Forward Robert “Bobby” Rousseau’s long and prosperous ice hockey career began in 1955 when, at the age of 15, he suited up for a season with the St. Jean Braves of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League. He made the move to Ontario the following year and played with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens in its various incarnations, and into its successor team the Brockville Canadiens , from 1956 through 1960. He played two games with Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League in 1959, but his future truly began to take off in 1960. Not only did he compete in the playoffs for Canada’s Memorial Cup, given annually to the Canadian men’s junior ice hockey champions, with the Canadiens, but he was also invited to join the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen as they represented Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics. At the tournament he played in seven matches, scored five goals, and took home a silver medal.
The following year, Rousseau was recruited by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League and he would remain a professional hockey player for the next fifteen years. The first ten of those were spent in Montreal and he gradually built up an impressive record with the team. His first accolade came in 1962 when he won the Calder Trophy, given annually to the NHL’s top rookie. He was eligible for the award, despite being in his second NHL season, because he had spent most of the previous year with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens and had only played 15 games with the Montreal Canadiens, less than 25-game maximum to be considered a rookie. On February 1, 1964 he scored five goals in one match, becoming only the 18th player in NHL history to achieve that mark. In total he won four Stanley Cups with Montreal, in 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. He was traded to the Minnesota North Stars in 1970, and traded again to the New York Rangers in 1971, where he spent the final four seasons of his career. After his 1975 retirement he has been an avid golfer and skates annually with his family on New Year’s Day. He is one of 12 siblings and credits his success to the book “The Power of Positive Thinking”. He has lived in Louiseville, Quebec, since 1986.
Canada