Meet Maurice Richard on and off the ice, and follow his spectacular career with the Montreal Canadiens--from the early '40s, when only a few thousand people turned out for pro hockey games, to the 1950s, when the Montreal Forum was bursting with delirious fans.

A photographer claims that the Rocket hit the puck so hard and so fast that there wasn't time to snap a picture. Teammates and officials all agree that the player wearing the number 9 jersey was unstoppable. A referee recounts how Richard once scored a goal with a 200-pound opponent on his back.

Clarence Campbell, former president of the NHL, describes him as "the most exciting player I have ever seen in my life." This same man had suspended Richard before the play-offs in 1955, a move that so inflamed Quebecers that when Campbell showed up at the Forum, his presence sparked a famous riot.

The Rocket features footage from games and revealing interviews with Richard himself, the first star of the golden age of hockey.