Jacques Richard ✝

Richard was drafted 2nd overall in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. Richard was slated to be the marqee player by the expansion Atlanta Flames. However, he was to have a mostly indifferent pro career. Troubled at times by serious injuries, facial fractures in 1974–75 and a knee injury 1979–80, he also indulged in alcohol, gambling and eventually cocaine.\n', ' As a youth, Richard played in the 1964 and 1965 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Quebec Beavers minor ice hockey team.\n', ' Richard had a spectacular junior career with the Quebec Remparts, scoring 186 goals and 213 assists for 399 points in only 169 games. Playing with Guy Chouinard and Andre Savard he was a significant component of a devastating trio. At the time Richard was considered by some hockey experts to have equal, if not more, pro potential than teammate Guy Lafleur. At one time, Rampart management was negotiating to trade Richard to the Rosemont Nationals, a team in the same Quebec Junior A league for 3 players and $6,000 in return. However, the deal became public and the reaction by fans, for whom Richard had become an idol, was so violent that the deal was annulled. Indicative of the level of success Richard had achieved in junior hockey, in 1999, he was named to All-time QMJHL All-Star team by the Canadian Hockey League.\n', '