EVER-TENACIOUS EX-HAB BEGIN GETS HIS HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
After playing 524 games in the NHL, Quebecer still had another goal to attain
On the ice, Steve Begin was as tough as they come. But on Thursday morning, the former Montreal Canadiens player was having a hard time holding back his tears.
The reason: he finally received his high school graduation diploma at age 40.
“I was a little emotional,” Begin said following the official presentation from Quebec Minister of Education Jean-Francois Roberge at the Bell Centre’s Restaurant 9-4-10. “I’m always like this. There’s a few people who work for the Montreal Canadiens in the back (of the room) and they know me. They know when I talk about kids, when I talk about my family, I always have a hard time to speak. It’s just me.” Begin’s childhood growing up in Trois-Rivieres wasn’t easy. His parents split up before his second birthday and he was raised along with his two siblings by their father, Gilles, an alcoholic who was often on welfare. Begin’s hockey equipment was always second-hand — or older — and dinner would sometimes consist of a chocolate bar, a bag of chips and a soft drink.
But Begin never lost his dream of playing in the NHL and was determined to get there. In Grade 11, while playing for the QMJHL’s Val d’Or Foreurs, Begin decided to drop out of school to focus on hockey. The Calgary Flames selected him in the second round of the 1996 NHL Draft and Begin went on to play 524 games with the Flames, Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, posting 56 goals, 52 assists and 561 penalty minutes. He never took a shift off.
I’ll never forget a game against the Bruins when Begin was with the Canadiens and he tried to hit Patrice Bergeron. He missed and crashed face-first into the boards at the Bell Centre. The collision drove Begin’s teeth through his lower lip, sheared off his bottom teeth and left him with fractures beneath his gums.
He left the ice a bloody mess, but was quickly stitched up and returned to the bench without missing a shift. After the game, Begin required 30 more stitches and a trip to the dentist. Begin is now an assistant coach with the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs.
Despite his success in hockey, Begin felt there was something missing in his life because of his lack of education. After a couple of seasons in the NHL, he thought about going back to school, but said the logistics back then made it too difficult. Then, a year and a half ago, Begin’s friend Georges St-Pierre — the UFC superstar — challenged him to get his high school degree through the online ChallengeU program he is a spokesman for.
“I like challenges, so as soon as he asked me to be part of this challenge I said yes right way,” Begin said. “I knew all my life something was missing. Yes, I reached my goal … I had a dream to play hockey in the NHL. I did all that, but all along I knew something was missing and I knew back then I didn’t take the right decision (leaving school).” It took Begin a year to complete the seven online courses through ChallengeU that he needed to graduate and he scored 82 per cent on the final Quebec ministry exam. St-Pierre was in attendance Thursday to watch Begin get his diploma.
“He did it very well,” St-Pierre said.
“ChallengeU, it’s a new platform. It’s not an easier way to get the diploma, it’s just a different way for people that didn’t have a chance to finish (high school). I will always be there to promote education. … I think it’s very important and it can help many different people in our society.” St-Pierre got into mixed martial arts because he was bullied at school while growing up in StIsidore. He’s the most interesting athlete I have ever interviewed, having enjoyed 25 minutes with him one-on-one last year. He is thoughtful, humble and intelligent with a passion for paleontology — the study of fossils as a way of getting information about the history of life on Earth and the structure of rocks.
“He’s an all-around good person,” Begin said about St-Pierre. “I’m like him. … I’m on a different level, but I like challenges. When he asked me, I said yes for sure. “I didn’t want him to slap me around,” Begin added with a laugh. More than 20,000 Quebecers drop out of high school each year and Begin hopes he can inspire some of them to get their diploma.
“I’m proud for my kids,” Begin said about his two daughters — Meanne (14) and Maylia (11). “My kids go to school … so it would have been tough for me to talk to them about school, how important it is, if I’m not done with my high school. Now it’s done, so I can sit with them and talk about how important school is.
“It’s just a great day.”