Montreal Canadiens: This Day In Habs History: Waiting Period Waived For Jean Beliveau

Montreal Canadiens players throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s completely dominated the NHL individually and as a team. That’s why it was so common for their players to be named to the Hockey Hall of Fame throughout the 1970s.

Looking back at that time, it was Doug Harvey inducted to the Hall of Fame on August 23 and Dickie Moore on August 22. Well, on August 24 of 1972 it was Jean Beliveau that was inducted and he was joined by longtime teammate Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion.

Beliveau enjoyed a terrific NHL career that spanned 1125 games. He scored 507 goals and 1219 points in that time. He was second in league history in games played and fourth in goals when he retired following the 1970-71 season. He trailed Gordie Howe in both categories, and was also behind Bobby Hull and Rocket Richard in goals scored.

Beliveau also set a league record by winning ten Stanley Cups as a player. That record was later broken by Yvan Cournoyer and won’t be touched by anyone in the near future. Perhaps most impressive in Beliveau’s career is his 176 points in 162 career NHL Playoff games. He had a point per game in the postseason as a rookie and scored over a point per game as a 39 year old in his final postseason.

Boom Boom Geoffrion had retired in 1968 and had to wait the customary three years before being enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. That was waived for Beliveau as it was for Gordie Howe who was inducted at the same time.

Geoffrion was one of the best goal scorers of his era, retiring in 1968 with 393 career goals which put him fifth on the all-time list at that time. Boom Boom played 14 of his 16 NHL seasons with the Canadiens before wrapping up his career by playing two seasons with the New York Rangers.