Richer's size, speed and big shot made him one of the most dangerous scorers in the NHL during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The Montreal Canadiens selected the forward from Ripon, Quebec, in the second round (No. 29) of the 1984 NHL Draft after he scored 39 goals in 67 games with Granby of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He scored 61 goals in 57 QMJHL games in 1984-85, splitting the season between Granby and Chicoutimi, and made his NHL debut against the Quebec Nordiques on Jan. 15, 1985.

Richer made the Canadiens at training camp in the fall of 1985 and scored 21 goals in 65 games as a rookie. He also scored four goals in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games, helping the Canadiens win their first championship since 1979.

Two years later, Richer became the first Montreal player since Guy Lafleur and Pierre Larouche in 1979-80 to score 50 goals in one season. In 1989-90, he scored an NHL career-high 51 goals; he's still the only player in Canadiens history other than Lafleur to reach the 50-goal mark more than once.

But after Richer dropped to 31 goals in 1991-92, the Canadiens traded him to the New Jersey Devils on Sept. 20, 1991.

Richer scored 29, 38 and 36 goals in his first three seasons with the improving Devils. He also scored two overtime goals in the 1994 playoffs, although the Devils lost to the New York Rangers in double OT of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Final. Richer scored 23 goals in 45 games during the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, then finished second in scoring during the 1995 playoffs with 21 points (six goals, 15 assists), helping the Devils win their first Stanley Cup championship.

However, Richer scored 20 goals in 1995-96, and after the Devils failed to qualify for the playoffs, they traded him back to Montreal on Aug. 22, 1996. He reached the 20-goal mark for the final time in 1996-97, scoring 22 for the Canadiens, then played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins before returning to New Jersey for the final 10 games of his NHL career in 2001-02.

He retired Aug. 18, 2002, with 421 goals and 819 points in 1,054 NHL games, and 98 points (53 goals, including four in overtime, and 45 assists) in 134 playoff games.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• QMJHL - Offensive Rookie of the Year (1984)
• QMJHL Second All-Star Team (1985)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (1990)
• Traded to New Jersey by Montreal with Tom Chorske for Kirk Muller and Roland Melanson, September 20, 1991.
• Traded to Montreal by New Jersey for Lyle Odelein, August 22, 1996.
• Traded to Tampa Bay by Montreal with Darcy Tucker and David Wilkie for Patrick Poulin, Mick Vukota and Igor Ulanov, January 15, 1998.
• Traded to St. Louis by Tampa Bay for Rich Parent and Chris McAlpine, January 13, 2000.
• Signed as a free agent by Washington, August 25, 2000.
• Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh, October 2, 2001.
• Traded to New Jersey by Pittsburgh for New Jersey's 7th round pick (Stephen Dixon) in 2003 NHL Draft, March 19, 2002.
• Officially announced his retirement, August 18, 2002.