Dear Editor
In the late 1960s, a boy could be enriched by major league sports idols. In the winter, my attention turned towards the street in front of our house in Prince Albert where the lads would play road hockey. The guys didn’t call it shinny back then.
When we hit the street, we would become young aces making end-to-end rushes. In those days, the city graded the streets, so we would have high banks on the sides of the road, our boards.
For a brief time during the day, I would become Gordie Howe or Roger Crozier of the Detroit Red Wings. My brother would be Johnny Bower or Dave Keon of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Others would be Bobby Hull, Glenn Hall, Rod Gilbert or the young Bobby Orr.
Conspicuous in their absence was any player from the Montreal Canadiens. Back in those days, for most kids, you were either a Toronto or Montreal fan and, in our neighbourhood, most of the kids were Leaf fans.
After the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia, many of those same kids became Hab fans. Team Canada was comprised of players from the NHL of which there were seven members of the Canadiens. On the brink of disaster, Paul Henderson scored three successive game winning goals to eke out a series victory. From that day on, members of that team were granted the status of royalty. An integral part of the team were members of the Canadiens.
Sadly, Jean Beliveau was not a member of that Summit Series team as he retired after the 1971 season. It was only after he retired that we recognized him as a gentle giant. From unanimous accounts, he was a caring, loving, gracious, generous and broad thinking man. He was not “in it” for the fame and fortune. To the day he died, he was shown the respect of being addressed as Mr. Beliveau.
Upon hearing of his passing, I found my eyes welling up with a tear or two. Hearing of all the charitable work that he undertook for sick kids gained my admiration for Mr. Beliveau. The qualities Mr. Beliveau possessed are those we all would like to have and to be remembered for. That is a tall task. Mr. Beliveau was an exemplary human being. He was a true idol. We will never see the likes of him again.
Garnet Elmer
North Battleford
