Rick Chartraw

Every Canadian boy grows up dreaming of playing in the National Hockey League and hoisting the Stanley Cup above their head. However the vast majority of those Canadian kids never realize that dream.

In Venezuela, no one, with the exception of maybe the Canadian embassy workers, has ever heard of the Stanley Cup. So how is it possible that a kid from Caracas Venezuela make it to the NHL and hoist that magnificent trophy over his head 4 times?

During the 1950s the government of Venezuela embarked upon a rapid expansion and modernization restructuring plan. Foreigners were brought in to aid in the construction of the infrastructure. Rick Chartraw's father, an engineer, was among those recruited to move to the South American country.

The Chartraw family left he USA and spent 4 years in Caracas and gave birth to Rick. There was certainly no visions of hockey rinks when this kid was born!

After 4 years the Chartraws returned to the USA, finally settling in Erie Pennsylvania. It was here where Rick was introduced to the game of hockey.

"We lived kind of out in the country. There was a pond about a block from my house where a number of kids played hockey during the winter. I remember the first time I skated. I didn't know what to do, I'd never skated before. I was half a mile out and all the kids skated away from me. So it was either sit down and freeze to death, or learn how to skate to catch them. I learned how to skate real quickly!"

Rick took the game as quickly as he took to skating. Despite taking up the game later than many kids, Chartraw caught the eyes of junior scouts. By the time he was sixteen he moved to Kitchener Ontario where he played with the OHA's Rangers for three seasons.

Chartraw not only played well in Kitchener; he excelled. In his final year the 6'2" 200lb defenseman scored 17 goals and 61 points in 70 games while accumulating 150 PIMs. Scouts were drooling over his size, his toughness, his mobility and his scoring abilities. The Montreal Canadiens drafted the Venezuelan born Chartraw 10th overall in the 1974 entry draft. Chartraw was selected ahead of Bryan Trottier, Mark Howe, Danny Gare and Tiger Williams, among others.

It took Chartraw 3 years before he cracked that incredibly deep Montreal blue line. In fact it's a testament to Chartraw's skill level and determination that he managed to make the team at all. With a blue line consisting of three future Hall of Famers in Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard and Larry Robinson, as well as at different times future US Hall of Famer Bill Nyrop and youngsters such as John Van Boxmeer, Rod Langway and Brian Englbom, its hard to see how Chartraw saw any ice time at all..

At best he was a number 4 defenseman on this dynastic squad, but often was number 5 or 6. Sometimes he was even used on right wing! He was basically used in defensive situations, penalty killing and just for spotting the big three when they needed a break. His combination of size and strength and mobility made him a nice addition to the Habs. He never came close to fulfilling any offensive potential he had. His best year was in 1978-79 when he had 5 goals and 16 points. But then again no one playing behind Robinson, Savard and Lapointe would have gotten many points!

Chartraw may have been a bit player on the Habs teams of 1976 through 1980, but what a time to be a part of the team! The Habs won 4 consecutive Stanley Cups and is considered to be one of if not THE greatest team of all time..

The Canadiens traded Rick to Los Angeles in 1981. Rick was beginning to experience a serious back problem that would limit his ice time for the remainder of his 3 years in the NHL. He bounced from LA to New York to Edmonton before hanging up his skates to pursue other endeavors.

Rick's post-hockey career included the real estate business and owning a small Californian marina before becoming an arena consultant.