Clarifications: Red Storey and Henri Richard

We just received a wonderful note from a reader in Australia. He was looking for clarification on a couple of points in recent articles.

He asked about the Red Storey reference in the article on the Habs’ 100th anniversary, asking for details on why Storey resigned. I wrote that I thought Storey might have quit during the 1960 playoffs between Chicago and Montreal. I remember reading Storey’s biography some years ago, and he wrote extensively about the events that led to his stepping down. Checking back, it actually occurred the year before, I believe, in the spring of 1959, when the two teams were playing in the semi-finals. Then NHL president Clarence Campbell apparently told reporters Storey had “frozen” in not calling a penalty against Montreal late in a game in Chicago. Storey was, rightly, so upset, he resigned. I’m not sure (I’ll have to re-read Storey’s book) if that was also the night that some irate fans ran on to the ice at one point, and Doug Harvey slugged one of them.

The other question was about my reference to Henri Richard’s goal against the Leafs in the playoffs in 1962. The two teams didn’t play each other in the playoffs that year, of course. I’ve written about that memory earlier, and it happened in a game in Toronto in the 1964 playoffs. In fact, if you click on that story “It was worth the drive to Chatham”, we have a great photo of the Richard goal I’m referring to in that series.