As I am sure most you are aware, Jean Beliveau was taken to hospital yesterday after suffering a stroke.
A generational talent, Beliveau is also one of the classiest and most well spoken figure in the game of hockey.
While many of us are too young to have been privy to his exploits, his mere presence around the Canadiens undoubtedly makes our experience of the game better.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
Hockey Inside / Out - About last night … with audio
La Presse - Encore l'attaque passive!
Montreal Gazette - Garon outplays Price, Pacioretty blames self
Montreal Gazette - Red Fisher: Jean Béliveau has "always been in a class by himself"
TSN - Stamkos nets NHL-best 44th goal, Lightning edge Canadiens
Hockey News
ESPN - Culture change sparks Sens' dramatic rise
ESPN - Deadline deals that will pay off later
IIHF - 1972 Summit Series recognized
IIHF - Duelo Latino in Mexico
Louis' Note: I just thought this was a cool story. Really shows how the game is expanding to unusual places.
Sports Illustrated - Nash non-deal turns into soap opera
USA Today - Roundup: Capitals best Islanders in OT on late comeback
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America)
ESPN - Culture change sparks Sens' dramatic rise
ESPN - Deadline deals that will pay off later
IIHF - 1972 Summit Series recognized
IIHF - Duelo Latino in Mexico
Louis' Note: I just thought this was a cool story. Really shows how the game is expanding to unusual places.
Sports Illustrated - Nash non-deal turns into soap opera
USA Today - Roundup: Capitals best Islanders in OT on late comeback
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America)
7 comments:
Too bad about Beliveau, that man is the best ambassador the Habs have.
So, does Jim Nil speak French?
I really hope so.....
@Hockeyhype: That's a good question and one I don't have the answer to. But I would suspect that he doesn't.
The other thing is that the Red Wings pay Nil VERY well precisely because they don't want him to leave. Still, a GM job is different from an Assistant GM job and, if it was me, I'd have Nil at the top of my list of candidates!
I am old enough to remember Jean Beliveau and his exploits on the ice with the Canadiens, along with Henri Richard, and others from that generation. It was exciting hockey that saw the Canadiens win a majority of their Stanley Cups during those years from 1950 through the 1970's. I live in Ontario and when I was a kid there where six teams that made up the NHL and the Candiens were the class of the bunch. What I notice today as I watch the Habs play on television on the Super Sports Package is the lack of respect for the Canadiens, with the thirty team NHL. The announcers for the various teams, feel they and their teams are the class of the NHL and the majority of them have absolutely no history or very little to speak of. They just wish they could speak of a Jean Beliveau in regards to their particular team, or the Rocket, the Pocket Rocket or Boom Boom Geffrion and so many others. Now I realize that times have changed that Bettman and his NHL have changed all that was and its just history. But as I look at the NHL today and the teams that cannot stay in areas because of the lack of support from the public. And then there is poor play by a major part of the NHL and I think to the days when support was never and issue. Why? You might say and I believe we have spread our selves too thin I know the idea was too get the hockey to every individual and sell it to those who never had an interest in hockey. The majority of the players who played in the six team NHL were Canadians and each team had talented players and if they showed they were not they didn't last. Now we have spread the talent pool to thin also and we have come to the day where players are released by teams because of inability but other teams grab them up hoping they might skate better or shoot better on their team. This is what I feel regarding why the Canadiens play so poorly today, mind you there are talented players on the roster of the Habs. But just like the other twenty nine teams there is not enough good talent to make these teams strong, the days are gone for teams to be strong and stay strong and win on a regular basis. Today its all about money and I'm sure it always has been but not to the extent of today's hockey and its players. Those where the days my friend when a man such as Beliveau skated with a team and stayed for twenty years with that team not for the money but the glory of winning and being a continual power house for years.
That's the problem with the habs. They won't hire the best regardless of language. that's why they get guys like PG. they no longer strive to be the best. Detroit has taken over what the habs used to be.
@anon
I wish we were on twitter so that I could retweet what you just said. Spot on man and/or woman.
@Kamal
I had read somewhere that he did speak French but I suspect it is just wishful thinking. I believe he is from Alberta.
I would think it would be hard to pass up an opportunity to rebuild an original 6 team your way.
I'm sure Geoff Molson could pony up enough to make the Red Wings fold.
There just aren't that many bilingual prospects that have his pedigree.
I saw Dregger's list a few months ago and there were a few interesting names but we need someone who is ready for a major challenge and living under a microscope.
@Charles: Well said and too true! Hockey, and sport in general, has change massively over the last 25 years.
You're right in that it IS all about money now. Sure teams want to win championships, but that is because it brings more revenue, bonuses for the players and so on. They're still competitors and want to win, but there is so much $$ tied up in the game that it's purity has been distorted.
As for the talent pool, I agree that the league is stretched too thin. But that was Bettman's expansion plan that he stubbornly sticks to regardless of the fact that it is clearly not working in several markets.
Bah, modern day sports...it ain't like it used to be!
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