Even during the 1950s, size wasn’t everything. As an NHL player, you could have been a 5’9… right-winger with all of the flair and scoring talent necessary to be forever enshrined as a Montreal Canadiens legend.
The number 5 all-time scoring right wing to don the Habs’ jersey is none other than Bernard “Boom Boom… Geoffrion. A homegrown talent, the late Geoffrion is often credited for having invented the slapshot while playing at the junior level in Laval. Once he joined the Bleu Blanc et Rouge in 1950, he turned heads immediately thanks to the sheer power and accuracy of his shot despite having such a small stature.
His size never prevented him from achieving the kind of success that the most storied franchise in the history of the NHL so deservingly prides itself on. In 766 career regular season games for the Habs, Boom Boom is credited with 371 goals and 759 points. He’d be the second player to ever reach the 50-goal mark after his teammate Maurice “Rocket… Richard did, and Geoffrion was a dominant force in the playoffs as well. His 56 goals and 59 assists in 127 games thereof demonstrate why he is not just one of the greatest scoring right-wingers in the team’s history but also one of its greatest champions and ambassadors.
He helped secure six Stanley Cup victories, including five in a row between 1956-1960. He won the Calder Trophy in his rookie year by scoring 30 goals, two Art Ross trophies in 1955 and 1961 as well as the Hart that same year. A naturally gifted goal-scorer, he was also considered a playmaking machine who often racked as many if not more assists year in and year out.
Along with being a marquee player in the NHL, he entertained teammates, journalists, and the entirety of Quebec by performing on radio or television anytime he was invited to do so. Suffice to say, Geoffrion was a well-respected and undoubtedly well-adored member of his community.
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, his jersey retirement ceremony was scheduled to be held on March 11th of 2006. Sadly, he passed away only a few hours before being able to attend one of the most honorable and humbling events that any Canadiens player could ever dream of…