Maurice Richard Jr. has 2nd thoughts on Champlain Bridge renaming

The son of Montreal Canadienshockey legendMaurice Richard says he has doubts about the Champlain Bridge replacement being named after his father.

"It would be an honour, but there are so many negative reactions, I'm not sure it's a good idea," Maurice Richard Jr.told CBC's Daybreak.

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Maurice Richard, nicknamed the Rocket, played 18 years during the heyday of theNHL'sCanadiens. He passed away 14 years ago,

Richard said he did not know the plan was to name the new bridge after his fatheruntil he received a call Monday from the federal government, saying it wanted to "talk about the whole process."

He said he noticed that even French President Franois Hollande weighed in on the debate during his visit this week to Canada.

"I'm worried maybe [U.S. President] Barack Obama will calltomorrow," Richard said.

"I think it's a question of the old history of Quebec, of Nouvelle France. They don't want to change this, they don't want to put Champlain in the garbage."

A statement from the office of federal Infrastructure Minister DenisLebelsaid no final decision on the name of the new bridge has been made.