Jean Beliveau Autographed Montreal Canadiens Tribute Program (AJ's Sportsworld)

Jean Beliveau Autographed Montreal Canadiens Tribute Program (AJ's Sportsworld)

Jean Beliveau Autographed Montreal Canadiens Tribute Program (AJ's Sportsworld)

Beliveau was already a star at 15 when spotted by Canadiens general manager Frank Selke, who sought to sign him to an NHL "C-form". The standard league contract for young players at that time, it would have required Beliveau to join the Canadiens at a set date and agreed-upon salary. When his father balked, Beliveau signed a "B-form" instead, agreeing to play for Montreal should he ever decide to turn pro.

Beliveau became a star in Quebec's amateur leagues, and was called up twice for brief appearances by the Canadiens in 1950-51 and 1952-53. He led the Quebec Senior Hockey League in scoring in 1953. However, he did not appear to show much interest in playing professionally. Finally, Selke got an idea-if the QSHL were somehow turned into a professional league, Beliveau would be a professional as well, and under the terms of the B-form he would have to sign with the Habs. At Selke's suggestion, the Canadiens' owners, the Canadian Arena Company, bought the QSHL and converted it from an amateur league to a minor pro league. This forced Beliveau to join the Canadiens for the 1953-54 NHL season (though the Habs owned the NHL rights to all of the league's players in any case).

Three years later, in 1956, Beliveau won both the Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the league's scoring champion and the Hart Memorial Trophy as its most valuable player. That year Beliveau also became the first hockey player ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated when his portrait graced the January 23rd issue. During his 18 full seasons in Montreal, he played on 10 Stanley Cup winning teams 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971. For his last 10 seasons, he was the team captain. He was nicknamed "Le gros Bill" after the tall title character of a 1949 movie.

A powerful skater, he had an air of composed confidence that made him a natural leader both on and off the ice. Admired and respected by fans, teammates and his opponents, he was the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for his performance in the 1965 Stanley Cup playoffs. He is also the first and only captain to win the Conn Smythe and score the game-winning goal in the same night.

Beliveau retired at the end of the 1970-71 NHL season as his team's all-time leader in points, second all-time in goals and the NHL's all-time leading playoff scorer. He scored 507 goals and had 712 assists for 1,219 points in 1,125 NHL regular-season games plus 79 goals and 97 assists for 176 points in 162 playoff games. His jersey number (#4) was retired on October 9, 1971. In 1972, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He is now the second all-time leading scorer in Canadiens history, behind Guy Lafleur. Only Henri Richard (1256 games) and Larry Robinson (1202 games) played more games for the Habs. Beliveau's name appears on the Stanley Cup a record seventeen times, including seven times as an executive for the Canadiens: 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1993. In 1998, The Hockey News named Beliveau the seventh greatest NHL player of all time.