Richard Sévigny Autographed Card

A silver medalist at the 1978 World Juniors with Team Canada, Richard Sévigny was drafted 124th overall by the Montréal Canadiens in 1977, a year in which they also drafted fellow goalies Rob Holland (64th), Barry Borrett (152nd), Mark Holden (160th), Carey Walker (174th), Jean Bélisle (179th), and Bob Daly (180th), literally stocking up at the position.

He would appear in 11 games with the Habs in 1979-80, but really started to make his mark the following season (sharing the Vezina Trophy with Bunny Larocque and Denis Herron in the process), but because he'd served as a backup in the previous season's Stanley Cup run, he had his named engraved on Lord Stanley's Mug before even playing in a single NHL game.

One of his most memorable appearances came in the infamous Good Friday Game (''Le Match Du Vendredi Saint'') which pitted the Canadiens against provincial rivals the Québec Nordiques in which two bench-clearing brawls occured. Sévigny fought the Nordiques' Clint Malarchuk that night and was thrown out of the game.

Ironically, he signed with Québec as a free agent two years later, his workload decreasing with each passing season in the white-and-blue, going from 20 to 11 to just 4 in 1986-87.

He coached in France for four seasons upon retiring, then worked as a homeroom attendant in a Montréal suburb high school until 2012.

I'd never met him when he played, nor when I played, but did so at many charity events where he was a featured guest. It was at one of these last year that he signed this 2012-12 Between The Pipes card (#140 of the Decades - The 1980s sub-set) from In The Game, showing his Jofa helmet while with the Nordiques:

Most goalies in the 1980s evolved from a helmet to a mask, but Sévigny went the other way, as he'd worn a complete face mask in his days with the Canadiens:

That was a great look! He was also the last Hab to wear #33 before Patrick Roy, whom it was retired for. Of note that Sévigny signed the Nordiques card above in thin blue sharpie and tagged it with #33, but he wore #1 with the Nordiques.