MONTREAL – Legendary hockey writer Red Fisher has died.
The Montreal Gazette, where he worked the last 33 years of his career, reported on Friday that Fisher had died at age 91.
The Montreal native covered the Canadiens through their glory years starting in 1955 until he retired at age 85 in 2012.
His first hockey assignment on March 17, 1955 turned out to be the Richard Riot, when violence that began at the Montreal Forum over the controversial suspension of Maurice (Rocket) Richard for hitting a referee spilled into the streets.
He covered Canadiens teams that won five Stanley Cups in a row in the 1950s as well as dynasty teams in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also at the 1972 Summit Series between NHL players and the Soviet national team and most other major hockey events over six decades.
Fisher was known for his no-nonsense approach to his job and for his personal rules, including his refusal to talk to rookies. He would sometimes walk away if a player answered his questions with cliches.
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