Richard Riot : 50 years ago
Mar 18, 2005 15:02:09 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Mar 18, 2005 15:02:09 GMT -5
The actual anniversary was yesterday, St Patrick's Day. Here's a trio of articles on the most notorious event in NHL history.
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' . . . A bunch of hooligans took advantage of a situation . . . '
By ERIC DUHATSCHEK
Thursday, March 17, 2005 Page S5
Frank Selke Jr., son of Montreal Canadiens general manager Frank Selke Sr., went on to become the general manager of the expansion Oakland Seals and later a broadcaster. On the night in question, he was the Canadiens' director of public relations and watched from the press box.
"The thing I remember most vividly was my dad [Frank Selke Sr.], in the clinic behind the south-end goal, with Clarence Campbell after the first period ended. We were down 4-1 and he was signing the piece of paper forfeiting the game to Detroit. It was probably the saddest day of my dad's life in hockey."The separatist movement took hold of this after the fact and tried to convince everybody that this was the beginning of the uprising of the French-Canadians against the anglophones. I don't believe that for a minute. What transpired was, a bunch of hooligans took advantage of a situation to have some fun at the expense of authority.
- tinyurl.com/3usff
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Quebec unrest boiled over in Richard riot
Ugly incident was wrapped in political tension and nationalism
By DAVID SHOALTS
Thursday, March 17, 2005 Page S5
The Richard riot, a seminal event in Quebec that exploded 50 years ago today, was fuelled as much by personal anger as it was by political frustration.
On March 17, 1955, National Hockey League president Clarence Campbell suspended the Montreal Canadiens' Maurice (the Rocket) Richard for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
Many writers and commentators have described the ensuing riot at the Montreal Forum as a flashpoint of Quebec nationalism.
And, yes, it's probably true that the ugly incident was wrapped in political tension: The imperious Campbell was a symbol of the English-speaking Canadians who controlled the Quebec economy. But the Canadiens' fans whose anger exploded that night saw themselves as Richard, the French-Canadian underdog unjustly punished by the anglophone overlords.
- tinyurl.com/4yyps
*
The unquiet revolution
Rocket richard riot 50 years ago was about more than hockey
DON MACPHERSON
The Gazette
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Perhaps it was fortunate that Maurice (Rocket) Richard died a few months before it was announced that the Montreal arena he made famous (and where the riot that bears his name started) would reopen as a glorified video arcade called the Pepsi Forum.
For he was spared the sight of the once hallowed Forum taking on a brand name that was English Montrealers' derogatory nickname for French Canadians, as they called themselves when Richard was their hockey-playing champion. Supposedly, French Canadians preferred Pepsi-Cola to Coca-Cola, because Pepsi was sold in larger bottles at the same price.
Some say the 1955 riot was the start of the Quiet Revolution of self-assertion by French-speaking Quebecers.
- tinyurl.com/6h9ha
*
' . . . A bunch of hooligans took advantage of a situation . . . '
By ERIC DUHATSCHEK
Thursday, March 17, 2005 Page S5
Frank Selke Jr., son of Montreal Canadiens general manager Frank Selke Sr., went on to become the general manager of the expansion Oakland Seals and later a broadcaster. On the night in question, he was the Canadiens' director of public relations and watched from the press box.
"The thing I remember most vividly was my dad [Frank Selke Sr.], in the clinic behind the south-end goal, with Clarence Campbell after the first period ended. We were down 4-1 and he was signing the piece of paper forfeiting the game to Detroit. It was probably the saddest day of my dad's life in hockey."The separatist movement took hold of this after the fact and tried to convince everybody that this was the beginning of the uprising of the French-Canadians against the anglophones. I don't believe that for a minute. What transpired was, a bunch of hooligans took advantage of a situation to have some fun at the expense of authority.
- tinyurl.com/3usff
*
Quebec unrest boiled over in Richard riot
Ugly incident was wrapped in political tension and nationalism
By DAVID SHOALTS
Thursday, March 17, 2005 Page S5
The Richard riot, a seminal event in Quebec that exploded 50 years ago today, was fuelled as much by personal anger as it was by political frustration.
On March 17, 1955, National Hockey League president Clarence Campbell suspended the Montreal Canadiens' Maurice (the Rocket) Richard for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
Many writers and commentators have described the ensuing riot at the Montreal Forum as a flashpoint of Quebec nationalism.
And, yes, it's probably true that the ugly incident was wrapped in political tension: The imperious Campbell was a symbol of the English-speaking Canadians who controlled the Quebec economy. But the Canadiens' fans whose anger exploded that night saw themselves as Richard, the French-Canadian underdog unjustly punished by the anglophone overlords.
- tinyurl.com/4yyps
*
The unquiet revolution
Rocket richard riot 50 years ago was about more than hockey
DON MACPHERSON
The Gazette
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Perhaps it was fortunate that Maurice (Rocket) Richard died a few months before it was announced that the Montreal arena he made famous (and where the riot that bears his name started) would reopen as a glorified video arcade called the Pepsi Forum.
For he was spared the sight of the once hallowed Forum taking on a brand name that was English Montrealers' derogatory nickname for French Canadians, as they called themselves when Richard was their hockey-playing champion. Supposedly, French Canadians preferred Pepsi-Cola to Coca-Cola, because Pepsi was sold in larger bottles at the same price.
Some say the 1955 riot was the start of the Quiet Revolution of self-assertion by French-speaking Quebecers.
- tinyurl.com/6h9ha