Vic Hadfield Legendary Moments No. 10: Battle With Montreal

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Vic Hadfield describes himself this way: "I am a Ranger through and through."
He was the captain of the Rangers in the 1970s, the first 50-goal scorer in the history of the franchise, the ultimate teammate - and on Dec. 2, his No. 11 will take its place among the Rangers legends in the Garden rafters.
NYRangers.com will present 11 of the great moments of Hadfield's career, 11 snapshots of the Blueshirts' legendary left winger, 11 for No. 11 - counting down to the celebration of Vic Hadfield Night presented by Budweiser before the Blueshirts take on the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 2 at Madison Square Garden.
Vic Hadfield built a legacy in the NHL as a goal-scorer, but he built his opportunities in the NHL on his toughness. When he thinks back to the toughest players he ever played against, he mentions the names Tim Horton and Reg Fleming (both of whom were opponents as well as Rangers teammates). But the one that stands out is his yearslong battle with Henri Richard of Montreal.
"There's a reason for it," Hadfield told NYRangers.com. "I got to know Henri when he retired - but when we were playing, well, we didn't like each other one bit. We never associated with any of the guys on any of the teams - it's not like today, where all the guys are skating around and they're laughing with the opposition. We didn't even look sideways at these guys. That's the way it was with Henri.
"He's a Hall of Famer, won all those Stanley Cups (11 in a 20-year career). Him being the top player, I had to make sure he didn't handle the puck - he doesn't handle the puck, they don't have chances to score. And so we always had run-ins."
Writing in the New York Times, Gerald Eskenazi cataloged numerous encounters through the 1960s and into the '70s between Hadfield and Richard, including one such clash on Feb. 20, 1966, at the old Garden on Eighth Ave between 49th and 50th Streets, that began when Richard knocked Hadfield to the ice beside the Montreal net twice in quick succession.

"Then it was Hadfield's turn," Eskenazi wrote.
When the players were finally separated from that altercation, "Richard stood in the middle of the ice, his chest bared. In the scuffle his jersey had been torn loose. When the screaming fans saw Richard's hairy chest showing between the buttons on his woolen underwear, they knew their man had won.
"The victory was the third for Hadfield in three fights with Richard this season," Eskenazi wrote.
At other times, though, being separated and sent off was not enough to halt the battles between Hadfield and Richard. By the mid-1960s the two became known for skirmishes that would begin on the ice, then start up again between the penalty boxes.
"We just had a dislike for each other," Hadfield said. "It wasn't anything dirty - I just respected him so much, and for us to have a chance of winning, I had to try to eliminate him as much as I possibly could. Not give him an opportunity to carry the puck, make plays - I had to take him off his game, and that's what I tried to do."
Richard and the Habs twice won playoff series from the Rangers in the 1960s, but Hadfield's Rangers took revenge in 1972 and '74, each time ending Montreal's bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champs. The '74 series, won by the Rangers in six games, was the last head-to-head meeting between Hadfield and the Pocket Rocket, who retired after the 1975 season.
"We played against Montreal in an era, there were some important games all the way along," Hadfield said, "and it just so happened that Henri Richard was the target. It was nothing against him personally. He just didn't have the right color sweater on."
READ MORE: Vic Hadfield Legendary Moments No. 11: Becoming A Ranger
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