Beliveau, Jean
Hockey
b. Aug. 31, 1932, Three Rivers, QUE
Beliveau was a political issue for a couple of years. The Montreal Canadiens coveted him when he was playing in the Quebec Senior League, supposedly an amateur, earning $20,000 a year, but Quebec legislators allegedly threatened to take away the Montreal Forum's liquor license if the team signed him. Finally, the Canadiens bought the entire league in 1950 just to acquire Beliveau.
At the time, he was big for a hockey forward, at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. Bill Ezinicki, one of the best checkers in the game, recalled hitting Beliveau for the first time: "It was like running into the side of a big oak tree. I bounced right off the guy and landed on the seat of my pants."
Beliveau had deceptive speed because of his long skating strides. During his first couple of seasons with the Canadiens, he was often criticized for being too passive, but in 1952/53 he began hitting people and was among the league's leaders both in scoring and in penalty minutes.
He spent 19 seasons with Montreal, 10 as captain, and scored 25 or more goals in 13 of them. He appeared in the NHL playoffs 16 consecutive years, a record. Beliveau won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 1956 and 1964 and was a first-team all-star ten times.