Emile Bouchard Still Waiting for the Montreal Canadiens to Retire His Number

Emile Bouchard, known also by his nickname “Butch,” went to his first Habs training camp by cycling 50 miles from his home in Montreal to Ste-Hyacinthe, where the Canadiens had their training camp.

He spent 15 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, eight of them serving as team captain.

During his stay with the Canadiens he won four Stanley Cups—1944, 1945, 1953, and 1956.

He played 785 regular season games,with 49 goals, 144 assists for a total of 193 points.

Now don't get these stats fool you. He was playing defence. You can't compare his stats to Guy Lafleur, or Maurice Richard.

Bouchard was a leader and a great one, but his No. 3 jersey is not in the rafters next to the other Canadiens greats.

A recent TVA-Léger Marketing poll in the province of Quebec suggest that 82 percent of people who seen Bouchard play said that his number should be retired.

For the people aged 45, 55, and 65 years and older, the percentage is between 80 and 95 percent.

Even with the youngsters, 84 percent of them say that he should have his number retired.

Even Ron Fournier, a Montreal radio host, tried for ten year to have Bouchard's number retired. Since then, Emile's son Jean and history teacher Luc Lefebvre have joined Fournier.

What are the Montreal Canadiens waiting for? Let's us hope when they retire his number he'll be alive to see it. The Players deserve one more night were he's the guest of honor!

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966

First All-Star Team Defense (1945, 1946, 1947)

Second All-Star Team Defense (1944)