Maurice "Rocket" Richard was a goal-scoring genius and one of the most ferocious and competitive players the National Hockey League has ever seen.

He joined the Montreal Canadiens in 1942 and by his third season had become a legend, scoring 50 goals in 50 games. In his 18 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, he led the National Hockey League in goals five times and was the first to score more than 500, retiring with a then-record of 544 regular season goals.

He always insisted he was "just a hockey player." But to many, especially French-Canadians, he was much more.

His scoring feats and fiery play made him a hero in his home province. His achievements were Quebec's achievements and his struggles were theirs too.

"Not even the fact that he is loved and admired almost equally by English-speaking Montrealers can modify the profound self-identification of loyal Canadiens with this singular man," wrote Hugh MacLennan in 1955.

"…Richard has a status with some people in Quebec not much below that of a tribal God."

Richard was born in Montreal on Aug. 4, 1921. He was the eldest of eight children born to Onesime and Alice Richard, who moved from their native Gaspe to settle in Montreal's Bordeux section.

His father was a machinist for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the family struggled when he was out of work for two years during the depression.

Richard got his first skates at four, but as a boy he preferred baseball to hockey. In his teenage years he dominated school hockey teams, though he considered hockey a hobby not a career. Like his father he took training as a machinist.

But, while playing in the Paquette Club of Montreal's Junior League he began to draw notice. One those who noticed was former Canadiens great Aurel Joliat who was instrumental in signing him to the Verdun Maple Leafs, a junior team.

From there he was recruited to Montreal's top farm club at age 19. In his first game he broke his left ankle and was gone for the season. The next year, 20 games in, he broke his left arm. He returned in time for the playoffs and the strength of his performance earned him an invitation from Canadiens coach Dick Irvin to the team's training camp in 1942.

During that year, Richard, 20, married Lucille Norchet, who he'd known since he was 17 and she 13. Neither had ever dated anyone else. They eventually had seven children.

As a rookie Richard played well, earning five goals and six assists in 16 games. Then injury struck again. Richard broke his ankle and was out for the season. Many began to question whether the injury-prone Richard could stand the rigours of the NHL and his general manager Tommy Gorman tried to trade him.

It looked like more of the same next year. Early in the 1943-44 season he hurt his shoulder and was lost for two weeks. But when he returned, he was teamed with Toe Blake and Elmer Lach on what became the famous Punch Line.

He scored 32 goals and assisted on 22 that season and the Canadiens finished first for the first time in 19 years. In the playoffs he scored another 12 goals and Montreal won its first Cup since 1931.

In his third season, 1944-45, Richard set one of the game's most fabled records, scoring 50 goals in 50 games.

"I was a good player, not an all-star," Richard once said. "I had more desire to win. I hated to lose."

Often, that competitiveness worked against him. To stop Rocket, opposing teams often assigned players to goad him into a fight and a penalty.

"No hockey player living has been so put upon as Richard by the recent revolution in hockey's cultural standards- a liberalizing process which encourages poor or indifferent players to cut good or great players down to size," wrote Trent Frayne in 1951.

Richard's explosive temper often got the better of him and he was fined or suspended numerous times by the league for stick-swinging and scuffles with referees.

In 1955 Richard was struck in the head by the stick of Boston Bruins player Hal Laycoe. Richard hit Laycoe with his stick and then punched a linesman who tried to intervene.

The NHL responded by suspending Richard for the rest of the season, including the playoffs. At the time, Richard was close to winning what would have been his only scoring championship.

Quebecers took the suspension as a personal insult.

"Star players are usually treated with respect... except if the star is French-Canadian," wrote one newspaper columnist.

Four days later, the Montreal Canadiens took to the ice against the Detroit Red Wings. Tensions were high at the Montreal Forum. When NHL president Clarence Campbell took his seat, he became a target for angry fans who pelted him with tomatoes and bottles.

Someone set-off a tear gas bomb and the crowd spilled from the Forum into the street. The angry crowd began smashing windows and looting stores.

Rocket went on the radio in Montreal to call for calm. The riot has often been called the spark of Quebec's Quiet Revolution, though it was an unpleasant memory for Richard.

"I hate talking about politics," he said later. "I was never a guy who wanted to be in politics."

Playing without Rocket, the Canadiens lost the Stanley Cup final to Detroit the next month. The Canadiens' Bernie Geoffrion won the scoring championship, making him the target of abuse from Montreal fans who wanted to see their Rocket win the title.

Richard's professional hockey career ended in 1960, after an injury to his achilles tendon. In his 18 seasons he played on eight Stanley Cup winning teams.

But he never entirely left the game behind. He took a public relations job with the Canadiens but, unhappy with his job there, left to pursue other business interests. He joined other NHL old-timers, first as a player and then a referee.

An emotional Rocket at the closing of the Forum

In 1994, Lucille, his wife of 51 years died. Three years ago, Richard learned he had inoperable cancer in his abdomen. For a while, the cancer went into remission with treatment and he went back to making public appearances. In 1998 he was made a companion of the Order of Canada.

It's been 40 years since Maurice "Rocket" Richard last laced up his skates for the Montreal Canadiens- a team that has had more than its share of stars. Most Quebecers weren't even born when he retired. But, his legend never diminished.

When they closed the legendary Montreal Forum three years ago for the new Molson Centre, fans gave the weeping Richard perhaps the longest standing ovation in the team's history.