Various sources including : Famous Québec, La Presse, Journal de Quebec, www.cbc.ca etc.

Surprisingly, Charles Binamé is not a big hockey fan.  He says, “I don’t watch it religiously.  I mean, I might watch the finals each year, if they happen to be exciting, in the same way I might watch the Rose Bowl if it’s a good match-up.”

This meant he had to do a lot of homework when he took on the film.  He bought everything that existed on Maurice Richard, and immersed himself in the period 1937 – 1955, becoming something of a specialist on the subject.  The picture shows a page of a scrapbook containing his detailed notes.

The production intended to engage some of the Richard family (Maurice was survived by 7 children) as consultants on the film.  However, their offer of $10,000 was regarded by brothers Maurice and Normand as an insult to the memory of their father, and they turned it down.  The job of consultant was undertaken by Martin Lacroix, who is the son of Normand’s brother-in-law.

Although screen writer Ken Scott did a great deal of research, some errors were intentional.  For example, the logos of the different teams in the National Hockey League have been modified slightly. The reason was that when they asked permission to use them, the NHL wanted rights to approve the script and the film.  Since they were not making a documentary but a fiction inspired by reality, the production team chose to retain their independence.  It also meant they didn’t have to pay the NHL for the rights to reproduce the logos.

Some other tricks of the trade, both high and low tech:

Filming in the height of summer (shooting was delayed because of difficulty in securing all the funding) meant that snow scenes had to be faked on set and with CGI in post-production.  The residential locations were around Rue Wellington and Rue Hall in the Verdun area of Montreal.

Another function of the CGI specialists, Hybride, was to digitize archive footage and merge it with the new film stock. 

The young actor who played the 16 year old Maurice Richard, François Langlois-Vallières, plays hockey with the wrong hand.  For filming purposes he was dressed in a ‘backwards’ jersey, and the images were flipped digitally.

Since the Forum in Montreal was closed in 1996, its replacement stadium, the Molson Centre (now called the Bell Centre) was too modern to act as a location.  The older Coliseum in Quebec (home of the Quebec Aces) stood in for the Forum and other arenas. 

To obtain extras for the games scenes, an open invitation to members of the public was extended, and they were hoping for a crowd of 10,000. However, it was a fine July weekend, and only 2,500 people turned up. This meant that they had to change sides in the seating areas of the Coliseum, according to what scenes were being shot. They even used cardboard cut-outs of people to pad out the audience.  Of those who turned up at 7am, many had dug out their own period dress of the time - men wore hats or had their hair combed over on a side parting, women in fur coats with hats or headscarves. The crew kitted them out with period props like cameras, newspapers and coffee cups. One guy even got to be a drinks vendor.  The first scenes were meant to be shot in Boston, so the crowd had to remember to shout 'Boo' in English to represent the American spectators. They were also called upon to be the audience in Montreal and New York.

With an $8million budget, Maurice Richard was the most costly film made in Quebec at that date.  However, it failed to do as well at the box-office as the producers had hoped, realising just over $4million during its initial Quebec release, when it ran head-to-head with the popular hockey comedy sequel Les Boys IV.

Roy on his hockey past (extracted from 7 Jours Maurice Richard Special, 3 December 2005)

Roy, you could say that thanks to Maurice Richard you’ve had the pleasure of satisfying a passion of yours.

Hockey occupied a large part of my childhood and teenage years.  At one stage it might even have been possible for me to have chosen to become a professional hockey player.

Wasn’t that absolutely your aim at one time?

Yes. I was a very good player and I got encouragement.  I liked that.

What position did you play?
Centre, and also left wing.

Where exactly did you play?

In Abitibi and in North Ontario. I stopped playing when I lived in Laval.

What level did you reach?

Midget AAA.

Why did you not achieve your aim in the end?

I began to skip practice to go to Jethro Tull gigs (smiles).  At that time I let my hair grow … That didn’t go down well in hockey circles, especially in the Midget AAA.  Because normally, when you get to that stage, it’s a bit like going into the army.  The next stage would have been Major Junior.  The guys who play at this level WANT to become professionals.  Me? I don’t know.  There were other things; new horizons opened up for me, and I discovered the city.

Who were your idols when you played hockey?

Guy Lafleur.  I have some memories of Jean Béliveau; he was my first idol.  Then you have to mention Ken Dryden and, later on, Mario Lemieux.

Haven’t you begun playing again?

I stopped for fifteen years, then I started again about five years ago.  I do it when I have the time.  During the 2004-2005 season I played maybe a dozen times.

During the rehearsals for the film, did you surprise people with your hockey skills?

Yes.  The production team thought they would need to bring on a double for a large number of the scenes.  I always knew I was a good skater.