Jean Beliveau

[Eye of Ra]

How good was he? Anyone old enough to have seen him play?

Do you guys think he would dominate todays NHL if he was in his prime?

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[Chili]

I don't compare eras but he is one of the best players I ever saw.

I think his personality also had a lot to do with the team success the Habs had while he played.

Try to imagine a one two at centre of #4 and Henri Richard (who I find underrated in general). Habs could use similar talents now.

I would recommend his autobiography to anyone interested, very well written in my opinion.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Only saw footages but he seemed slick as **** for a man of his stature.

Mario Lemieux before Mario Lemieux. At least, it's what I saw.

 

[Lshap]

I only saw him in his last two/three seasons, but Beliveau was strong as hell and moved really well for a big guy. Great hands too. I remember him scoring his 500th goal --pretty sure it was an afternoon game.

 

[Lshap]

I don't compare eras but he is one of the best players I ever saw.

I think his personality also had a lot to do with the team success the Habs had while he played.

Try to imagine a one two at centre of #4 and Henri Richard (who I find underrated in general). Habs could use similar talents now.

I would recommend his autobiography to anyone interested, very well written in my opinion.

I read Phil Esposito's biography last summer (hilarious and very graphic) and he thought Henri Richard was one of the best players he ever faced.

 

[groovejuice]

I read Phil Esposito's biography last summer (hilarious and very graphic) and he thought Henri Richard was one of the best players he ever faced.

The Pocket Rocket is a bit underestimated in the Habs' pantheon. I believe he has the most rings as a player and was a very well rounded player. He was a good scorer and an aggressive checker. He also was one of the toughest SOBs in the league. He could fight and usually won despite his size disadvantage. A giant in the history of the team.

 

[Brainiac]

The Pocket Rocket is a bit underestimated in the Habs' pantheon. I believe he has the most rings as a player and was a very well rounded player. He was a good scorer and an aggressive checker. He also was one of the toughest SOBs in the league. He could fight and usually won despite his size disadvantage. A giant in the history of the team.

He's got a whole set of rings for both hands and had to have the 11th one made to a slightly different diameter...

 

[Price is Wright]

The Pocket Rocket is a bit underestimated in the Habs' pantheon. I believe he has the most rings as a player and was a very well rounded player. He was a good scorer and an aggressive checker. He also was one of the toughest SOBs in the league. He could fight and usually won despite his size disadvantage. A giant in the history of the team.

Theo Fleury was basically Pocket Rocket. Henri maybe more complete but same hustle.

 

[Scintillating10]

How good was he? Anyone old enough to have seen him play?

Do you guys think he would dominate todays NHL if he was in his prime?

I seen him play but at end of his career. Fortunately he had a great final year in '71, so I got to see him in one good year. Those 4 cups in 5 years late in 60s even on bad seasons he was still a big part of. Best captain and leader I have ever seen. Bad then he was big, just could do it all.

 

[RC51]

Well I am older then most here. A few facts come to mind. JB was a big man and yes he was one of the first Power forwards at a time when many players were much smaller. Before you think wrong remember the NHL had 6 teams so the quality of players on each team was high, even the black aces for each team were top players just waiting for their chance. The rules were different back then, games were tough with many bench clearing fights. Then along came the Russians. With their Top conditioning and maybe a few drugs thrown in and the invention of the box defense. All this leading to 12 month top conditioning for all NHL players. No more beer filled summers when players came into camp 30 lbs over. Conditioning and tactics were the order of the day to improve the NHL and the new 6 new teams. Hockey was no longer just a game but a huge business and players had to think of hockey as a career from the back yard rink right through to the NHL. Work hard every minute, improve your TOTAL game, learn multi tasking tactics. So improve all aspects and then throw in hockey sense. Players back in the day and players today are two very different players. Beliveau? a great player of his time, a great human being, a great poster boy for the NHL. Today he would still be a good power forward but rare are the players with his humanity and ambassadorship.

 

[Lshap]

He's got a whole set of rings for both hands and had to have the 11th one made to a slightly different diameter...

Lucky for you I have no understanding of subtle innuendo.

 

[Mrb1p]

He's got a whole set of rings for both hands and had to have the 11th one made to a slightly different diameter...

Ankle bracelet?

 

[groovejuice]

Theo Fleury was basically Pocket Rocket. Henri maybe more complete but same hustle.

Fleury was a more prolific scorer, but it's not a bad comparison at all.

 

[Hackett]

Only saw footages but he seemed slick as **** for a man of his stature.

Mario Lemieux before Mario Lemieux. At least, it's what I saw.

Yeah, I never saw him play other than various highlights, but he did remind me of Mario. Long reach, and incredibly soft hands. They both look like they are gliding on the ice. It looks so easy.

 

[Dreghorn2]

Short story.

I grew up in Sudbury during the 1960s. It was Leaf country of course and hockey passion ran high among elementary school kids then, as it does now.

A less than popular kid mentioned that he had written Beliveau asking for an autograph, man that poor kid took a lot of grief.

Fast forward a month or so and this kid is proudly reading, in class, a hand written letter from Beliveau himself. An autograph was of course provided, but the letter was also very personal in that Beliveau asked how the boy was doing, did he like school, how long had he cheered for Montreal etc.. It ended with Beliveau thanking the boy for his letter and his support.

I never forgot that, and i bet that kid never did either.

Jean Beliveau was as classy as they come.

 

[Chili]

On each August 31st, I always remember Msr. Béliveau.

Edit: should add, every February 29th, I think of Henri Richard.

 

[Habs Icing]

My dad was an Italian immigrant and hated all sports. I was around six (1960-61) when I saw my first hockey game. We were visiting a neighbour and he was also an Italian immigrant but a big hockey fan. So my dad had no say in what was watched on the T.V. set. The two players that I remember from that first game were JB and Henri Richard.

Jean is probably the single biggest reason why I fell in love with hockey at the age of six. The guy was pure class and talent on the ice - I won't even mention his class off the ice. I was lucky to see a few of Jean's prime years. He was a joy to watch. Actually he's the main reason why I don't like rating players in order. I prefer to lump players in a group. EX: the elite ( like Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull, The Rocket, Beliveau, etc). Every list I see has JB in the bottom half of the top ten and in my eyes he was as good as those other players. For the slightly younger fans who didn't see JB, Jean Ratelle's play resembled JB a little but he wasn't as great a player.

 

[Frozenice]

I remember watching JB the last couple years of his career and he was class exemplified even though he was no longer the best player on the ice, he still had a presence to him.

In my dad’s eyes he was the best, he was the guy. Well, him and Frank Sinatra.

Imo, Byfield is the closest player, stylewise, to Beliveau . Not saying he’s as good as Beliveau, just the way he moves about the ice.

 

[JC Superstar]

My father had season tickets when Béliveau was playing in Québec city for the Citadelles and then the Aces. He wasn't that fast so Punch Imlach, the Aces's coach, told Béliveau he wouldn't leave the ice after practice until he got the puck from Phil Renaud, the fastest skater on the team : it looks like it worked.

You didn't realize he was skating fast until you saw the fastest skaters in the league trying and failing to reach to him on the backcheck. He could fake a defenseman barefoot out of his skates or crush him on open ice while protecting the puck.

On the backcheck he could pick your inner pocket to get the puck back without you realizing it or pick it from between your legs in a board battle and get it in front of the net while you were still trying to move it on the board.

Goalies were no match one on one, he would have been fun to watch in today's shootout.

Also a true leader, the best captain in the history of a team that has Butch Bouchard as a runner up. Béliveau's foundation instigated as a retirement gift to him because he wouldn't take anything of a personal nature like a car for exemple, was for the sick children that the players are still visiting today.

A true HOF with unbelievable accomplishments both in stats (you have to remember that in the 50's, a second pass was awarded only if it was directly contributing to a goal) and achievements (10 Stanley cups) and the classiest act in NHL's history. Left a huge hole as a player and a person.

 

[Scintillating10]

How good was he? Anyone old enough to have seen him play?

Do you guys think he would dominate todays NHL if he was in his prime?

Oh dear, he was beyond awesome. I have Beliveau in my top 5. Because of so much leadership and class. He helped the team not only on the ice but in dressing room and PR wise also.

 

[Scintillating10]

Found an interesting tidbit on another former Hab today. Rocket Richard made $50,000 his highest paid season. 1959, adjusted for inflation, it would be $450,000 in 2019 money. Shows how far game had came.

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

I met Henri at Baie D'Urfe Tennis Club, back in the day. He was having a beer with us after his match against our team. Very nice, unassuming man. On a related note, I used to sell ice cream on a bike in Beaconsfield during the summer after my first year at McGill (paid less than minimum wage...), and Guy Lafleur was equally magnanimous as a customer. Hockey players are gold, especially in the off-season when they are most relaxed.

Edit: I have a few more stories like that. I'm a shameless hockey groupie...

 

[S Bah]

I only saw him in his last two/three seasons, but Beliveau was strong as hell and moved really well for a big guy. Great hands too. I remember him scoring his 500th goal --pretty sure it was an afternoon game.

He scored a hattrick that game if I recall properly, great player in any generation IMHO!!!...My favorite player All Time actually.

 

[JianYang]

Only watched highlights of the Manx since I was not old enough to have seen him play.

But based on that, he just looked so silky smooth. He was a big man, that made it look so easy.

He was Mario before Mario. The way Federer plays tennis reminds me of Beliveau playing hockey. The grace, the skill, the ability to make everything look so easy.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Responding to this a little late.

While I'm not old enough to have seen him play, I'm somewhat of an hockey historian and have watched old tapes.

There's no doubt that Jean Béliveau would dominate any era of history. Even today he'd still be a tall and skilled #1 center and the greatest leader the sport has ever seen. He was also a complete player—think a Crosby type (not stylistically, but in terms of being complete).

Historically, Béliveau is at worst the 3rd greatest center of all-time, and center is the strongest position by far, so that says a lot. There's an argument that he is in fact the greatest center of all-time, over Gretzky and Lemieux, because of his all-around game and leadership—in that sense, Béliveau is a better franchise player than Gretzky and Lemieux. But that would be a controversial opinion, so let's leave it at 3rd greatest center of all-time.

Among all positions, I cannot see Jean being ranked further down the list than 6th greatest player of all-time, and he is often considered the 5th greatest after Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr and Howe. Béliveau's competition would be Bobby Hull, Doug Harvey, Maurice Richard, Patrick Roy, Howie Morenz and soon Sidney Crosby. That's my opinion but it's roughly shared by many other amateur historians, whatever that's worth.

The thing with Le Gros Bill is that his resume is flawless in a way that nobody else is (except maybe Doug Harvey and Gordie Howe). Gretzky was unidimensionnal, and it can be argued his Oilers underperformed given how strong they were. He also failed to win when he started declining, though he came close. Lemieux had so many injuries, and he too was unidimensionnal. Bobby Hull only won the cup once and was difficult to play with. Maurice Richard again a tad unidimensionnal, plus some of his big seasons (the 50 in 50) came during the WWII depleted years. Howie Morenz had a good but not great playoff record. Patrick Roy had a good but not super-great regular season career—clearly beat by Hasek there. And Hasek has a weak playoff record against that competition. Crosby had a lot of injuries, and his game wasn't as complete in his youth as it is now. Plus the early-career antics.

Béliveau is a complete player, the greatest leader in hockey history, was #1 center for TWO dynasties, was strong and tall, skilled both as a playmaker and goalscorer, great stickhandler, high-IQ, stayed with the same teams for two decades winning 10 Stanley Cups, was an immense playoff performer and he did all that in his hometown as a french-canadian hero who had to replace a living legend in Maurice Richard.