Jean Bliveau, beloved Canadiens hockey legend, dead at 83

Montreal Canadiens legend Jean Bliveauhas passed away at the age of 83, the NHL team announced Tuesday night.

He won 10 Stanley Cups as a player and earned the nickname Le Gros Bill (after a Quebec folk hero),but both on and off the iceBliveau was better known for his skill, sportsmanship and a gentlemanly air that very nearly made him Canada's Governor General in 1994.

• Jean Bliveau remembered as true gentleman
• Hockey fans pay respects toBliveau
• Dick Irvin picks Bliveau as greatest Canadien
• PHOTOS:Bliveau's life and career
• INFOGRAPHIC:Bliveau's career by the numbers
• ARCHIVES: JeanBliveau, hockey's gentle giant

At the time, his recurring heart problems and concern for his recently widowed daughter and her small children kept him from accepting the offer.

"Like millions of hockey fans who followed the life and the career of JeanBeliveau, theCanadienstoday mourn the passing of a man whose contribution to the development of our sport and our society wasunmeasurable," team ownerGeoffMolsonsaid in a statement posted on theCanadiens' website.

"JeanBeliveauwas a great leader, a gentleman and arguably the greatest ambassador our game has ever known,"Molsonadded.

The Canadiens later said that Bliveau's body will lay in wake at the Bell Centre on Sunday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. His funeral will be held Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. in Montreal.

On Thursday night the Canadiens will wearNo. 4 (Bliveau's jersey number) decals on their helmets during their game in Minnesota.

One of the finest centres who ever played,Bliveauhelped lead the MontrealCanadiensto an unprecedented five straight Stanley Cups during the1950sand1960s 10 in all over a nearly 20-year career.

"I always enjoyed the playoffs," Bliveau said. "I enjoyed playing in it. Everybody, not only the players, but management, the fans, maybe the press, everybody is so much more nervous. So I enjoyed every game."

Quebec premiere Philippe Couillard said Bliveauwill be missed in his province.

"He was an incredible athlete, and he had an extraordinary ability with language. He was a distinguished man, that's how I would describe him, who had an incredible hockey career and then continued to give back to society.

"He was an incredible Quebecer, not just for sports, but for the positive image Quebecers see reflected in him."

When he retired in 1971, Bliveaujoined theCanadiens' front office as an executive and goodwill ambassador. As a result, his name appears on the Stanley Cup a record 17 times, a feat unlikely to be duplicated.

No record book can capture, no image can depict, no statue can convey the grandeur of the remarkable Jean Bliveau, whose elegance and skill on the ice earned the admiration of the hockey world while his humility and humanity away from the rink earned the love of fans everywhere," NHL commissioner Gary Bettmansaid in a statement.

For all the accomplishments he achieved and all the accolades he received, Jean Bliveau was always the epitome of the boy whose only dream was to play for the Montreal Canadiens. Hockey is better because that dream was realized."

Beliveauhad the presence of a statesman.

"Meeting him is not like meeting other stars from the old days," recalledBliveau's former linemate Gilles Tremblay."When people see Bobby Hull, they say: 'Hi Bobby.' When they meet Big Jean, it's always: 'Hi, Mr. Bliveau.' He commands respect."

Since the1990s,Bliveauhadbeen in and out of hospital on several occasions and suffered from a variety of health problems.

He had a cancerous tumour removed from his neck in 2000 and had a stroke in January 2010 and again in February 2012. Prior to that it was mostly his heart that was the concern.

He once said he had a Volkswagen heart in a Cadillac body, something that mystified his doctors throughout his playing career.

But for those who saw him in his prime, holding off a defender (or two) with one arm whilestickhandlingand firing the puck into the net with the other, it was hard to believe that anything other than a Mac truck could slow him down.

The 'House' that Jean built

Bliveauwas born on Aug. 31, 1931, inVictoriaville, Que., the eldest of eight children in a family that could trace its Canadian lineage back to the1640s.

Like many kids of his generation he grew up playing hockey on a backyard rink and has often credited his father for his strong sense of determination and loyalty.

At 6 foot 3, with aslapshotclocking over 150 km/h,Bliveaucut an imposing figure on the ice andtheCanadienssigned him to a contract when he was in his mid-teens.

But the contract would only take effect when he turned pro andBliveaudidn't seem to be in any hurry to do that, partly because he was being better paid than most pros as an "amateur" with the Quebec Aces in the old Quebec Senior Hockey League.

Bliveauturned theCanadiensdown for three straight seasons while with the Aces, because, he said, he felt a loyalty to Quebec fans who were filling the newly refurbished QuebecColise, "the House that Jean built,"every time the team played.

He may also not have wanted to share the limelight with Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, the undisputed team leader of theCanadiensat the time.

TheCanadienscalledBliveauup on a couple of occasions for brief stints, beginning in the 1950-51 season.

But to get around his reluctance to join the team permanently,CanadiensGM FrankSelkeconvinced the owners to buy the entireQSHLand turn it pro, thus triggering the team's long-standing contract withBliveauand forcing him to join theCanadiensfor good, at 22, for the 1953-54 season.

That first five-year contract was the largest in NHL history "by a city block,"Selkesaid.

ButBliveaulived up to the hype, excelling alongside some of hockey's greatest players including theDickieMoore, "Boom Boom"Geoffrion, JacquesPlanteand, of course, Richard, who continued as captain until he retired in 1960 andBliveautook over for the next 10 seasons.

When he retired at the end of the 1970-71 season he was theCanadien'sall-time leader in points, second in goals, and the NHL's leading playoff scorer.

While he was ultimately known as a durable player over his career, it didn't start out that way. In his first seven NHL seasons he suffered a cracked ankle, fractured cheekbone and, most seriously, a back and spine injury when checked into the board in a 1959 playoff game with Chicago.

Greatest moments

Bliveaucited his first Stanley Cup in 1956 as one of the greatest moments of his career. That was also the year he won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer and the Hart Trophy for being the league MVP.

He also cited the night he scored his500thgoal with a hat-trick against the Minnesota North Stars on Feb. 11, 1971 as one of the best nights of his career.

In June 1953,Bliveaumarried Elise Couture in Quebec City and they had a daughter namedHlne.

In 1989, her husband, a Quebec police officer, committed suicide, a trauma that scarred the family, andBliveaupromised then to play a larger role in the life of his two young granddaughters.

That promise was what caused Bliveau to turn down then prime minister Jean Chretien's offer of become Canada's Governor General in 1994, something Bliveau called the hardest decision of his life.

He had just retired, in August 1993, from his job as the senior VP of corporate affairs for the Montreal Canadiens. His autobiography Jean Bliveau: My Life in Hockey was published in 1994 by McClelland & Stewart Inc.

Despite his illustrious career in hockey, he never had the chance to represent Canada on the international stage. He retired the year before the 1972 Summit Series with the Soviets and professional hockey players were not allowed to compete in international games until 1977.

In June 2009, Bliveau was named honourary Team Canada member and captain of Canada's 2010 men's Olympic hockey team, one of many honours, including his image on a postage stamp and doctorates from universities, that he accumulated over the years.

He was a member of both the Order of Canada and the National Order of Quebec and in 2008 the Canadian Pacific Railway named a train station after him.

His jersey, number 4, was retired in October 1971.