A product of Montreal’s north end, Joey Richman was an all-around athlete who first came to prominence on the 1936 Eastern Canada championship basketball team, Montreal YMHA. At only 5’7” and 155 lbs, Joey made up for his size with skill and speed. At the urging of his brother Lew, who had success as a boxer, Richman entered a Gold Glove tournament and won a provincial lightweight championship.  Richman also played tennis and baseball, playing on a semi-pro team alongside CFL legend Joe Krol.

In 1938, Richman joined the Big Four Montreal Cubs.  Over the next few years, Richman played on a succesion of Montreal teams with different names, the Royals in 1939 and the Bulldogs in 1940 and 1941 (the team was actually nameless in 1940, but adopted the name Bulldogs in 1941).  When war broke out Richman signed up with the RCAF, and was first stationed in Toronto where he was placed in charge of physical education and sport at the base. Service football had replaced the Big Four and although RCAF  football coach Lew Hayman was skeptical about having a 150-pounder on his team, Richman made the team and they went on to win the 1942 Grey Cup. Richman was transferred to Lachine where he played for their team in the ORFU.  With the war over and the military teams disapearing, Richman joined the Ottawa Trojans of the ORFU in 1945.

After his discharge from the air force, Richman was enticed to join his old coach Lew Hayman with the newly formed Montreal Alouettes in 1946. Richman's play with the Alouettes helped earn him the title of Montreal's Athlete of the Year in 1946.  Richman played two years in the Big Four before turning back to basketball where he played on the 1950 YMHA Senior Blues, the Canadian senior championship team. He later served as coach of the Canadian women's track team at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki

Richman later opened a sporting-goods store in Montreal and became a distributor of sports equipment. Joey Richman passed away in Montreal on December 2, 2008 at age 93.

[Bio by Wes Cross]

Local Athletes Are Active Here Year Round - January 11, 1939

Lew Hayman Talks About Joey Richman (and other things) - May 31, 1943

Richman Montreal Bound - November 24, 1945

Richman Signs With Als - July 24, 1946

Wagner, Richman Spearhead Als To First Place Tie With Argos - October 21, 1946

Richman Named Montreal's Outstanding Athlete - November 15, 1946

Richman Engaged - June 15, 1948

Ad for Joey Richman Sporting Goods - September 18, 1964

Richman Led Parade of Jewish Athletes - March 20, 1980

Obituary For Joey Richman - Montreal Gazette

Obituary For Joey Richman - The Jewish Chronicle

No individual stats were kept in the East until 1954 except for scoring.  The games played numbers are unofficial and taken from the 2005 Montreal Media Guide.