March 23, 1944: Maurice Richard, Three Stars

"The Rocket's red glare": Maurice Richard had crazy eyes.

There's an old joke: (person you don't like) is doing the work of three men: Chico, Harpo and Groucho. Alternately: Moe, Larry and Curly. (Either the Marx Brothers, or the Three Stooges.

In a key game early in his career, the hockey player known as the Rocket was given the honors of three men.

March 23, 1944: Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens scores 5 goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens win, 5-1.

There were no goals, by anyone, in the 1st period. Richard scored 1:48 into the 2nd period, then added another just 17 seconds later. Reg Hamilton scored for the Leafs, but Richard made it 3-1 at 16:46. He scored 1 minute even into the 3rd period, and then again at 8:54.

On all 5 of his goals, right wing Richard was assisted by left wing Hector "Toe" Blake. On 4 of them, he was assisted by center Elmer Lach. On the 1st, he was assisted by Mike McMahon. Head coach Dick Irvin, whose son Dick Jr. would be a longtime broadcaster for the Canadiens, put Richard, Blake and Lach together on a forward line. For its scoring ability, it became known as the Punch Line.

As tradition already dictated, the "three stars of the game," as chosen by the sportswriters, were announced shortly after the final horn. The third star was announced as Richard, and the home crowd booed like crazy: How could he be only the third star?

Then the second star was announced as Richard, and the crowd figured out what was happening, and roared their approval. When Richard was also announced as the first star, he came out, and the Forum erupted in jubilation.

This was Game 2 of a Stanley Cup Semifinal. The Leafs had won Game 1, but the Canadiens ended up winning the next 4, clinching with an 11-0 win, in which Richard, Blake, Ray Getliffe and Erwin "Murph" Chamberlain each scored 2 goals.

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March 23, 1944 was a Thursday. Ric Ocasek, lead singer of rock band The Cars, was born.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. In the other Playoff game played that night, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Hawks won the series, anyway.

The Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup by sweeping the Hawks in 4 straight. It would be the 1st of 8 Cups won with Richard. The last 5 were in a row, all coached by Blake.