When Marc Bergevin took over as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, he made questionable decisions, such as cutting ties with team alumni, but none was more controversial than the stance he took toward Jean Béliveau.
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At Yesterday's Habs Summit, The Gazette's Stu Cowan delighted the audience with several hockey stories, but the one that caught my attention was when he talked about what Bergevin decided to do Big Bill.
Béliveau was as close to hockey royalty as Canadiens fans could get, the winner of 10 Stanley Cups and the longest-tenured captain in team history, acting as elegant as possible. A star on the ice, he scored 1,219 points in 1,125 games and a star on the ice, he was the initiator of Canadians' Christmas visits to hospitals and always had time for fans, he never refused to sign an autograph.
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Although there is a room in the Bell Center for former Canadians where they can go to watch the game and talk if they want, throughout the year Jean Béliveau always watched the locals tilt from his seat near the Habs bench. To make it easier for him to leave the stadium after matches, the organization allowed him to use the players' entrance tunnel, at least temporarily.
According to Cowan, one of Bergevin's decisions was to end this practice. Why? Who knows. Perhaps for him Béliveau was just another patron and did not deserve special treatment? I feel weird writing this. It's a particularly puzzling decision, especially considering the former captain was already in his 80s when Bergevin became chief executive.
Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sport
Anyone who has been to the Bell Center will tell you that there are a lot of stairs you have to climb or descend to get to your seat. Once people reach a certain age, it's not as easy as it used to be. My dad is 76 years old and although he loves hockey, he no longer wants to go to games for this particular reason. I can't imagine Beliveau was happy that he was banned from using the shortcut.
This may not be a big deal in the eyes of other teams' fans, but it is to Canadiens fans. Beliveau was a king among men, and to this day, his wife Elise is still considered by fans to be the queen of hockey. She even appeared in the team's pre-match video this year, just after 1:16, when Luc Picard tells fans where they can support their team through difficult times, we see Brendan Gallagher bleeding in the Cup final, and Saku Koivu returning from his battle with cancer and Elise Béliveau thanking fans for the ovation that followed the organization's final farewell to its Jean.
For me, this will forever be one of Bergevin's worst decisions. I can make a GM want the current version of his team to write its own history, but there's no need to erase the past to do that. On the contrary, the team's history provides a lot of inspiration for current players.
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