Heritage
Minutes:
A
Legend was born
Robert-Guy Scully was to
produce a series called Heritage
Minutes to immortalize
an episode of the career of Maurice Richard. That made me feel
very happy. Learning that Roy had been selected to play the role
and that he had accepted, I was thrilled. During the summer of
1997, director Francois Labonté and his crew have revived
this memorable day of 1944 as well as the «Rocket»
most fantastic feat.
The story is short. It’s
moving day for Maurice and his family.
We see him carrying cartoons
and furniture. Then his boss calls him. He must play tonight.
They need him very badly. His performance that night will be
extraordinary. The sound track reveals what has really happened
:
Roy ( Maurice
Richard) saying : I’ve asked for a day off, but I knew they
would not give it to me and I could not let the guys down.
Robert-Guy Scully (the
narrator) :
That night
of 1944 Montreal defeated Detroit by the score of 9 to1. Maurice
Richard collected 8 points : 5 goals and 3 assists. A legend
was born.
I was impressed by the
result but only one minute is not enough time to praise such
a prodigy. Although during a series’ report by RDI (Radio-Canada
information) something of a miracle had happened during the filming
of a hockey scene.
Wearing the white jersey
of the Montreal Canadien, the blue band and the C and H logo
sewed on the heart, along the famous number 9 on the back, Roy
is skating away carrying two players on his back .
It’s dark and the
camera is filming Roy, the spotlights are only on him but you
also can see what is going on all around him ( the main camera,
some members from the cast and crew).
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During that scene Maurice Richard is being harassed by two Detroit
players. They will try everything to stop him from scoring: like
throwing their sticks to make him fall. But Rocket won’t
let them stop his momentum. He will just skate away and shoot
the puck in the net. He is out of balance, falls down on the
ice and slides against the board. Just before he scored his goal,
the hockey stadium was in the dark and cameras were flashing
all over the place, it was like fireworks. The take is perfect
and the crew is happy.
 Roy
is getting up slowly. Taking a few seconds to straighten up you
must pay attention for the expression on his face. At the same
time, the rink’ s spotlights will be turned on. Then on Roy’s face, his beautiful
smile will enlighten the ice rink even more.
That smile is worth a million
words. This is a most precious moment, a unique moment when he
came so close to the great Maurice Richard. The joy of playing,
either hockey or acting on the stage.
Maurice Richard was a happy
man when playing hockey. And I am sure that Roy was as happy
in the same manner as the Rocket when his broad smile went around
the crowd, at first looking straight forward, to turn towards
the Director who in turn congratulated him, while Roy kept his
smile when skating away, showing the same emotion and joy as
Maurice did when scoring a goal. So Roy and Maurice were sharing
the same objectives. To win and be happy and satisfied of a job
well done.
To catch such a mood in
a single picture was a feat. It is too bad that it went unnoticed.
Sometimes our attention is taken away and then we miss magic
moments. That’s why we must pay attention to every moves
or gestures as they can reveal more than dramatic situations.
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