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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 3, 2014 11:08:23 GMT -5
Here's Big Jean signing my late 50's/early 60s "Canadiens vs. All Stars" tin dart game. April 7, 2007 in Cambridge, Ontario. Aa I set it down in front of him, his eyes brightened, "Oh…what is this?" I told him that Eagle Toys had produced this dart game and a table top hockey game (which I've also collected) in honour of their 5-Cup streak. He said, "Well, I've never seen this before." "It'd be an honour if you'd sign it…of course at centre!" "Certainly, I'd be delighted to do that!" Then I asked him about the 7-5 comeback and Game 7 in Chicago, 1971. I've recounted that experience on this board a few times. I'm a collector and I'm absolutely, 100%, envious ... that's just a great collectable as is Mr Beliveau's reaction ... Cheers.
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Post by Willie Dog on Dec 3, 2014 11:26:50 GMT -5
Here's Big Jean signing my late 50's/early 60s "Canadiens vs. All Stars" tin dart game. April 7, 2007 in Cambridge, Ontario. Aa I set it down in front of him, his eyes brightened, "Oh…what is this?" I told him that Eagle Toys had produced this dart game and a table top hockey game (which I've also collected) in honour of their 5-Cup streak. He said, "Well, I've never seen this before." "It'd be an honour if you'd sign it…of course at centre!" "Certainly, I'd be delighted to do that!" Then I asked him about the 7-5 comeback and Game 7 in Chicago, 1971. I've recounted that experience on this board a few times. That is an awesome collectable CH. I've got am autographed Jersey which is part of my trifecta of signed Habs jerseys.
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Post by GNick99 on Dec 3, 2014 11:40:53 GMT -5
Worst part of life...seeing them as they get old and people passing. My profile photo is a pic of Jean taken in 1974. He was in my home town sport fishing for tuna
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 3, 2014 12:29:54 GMT -5
Subban with a respectful, well-spoken tribute to Big Jean.
Among the sentiments:
"Of course, you can't control everything that happens in a hockey game, but we can be sure to come out with a good effort tonight. Sure would be nice to get a win in his honour."
Carey Price:
"Family member, outstanding citizen, first-class ambassador of our hockey club….he was the bar, he set the standard for being a Montreal Canadien. A winner….a humble winner. He was the benchmark."
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Post by jkr on Dec 3, 2014 12:34:16 GMT -5
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 3, 2014 12:42:46 GMT -5
Bettman nails it. “No record book can capture, no image can depict, no statue can convey the grandeur of the remarkable Jean Beliveau, whose elegance and skill on the ice earned the admiration of the hockey world while his humility and humanity away from the rink earned the love of fans everywhere,” the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Post by CentreHice on Dec 3, 2014 13:12:51 GMT -5
A .gif of his brief pep talk to Metropolit during the 2010 Cup run. Always the playoff passion….
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Post by Polarice on Dec 3, 2014 13:47:39 GMT -5
It's funny, all day I've had people walking into my office, calling me or sending emails sending their condolences and checking in to see if I'm ok. It actually feels like I lost a member of my family the way people are treating me.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 3, 2014 13:57:29 GMT -5
It's funny, all day I've had people walking into my office, calling me or sending emails sending their condolences and checking in to see if I'm ok. It actually feels like I lost a member of my family the way people are treating me. I had one person do the same here at work, Reap ... nice of her to think of it ... Cheers.
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Post by UberCranky on Dec 3, 2014 13:58:30 GMT -5
The worst thing about getting older.....is losing people who shaped your memories.
Back in the day, hockey in the streets of Montreal was serious business. As a 10 year old warrior and legend in our minds, we came out with our Richard or Beliveau sweaters to defend our street against those other phony wannabe legends in their Beliveau and Richard sweaters. Obviously, they were foreigners from another block. Obviously they were not worthy.
And so it went.....from 5 to 15....a decade were their legends were part of our daily young lives, we, we the scraped and whacked, sporting nice little black spots on our legs, damn you Esposito ball, WE and only WE were the heirs to the Richard and Beliveau legends.
Holding back the tears.....
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Post by blny on Dec 3, 2014 14:00:02 GMT -5
PK tweet: I met Jean Béliveau when I was 10 years old..That's when I knew I wanted to play for the @canadiensmtl -A Hero and Hockey's Captain #RIP
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Post by UberCranky on Dec 3, 2014 14:05:28 GMT -5
PK tweet: I met Jean Béliveau when I was 10 years old..That's when I knew I wanted to play for the @canadiensmtl -A Hero and Hockey's Captain #RIP bahhh......Beliveau was already retired when PK met him. Unlike us, the 10 year old legends who knew that in a few years, we were going to be playing on his wing *sigh*!
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Post by franko on Dec 3, 2014 14:05:43 GMT -5
The worst thing about getting older.....is losing people who shaped your memories. Back in the day, street hockey in the streets of Montreal was serious business. As a 10 year old warrior and legend in our minds, we came out with your Richard or Beliveau jersey to defend our street against those other phony wannabe legends in their Beliveau and Richard sweaters. Obviously, they were not worthy. And so it went.....from 5 to 15....a decade were their legends were part of our daily young lives, we, we the scraped and whacked, sporting nice little black sports on our legs, damn you Esposito ball, WE and only WE were the heirs to the Richard and Beliveau legends. Holding back the tears..... fond remembrances. shaking fists at cars that ran over the goal posts. playing under the streetlights, getting yelled at for not coming when called ("But I didn't hear you"). do that today and the by-law officer will come and drag you home . . . called to the scene of the crime by a neighbour who was probably trapped inside by parents who instilled a lack of fun in the child of the age back then.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 3, 2014 14:22:47 GMT -5
The worst thing about getting older.....is losing people who shaped your memories. Back in the day, street hockey in the streets of Montreal was serious business. As a 10 year old warrior and legend in our minds, we came out with your Richard or Beliveau sweaters to defend our street against those other phony wannabe legends in their Beliveau and Richard sweaters. Obviously, they were foreigners from another block. Obviously they were not worthy. And so it went.....from 5 to 15....a decade were their legends were part of our daily young lives, we, we the scraped and whacked, sporting nice little black spots on our legs, damn you Esposito ball, WE and only WE were the heirs to the Richard and Beliveau legends. Holding back the tears..... My dad followed Frank Mahovlich and whatever team he played on, that was my dad's team ... my mother was a Leafs fan, but at the same time they both respected Mr Beliveau ... you could hear it when they talked about him ... not sure when he'll be lying in state, but I'm already asking a few of the guys whether they'd like to brave the lines in Montreal ... it will be crazy but I'm thinking about it strongly ... Dis
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Post by UberCranky on Dec 3, 2014 14:35:32 GMT -5
The bane of our existence! We all knew that Esposito hated Hab fans so much, he created a ball that left welts that lasted a WEEK!
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Post by jkr on Dec 3, 2014 15:09:12 GMT -5
The bane of our existence! We all knew that Esposito hated Hab fans so much, he created a ball that left welts that lasted a WEEK! We were strictly tennis ball people. Only tried that orange ball a few times. The tennis ball could still sting especially when frozen by hours of play. Anybody else use the plastic replacement blades - the ones that you could bend over a hot stove? No safety issues there.
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Post by jkr on Dec 3, 2014 15:53:55 GMT -5
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Post by Willie Dog on Dec 3, 2014 17:10:33 GMT -5
I will try to get to montreal on sunday to pay my respects.
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Post by Dschens on Dec 3, 2014 17:35:04 GMT -5
Thank you for your stories, guys. Rest in peace, Jean.
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Post by HFTO on Dec 3, 2014 17:37:01 GMT -5
Hockey Blades...lol...jkr....the old hockey blade...used the sewer grated to make wicked curved sticks....we had a gas stove so even when the shaft of the blade would crack you could heat the plastic so you could smear the plastic and fill the crack crack in....we always used tennis balls....that orange ball was off limits.
Looked over Mr. Beliveaus stats in his last year at age 39 70GP 25G 51A 76pts lead the team....playoffs 20GP 6G 16A 22pts ..truly amazing...pretty blessed as a kid seeing all these great teams and players.
HFTO
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Post by franko on Dec 3, 2014 17:46:24 GMT -5
Hockey Blades...lol...jkr....the old hockey blade...used the sewer grated to make wicked curved sticks....we had a gas stove so even when the shaft of the blade would crack you could heat the plastic so you could smear the plastic and fill the crack crack in....we always used tennis balls....that orange ball was off limits. wimps. sponge rubber pucks at the beginning of the night; "real" pucks by the end. and a gazillion pucks found on neighbours' lawns once the snow melted
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Post by Polarice on Dec 3, 2014 17:53:45 GMT -5
We always used the orange balls....we were tough country boys!! Then they came out with the orange sponge balls, we gladly switched to those!!
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Post by christrpn on Dec 3, 2014 17:57:27 GMT -5
That's a great idea, WD. I'd just referenced his autobiography last week to get his thoughts on Gilles Tremblay….and one thing struck me. He dedicated many pages to shine the spotlight on/give credit to his teammates. The consummate leader/teammate. The epitome of the Montreal Canadiens. Can you imagine the emotion of Henri Richard, Dickie Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Lemaire, and all his fellow warriors…. Beliveau won 10 Cups as a player….and was involved in the next 7 as part of the Canadiens' organization. 17 of the 24 Cups… Henri Richard and Dickey Moore were in tears and The Roadrunner was too distraught to speak to media. Grown men of an age where men didn't cry. Says everything you need to know about the man
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Post by Willie Dog on Dec 3, 2014 19:05:26 GMT -5
That's a great idea, WD. I'd just referenced his autobiography last week to get his thoughts on Gilles Tremblay….and one thing struck me. He dedicated many pages to shine the spotlight on/give credit to his teammates. The consummate leader/teammate. The epitome of the Montreal Canadiens. Can you imagine the emotion of Henri Richard, Dickie Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Lemaire, and all his fellow warriors…. Beliveau won 10 Cups as a player….and was involved in the next 7 as part of the Canadiens' organization. 17 of the 24 Cups… Henri Richard and Dickey Moore were in tears and The Roadrunner was too distraught to speak to media. Grown men of an age where men didn't cry. Says everything you n0eed to know about the man "O Captain! My Captain!"
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Post by Skilly on Dec 3, 2014 20:27:18 GMT -5
Hockey Blades...lol...jkr....the old hockey blade...used the sewer grated to make wicked curved sticks....we had a gas stove so even when the shaft of the blade would crack you could heat the plastic so you could smear the plastic and fill the crack crack in....we always used tennis balls....that orange ball was off limits. wimps. sponge rubber pucks at the beginning of the night; "real" pucks by the end. and a gazillion pucks found on neighbours' lawns once the snow melted We used the Orange Mylec ball if we were in an arena , but on the street we used the white "jelly" ball. And we made the guys with the plastic blades that were worn down to a toothpick change their blades. They got dangerous if too pointy from the wear and tear
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Post by jkr on Dec 3, 2014 20:56:10 GMT -5
wimps. sponge rubber pucks at the beginning of the night; "real" pucks by the end. and a gazillion pucks found on neighbours' lawns once the snow melted We used the Orange Mylec ball if we were in an arena , but on the street we used the white "jelly" ball. And we made the guys with the plastic blades that were worn down to a toothpick change their blades. They got dangerous if too pointy from the wear and tear I still have an old wooded road hockey stick with a "toothpick " blade. Got a good slapper with it.
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Post by Disp on Dec 3, 2014 21:40:35 GMT -5
We always used the orange balls....we were tough country boys!! Then they came out with the orange sponge balls, we gladly switched to those!! You're not really tough til you've taken a -40 cow turd in the face .
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Post by jkr on Dec 3, 2014 21:57:29 GMT -5
I wonder what the big guy would think after watching tonight's game.
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Post by habsorbed on Dec 4, 2014 0:18:17 GMT -5
Very sad! My first hero and never failed me with his conduct. What a grand person - on and off the ice. Lying in state will be crazy. Yes, people appreciated the Rocket and his travails but everyone respected Le Gros Bill and his demeanour. And paying respects one last time will be relished by many.
I saw him play many times at the end of his career. Went to Jean Beliveau Night - the entire province was watching the Forum and burglars broke into his house (low lifes but smart crooks). I remember even then he was all out for charitable causes.
Met him once after a game at the Bell Centre. He stayed about 2 hours after the game as people lined up just to shake his hand and and greet him. you'd think he was the Pope, but much more patient and personable. Kind words for everyone! Never blew anyone off. I'd hate to think how many autographs he signed in his life. And every one impeccable - no scribbling!
I cried last night. We will never see another like him. Adieu!
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Post by stoat on Dec 4, 2014 0:21:05 GMT -5
I never met him though I was lucky enough to see him play. Feeling really emotional about this. I didn't know him but seeing him at Hab games made me feel as though I did. His presence radiated from him like a halo.
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