Former Montreal Canadiens right winger Bobby Rousseau of Montreal, Quebec has passed away at the age of 85 according to TSN on Saturday. Rousseau played 15 National Hockey League seasons. He was with the Montreal Canadiens for a decade (1960-1970), the Minnesota North Stars for one season (1970-71), and the New York Rangers for four seasons (1971-75).
In 942 games, Rousseau had 245 goals and 458 assists for 703 points. He was a +123 with 357 penalty minutes, 235 power-play points, 13 shorthanded points, 45 game-winning goals, four hat tricks, and 2535 shots on goal.
In 1962, Rousseau became the fourth Canadiens player in franchise history to win the Calder Trophy. He followed centre Johnny Quilty of Ottawa Ontario (1941), right winger Bernie Geoffrion of Montreal (1952), and Ralph Backstrom of Kirkland Lake, Ontario (1959). In the 1960-61 NHL season, Rousseau had 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points, and led the NHL with four short handed goals. Rousseau would later lead the NHL in assists with 48 in 1965-66.
Three times Rousseau was a NHL All-Star. He was honoured in 1964-65, 1966-67, and 1968-69. Rousseau was on four Canadiens teams that won the Stanley Cup (1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969). In the postseason, Rousseau had 27 goals and 57 assists for 84 points in 128 games. He was a -3 with 69 penalty minutes, 40 power-play points, two shorthanded points, nine game-winning goals, and 333 shots on goal.
Both of Rousseau’s postseason shorthanded points were shorthanded goals and came in Canadiens’s wins. The first came on April 4, 1964 in game five of the Stanley Cup semifinals, a 4-2 Canadiens win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rousseau scored the game-winning goal from Jim Roberts of Toronto, Ontario with 25 seconds left in the second period to give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at the time. The second came on April 27, 1969 in game one of the 1969 Stanley Cup Finals, a 3-1 Canadiens win over the St. Louis Blues. Rousseau scored the game-winning goal from Claude Provost of Montreal at 4:17 of the first period to put the Canadiens up 2-0.
