Montreal Canadiens: This Day In Habs History: Dickie Moore Inducted to Hall of Fame

The Montreal Canadiens have had dozens of great players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame over the years.

From superstars like Rocket Richard, Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur to goaltending legends like Patrick Roy, Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden. These players seemed to reach impossible heights and still are household names dozens of years after they last played for the Canadiens.

Some other players were merely superstars and though they had fantastic careers and were even inducted into the Hall of Fame, they are sort of a step below the hallowed names of Beliveau Richard in Montreal.

One of those players was Dickie Moore and it was on this day, August 22nd in 1972 when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Though he isn’t the first name to come to mind when recalling the greats of the past that played home games in the Montreal Forum, Moore had himself a spectacular career.

He was an offensive left winger that twice led the NHL in points. He first did it in the 1957-58 season when he scored 36 goals and 84 points in 70 games. Though he broke his wrist late in the season, he also led the league in goals. Moore repeated as the scoring champion the following year when he set a new NHL record with 96 points, and he finished second to teammate Jean Beliveau in goals with 41. Beliveau led the league with 45.

Moore was one of the key pieces of the greatest dynasty in NHL history, helping the Canadiens win five consecutive Stanley Cups between 1956 and 1960.

Moore was part of a power play unit so dominant that the league had to institute a new rule that allowed players to leave the penalty box after the other team scores a power play goal. Before that rule change in 1956, a minor penalty was two minutes in length no matter how many times the other team scored. That was a lot when Moore was on the ice with Jean Beliveau, Rocket Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion and Doug Harvey.

Moore first retired from hockey in 1963 when he was told he was being traded by the Canadiens. After taking a year off he returned to play one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and then retired again. He returned for one last hurrah with the expansion St. Louis Blues for the 1967-68 season and led them in goals and points in the playoffs as they made a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

In all, Dickie Moore played 719 NHL games, scoring 261 goals and 608 points. He won a total of six Stanley Cups and his number 12 hangs in the rafters of the Bell Centre today.