Bernard (Bernie) Geffrion was born in Montreal, Quebec on January 16,
1931 and played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1950-64, as well as the
New York Rangers from 1966-68.
Known as an an innovator for being the "father" of the slap shot.
Acccording to Geffrion, the first time he did it was when he missed the
puck and out of anger, he slapped the puck with his stick and it took
off. Shortly thereafter, he discovered he may have come up with
something big, so he placed a dummy in front of the net and perfected
the "Boom Boom" (what the slap shot was originally referred to).
Unbelievably, some people thought that the "boom boom" was a joke and
Geffrion's coaches wanted him to stop doing it, but Geffrion refused
because he was scoring goals from it. Shortly thereafter, other players
started seeing Geffrion's success with it and they started using the
slap shot as well and goaltenders started wearing the mask because of
it.
Some of Geffrion's accomplishments included, being named to the
All-Star team 3 times, won the Art Ross Trophy (Scoring champion) in
1955, won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the year) in the 1951,-52 season
and scored 5 goals in a game on February 19, 1955 against the New York
Rangers.
In addition, Geffrion won 6 Stanley Cups in the 1952-53 season and was
part of one of the greatest dynasties in hockey history as the
Canadiens won five consecutive Cups from the 1955-56 to the 1959-60
seasons.
The 1960-61 season was a banner year for Geffrion, as he became the
second player, next to Maurice "Rocket" Richard to score 50 goals in a
season with 50, won the Art Ross trophy (season scoring champion) and
won the Hart Trophy (League's MVP.
Considered to be one of the greatest right wingers, next to Gordie Howe
and Richard, he retired after the 1963-64 season, only to come back to
play for the New York Rangers from 1966-68.
One of Geffrion's dreams was to coach for Les Canadiens, but for years
he was denied. He coached for the Canadiens' "Farm" team, The Quebec
Aces of the American Hockey League, from 1964-66, the New York Rangers
for part of the 1968-69 season and the expansion Atlanta Flames, from
1972-75.
His dream became a reality in the 1979-80 season, when he was behind
the Candiens' bench, but stomach ulcers reduced him to 30 games.
In 1972, Geffrion was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
Off the ice, Geffrion became a spokesman for Lite Beer from Miller,
doing television commercials and promotions for the company in the late
70s to the 80s.
Sadly on March 11th, 2006 Bernie Geffrion died of stomach cancer, on
the day The Candiens' were to retire his number 5.
