Bobby Rousseau, who won four Stanley Cups with Canadiens, dead at 85

The Canadiens announced on Saturday that Bobby Rousseau, who won four Stanley Cups with the team in the 1960s, has died at age 85. He had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for several years.

Rousseau won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie for the 1961-62 season after posting 21-24-45 totals in 70 games with the Canadiens. The previous season he helped the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens win the minor-league EPHL championship after posting 34-26-60 totals in 38 games.

Rousseau would go on to win Stanley Cups with the Canadiens in 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. The Canadiens traded him to the Minnesota North Stars on June 10, 1970, in exchange for forward Claude Larose. Rousseau played one season with the North Stars, followed by three seasons with the New York Rangers before retiring after the 1974-75 season. In 942 career NHL games he had 245-458-703 totals and played in three All-Star Games.

In 1965-66, Rousseau had 30-48-78 totals to tie with Chicago’s Stan Mikita for second in NHL scoring, trailing the Blackhawks’ Bobby Hull, who had 54-43-97 totals.

One of Rousseau’s most memorable games with the Canadiens was on Feb. 1, 1964, when he scored five times on goalie Roger Crozier during a 9-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at the Forum.

“What I remember is it was a Saturday night and for the first time TV was using replays,” Rousseau recalled in a 2002 Where Are They Now? feature in The Gazette. “Some of my friends were playing cards at the club in Sorel and they had the game on in the background. The next time I saw them, they said they thought I’d scored 10 goals. All they kept hearing was ‘Rousseau scores! Rousseau scores!'”

The club Rousseau was referring to was the Sorel Golf Club, where he became the club pro after retiring from hockey. Rousseau purchased the Louiseville Golf Club in 1986.

Rousseau is one of only eight players in Canadiens history to score five goals in a game.

Another memorable night for Rousseau with the Canadiens was on Feb. 15, 1962, when he was awarded a penalty shot during a 9-1 win over the Boston Bruins at the Forum.

“I asked (Jean) Béliveau what to do, and he said: ‘Shoot,'” Rousseau said. “I took a slapshot as I crossed the blue line. I think I surprised (goalie) Bruce Gamble and I scored. There weren’t many pictures of the goal. All the photographers focused on the net. They got the puck, but not me. One guy was back of the blue line and he got the picture.”

Before joining the Canadiens, Rousseau won a silver medal with Team Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif.

“Not many remember I was on that team,” Rousseau said in 2002. “I sure remember a great experience, even if we lost the gold-medal game 2-1 to the United States.”

Rousseau was born in St-Henri and was raised along with eight brothers and three sisters in St-Hyacinthe.

“I think we had more (brothers) playing organized hockey than the Sutters,” Rousseau said in 2002, referring to the well-known hockey family from Alberta. “In 1955, three of us were playing junior in Quebec, and Rollie and Guy (his older brothers) were already in the pros.”

Rollie played two games with the Canadiens in 1952-53, while Guy was involved in a memorable play during one of his four games with the Canadiens, assisting on Maurice (Rocket) Richard’s 400th career goal in a 4-2 victory over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Dec. 18, 1954.

Rousseau is survived by his wife, Huguette, his children Richard, Pierre and Anne, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

scowan@postmedia.com

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