Montreal Canadiens Tribute to Jean Beliveau

[Thierry]

I cried twice in my life for the death of a person I never met. The first one was Maurice Richard. And the other one is Jean Béliveau.

Good job, very moving.

 

[loudi94]

It was said the seat will remain like that for the rest of the season and illuminated by the spotlight. Not sure what will happen after the season but a terrific tribute for the remainder of the season for sure to a great man.

After that...the seats belong to the Beliveau family and they will do as they wish with it.

 

[omeedb]

It was very special indeed and very emotional to watch. A great job done by the Montreal organization and the fans of Montreal are true class again and again. I remember when they made Brodeur first star when he tied their own Patrick Roy's record and gave him a standing ovation and the same for Halak on his return. Wow. Will never forget those moments as well as this one. RIP Jean Beliveau, a class act through and through.

 

[guapo23]

Great ceremony. Very touching and classy.

I never met Mr Beliveau but I do have an anecdote about him.

Normally at Habs games I trash talk the opposition and their fans. The first time I had really good seats right behind the benches I was so excited to be sitting in so close to the opposing team! They would actually be able to hear my insults! During the warmup I was rehearsing what I would say.

Then Mr Beliveau took his seat nearby. And his kindly bearing made me instantly ashamed about the taunting I had planned to deliver. Needless to say for the entire game I shut my mouth and did not utter a single raunchy taunt.

 

[PanthersPens62]

No organization in World sport, comes close to Montreal with presentations, ceremonies, and tributes. They are in a league of their own. Truly the mecca of Hockey.

So much this. Thank you NHLN US for showing the ceremony. It was just perfection & I almost lost it when Mrs. Beliveau broke down as the fans saluted Mr. Beliveau & her as she was shown on the video board.

 

[Sam Spade]

Great ceremony. Very touching and classy.

I never met Mr Beliveau but I do have an anecdote about him.

Normally at Habs games I trash talk the opposition and their fans. The first time I had really good seats right behind the benches I was so excited to be sitting in so close to the opposing team! They would actually be able to hear my insults! During the warmup I was rehearsing what I would say.

Then Mr Beliveau took his seat nearby. And his kindly bearing made me instantly ashamed about the taunting I had planned to deliver. Needless to say for the entire game I shut my mouth and did not utter a single raunchy taunt.

Great story.

 

[ottawa]

A lot of great stories to read in the Mr. Beliveau thread over on the habs board, if anyone has any to share they should drop by too!

 

[ottawa]

Alright guys...forgive me for slowing down your page here with a big post but here are some personal touching or funny anecdotes, and a few messages I found very sincere and as well as some powerful images from the Mr. Beliveau thread over on the habs board...if I forgot some, just shoot me a PM.

Also sorry for all the quotes some of you will be receiving you guys had too great of posts not to share with the rest of the board so thank you

The player who made me a Habs fan. I remember when I was a kid my dad woke me up to tell me Mr. Beliveau had scored his 500th goal. The memory of him skating the cup around the Chicago stadium ice in 1971 is something I will always remember! RIP Gros Bil! Thank you for having a profound impact on me during my youth! You were the best role model!

When I was 14, Mr. Béliveau helped finance a hockey exchange trip of mine. My team was spending the Holidays in Europe. He was very supportive of the experience, but wanted to keep his contribution low-profile. He wrote me a beautiful letter and asked that he'd only be referred to as "un ami". I'll cherish this letter forever.

Repose en paix, mon ami.

I was fortunate enough to meet him once as a kid and got a signed biography from him. As a hockey player he was one of the greatest, but as a person he was nothing short of first class, a true gentleman. RIP.

i knew he was very sick based on a nurse friend who was caring for him...i've met numerous pro athletes and Jean Beliveau was the only one who ever left me start-struck. just his presence and i know people speak about it, but it's true. an aura around him. living history. he did an interview for a documentary i was directing. invited me into his home in longeuil and introduced me to his wife. a gracious and kind icon. tears writing this now. RIP

I'm in my mid-60s and grew up in New York -- but became and remained a Habs fan because of Jean Beliveau after first seeing him play at the old Madison Square Garden.

I'm actually moved to tears at the tributes here from younger fans inspired by their memories of their dads' memories of Beliveau all these years later. Now THAT is greatness.

I met M. Beliveau about 15 years ago, he came down as the keynote speaker for a fundraiser to support youth hockey that me friends coached. He gave a lovely speech that earned about a half dozen standing ovations from the crowd, during and after the talk. I got a signed stick that still hangs proudly in my house.

My friends spent a couple of days with him touring around the area, and they corroborated everything we have heard about the grace and class of this man.

The Canadiens organization is poorer today. RIP M. Beliveau.

Sad news as the world loses a class act and someone that was a great ambassador for the game of hockey. I was lucky enough to meet him a number of times and the most memorable was when I was in Pee Wee and my team got to play at the Old Montreal Forum as part of an exchange program. We, a team from Montreal, played a team from the Quebec City area. I won the skills competition and also had a team photo taken with M Béliveau and I got to stand next to him in the photo that we later received signed by him. I still have it to this day and even scanned it to have a digital copy

What J Demers just said on the radio hit me right in the feels. When he was captain, he always asked his teammates to take the time to meet the fans/sign autograph etc.

Remember when my dad told me one day he got a picture signed by Beliveau et he came back with a signed hat because he (Beliveau) thought that the signature on the picture was unreadable....

Like Demers said, he was just a perfect role model.

My family has a restaurant downtown Montreal. While I never had the opportunity to watch #4 play, I vividly remember stories my Papi would tell me about when Mr. Beliveau would eat at the restaurant. He would talk to me about how Mr. Beliveau was the definition of class and elegance. That the man was respected everywhere he went yet he never let it get to his head. Hands down, he was my Papi's favorite Montreal Canadiens customer.

RIP Mr. Beliveau.Your character is one we all strive to achieve in life. You are more than a hockey player, you are a legend.

And not only that, he was this amazing person, despite how many people held him in such high esteem. He was treated like a king in Quebec and Montreal for most of his life, and he ever let it get to his head.
He answered every single piece of fan mail he ever received, up until 2006. That alone is incredible. Think about an athlete on Twitter responding to every single tweet directed at them today. It would never happen. That alone just proves he personifies greatness, both on and off the ice.

When I was 6 at my first Habs game, my dad took me in the corridor leading from the Habs bench to the dressing room and we watched the players walk by. I couldn't believe how imposing the man was. He stood out among the other great players with his giant 6'4" frame and even more so on skates. After the game, we stood outside the Forum by the door where the players exit and board the bus. I got signatures from many of them and Le Gros Bill took the time to shake my hand and pat me on the head. Something I'll always remember.

Rest in eternal peace. Damn, now I got something in my eye.

Just watching Sportsnet's coverage for a while there, and Kipper mentioned that when Mr. Beliveau came into the arena and was walking to his seat, the players, the linesmen/refs, all stopped, and once he was seated, things got back underway. That right there, folks, is hockey royalty. And no one deserved that kind of treatment and respect more than le Gros Bill. We'll likely never see anyone as deserving ever again. Just can't believe how heavy this is still hitting me the next day...

Can't think of many individuals that was respected in every city he played in. A true gentleman and a real role model for all of us growing up in his time. He had an aura about him and I was thrilled just to meet him in person at the Bell Centre.

RIP Mr Beliveau.

R.I.P. Monsieur Beliveau.

I had the great privilege of seeing Mr. Beliveau play a game at the Forum when I was a kid, and I had the even greater honour of meeting him during the Habs' last game in Winnipeg during the Jets final season when I was working for the NHL.

After the game was over, I approached him and asked if he wouldn't mind signing the official game sheet (which I kept and gave to my pere, the most passionate Habs' fan I know, and submitted a (gasp!) photocopy to the NHL, shhhhh...). Mr. Beliveau said he would be happy to sign it, and then I told him he was my all-time favourite hockey player, not just Canadiens player, and he seemed truly humbled by my comment. He signed the form, and thanked me (!) and then proffered his hand for a shake.

He was the coolest guy I've ever met in the game.

My heart goes out to his family, and the extended family of Canadiens players and fans.

It's been an awful couple of weeks, first Tremblay, then Quinn and now le gros Bill.

Red Fisher comes out of retirement to write about Jean Beliveau:

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/h...beliveau-was-a-special-man-on-and-off-the-ice

A great anecdote by Brad Park.

Says Béliveau was his mother's favorite player. On his first game against Béliveau, Park hit Béliveau squarely with a huge hip check.

Park's mother was in the stands. She ended up not being on speaking terms with Park for a month.

Has the Gordie Howe anecdote been posted here? Who cares, I'll post it again.

Jean came out to Saskatchewan (IIRC) one summer and four of Gordie's sisters rushed off to meet him. After returning they told Gordie, "We used to be Detroit fans."

Some are suggesting to have the Lady Byng trophy renamed.

Listening to an interview Béliveau had given to RadCan, he mentioned how cross-checking and smashing opponents into the boards was not his game. During his first season in the NHL, he was so gentlemanly that he avoided retaliation but when opponents saw this as a flaw in his game, they began targeting him very aggressively, and ultimately, Béliveau had no choice but to respond in order to deter them. It was not in his nature to resort to violence, unprovoked. In another interview, he said that his approach was also the product of his upbringing.

This man epitomized professionalism and was always happy to stop for a signature and never signed something without a smile on his face or shook a hand without appreciating the lives he touched. The man was the consummate HAB and was honoured in being one. I will always remember the talk I had with him in 88 at the Forum he was like a kid talking about his love of the game not just when he played in the NHL but all the way back to his times playing as a boy.

I remember meeting him at a hockey expo many years ago in Toronto, he was there signing autographs with some other hall of famers.Jean had the biggest line up, but what made him stand apart was the fact that he looked you in the eye when he spoke to you,he shook my hand and took the time to ask me were I was from and we talked a couple of minutes.

I walked away thinking how genuine and sincere he was.He was what class was all about, he will be missed.

I feel terrible, met Mr. Beliveau when I was 10 years old, signed a few things for me, talked to me for a little, it was the coolest thing meeting him, all he seemed to want to do was put a smile on this little kids face & he did just that, something I'll never forget. R.I.P Mr. Beliveau, gone but never forgotten.

Here's a photo that Don Cherry featured in this week's edition of Coach's Corner and which Cherry used to show how "regal" Beliveau was.

"He always had time for everybody", added Cherry.

Cherry showed another pic where he was having a meal with Dick Irvin at the ole Texan Restaurant next to the Forum and right behind him, in an adjacent seat, was a smiling Beliveau.

Today at the Bell Center

Mrs. Beliveau carrying on her husband's example, offering time to every visitor who wishes to engage in conversation with her. Some are hugging her. She had been sitting for a while and now that she's standing up again, some fans are taking the opportunity to get closer to her.

Amazing how when Gros Bill was in the minors he wore #9 cause he idolized Rocket. So he get to the CH, the Rocket has it so he has it so chooses the 4. So then you have Flower who has the #4 all his minor career cause he was a fan of Beliveau. Gets to the NHL, ask him if he can have his number cause Jean has retired(as well as his number). Jean says he doesn't mind but he should "make" a number like he did. It's like a torch being branded to a great offensive player one after another. A shame there was no one of this caliber after Guy. Maybe if they could have drafted Denis Savard, who was a highly skilled great player(even if he was playing at a time when Gretzky was there).

Saw this tweeted;

Guy Lafleur paying his respects. Quite moving.

 

[General Fanager]

The Lady Byng trophy would make most sense if you ask me, as Jean Beliveau exuded all of the class that the award demands.

Totally agree.


The Guy Lafleur pics gives me chills.....

 

[Dirty but Good]

I thought the Canadiens ending their sell-out streak for him was extremely classy.

I know it seems like a really small gesture but for a team to put meaning on Beliveau like that really sticks out to me.

 

[SB164]

It was very special indeed and very emotional to watch. A great job done by the Montreal organization and the fans of Montreal are true class again and again. I remember when they made Brodeur first star when he tied their own Patrick Roy's record and gave him a standing ovation and the same for Halak on his return. Wow. Will never forget those moments as well as this one. RIP Jean Beliveau, a class act through and through.

Martin Brodeur's father Denis Brodeur used to be the official photographer of the Montreal Canadiens.

 

[Strat]

That minute of silence was special. Pure silence.

Oftentimes, there's a bunch of people here and there who will yell. Pure idiots. This time, it was so silent, it was eery.

Mr Beliveau deserved no less.

 

[Davebo*]

Here's a nice video tribute by Tim Thompson...

http://vimeo.com/114060590

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

The guy lafleur pic hits me so hard