Originally Posted by Jay Random
Ah, Le Gros Bill.
Jean Béliveau played two games for the Habs in 1950-51, and scored two points. Then he had to be sent down because he was still an amateur and the Canadiens did not have him under contract.
In 1952-53, the Habs called on Béliveau again. He played three games this time, and scored five goals. Again they had to send him down, much against their wishes.
There's a story behind this, and it grows out of that sponsorship system I mentioned earlier.
In those days, when an NHL team could control hundreds of young players through a complex web of sponsored clubs, the instrument of control was called the ‘C’ form. Every time a kid showed unusual talent, an NHL scout was all over him (and his parents or legal guardians) to sign this form. The ‘C’ form gave the NHL club an ironclad option to sign the player after a certain date and at a set salary.
Arthur Béliveau would not sign a ‘C’ form for his son. He knew what a fleeting and uncertain thing a hockey career is, and did not want young Jean (15 at the time) to be forced to commit to it. The most he would do was to sign a ‘B’ form, which gave the Habs rights to the player if he turned pro.
Time went by. Apart from his two brief callups, young Jean was a star attraction for the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Senior Hockey League. The QSHL paid its players, but for technical reasons it was still counted as an amateur league. That meant Béliveau still had amateur status and his ‘B’ form did not require him to report to the Habs. He liked it that way, and preferred to stay in the QSHL.
In 1953, Frank Selke, the GM of the Canadiens, decided he had had enough. He got his bosses at the Canadian Arena Company (which owned the Canadiens at that time) to do the one thing that would absolutely compel Béliveau to turn pro.
They bought the QSHL.
All of it.
The entire league.
And when they had bought it, they officially turned it into a professional league. Now Béliveau was a professional player, whether he liked it or not, and he had to report to the Habs.
This time he stayed with the Habs for 18 years, during which he played 1,125 games, scored 507 goals and 1,219 points, and won the Stanley Cup ten times (plus seven in management). I'm sure the Montreal Canadiens and their owners thought he was worth the trouble they took to get him.
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