Montreal Canadiens: The Top 5 Captains of All-Time

Maurice Richard

Maurice Richard was a feared man back in the day. He was elite offensively but also put fear in the opposition with his willingness to stare a hole through you. He was aggressive, and he never turned down an opportunity to drop the gloves.

Back in the day, the game was offensive and rough, just the way Richard liked to play. Combine this with his goal-scoring ability and you had a machine on skates.

During his career, Richard played 978 games, scoring 544 goals and assisting on 422 for a career point total of 966 points. Like Beliveau, he was also deadly in the playoffs, scoring 82 goals and 44 assists for 126 points in 132 games.

He signed with Montreal as a free agent on October 29, 1942, and instantly put his mark on the game.

As a captain, he was the opposite of Beliveau, as he wanted his team to know when they played poorly. He was an outspoken captain and let teammates know when they were slacking.

Richard had a stare that would leave you shaking in your skates and that put fear in not only the opposition but his teammates as well.

In his career, he was an elite player. He won 8 Stanley Cups, played in 13 all-star games, led the NHL in goals five times, and produced 13 hat tricks.

Not only was he known for his goal-scoring ability but he was also known for being the only player whose actions ensued a riot. On March 10, 1955, Richard was suspended for the last 3 regular season games and the entire playoffs for an on-ice incident against the Boston Bruins.

This led to the entire Montreal community unleashing their displeasure at the NHL and ensuing riot acts.

Richard passed away on May 27, 2000.