Canadiens: Happy Birthday Jean Béliveau

Today would have been former Montreal Canadiens captain Jean Béliveau’s 93rd birthday.

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He is considered to be not just one of the greatest players to wear the Montreal colours, but also one of the greatest to ever lace up skates and take the ice in an NHL arena.

This December will mark ten years since his passing, but today, The Hockey News will look back on the life and career of “Le Gros Bill.”

Childhood

Béliveau was born Joseph Jean Arthur Béliveau, in Trois-Rivieres, Que. He was the eldest of eight children from parents Arthur and Laurette Béliveau. His father was an electrician for the Shawinigan Water and Power Company, and the family moved multiple times for work. When Béliveau was six, he and his family moved to Victoriaville. It was that same year that he received his first pair of skates.

Béliveau spent many Winters playing on the constructed rink in his family’s backyard. At 12 years old, he joined his first organized hockey league, and at 15, he started playing for Victoriaville College.

Béliveau was also a gifted baseball player, having been both an infielder and solid on the pitcher’s mound. At 16, he was offered a minor-league contract to play in Alabama, but he declined.

Hockey Career

For the 1949-50 season, Béliveau joined the Quebec Citadelles, a junior hockey team. A year prior, he had put up 75 points in 42 games for the junior Victoriaville Tigres, which made him seventh best in the league. At the end of his inaugural campaign with the Citadelles, he had 35 goals and 45 assists, good enough for second-best in the league.

He made just two appearances for the Canadiens in 1950 and 1951, scoring an assist and a goal. While Béliveau still hadn’t committed to turning pro, he caught the attention of Maurice Richard. The Rocket was quoted as saying:

“He’s great. He’s the best shooter I’ve ever seen on a hockey rink and, moreover, he’s a good person. Our team would benefit greatly from him coming and I hope he changes his mind about that.”

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Instead, however, Béliveau signed a contract with the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Senior Hockey League. He had 95 goals and 172 points between the start of the 1951-52 season and the end of the 1952-53 season. His performances garnered massive attendance figures and the Colisée de Québec was nicknamed “The House That Béliveau Built” because of said high attendance.

It was also around this time that he was given the nickname “Le Gros Bill” because he resembled Yves Henry, the titular actor in the 1949 film Le Gros Bill.

The Canadiens eventually convinced Béliveau to play for them, but not before his father advised him not to sign a contract that would “allow someone else to control your life.” Béliveau put pen to paper on a B Form contract, known as a deal that committed him to play for the franchise when he decided to turn pro.

What also helped the Canadiens was the organization’s purchase of the QSHL, which forced Béliveau to join the club per the conditions of his contract.

Béliveau went on to play another 18 seasons with the Habs, amassing one of the best resumes of all time. The center appeared in 1,125 regular season games, scoring 507 goals and notching 1,219 points. He was the fourth player ever to reach the 500-goal mark and the second to reach 1,000 points.

Béliveau must have had the sturdiest shelves in his trophy cabinet because he took home ten Stanley Cups, an Art Ross Trophy, a Conn Smythe Trophy, and two Hart Memorial Trophies.

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At the end of the 1970-71 season, he retired as his team then-all-time leader in points, second all-time leader in goals and was the NHL’s all-time leader in playoff scoring. A year later, in 1972, Béliveau was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He added his name to the Stanley Cup seven more times from 1973 to 1993 as an executive with Montreal.

After the skates were hung up

Upon his retirement, Béliveau founded the Jean Béliveau Foundation, which sought funding to aid underprivileged children. In 1993, he entrusted the management of the charity to Société pour les enfants handicapées du Québec. He continued to make public appearances and visited sick children frequently as it was not simply just a passion project for the Quebecois icon.

He nearly dabbled in politics, as in 1993, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney offered him a seat in the Senate, and in 1994, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien offered him the position of Governor General of Canada. Béliveau declined both offers.

This December will mark the tenth year of Béliveau’s passing. He passed away at the age of 83 after years of health problems.

On Dec. 9, 2014, the Canadiens paid tribute to Le Gros Bill. The club covered the seat in row EE, section 102 with his iconic number 4 jersey. It remained lit throughout the game. Seated next to the jersey was his wife of over 60 years, Élise, their daughter Hélène and two granddaughters Magalie and Mylene.

The game was not announced as sold-out, but rather as one seat unoccupied.

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