Bernie Geoffrion

Joseph André Bernard Geoffrion (; February 16, 1931 – March 11, 2006), nicknamed "Boom Boom" or "Boum Boum", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered one of the innovators of the slapshot, 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.

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 ) 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.

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."

Early in his playing career, he had a reputation for letting his temper get the best of him. 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.

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 Final.

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, getting appointed team captain in 1961, even though Geoffrion was one of three alternate captains and Béliveau was not. 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).

"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."

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.

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.

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. Marie Priault was a King's Daughter.

Geoffrion's wife Marlene was the daughter of fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Howie Morenz and the great-niece of the wife of Billy Coutu, the only player banned from the NHL for life. Geoffrion's son Dan 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. His grandson Blake Geoffrion 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. 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. He, like several former Atlanta Flames players, remained in Atlanta after their careers ended. He lived in Marietta, Georgia, 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. 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. 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 at the Bell Centre. The banner for Morenz's number 7 was lowered halfway, then raised back up to the rafters alongside Geoffrion's banner. Traded to the Montreal Canadiens by the Nashville Predators on February 17, 2012, Blake Geoffrion decided to honour both his grandfather Geoffrion, as well as his great-grandfather Morenz, by wearing #57.

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 #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.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1946–47 Montreal Concordia Civics QJHL 26 7 8 15 6 — — — — — 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 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 1949–50 Montreal Royals QSHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1950–51 Montreal Nationale QJHL 36 54 44 98 80 — — — — — 1950–51 Montreal Canadiens 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 1966–67 New York Rangers 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 NHL totals 883 393 429 822 689 132 58 60 118 88

Coaching record Team Year 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 problemsTotal 28111411948