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"Rarely has the career of an athlete been so exemplary. By his courage, his sense of discipline and honour, his lively intelligence and finesse, his magnificent team spirit, Beliveau has given new prestige to hockey." -- P.E. Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, at Jean Beliveau Night, March 24, 1971, in the Montreal Forum. Born August 31, 1931, at Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Jean Beliveau was to become a living legend, epitomizing all the qualities that every parent hopes to see in their offspring -- whether hockey player or not. "Le Gros Bil," as he became known because of his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame, scored 507 goals during his 18 full seasons in the NHL. But he was of a character that would have made him great and won him respect anywhere, even if he had scored half that many goals. When he retired, Beliveau was named to an executive position with his Montreal Canadiens and was designated official spokesman for the organization. This was an acknowledgement of a capacity he had been filling for a number of years, if not by words, then by actions. He joined the Canadiens as a pro in the 1953-54 season -- he played five NHL games as an amateur up from the Quebec Aces in two previous seasons -- and from the outset was a team leader, although he did not officially become team captain until 1961. During his 18 years playing for Montreal, the Canadiens made the playoffs 17 times, 16 of those consecutively. Beliveau's highest single goalscoring season was 1955-56 when he not only won the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion with 47 goals and 41 assists but also won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. Three seasons later he had a 45 goal effort. In 1963-64 Beliveau was again voted winner of the Hart Trophy, and the following season he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In his final season, 1970-71, Jean collected 16 playoff assists. When Beliveau signed with the Canadiens he received a five-year, $105,000 contract, plus bonuses -- a fantastic figure for that era, and it made him the game's most publicized rookie of that time. (His notoriety was enhanced by the fact that Montreal had purchased the entire Quebec Senior League in order to make Beliveau a member of their team). When Beliveau retired, the normally sport-hardened media gave him a sustained standing ovation. Statistically, in addition to his 507 regular season goals, Beliveau added 712 assists and had 79 goals and 97 assists in 162 playoff games, and played on 10 Stanley Cup championship teams. Including playoffs, Beliveau appeared in a total of 1,287 NHL games. He was named six times to the NHL's first All-Star team and four times to the second. He also scored 25 or more goals in 12 seasons, had 80 game-winning goals, three four-goal games and 18 three-goal games during his brilliant career. |
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JEAN B�LIVEAU
N� � Trois-Rivi�res le 31 ao�t 1931, Jean B�liveau fit ses d�buts dans le hockey organis� en 1948 � Victoriaville. En 1949 et 1950, il s'aligne avec les Citadelles de Qu�bec de la Ligue Junior du Qu�bec. Il �volue ensuite comme Senior avec les As de Qu�bec en 1951 et 1952 et il fait le saut � la Ligue nationale quand il signe son premier contrat avec le Canadien le 3 octobre 1953. Il fut en vedette avec le Tricolore et chez les professionnels majeurs (LNH) durant dix-huit saisons dont dix comme capitaine. Il a �t� membre d'un club d'�toiles de la Nationale � dix reprises: deuxi�me meilleur pointeur de l'histoire du Canadien (507 buts et 712 assistances pour 1219 points); deuxi�me meilleur compteur des S�ries de la coupe Stanley (79 buts et 97 assistances pour 176 points); a remport� le troph�e Hart (joueur le plus utile � son �quipe) en 1955-56 et 1963-64; le troph�e Art Ross (meilleur compteur) en 1955-56 et fut le premier joueur � remporter le troph�e Conn Smythe (joueur par excellence dans les S�ries en 1964-65); a conduit le Canadien � dix conqu�tes de la coupe Stanley et � dix championnats de Ligue; a pris sa retraite le 9 juin 1971 apr�s dix-huit saisons glorieuses avec le Bleu Blanc Rouge o� il a r�ussi une multitude d'exploits. Il a toujours �t� un mod�le et une inspiration constante pour les jeunes d�sirant se tailler une carri�re dans les sports. Lors d'une grande f�te au Forum de Montr�al le 24 mars 1971, il a cr�� le Fonds Jean B�liveau qui servira uniquement, et de fa�on tangible, � venir en aide aux organismes ou associations qui se consacrent au bien-�tre des jeunes d�sh�rit�s du Qu�bec et du Canada entier. Vice-pr�sident senior (affaires sociales) du Club de Hockey Canadien Inc. et pr�sident de Jean B�liveau Inc., Monsieur B�liveau est aussi membre du conseil d'administration de Acier Leroux lnc., Carena Bancorp Inc., Dominion Textile Limited, International Group, les Compagnies Molson, la Compagnie Trust Royal, Canadian Reassurance et Royal LePage. Parmi les distinctions honorifiques qu'il a re�ues, mentionnons qu'il est Officier de l'Ordre du Canada, qu'il d�tient un doctorat honorifique en �ducation physique de l'Universit� de Moncton, N.B. Il a �t� nomm� au Temple de la Renomm�e du Hockey en 1972 et �Grand Montr�alais� en 1986. |
Regular Season | Postseason | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | League | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIMs | +/- | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIMs |
1946-47 | Victoriaville Panthers | Inter-Sr. | --- | 47 | 21 | 68 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
1947-48 | Victoriaville Tigers | QJHL | 42 | 46 | 21 | 67 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
1948-49 | Victoriaville Tigers | QJHL | 42 | 48 | 27 | 75 | 54 | --- | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
1949-50 | Quebec Citadelle | QJHL | 35 | 36 | 44 | 80 | 47 | --- | 14 | 22 | 9 | 31 | 15 |
1950-51 | Quebec Citadelle | QJHL | 46 | 61 | 63 | 124 | 120 | --- | 22 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 76 |
1950-51 | Quebec Aces | QSHL | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
1950-51 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
1951-52 | Quebec Aces | QSHL | 59 | 45 | 38 | 83 | 88 | --- | 15 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 14 |
1952-53 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
1952-53 | Quebec Aces | QSHL | 57 | 50 | 39 | 89 | 59 | --- | 19 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 25 |
1953-54 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 44 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 22 | --- | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
1954-55 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 58 | --- | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 18 |
1955-56 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 47 | 41 | 88 | 143 | --- | 10 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 22 |
1956-57 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 33 | 51 | 84 | 105 | --- | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 15 |
1957-58 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 55 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 93 | --- | 10 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 10 |
1958-59 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 64 | 45 | 46 | 91 | 67 | --- | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
1959-60 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 60 | 34 | 40 | 74 | 57 | --- | 8 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
1960-61 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 32 | 58 | 90 | 57 | --- | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
1961-62 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 43 | 18 | 23 | 41 | 36 | --- | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
1962-63 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 18 | 49 | 67 | 68 | --- | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
1963-64 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 28 | 50 | 78 | 42 | --- | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
1964-65 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 58 | 20 | 23 | 43 | 76 | --- | 13 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 34 |
1965-66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 50 | --- | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
1966-67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 53 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 22 | --- | 10 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 26 |
1967-68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 31 | 37 | 68 | 28 | +27 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 6 |
1968-69 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 33 | 49 | 82 | 55 | +15 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 8 |
1969-70 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 63 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 10 | +1 | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
1970-71 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 25 | 51 | 76 | 40 | +24 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 28 |
| NHL TOTALS | 1125 | 507 | 712 | 1219 | 1029 | --- | 162 | 79 | 97 | 176 | 211 |
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