey win over the New York Rangers at 15:23 of the second overtime.

Richer scored 50 goals for the Montreal Canadiens in 1987–88 and 51 in 1989–90, becoming the only player to do so since Guy Lafleur's heyday. To this date, Richer is the last player to have scored 50 goals for the Montreal Canadiens.

The ensuing year after winning the Cup, New Jersey missed the playoffs, and Richer was traded back to the Montreal Canadiens in 1996.

Richer confirmed during the 2001-02 season that he has been battling depression during the majority of his career.

Playing style

Richer was known to have one of the hardest shots in the NHL during his playing days, coupled with an extremely quick release. Unlike many other players, Richer only had to wind up his stick to about waist height to achieve full power on his shot. Recognition of his hard shot was noticed even more when Fleer trading cards included Richer in their "Slapshot Artists" limited set for the 1994–95 season. During the 1994 New Jersey Devils team-only skills competition prior to the All-Star Game, Richer recorded multiple slapshots that exceeded the 100 mph mark.

In a well documented legend, during one pre-game warm up session in New Jersey, Richer fired a slapshot at his own goalie, Martin Brodeur, which shattered the cup in Brodeur's jock strap, leaving him bruised and nauseated. Brodeur had to leave the ice and change equipment moments before the game started.

A fast skater with a big body (approx. 6'3", 225 lbs.), Richer used skill and his shot to beat opponents as opposed to a hard-hitting power forward style which was prototypical of an NHL player of his proportions.

Scouting reports frequently criticized Richer for not squeezing more production out of his talent, given his physical gifts (size, skill, skating ability). He was sometimes described as "coasting" during the regular season and playing hard only when the playoffs began, although his statistics do not support this perception (his career regular-season points per game of 0.78 is higher than his 0.73 average in the playoffs). [1]

Retirement

In October 2009, Richer began competing as a pairs figure skater on the CBC Television reality show Battle of the Blades with Marie-France Dubreuil.

On February 8, 2011 Richer appeared along with Darryl Strawberry on a documentary by Michael Landsberg to talk about his past battle with depression.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983–84	Granby Bisons	QMJHL		67	39	37	76	62		3	1	1	2	4
1984–85	Granby Bisons	QMJHL		30	30	27	57	31		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Chicoutimi Saguenéens	QMJHL		27	31	32	63	40		12	13	13	26	25
1984–85	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Sherbrooke Canadiens	AHL		—	—	—	—	—		9	3	6	9	10
1985–86	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		65	21	16	37	50		16	4	1	5	23
1986–87	Sherbrooke Canadiens	AHL		12	10	4	14	11		—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		57	20	19	39	80		5	3	2	5	0
1987–88	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		72	50	28	78	72		8	7	5	12	6
1988–89	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		68	25	35	60	61		21	6	5	11	14
1989–90	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	51	40	91	46		9	7	3	10	2
1990–91	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		75	31	30	61	53		13	9	5	14	6
1991–92	New Jersey Devils	NHL		74	29	35	64	25		7	1	2	3	0
1992–93	New Jersey Devils	NHL		78	38	35	73	44		5	2	2	4	2
1993–94	New Jersey Devils	NHL		80	36	36	72	16		20	7	5	12	6
1994–95	New Jersey Devils	NHL		45	23	16	39	10		19	6	15	21	2
1995–96	New Jersey Devils	NHL		73	20	12	32	30		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		63	22	24	46	32		5	0	0	0	0
1997–98	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		14	5	4	9	5		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		26	9	11	20	36		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		64	12	21	33	22		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		20	7	5	12	4		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Detroit Vipers	IHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	St. Louis Blues	NHL		36	8	17	25	14		3	1	0	1	0
2001–02	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		58	13	12	25	14		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	New Jersey Devils	NHL		10	1	2	3	0		3	0	0	0	0
2004–05	Sorel-Tracy Mission	LNAH		8	2	6	8	0		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1054	421	398	819	614		134	53	45	98	61

See also

• List of NHL players with 50-goal seasons
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

External links

• Stéphane Richer career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database