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Jean Beliveau


kaos

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I love the seat tribute!

I cant believe how much someone I never met has had such an impact on me directly, even more so today. He inspires you as a habs fan that, class and sportsmanship are truly above records and stats.

RIP #4

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I love the seat tribute!

I cant believe how much someone I never met has had such an impact on me directly, even more so today. He inspires you as a habs fan that, class and sportsmanship are truly above records and stats.

RIP #4

I have been feeling and thinking the same thing................. Strong reaction similar to the passing of a family member or friend. That's something.

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Such sad news, but wow, what an amazing outpouring of stories from those whose lives he'd touched. When something Bettman says gets me teary-eyed, it goes a long way to show how important Mr Beliveau was to the hockey world and Montreal.

I love the idea of keeping his seat vacant.

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I love the seat tribute!

I cant believe how much someone I never met has had such an impact on me directly, even more so today. He inspires you as a habs fan that, class and sportsmanship are truly above records and stats.

RIP #4

Well said Scoop.

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A great Hab, a great player, and a great man. My father always said of Mario Lemieux that he reminded him of Beliveau. Considering what a player Lemieux was, that is quite a testament to Big Jean's gifts on he ice.

I'm going out on a limb here, but let me make a suggestion. Jean Beliveau was obviously one of a kind. However, in a certain sense he incarnated, at least to my mind, the very best facets of an older and now vanished French Canadian culture. This was a culture rooted in Roman Catholicism and its concomitant ideals of grace, humility and service; the same matrix that produced people such as Jean Vanier or Pierre-Elliott Trudeau - men of remarkable dignity and stature, for whom service to others was at the core of a deeply-internalized philosophy of life. They are also informed by a cultural backdrop in which high standards (associated with 'liberal arts' and classical education) occupied the place now claimed by crass populist entertainments, and that too helped to shape them into graceful human beings. That's not to say such men were/are saints - only Vanier has a shot at that title; but rather that Beliveau came out of a particular time and place an represented the best of it.

RIP, Monsieur Beliveau.

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A great Hab, a great player, and a great man. My father always said of Mario Lemieux that he reminded him of Beliveau. Considering what a player Lemieux was, that is quite a testament to Big Jean's gifts on he ice.

I'm going out on a limb here, but let me make a suggestion. Jean Beliveau was obviously one of a kind. However, in a certain sense he incarnated, at least to my mind, the very best facets of an older and now vanished French Canadian culture. This was a culture rooted in Roman Catholicism and its concomitant ideals of grace, humility and service; the same matrix that produced people such as Jean Vanier or Pierre-Elliott Trudeau - men of remarkable dignity and stature, for whom service to others was at the core of a deeply-internalized philosophy of life. They are also informed by a cultural backdrop in which high standards (associated with 'liberal arts' and classical education) occupied the place now claimed by crass populist entertainments, and that too helped to shape them into graceful human beings. That's not to say such men were/are saints - only Vanier has a shot at that title; but rather that Beliveau came out of a particular time and place an represented the best of it.

RIP, Monsieur Beliveau.

Great post. Interesting and thought provoking.

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A great Hab, a great player, and a great man. My father always said of Mario Lemieux that he reminded him of Beliveau. Considering what a player Lemieux was, that is quite a testament to Big Jean's gifts on he ice.

I'm going out on a limb here, but let me make a suggestion. Jean Beliveau was obviously one of a kind. However, in a certain sense he incarnated, at least to my mind, the very best facets of an older and now vanished French Canadian culture. This was a culture rooted in Roman Catholicism and its concomitant ideals of grace, humility and service; the same matrix that produced people such as Jean Vanier or Pierre-Elliott Trudeau - men of remarkable dignity and stature, for whom service to others was at the core of a deeply-internalized philosophy of life. They are also informed by a cultural backdrop in which high standards (associated with 'liberal arts' and classical education) occupied the place now claimed by crass populist entertainments, and that too helped to shape them into graceful human beings. That's not to say such men were/are saints - only Vanier has a shot at that title; but rather that Beliveau came out of a particular time and place an represented the best of it.

RIP, Monsieur Beliveau.

Wow ChiCuke. I remember seeing Jean at the games with his friend the archbishop, and as might perhaps be anticipated naturally, I agree one hundred percent with your understanding. It is axiomatic that grace perfects nature, and in Jean Vanier, a hero of the spirit and in our beloved captain, we see sheer gracefulness. When people comment upon him, it is his loving approach made possible by his humility that is so remarkable. Trudeau (not Trudeau lite who would not have Jean Beliveau as a member of his bastardized Liberal party) with his particular charism was a bright light of searing intelligence and passion mostly very well directed. These men posessed themselves more fully in giving themselves away to something greater than they.

G K Chesterton, held by more than a few to have been the most intelligent man of the 20th century, a sentiment with which I must concur, once observed that a paradox is "truth standing on its head to attract attention". In your three exemplars (and in yourself methinks) there lives that paradox of the spiritual life that finds such men discovering their truest selves in losing themselves.

They wove so rich a tapestry. The light of Quebec and her leadership of Canada so paralleled by the Christian Democrats in Europe at critical historical times is a light that still shines with a beautiful clarity.

Thank you for your beautifully expressed understanding. I am so very, very grateful for the sheer gift of that heritage we share with our fallen yet risen captain. We have all been blessed by the love he shared so magnanimously.

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Wow ChiCuke. I remember seeing Jean at the games with his friend the archbishop, and as might perhaps be anticipated naturally, I agree one hundred percent with your understanding. It is axiomatic that grace perfects nature, and in Jean Vanier, a hero of the spirit and in our beloved captain, we see sheer gracefulness. When people comment upon him, it is his loving approach made possible by his humility that is so remarkable. Trudeau (not Trudeau lite who would not have Jean Beliveau as a member of his bastardized Liberal party) with his particular charism was a bright light of searing intelligence and passion mostly very well directed. These men posessed themselves more fully in giving themselves away to something greater than they.

G K Chesterton, held by more than a few to have been the most intelligent man of the 20th century, a sentiment with which I must concur, once observed that a paradox is "truth standing on its head to attract attention". In your three exemplars (and in yourself methinks) there lives that paradox of the spiritual life that finds such men discovering their truest selves in losing themselves.

They wove so rich a tapestry. The light of Quebec and her leadership of Canada so paralleled by the Christian Democrats in Europe at critical historical times is a light that still shines with a beautiful clarity.

Thank you for your beautifully expressed understanding. I am so very, very grateful for the sheer gift of that heritage we share with our fallen yet risen captain. We have all been blessed by the love he shared so magnanimously.

:thumbs_up:

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Wow ChiCuke. I remember seeing Jean at the games with his friend the archbishop, and as might perhaps be anticipated naturally, I agree one hundred percent with your understanding. It is axiomatic that grace perfects nature, and in Jean Vanier, a hero of the spirit and in our beloved captain, we see sheer gracefulness. When people comment upon him, it is his loving approach made possible by his humility that is so remarkable. Trudeau (not Trudeau lite who would not have Jean Beliveau as a member of his bastardized Liberal party) with his particular charism was a bright light of searing intelligence and passion mostly very well directed. These men posessed themselves more fully in giving themselves away to something greater than they.

G K Chesterton, held by more than a few to have been the most intelligent man of the 20th century, a sentiment with which I must concur, once observed that a paradox is "truth standing on its head to attract attention". In your three exemplars (and in yourself methinks) there lives that paradox of the spiritual life that finds such men discovering their truest selves in losing themselves.

They wove so rich a tapestry. The light of Quebec and her leadership of Canada so paralleled by the Christian Democrats in Europe at critical historical times is a light that still shines with a beautiful clarity.

Thank you for your beautifully expressed understanding. I am so very, very grateful for the sheer gift of that heritage we share with our fallen yet risen captain. We have all been blessed by the love he shared so magnanimously.

:thumbs_up:

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Wow ChiCuke. I remember seeing Jean at the games with his friend the archbishop, and as might perhaps be anticipated naturally, I agree one hundred percent with your understanding. It is axiomatic that grace perfects nature, and in Jean Vanier, a hero of the spirit and in our beloved captain, we see sheer gracefulness. When people comment upon him, it is his loving approach made possible by his humility that is so remarkable. Trudeau (not Trudeau lite who would not have Jean Beliveau as a member of his bastardized Liberal party) with his particular charism was a bright light of searing intelligence and passion mostly very well directed. These men posessed themselves more fully in giving themselves away to something greater than they.

G K Chesterton, held by more than a few to have been the most intelligent man of the 20th century, a sentiment with which I must concur, once observed that a paradox is "truth standing on its head to attract attention". In your three exemplars (and in yourself methinks) there lives that paradox of the spiritual life that finds such men discovering their truest selves in losing themselves.

They wove so rich a tapestry. The light of Quebec and her leadership of Canada so paralleled by the Christian Democrats in Europe at critical historical times is a light that still shines with a beautiful clarity.

Thank you for your beautifully expressed understanding. I am so very, very grateful for the sheer gift of that heritage we share with our fallen yet risen captain. We have all been blessed by the love he shared so magnanimously.

I never cease to be amazed by the level of knowledge and the ability to express via the written word of some of our fellow HW members...

Thank you TorontoHab for that extremely well written and thought provoking post.

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I never cease to be amazed by the level of knowledge and the ability to express via the written word of some of our fellow HW members...

Thank you TorontoHab for that extremely well written and thought provoking post.

Yep, agreed! Also, CC's post as well, very well written, insightful piece on the good old boys... :thumbs_up:

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Yep, agreed! Also, CC's post as well, very well written, insightful piece on the good old boys... :thumbs_up:

Thanks very much for your kind words KoRP, and you Helmethead. CC's post really captured the sublime. I was really fortunate to have been able to study philosophy at St Mike's at U of T, and very little of anything I may write is other than a pale rendering of some of history's great minds and spirits. Again, thanks a lot guys. I really do appreciate your kind comments.

Cheers

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Thanks very much for your kind words KoRP, and you Helmethead. CC's post really captured the sublime. I was really fortunate to have been able to study philosophy at St Mike's at U of T, and very little of anything I may write is other than a pale rendering of some of history's great minds and spirits. Again, thanks a lot guys. I really do appreciate your kind comments.

Cheers

Your welcome, and worthy of it.

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Last night's salute to #4 was amazing during the pre-game was it not?

Could've heard a pin drop in the Bell Center, first class all the way in Montreal!

P.S. TO Hab, you are welcome! You are a class act in your own right...

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I really liked the empty seat with the number 4 on it and I hope it remains that way. How could you ever sell that seat? Of course there are probably a lot of people who would pay great deals of money to sit there.

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I really liked the empty seat with the number 4 on it and I hope it remains that way. How could you ever sell that seat? Of course there are probably a lot of people who would pay great deals of money to sit there.

I wouldn't be shocked if at the end of the year, that seat comes out (and heads to the Hall of Fame) while a new seat is put in its place. That way they can still sell the ticket but have it not be Beliveau's seat.

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I wouldn't be shocked if at the end of the year, that seat comes out (and heads to the Hall of Fame) while a new seat is put in its place. That way they can still sell the ticket but have it not be Beliveau's seat.

What would Mrs. Beliveau say? I think it should stay empty till she leaves us at least. Yes put the seat in the hall of fame is a great idea.

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While searching in my library today, I found Jean Béliveau's memoirs, a book my father had in his own library when he passed away three years ago at the age of 95. I had read the book and wanted to read it again, but was astonished to discover something I did not recall having seen on my first read: a personal signature of Jean to my father in the opening page of the memoirs. I guess that I simply did not remember. Anyhow I am glad I still have this book. It's a great souvenir of both my father and Mr. Béliveau.

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While searching in my library today, I found Jean Béliveau's memoirs, a book my father had in his own library when he passed away three years ago at the age of 95. I had read the book and wanted to read it again, but was astonished to discover something I did not recall having seen on my first read: a personal signature of Jean to my father in the opening page of the memoirs. I guess that I simply did not remember. Anyhow I am glad I still have this book. It's a great souvenir of both my father and Mr. Béliveau.

The ghosts of the forum have smiled upon you sir. You are indeed a very lucky man. :)

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It's been good for my soul to be able to share our love for our captain with you gentlemen.

Thank you all and may we all emulate this truly great human being in his humility and depth of love.

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My preference would be that the seat remain there with its beautiful #4 drapery indefinitely. What a lasting tribute. Of course, that'll mean foregoing some money, so probably dlablr's solution will be the one adopted.

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My preference would be that the seat remain there with its beautiful #4 drapery indefinitely. What a lasting tribute. Of course, that'll mean foregoing some money, so probably dlablr's solution will be the one adopted.

I think leaving it empty is the right thing to do. It would also become an enigma and point of wonder in the sports world. I don't follow many other sports , so I don't know if such a fine move has been made by other teams for their greats.

But I would definitely leave our captain's seat there, that we might all , from time to time be inspired by his memory.

Here is a link to the excellent eulogies just prior to the funeral mass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kUbI64xw_g#t=112

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