Acadia Mourns the Loss of a Hockey Legend
Acadia University’s Connections with Mr. Béliveau

The world lost a great man on Tuesday evening, a hockey legend, an ambassador of the game, and a role model for us all. Mr. Jean Béliveau passed away at the age of 83, his name appears on the Stanley Cup 10 times as a player, all with the Montreal Canadiens where he played his entire 20 year NHL career, and was captain of the storied franchise from 1961 until his retirement in 1971. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in June of 1972.
Béliveau’s career didn’t end when he hung up his skates, however. He moved his love of hockey off of the rink and into the community. In addition to working as the senior vice-president and director of relations for the Canadiens, Béliveau has devoted time to working with children. He began the Jean Béliveau Foundation, which gives grants to youth organizations for equipment, in 1971 with the money that was given to him in honour of his 500th goal, and has travelled across Canada on behalf of the Big Brothers Association. Béliveau became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1969. He has had countless other awards bestowed upon him over the years, and reluctantly had to turn down opportunities to become a senator and governor general of Canada. He opted not to go to Ottawa as he felt he had to stay home and help raise his daughter’s children, who lost their father, a Quebec police constable, to suicide.
We at Acadia University had some special connections with ‘Le Gros Bill’ as he was nicknamed in his playing days. In 1998 he received an Honourary Degree from Acadia University. Béliveau’s ancestry traces back to Antoine Béliveau, who settled in 1642 in Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The Béliveau’s were expelled along with the Acadians in 1755 and the family settled in the Boston area before moving to Québec to the Trois Rivières area in the mid-19th century.
Mr. Béliveau didn’t just view his appearances as duties or jobs, instead he was a man who was 100% genuine; he wanted to know more about where he was, the history, and what he could do to help, he genuinely cared.Read more »