Saul "Red" Fisher, (22 August 1926 – 19 January 2018) was a Canadian sports journalist who wrote about the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

in his newspaper column. Fisher received the

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspap ...

in 1985. He was inducted into the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF) () is the international hall of fame for Jewish athletes and special contributors to the world of sport. The purpose of the IJSHOF is to honor Jewish individuals, worldwide, who have accompli ...

in 1999, and became a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(CM) in 2017.

Biography

Fisher was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1926 and was given the nickname "Red" for the colour of his hair as a young man. Fisher began his hockey reporting for ''

The Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...

'' on 17 March 1955, the night of the

Richard Riot The Richard Riot was a riot on March 17, 1955 (Saint Patrick's Day), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The riot was named after Maurice Richard, the star ice hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). Following a v ...

. He remained as writer and sports editor until the ''Stars demise in 1979. He then joined the ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' as sports editor (for a short time), where his columns continued to appear. He covered the

when they won five

Stanley Cups The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs, playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and ...

in a row in the 1950s, and during their dynasty years in the 1960s and 1970s. Fisher said Habs legend Dickie Moore was his closest friend. He was also at the 1972 Summit Series between NHL players and the Soviet national team. Fisher was known for his "no-nonsense approach" to his career, such as his refusal to talk to rookies and walk away if a player answered his questions with cliches. Fisher served as president of the

Professional Hockey Writers' Association The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites. The PHWA was founded in 1967 and has approximately 180 voting members. The ...

from 1968 to 1970. He was the longest-serving beat writer to cover an NHL team. Over his career, he worked for ten editors and publishers, and won the Canadian National Newspaper Award three times. His retirement was announced by ''Gazette'' publisher Alan Allnutt in a column on 8 June 2012. He continued to write guest articles for the ''Gazette'' until his death. Fisher died at the age of 91 on 19 January 2018. His wife of 69 years, Tillie Fisher, had died ten days earlier.

Books

References

External links

''Montreal Gazette'': Red Fisher
accessed 11 November 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Red 1926 births 2018 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian sportswriters Canadian television sportscasters Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients Jewish Canadian journalists Members of the Order of Canada Montreal Gazette people Montreal Star people Sir George Williams University alumni Writers from Montreal