Bernie Geoffrion
{{Short description|Canadian ice hockey player}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Bernard Geoffrion Chex.jpg
| image_size = 230px
| caption = Geoffrion with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1960s
| position = Right wing
| played_for = Montreal Canadiens
New York Rangers
| shoots = Right
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 9
| weight_lb = 166
| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|2|16}}
| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|3|11|1931|2|14}}
| death_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
| career_start = 1950
| career_end = 1964, 1966–1968
| halloffame = 1972
}}
Joseph Bernard André Geoffrion ({{IPA|fr|ʒɔfʁjɔ̃}}; February 16, 1931 – March 11, 2006), nicknamed "Boom Boom", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered one of the innovators of the slapshot,{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/bernie-geoffrion-dead-at-75-1.605615 | work=CBC News | title=Bernie Geoffrion dead at 75 | date=March 11, 2006}} he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 following a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. In 2017 Geoffrion was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.{{cite web|title=100 Greatest NHL Players|url=https://www.nhl.com/fans/nhl-centennial/100-greatest-nhl-players|website=NHL.com|access-date=January 1, 2017|date=January 1, 2017}}
Playing career
Geoffrion was born in Montreal, Quebec, and began playing in the NHL in 1951. He earned the nickname "Boom Boom" for his thundering slapshot (which Geoffrion claimed to have 'invented' as a youngster [https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=158150&hubname=]) from sportswriter Charlie Boire of the Montreal Star in the late 1940s while playing junior hockey for the Laval Nationale. He was the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season, the first being teammate Maurice Richard. Half the time, he played left-wing on Montreal's front line with fellow superstars Richard and Jean Béliveau, helping the Canadiens to six Stanley Cup championships, and at other times was right wing on the No. 2 line. But Geoffrion had a hard time convincing the NHL of his considerable talents; Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull (Chicago Black Hawks) and Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings) were so good that they overshadowed him. Even after Geoffrion won the Art Ross Trophy as league scoring champion in 1955, NHL First All-Star honours went to Richard, while Geoffrion only was selected to the second.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
However, Geoffrion's resulting anger was nothing compared to the Montreal Forum fans when Geoffrion scored one goal while crowd-favourite Richard was suspended, and at the time had led the NHL scoring race. The Wings beat the Canadiens in the final round in seven games that year, exactly the same result of the previous season. "I couldn't deliberately not score, that isn't the point of hockey, Montreal", complained Geoffrion, but fans regardless kept catcalling and jeering him. "I was so feeling the urge to vomit; I felt terrible", Geoffrion emotionally admitted. "Even thinking about hockey made me feel bad, man did I want to leave. If it had not been for Jean (Béliveau) and Maurice (Richard) visiting, I would have. Usually, it's not too much to expect to be on the First (All-Star) Team when you have more points than anyone else."{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
Early in his playing career, he had a reputation for letting his temper get the best of him.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090306201640/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,857903,00.html "Sport: Boom-Boom on Top"]. Time. (December 27, 1954). One such example occurred late in the second period of a Canadiens' 3–1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 20, 1953. With a two-handed swing, Geoffrion's stick made contact with the left side of Ron Murphy's face, resulting in a broken jaw and concussion. The injuries ended Murphy's season. Geoffrion was suspended for the remaining matches between the two teams in that campaign.[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/sports/hockey/after-58-years-an-old-hockey-fight-at-madison-square-garden-gets-new-life.html Sandomir, Richard. "A Brutal Hockey Fight in 1953 Finds New Life"], The New York Times, June 20, 2011.
In a testament to the rough-and-tumble style of play of that era, Geoffrion broke his nose six times, and received over 400 stitches. In 1958, a training accident severely injured him and his life was saved by emergency surgery. Despite advice from his doctors to stop playing for a season, Geoffrion was on the ice six weeks later to take part in the 1958 Stanley Cup Finals.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
Geoffrion first retired in 1964 and became head coach of les As de Québec of the American Hockey League (AHL), but returned two seasons later to play for the New York Rangers. Likely the reason for his first retirement was Béliveau (who was not one of three alternate captains), getting appointed team captain in 1961. This was following the Rocket's retirement in 1960 and Doug Harvey's trade to the Rangers in 1961 (he only lasted a year with the C). Geoffrion, who had had an A, was devastated by the decision to go with Béliveau.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
"If I didn't keep suffering all those terrible injuries and yet keep coming back, if I weren't fit to lead, would I have gotten the C and kept playing?" asked Geoffrion, who had, in the 1961 semifinals, hurt a leg and insisted, even so, that Harvey cut a cast off it so he could play. "Yes, I think I would. There were times when everybody kept telling me to quit. My doctor even told me I should stop playing, but I came back."{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
Coaching career
In 1968 he finally retired as a player and became coach of the Rangers, but resigned after only 43 games due to ulcers in his stomach. In 1972 he became the first coach of the Atlanta Flames, and held the position for two and a half seasons, leading them to their first playoff appearance in 1974. However, 52 games into his third season, he had to resign due to health problems yet again. Geoffrion moved to the Flames' broadcast booth, where he became the colour commentator alongside veteran play-by-play man Jiggs McDonald. He realized a longtime dream of coaching his beloved Canadiens in 1979, but his recurring stomach ailment forced him to step down mid-season.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
In the 1970s and into the 1980s, Geoffrion appeared in several television commercials for Miller Lite beer, part of their stable of retired athletes-turned-spokesmen which also included Billy Martin and Bob Uecker.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
Family
Geoffrion was the son of Jean-Baptiste Geoffrion, a restaurant owner, and his wife, Florina Poitras. He grew up in Drolet, a suburb east of Montreal. Geoffrion was a direct descendant of Pierre Joffrion and his wife Marie Priault, early French settlers in the colony of Montreal.Geoffrion family genealogy. Marie Priault was a King's Daughter.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
Geoffrion's widow Marlene is the daughter of fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Howie Morenz and the granddaughter of the sister of the wife of Billy Coutu, the only player banned from the NHL for life.{{cite news|title=Surprise, Simon! Coutu's ban NHL's longest|url=http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=0e57345b-a5dd-4248-ba69-75bd76e7f85b|work=Calgary Herald|date=December 23, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122811/http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=0e57345b-a5dd-4248-ba69-75bd76e7f85b|archive-date=September 24, 2015|access-date=April 18, 2018}} Geoffrion's son Dan (born January 24, 1958) played five seasons of professional hockey, which included stops with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association in 1978–79, Canadiens in 1979–80 (with his father as coach), and Winnipeg Jets in 1980–81.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}} His grandson Blake Geoffrion (born February 3, 1988) played for the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. Dan's younger sons, Sebastian and Brice, played for the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers.{{cite web |url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=116491 |title=Sebastien Geoffrion Stats and Profile |website=hockeydb.com}}{{cite web |url=http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=127251 |title=Brice Geoffrion Stats and Profile |website=hockeydb.com}} Geoffrion's son-in-law, Hartland Monahan, played in the NHL for several teams in the 1970s, and his grandson Shane Monahan played Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners in the late 1990s.{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3171167|title=Clubhouse culture led ex-Mariner to steroids and greenies|last=Fish|first=Mike|date=December 28, 2007|work=ESPN.com|access-date=February 9, 2018}} He, like several former Atlanta Flames players, remained in Atlanta after their careers ended. He lived in Marietta, GA, until his death.
Retired number
The Canadiens announced on October 15, 2005, that Geoffrion's uniform number, 5, would be retired on March 11, 2006. On March 8, Geoffrion was diagnosed with stomach cancer after a surgical procedure uncovered it. Doctors attempted to remove the tumour but found that the cancer had spread. Geoffrion died in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11, the day his jersey number was to be retired.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/montreal-bids-adieu-to-boom-boom/article704665/|title = Montreal bids adieu to Boom Boom}}
During his remarks at the pre-game retirement ceremony, Geoffrion's son Bob recounted how his parents had once gone to a boxing match at the Montreal Forum and that Geoffrion had told his wife Marlene that his own number would someday hang from the rafters beside that of her father, Howie Morenz.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/0nT0huoASHs Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140605182937/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nT0huoASHs Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nT0huoASHs|title= Post Game Story - YouTube: Geoffrion sweater retirement ceremony|publisher=YouTube|access-date=June 5, 2008|year=2008}}{{cbignore}} Fulfilling that prophecy, and in further recognition of the special link between the Morenz and Geoffrion families, the two numbers were raised side by side (Morenz's banner was lowered halfway and was raised back up to the rafters with Geoffrion's banner). Traded to the Montreal Canadiens by the Nashville Predators on February 17, 2012, Blake Geoffrion decided to honor both his grandfather Geoffrion, as well as his great-grandfather Morenz, by wearing #57.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}}
Awards
- Calder Memorial Trophy - 1952
- NHL All-Star Game - 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963
- NHL Second All-Star Team - 1955, 1960
- Art Ross Trophy - 1955, 1961
- Stanley Cup champion - 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
- Hart Memorial Trophy - 1961
- NHL First All-Star Team - 1961
- His number 5 was retired by the Montreal Canadiens on March 11, 2006
- In 1998, he was ranked number 42 on The Hockey News{{'}} list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
- In 2017, Geoffrion was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.{{cite web|title=100 Greatest NHL Players|url=https://www.nhl.com/fans/nhl-centennial/100-greatest-nhl-players|website=NHL.com|access-date=January 1, 2017|date=January 1, 2017}}
Career statistics
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60%" | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="5" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! colspan="5" | Playoffs | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM | ||||||||
| 1946–47
| Montreal Concordia Civics | QJHL | 26 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 6
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1947–48 | Laval Nationale | QJHL | 29 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 49
| 11 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 11 |
| 1947–48
| Laval Nationale | M-Cup | — | — | — | — | —
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1948–49 | Laval Nationale | QJHL | 42 | 41 | 35 | 76 | 49
| 9 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 22 |
| 1949–50
| Laval Nationale | QJHL | 34 | 52 | 34 | 86 | 77
| 3 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1949–50 | QSHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1950–51
| Montreal Nationale | QJHL | 36 | 54 | 44 | 98 | 80
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1950–51 | NHL | 18 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 9
| 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 1951–52
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 30 | 24 | 54 | 66
| 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1952–53 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 22 | 17 | 39 | 37
| 12 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| 1953–54
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 54 | 29 | 25 | 54 | 87
| 11 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 18 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1954–55 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 38 | 37 | 75 | 57
| 12 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 8 |
| 1955–56
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 66
| 10 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 6 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1956–57 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 41 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 18
| 10 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 2 |
| 1957–58
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 42 | 27 | 23 | 50 | 51
| 10 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 2 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1958–59 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 22 | 44 | 66 | 30
| 11 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 10 |
| 1959–60
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 30 | 41 | 71 | 36
| 8 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1960–61 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 64 | 50 | 45 | 95 | 29
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1961–62
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 62 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 36
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1962–63 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 51 | 23 | 18 | 41 | 73
| 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1963–64
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 55 | 21 | 18 | 39 | 41
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1966–67 | NHL | 58 | 17 | 25 | 42 | 42
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1967–68
| New York Rangers | NHL | 59 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 11
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 883 !! 393 !! 429 !! 822 !! 689 ! 132 !! 58 !! 60 !! 118 !! 88 |
Coaching record
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; width:60em;" | ||||||
| rowspan="2" | Team | rowspan="2" | Year | colspan="6" | Regular season | Post season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | |
| NYR || 1968–69
| 43 || 22 || 18 || 3 || (47)|| 3rd in East || Resigned due to health problems | ||||||
| ATL || 1972–73
| 78 || 25 || 38 || 15 || 65 || 7th in West || Missed playoffs | ||||||
| ATL || 1973–74
| 78 || 30 || 34 || 14 || 74 || 4th in West || Lost in quarter-finals | ||||||
| ATL || 1974–75
| 52 || 20 || 22 || 10 || (54) || 4th in West || Fired midseason | ||||||
| MTL || 1979–80
| 30 || 15 || 9 || 6 || (36) || 1st in Norris || Resigned due to health problems | ||||||
| colspan="2"|Total ||281||114||119||48|| || || |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{icehockeystats|legendsm=P197202}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150426221324/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/memorial/06/boomboom.html Sports E-Cyclopedia's Memoriam to "Boom Boom"]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHmVBGI4IdU Miller Lite ad]
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before = Terry Sawchuk | title = Winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy | years = 1952 | after = Lorne "Gump" Worsley }}
{{succession box | before = Gordie Howe | title = Winner of the Art Ross Trophy | years = 1955 | after = Jean Beliveau}}
{{succession box | before = Bobby Hull | title = Winner of the Art Ross Trophy | years = 1961 | after = Bobby Hull}}
{{succession box | before = Gordie Howe | title = Winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy | years = 1961 | after = Jacques Plante}}
{{succession box | before = Emile Francis | title = Head coach of the New York Rangers | years = 1968–69 | after = Emile Francis }}
{{succession box | before = Position created | title = Head coach of the Atlanta Flames | years = 1972–75 | after = Fred Creighton}}
{{succession box | before = Scotty Bowman | title = Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens | years = 1979 | after = Claude Ruel }}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geoffrion, Bernie}}
Category:Art Ross Trophy winners
Category:Atlanta Flames announcers
Category:Atlanta Flames coaches
Category:Calder Trophy winners
Category:Calgary Flames coaches
Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches
Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers
Category:Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Deaths from stomach cancer in the United States
Category:Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Category:Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Ice hockey people from Montreal
Category:Montreal Canadiens coaches
Category:Montreal Canadiens players
Category:National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Category:New York Rangers coaches
Category:New York Rangers players
Category:Stanley Cup champions
Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States