BURROWS’ LINK TO BELIVEAU
Canuck player says his grandparents in Quebec spoke often of the Habs great
PITTSBURGH — Alex Burrows can’t wait until Tuesday, and not because that’s when the Vancouver Canucks end their marathon seven- game road trip in Montreal.
No, what Burrows is looking forward to is having a frontrow seat when the Canadiens bid adieu to the beloved Jean Beliveau in what figures to be an emotionally charged ceremony at the Bell Centre.
Burrows, a Montreal native, never got to meet Beliveau, yet like so many hockey fans feels like he knew him so well.
He heard stories about the great No. 4 from his maternal grandparents, who were huge hockey fans.
“My grandma and granddad living in Quebec, living in Montreal, that is what they did every Saturday night,” Burrows said before the Canucks met the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. “They listened to the Canadiens on radio and watched on TV once it came out.
“I remember my grandma used to say that he was all class and he was her favourite player. She talked about the way he carried himself off the ice, that he was just a gentleman.”
In a way, Burrows thinks Beliveau played a part in him becoming a hockey player.
“It came down to my mom and her love of hockey a little bit and then it carried to me because of my grandparents and Jean Beliveau,” Burrows said.
“Deep down, I think I have some kind of connection with him. He’s part of why I started playing hockey or got put into hockey because of the way he carried himself, the kind of player and person he was.”
Burrows said it will be a privilege to be able to watch Tuesday’s ceremony.
“I can’t even imagine,” he said. “I have seen it before with The Rocket ( Richard) at the Bell Centre. It is so emotional. It is going to a great ceremony, but it is going to be very sad. There is going to be some legends in the building. It is going to be so special.”
He hopes the Canucks will be able to watch the ceremony from the visitors’ bench.
“Sometimes, those ceremonies can be long and they tell the away team to stay in the locker- room and get ready, but I am hoping we are able to be out there and experience that kind of stuff because that is something you remember for the rest of your career. It is going to be very sad, but at the same time it should be really something special to see.”