Beliveau's Life Updated

[franko]

Legend's great story gets even better
Beliveau's life updated

Dave Stubbs
CanWest News Service
October 13, 2005

MONTREAL - To dispel a myth, forever-accommodating Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau can in fact say no.

It turns out that Beliveau was not an easy sell to bring his 1994 autobiography up to date. But after some gentle prodding by two eager publishers, and some quiet reflection on a decade that brought enormous changes to his own life and the game he loves, the Canadiens Hall of Famer decided he might have a few more words to say.

The result is the second edition of Jean Beliveau: My Life In Hockey (Greystone Books, $24.95), a wealth of topical new thought for those who have read the original, and a revelation for those new to the title.

This is much more the story of challenges met and a life well lived than a typical sports autobiography. That's to be expected, of course, because there's never been a hockey arena that could contain Jean Beliveau's remarkable life.

"This is more than a book for my family," said Beliveau, 74, who views the project as a time capsule and a grateful tribute to the many who have helped him choose his path.

He dedicates the memoir to his wife, Elise, daughter Helene, and granddaughters Mylene and Magalie, all present at a launch of the new version yesterday.

The new first chapter describes in poignant detail Beliveau's serving as a pallbearer for the May 2000 funeral of his brilliant teammate Maurice (Rocket) Richard, whom he succeeded as Canadiens captain.

It also covers Beliveau representing the NHL and the Canadiens at the 1986 funeral in Switzerland for trailblazing goalie Jacques Plante, and the final days of Montreal defenceman J.C. Tremblay, the friend who died of cancer shortly after appearing at the 1994 launch of this book's first edition.

"What I've learned, as I got a little older, is that my teammates are very important," Beliveau said. "They always were important as a player, always were during my second career [as Canadiens senior vice-president of corporate affairs], and they still are today.

"If I'm here today, it's because of them, too. I've learned that when you're busy all your life, life is very short."

Beliveau relates his feelings about the labour nonsense that cancelled the 2004-05 NHL season, reiterating his strong pro-ownership sentiments clearly expressed last autumn that drew a hasty rebuke from the NHL Players Association, a strategy that earned the NHLPA only ridicule.

He offers suggestions for an improved game, saying yesterday that he already likes what he sees in the "new" NHL, and discusses his decision of last winter to auction virtually all of his hockey memorabilia, a sale that raised nearly $1- million and produced a generous legacy for his daughter and granddaughters.

Now, Beliveau sets out on the road once more to promote his book, though not in the whirlwind fashion he did a decade ago.

"Maybe my wife is right when she says I have a funny retirement," Beliveau said, smiling. "But I'll be 75 next year, so I'm saying to the publishers, 'Not too much.' "

National Post

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Nov. 6, 2005. 07:59 AM

Le Gros Bill: I love this game
Passion for life and the new NHL define hockey legend

KEN CAMPBELL
TORONTO STAR

Jean Beliveau is patiently waiting and the woman assigned to clean his hotel room is nervously moving as quickly as she can. Sensing her anxiousness, Beliveau approaches her gently and says, "Don't worry. There is no rush. Take your time." Then he turns to the others in the room and says, "They work very hard."

One of the classiest personalities ever to play the game, Beliveau remains a humble man, not nearly as impressed with his accomplishments as others are. That humility, cultivated in Victoriaville, Que., more than 70 years ago, served Beliveau well as a player, ambassador and spokesman for the game.

Beliveau also happily answered all questions when Unplugged recently sat down with him. He was in Toronto promoting the revised version of his autobiography, Jean Beliveau: My Life in Hockey.

How do you like the new NHL?

Well, in the last 10 years I (have attended) most of the games when I'm in Montreal and it's not exactly the type of game I would have enjoyed playing, and at the same time I didn't enjoy what I was watching. ... To me, the hockey stick is to make plays, to shoot, to get a pass. Unfortunately, in the last 10 or 15 years the hockey stick had become almost a weapon for too many players. I think the way I watch the game now and the way they're being refereed, every infraction involving the stick is called and I think that's the only way to do it. To me, hockey is a nice, fluid game — skating, not this slashing and crosschecking that we've been witnessing for so many years. And I really enjoy what I'm watching now. I think that's the way hockey should be played.

You were diagnosed with a malignant tumour in the spring of 2000. If my math is correct, it has been five years and you should now be considered cured.

We always are going to be in remission. After five years, no doubt you become a little more optimistic. I really don't think about it. The only time is when you have an appointment with the doctors. ... It never stopped me from doing things I feel I should be involved in. Certain days are tougher than others.

And you can't produce saliva, right?

I have no saliva. The saliva glands here (in his neck) were burned. But we have others here (top of his jaw) so when I'm at home doing my mail, I chew gum and it gives me my saliva instead of drinking water all the time.

Do you still have to go for regular checkups?

I have two doctors. One I saw about a month ago and he said, "Call me back next June." The other one, she's in charge of the department at Montreal General and I'm going to see her soon and I hope she tells me the same thing.

When they told you it was malignant it was right around the time the Rocket died. Were you ever afraid?

There's no doubt, I'd be lying to you if I said it didn't scare me. But you have the sickness and you see your family suffering — my wife and my daughter and my two granddaughters, they were all suffering. This hurt as bad as you having the sickness. I remember going on May 22, it was a Monday, to see Maurice at the hospital and he was toward the end. In fact, he died the following Saturday. That was a tough time.

Does it bother you that anybody can get your address on the Internet?

Not at all. I talked to the mailman because some mornings it's quite a bit. I told him that if it ever becomes a problem ... but he seems to be enjoying it. It makes for a little more work.

And you answer every one of them personally, right?

Every one. I've done it for 50 years.

Why don't you get someone to do it for you?

No, no. It's too late. If people take the time to write or phone you, I think it's only normal in my way of seeing things that I give them an answer.

What are some of the most memorable you've received?

The first few years after my radiation treatments, I received maybe 50 or 60 letters, all of them from wives whose husbands have that terrible sickness and he's sitting at home feeling sorry for himself doing nothing. They would ask me if I would give them a call, which I did, all of them. I would phone at about 4 o'clock or 4:30 because I knew they would have a little sleep after their lunch. I tried to find the right words to tell them to face it and fight it.

How old are your granddaughters now?

They're 21 and 19. The older one is into the arts and just the other day I was an honoured guest at one of her exhibits. The other one is studying in her second year and she wants to become a nurse. ... I always told them that no matter what you do, choose something you'll like the way your grandfather did.

You've obviously been a big influence in their lives. Did you not turn down the Governor General post because of them?

We had a tragedy in the family. My daughter lost her husband and she was only 39. We had those two little girls and you don't replace a father, but it would be more reassuring for them if they know their grandmother and grandfather are there. But I didn't put too much emphasis on that because I didn't want my daughter to think she's responsible if I said no.

Have you ever done anything you regret? It doesn't seem like you've ever done anything that could make you ashamed.

Maybe there's a few things, but I've always been very careful. I've made some mistakes, but not too many.

You made a comparison between yourself and Eric Lindros in your book in that neither of you toed the line of the hockey establishment as young players. Where did that sense of determination come from?

My father could not understand that in the spring I still belonged to the team. He always said, "No, in the spring he belongs to me." Finally after two or three years, I had visitors from the Canadiens all the time and I wanted to play for them.

But for a guy who was so strong-willed as a young player, you were very pro-ownership during the lockout.

Two weeks after the lockout, one newspaperman called me and he said, "What do you think?" And that's when I said the players and their association are making a terrible mistake. I knew that about 20 teams were losing millions of dollars in the last years of the previous agreement. The owners signed an agreement they never should have signed.

Did it bother you that some of the players and the NHL Players' Association depicted you as an old-guard guy and a management stooge?

No, because when I read that I said, "I'm right because they didn't refute anything that I said." I did it for the game, I did it for the fans and I did it for the players because a career can be very short. Today, when I look back, I still can't understand that the PA didn't realize that they couldn't keep going that way.

Do you feel good about the future of the NHL?

Absolutely ... I feel much better about the game.

Could your former teammate Marcel Bonin really chew broken glass?

Oh yes. He would break a piece off a glass and he would take a bite and say, "This one is really good." And he'd chew it until it became like sand. Then he'd take another bite.

How do you keep so fit?

I have a treadmill at home and I try to start every day by walking a couple of miles.

You're a very avid reader of biographies. Which one are you reading now?

I just read the Mulroney book by Peter Newman. I recently read the Clinton book, which was more than 900 pages. Good book, but it was a long haul. When I see a book that I like and I think I'll have time to read it, I just buy it. I must have 25 or 30 books just waiting for me.

What do you think of Jean Beliveau's biography?

I think it's better than it was in 1994.