A Canadian of Integrity!
“Hockey was elevated forever
by his character, his dignity
and his class!”
(NHL Commissioner, Gary
Bettman)
My Dad was very sports-minded. When time permitted, he played men's fastball
as a catcher on a local team. Winter
Saturday evenings was “Hockey Night in Canada”. Fervently we listened on the radio as Foster
Hewitt called the Toronto Maple Leaf's games...thrilled each time at
Foster's excited, “HE SHOOTS...HE SCORES!!!”
It was a natural, that with my father's enthusiasm, I came to
recognize many 'big names' in the National Hockey League.
In my blog series, Canadians
of Interest, I've written about Hockey Great ~ Pat Quinn...from Hamilton,
Ontario and his contribution to the World of Hockey. Recently, I'm informed
about Gordie Howe, seriously ill and
recovering from stroke problems.
Also, a Canadian born in Floral, Saskatchewan.
In that era, there was no such
thing as 'minor hockey' ~ kids in Quebec were usually coached by the
local priests (no girls allowed) and
played with their peers until they were deemed good enough to play against
teams of factory workers from neighbouring towns on Saturday nights. Jean
Beliveau once told a reporter, “My parents gave me a pair of skates when I was
3, maybe 4 years old; everyone had a sheet of ice in their yard, back then. So,
my friends and I started skating and listening to the radio, then we dreamed of
seeing ourselves in that Canadien jersey.” As a 15-year-old, the Montreal Canadiens acquired
his professional rights. By the time he went to play for the Junior Quebec Citadels in the late
1940's, he was a 6-foot 3-inch 'man-child' with grace and deftness of play.
Today, I excerpt from a tribute
to Jean Beliveau written by Bill Beacon of the Canadian Press...(published December
4, 2014)
The Consummate
Captain
It's hard to imagine a
classier hockey player, on and off the ice, than Jean Beliveau. A supremely skilled centre for 18 seasons for
the Montreal Canadiens, the 83-year-old Beliveau was also a gracious spokesman
for the team and the sport. The NHL lost the man who embodied all the
attributes of their dynasty teams of the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's ~ talent,
flair, intelligence and success. He scored 507 goals, won 10 Stanley
Cups, 2 Hart trophies, Ross trophy, Conn
Smythe trophy and was captain for 10 seasons before his retirement in 1971,
then moved into an executive position with the club.
“Like millions of hockey fans
who followed the life and the career of Jean Beliveau, the 'Canadiens' today
mourn the passing of a man whose
contribution to the development of our sport and our society was unmeasurable,”
team owner Geoff Molson said in a statement posted on the Canadien's website on Wednesday, December 3, 2014. “Jean Beliveau was a great leader, a
gentleman and arguably the greatest ambassador our game has ever known,” Molson
added.
“Meeting him is not like
meeting other stars from the old days,” stated Beliveau's former linemate Gilles Tremblay (who died
last week). “When people see Bobby Hull,
they say, 'Hi Bobby' but when they meet Big Jean, it's always, 'Hi, Mr.
Beliveau' or 'Monsier Beliveau.' He
commands respect.
NHL Commissioner, Gary
Bettman, said, “For all the accomplishments he achieved and all the accolades
received, Jean Beliveau was always the epitome of the boy whose only dream was
to play for the 'Montreal Canadiens'.
Such was his spotless image,
Beliveau turned down an offer from Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney, in the
1980's to sit in the Senate and refused an offer extended by Prime Minister Jean Chretien in
1994 to become Canada's
Governor-General.
It seemed that Beliveau
got his business savvy from his father,
Arthur Beliveau, an electrician...and his values from growing up in the small Quebec community
of Victoriaville,
where he was an altar boy at the local church. He learned to control the puck
on a crowded back yard rink, and by the time he was a teenager, the Beliveau
legend was growing. When Victoriaville's junior team folded, he moved to Quebec
City and began filling rinks around the province. When he moved up to the senior Aces, he was
said to be earning $20,000 in salary and endorsements on what officially was an
amateur team.
The 'Canadiens' handed
Beliveau, nicknamed Le Gros Bill, a $110,000 five-year contract,
including a large signing bonus, to lure him from Quebec, a city he loved and that adored him
in return. He carried tremendous
pressure into the NHL, both for his amateur scoring feats and his salary, which
was only topped by scoring legend Maurice (Rocket) Richard.
The third season marked the
beginning of the Canadien's record string of five consecutive Stanley Cup
titles that also had Richard, scorers Dickie Moore and Bernard (Boom Boom)
Geoffrion....and two innovators...rushing defenceman Doug Harvey and wandering
goaltender, Jacques Plante.
At six-foot-three
and 205 pounds,
Beliveau combined
strength, a long reach,
a soft touch on
the puck and remarkable vision
on the ice to
dominate the league.
Beliveau's slap
shot, with a lazy-looking half wind-up,
was deceptively
hard.
“He was a hero for
all of the players in my generation.
Jean Beliveau and
Maurice Richard were our idols.
In everyone's memory,
he is more than Mr. Hockey ~
he's Mr. Gentleman
as well.”
(Sarge Savard)
Merle
Baird-Kerr...scripted December 7, 2014
Comments
appreciated...email to:
No comments:
Post a Comment