Photo: US Embassy Canada / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Béliveau is the kind of name that makes me sit up straight. Twenty seasons in one sweater for the Montreal Canadiens, a fistful of Stanley Cups, and a permanent slot in nearly everyone's top-ten of all time. But what genuinely moves me is the man behind the stats: at 191 cm he could have bullied the ice, yet he became known as a gentleman, dignified enough to be made a Companion of the Order of Canada. "Le Gros Bill" was loved, not just feared. To me that combination of dominance and grace is the rarest thing in any sport, and it is why his legacy still feels alive.
Overview
Joseph Arthur Jean Béliveau (August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Montreal Canadiens from 1950 to 1971. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, "Le Gros Bill" Béliveau is widely regarded as one of the ten greatest NHL players of all time.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jean Béliveau
- Name (Japanese)
- ジャン・ベリヴォー
- Reading
- じゃん・べりゔぉー
- Born
- August 31, 1931 – December 2, 2014
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Goat
- Origin
- Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 191 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- ice hockey player
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Stanley Cup
- Companion of the Order of Canada
- 1988 Knight of the National Order of Quebec
- 2006 Officer of the National Order of Quebec
- 2010 Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec
- 2001 Canada's Walk of Fame
- 1964 Hart Memorial Trophy
- 1956 Hart Memorial Trophy
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Ice hockey player — see all → · More people from Canada →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.