Kuzma in Montreal on Beliveau and the Canucks
Grandmother’s love for Le Gros Bill helped fuel winger’s strong desire to make it to the NHL
Alex Burrows never had the privilege of meeting Jean Beliveau, but even as a young boy growing up in nearby Pincourt, he felt he knew the late, great Montreal Canadiens icon.
Monique Lariviere played a major role in educating her grandson on what Le Gros Bill — nicknamed after a French folk hero — meant to those who hung on Beliveau’s every move and word, and those who were never refused an autograph or the shake of a hand. Bigger than most players of his generation as a silky-smooth, 6-foot-3 centre, Beliveau became a giant on the ice and in the community because his generous nature was as important as 10 Stanley Cup championships.
“I would stop in after school and was babysat by my grandmother because my parents were working a lot,” recalls the Vancouver Canucks winger. “And that’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with the game of hockey. It was the way she would talk about Jean Beliveau and she would watch the Canadiens faithfully every Saturday night or listen on the radio.
“She was a big fan of him on and off the ice and deep down, it’s one of the key roots in why I’m playing hockey and where I’m at. It’s because of her love of Jean Beliveau and everything he did for the hockey world.”
Burrows’ grandmother and grandfather, Jean-Paul Menard, have both passed on but Burrows is still driven by the fact they got to see him play in the NHL.
It’s why his enthusiasm for the game — even his over-enthusiasm — has never waned as an undrafted longshot who beat considerable odds to become a Canucks mainstay.
“They saw me play a little bit in the NHL and when my grandmother was sick in the hospital, it was the first year I scored a hat trick against L.A. (March 27, 2006) and she was so proud of me.”
A father to two girls, there remains a wide-eyed infatuation with the game for the 33-year-old Burrows.
He understands what it means to be part of the charitable community in Vancouver and what it must have meant for so many in Quebec to be touched by Beliveau’s presence. He won Hart, Art Ross and Conn Smythe trophies and won the heart of the faithful by his deportment as a great player and consummate gentleman. It’s why everybody in this hockey-mad mecca claims to have either met Beliveau or at least has a personal tale to tell of a brush with greatness.
“People would talk about him all the time and you’d see him behind the bench at Canadiens games,” adds Burrows. “It’s the way he carried himself. People only had nice things to say about him because he was so proud of being a Canadien and it meant so much to him to represent them the right way.
“It was an honour and a privilege for him to wear that jersey and he made everybody in that organization know they had to carry themselves in the right way and feel privileged to play for the Canadiens.”
Burrows and his young buddies could never get enough of anything to do with the Canadiens. They would ride the bus or take the Metro to the Bell Centre and sneak into one of those arena tours.
Of course, at age 14 and 15, they would stray from the orderly procession and sneak off to check out press row or the locker-room or any other area a curious kid would covet to view before getting caught.
“I think they (guides) knew what we were doing,” says Burrows, laughing. “They just let us be a part of it (tour).”
The passion would continue to the practice rink or any other venue where the Canadiens were present. Burrows would clamour to get autographs of Brian Skrudland, Ryan Walter, Chris Chelios, Patrick Roy, Mats Naslund, Rick Green and Craig Ludwig. “I had them all when I was a kid — I would get them on napkins or any piece of paper I could get,” says Burrows, who subscribed to a monthly Canadiens magazine and had the jerseys of Naslund and Roy.
Which brings us to Tuesday. After two days in which thousands lined up for hours to view Beliveau’s closed casket in the Bell Centre that was transformed from a raucous rink to a quiet cathedral, Burrows can only imagine what the pre-game ceremony will include. Nobody does ceremony like the Canadiens.
“Very sad, I’d say,” says Burrows. “Very emotional, but at the same time, people want to celebrate his life. We’ve been lucky to follow Trevor Linden’s footsteps and how I saw him is probably how a lot of people saw Beliveau. It goes a long way and people talk about performances on the ice, but at the end of day it’s how you carry yourself that’s good for the future in general.”