Article content

This story was originally published on March 5, 2000.

Henri Richard has won more Stanley Cups than any other player in National Hockey League history, but he has more scars than rings to show for his Hall of Fame career.

The Pocket Rocket played on a mind-boggling 11 Cup winners during an illustrious 20-year ride with the Canadiens from 1955-75, but he retains only one prized ring from those glory years.

Sadly, his other rings were among a cache of cherished valuables stolen when burglars broke into his Laval home after his retirement. Not one item was ever recovered, but a couple of days after the burglary, Richard received a mysterious phone call in which he was offered back his rings in exchange for a tidy ransom.

Richard, an intensely proud man who once wore the ‘C’ on his jersey and the ‘CH’ on his heart, didn’t cave in and angrily hung up.

”No way I was going to pay for my own bloody rings,” he said.