Jacques Richard: The Rise, Fall, Redemption and Tragic Demise of a Hockey Phenom

jacques richard was considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of quebec junior hockey in 1972 he was the number two overall pick in the nhl draft and appear to be on the fast track to big league stardom but his exquisite talent masked a decadent and dangerous personal life that would cause his career to unravel almost before it began after nearly a decade of uninspired play and long stretches in the minor leagues richard reemerged from a haze of alcohol and drug abuse to stage one of the most unlikely and extraordinary comebacks in nhl history this is the story of jacques richard his rise fall redemption and his ultimate descent into the fiery pits of a personal hell jacques richard was born in quebec city quebec on october 7 1952 the oldest of nine children he was recognized as a young phenom and at age 16 he earned a roster spot on the powerful quebec rem parts of the quebec major junior hockey league richard wasted no time making a big impact as he compiled 126 points in 53 games while logging a hefty 171 penalty minutes in 1969-70 the following season richard and teammate gee lefleur would lead the rem parts to a 54-7-1 record and memorial cup championship lefleur would be chosen number one in the 1971 nhl draft and scouts considered richard to be his heir apparent in 1972 playing on a line with future nhlers andre savard and gee schwinnard in 7172 richard lived up to expectations with a 71 goal 160 point season to win the jean beliveau trophy as the league's leading scorer although he was now being compared favorably with his iconic ex-teammate lefleur there were some warning signs regarding richard's maturity for example prior to the draft richard's coach maurice philian described him as quote moody and somebody who has to be pushed on the other hand richard's exceptional skill set was impossible to ignore said phileon there's nothing he can't do he can skate shoot make plays play defensively play on the power play and kill penalties after facing richard in the 1971 memorial cup edmonton oil king's boss while bill hunter exclaimed jacques richard is the most exciting junior player in canada he doesn't skate he flies montreal canadian scout eric taylor gushed to a newspaper reporter quote inside the blue line there's nobody like him he's a great skater and once the crowd gets behind him there's no stopping him the 1972 nhl draft began with two expansion teams picking first and second the new york islanders chose billy harris at number one while the nhl's new southern entry the atlanta flames chose jacques richard at number two 1972 was a fortuitous time for hockey player to be drafted as the world hockey association was now on the scene in a bidding war broke out for richard's services between the nhl flames and the hometown wha quebec nordiques however on the advice of his good friend lefleur richard rejected the nordig's offer enjoined boyhood idol and flames coach bernie boom boom on in the peachtree state armed with a one hundred thousand dollar signing bonus in a six year nine hundred thousand dollar contract the nineteen-year-old richard began his first training camp in september 1972 but things quickly went south off the ice fitting in immediately became an issue for the young francophone who needed a translator to do interviews he was shy which according to teammate phil meer stalled his desire to learn the language mir told the hockey news in 1972 he's afraid somebody will make fun of him he knows a little english but he's too bashful to speak it according to the hockey news on the ice things were even worse in training camp that year richard had trouble keeping his head up playing in a much faster style game time and time again his coaches had to drill him to look ahead and instructed the rest of the flames to tone it down and not hammer him in the middle of the ice well that didn't stop sturdy blue liner and teammate bob paradise from clobbering richard in one scrimmage leaving the rookie writhing in pain on the ice according to richard i've been disappointed in myself because i know i can do better than what i've done i just need to get the confidence in myself prior to training camp flames gm cliff fletcher head called richard the quote foundation of our franchise but by mid-season that enthusiasm had evaporated things would hit rock bottom on february 22 1973 when richard arrived 20 minutes late for a team meeting and was benched for that evening's game versus toronto an angry richard proceeded to leave the team and return home to quebec before being coerced by his uncle to return to the flames richard concluded the 1972-73 season with just 13 goals and 18 assists in 1973-74 richard was often paired with 1973 number one pick tom lyciak and his output doubled to a team leading 27 goals most important he began showing signs of maturity and didn't require the quote daily babysitting from head coach jeffrey on but the 1974 1974-75 season would see rashard's production sag to just 17 goals he had worn out his welcome in atlanta and in the offseason richard was dispatched to the buffalo sabres for a bargain return of larry carrier and a number one pick in buffalo richard's career went from disappointing to disastrous the situation in buffalo was never going to be easy for richard the sabre's first line the fabled french connection featured gilbert perot rene robert and richard martin the saber second line a potent two-way trio of don loose craig ramsey and danny gare was also intact struggling for playing time richard potted a mere 12 goals in 75-76 and according to saber's gm punch imlock managing recharge drinking and excesses became a full-time job in one instance richard missed playing time after injuring his wrist in a buffalo bar fight that involved teammate al smith things would nearly get catastrophically worse in the off-season on june 1 1976 richard was at a quebec bar with teammate andre deschamps when two masked men entered the tavern with submachine guns and opened fire at patrons when the smoke cleared from the bloody scene five people were wounded including deschamps who was shot in the leg according to police reports a bullet cut through richard's pant leg but did not hit him directly richard's fortunes would further crumble in 7677 when he was busted for intoxicated driving in november and was demoted to the ahl hershey bears he'd spend the next year and a half in hershey park pa the 78-79 season saw determined richard getting another nhl opportunity via the sabres and new head coach billy ingles but still he could only muster 10 goals in 61 games when scotty bowman took the sabres helm in 7980 he quickly exiled richard to the ahl rochester americans and on february 13 1980 bowman terminated richard's contract making him a free agent at this point it appeared richard now married with an infant daughter had reached the end of a disappointing career but one man remembered the fleet skating one-time junior prodigy we once said could quote do it all and that person was his junior coach and now quebec nordig's general manager maurice villan the nordics were concluding their first nhl season and had little hope of reaching the playoffs so phileon's lifeline to richard carried very little risk returning home to the franchise he'd spurned seven years earlier richard raised eyebrows with 15 points in 14 games and earned an invite back for the nordics 1980 81 season to begin the new season nordig's head coach michelle bergeron plays richard on a line with czech defectors peter and anton stosny and the improbable resurrection of jacques richard was underway after nine forgettable and often regrettable years rashard stunned the hockey world with a 52 goal 103 point season he was the nordics candidate for the masterton trophy for the player who best displays the qualities of dedication perseverance and sportsmanship richard's miraculous career revival was the talk of the nhl richard was suddenly a top 10 scorer on one of the most dynamic lines in the league and at 28 he still had plenty of time to realize his vast potential his old friend gee lafleur noted that richard could easily be a top 10 player in the league and his great play extended to the postseason on april 12 1981 in game four of a five-game first-round playoff series with the philadelphia flyers rashard sent the game into overtime with a goal at 1708 of the third period amazing i'll tell you they're going wild in the coliseum here in quebec city rashard then set up dale hunter's ot game winner just 30 seconds into the extra session to send lake policy fans into a [Applause] centering in a delirium fighter gets another chance he scores we got a fifth game the dramatic goal and assist culminated one of the greatest personal comeback seasons the nhl has ever seen but april 12 1981 was also the last great moment of richard's career and perhaps his life richard was a free agent in 1981 and held out for a big pay increase he had let himself get out of shape in the summer missed most of training camp and was replaced by real cloutier on a line with dale hunter in michelle goulet overweight and unfocused richard slumped to 15 goals in 41 points in 81.82 and he slowed even more the following season before being demoted to the ahl fredericton express the nordics released richard after the 8283 season and at the age of 31 the former phenom was now out of hockey for good with his playing career over richard's hard partying lifestyle spiraled out of control in short order his wife divorced him he became an owner in a bar that lost money and he lost 150 thousand dollars in a single year as his gambling habit became compulsive richard associated with criminals drank to excess it snorted cocaine richard later told the calgary herald quote cocaine became a habit i couldn't function without it i didn't know how much money i spent on it but everything i had from hockey was gone and i had big debts i needed money so i tried to do something foolish i wasn't crazy but i wasn't sure what i was doing either richard was referring to his ill-conceived plan to become a drug kingpin under the guise of a golf trip he flew to columbia in 1989 to buy cocaine he planned to bring it back and use some and sell the rest he recalled it's like it wasn't me i lost my head i didn't know what i was doing i just felt i had to do it and then when i got caught i thought that was the end of the world richard attempted to bring 2.8 kilos of cocaine worth about 1.8 million at the time in his golf bag a customs agent noticed that the visibly nervous richard looked suspicious so he stopped and searched him at quebec's mirabelle airport richard was arrested pled guilty and sentenced to seven years in federal prison gee lafleur michelle bergeron and ole pal and ex-teammate gil lupia visited bouchard in prison and tried to encourage him and give him hope rashard served to 14 months in prison and moved to a halfway house in montreal away from his criminal friends in quebec city by 1991 richard was broke and depressed as a convicted felon without a high school diploma he struggled to find employment and despite the efforts of friends and family richard was unable to shake his demons as he drifted into obscurity richard lamented nobody's running out to give me a job because of what i did all i can say is i made a mistake i want to straight life again i want to work and do the best i can i'm not asking for too much just another chance unfortunately for jacques richard a straight life proved to be elusive so it was no surprise that on october 8 2002 jacques richard would be celebrating his 50th birthday in a quebec tavern it would be his last day on earth after a night of celebration richard sped away on a rain-slicked road just outside of quebec city he lost control of his truck hit a pole and rolled over three times he was rushed to a hospital where he died five grams of cocaine were found in his truck and traces of the drug were allegedly found in his system bernie jeffrion summed up rashard's tragic life this way tell me who your friends are and i'll tell you who you are he went around with the wrong people he had everything but self-discipline jacques was better than gee lafleur in juniors but he just wouldn't listen to anybody it's sad it's a tragedy to think what might have been thanks for watching this episode of pha tv please hit the subscribe button and never miss a classic hockey video

Channel: Pro Hockey Alumni

Views: 108,758

Rating: 4.8873787 out of 5

Keywords: Mark Willand, World Hockey Association, NHL Alumni, Hockey Podcasts, Hockey Podcast, Pro Hockey Alumni

Id: 2CUabRj8i_w

Length: 17min 12sec (1032 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 10 2021