Famed Montreal hockey writer Red Fisher dies at 91

MONTREAL (AP) Famed hockey writer Red Fisher, who covered the Montreal Canadiens for more than a half-century, has died. He was 91.

The Montreal Gazette, where he worked the last 33 years of his career, reported on Friday that Fisher had died.

Fisher's first hockey assignment in 1955 turned out to be the Richard Riot, when violence that began at the Montreal Forum over the suspension of star Maurice ''Rocket'' Richard for hitting a referee spilled into the streets.

Fisher covered Canadiens teams that won five Stanley Cups in a row in the 1950s as well as dynasty teams in the 1960s and 1970s. He retired at age 85 in 2012.

The Montreal native was chosen for the Hockey Hall of Fame but fell out with the organization when they opted to put media members in a lesser category from hockey players and builders. Fisher was honored with the order of Canada on Dec. 29.

Fisher was known for his no-nonsense approach to his job and for his personal rules, including his refusal to talk to rookies because he felt they hadn't yet earned the right to talk. He never called the Canadiens the Habs - as many often referred to them - because he worried the diminutive of the word ''habitants'' might be demeaning to French-Canadians.