Geoffrion made extreme decision for Canadiens in 1961 playoffs

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.
This week Fischler tells of the great lengths Montreal Canadiens forward Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion was willing to go to help his team take a run at its sixth straight Stanley Cup championship in 1961.

It was the spring of 1960, the Montreal Canadiens were celebrating their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup championship and managing director Frank Selke called them, "The greatest hockey team of all-time."
Few hockey historians would disagree. After all, no other NHL team had ever won four straight titles, let alone five.
"When the 1960-61 season began, the Canadiens were the unanimous choice to finish first and were picked to win a sixth straight Stanley Cup," wrote broadcaster Dick Irvin in his book, 'The Habs.'
Montreal's entire championship roster was intact with one big exception. On September 15, 1960, Maurice "The Rocket" Richard scored four goals in a preseason scrimmage against the top goalie in the NHL, Jacques Plante. Then that afternoon, Richard announced his retirement.
"His timing was right," Irvin said. "Maurice was bowing to the inevitable. He was 39, got heavier and slowed down."
The question was, how would the Canadiens fare without their captain, the face of the franchise? Could they win the Cup again without The Rocket?
The Canadiens played well during the 1960-61 regular season.
They finished in first place and right wing Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion tied Richard's NHL record by scoring 50 goals. He also won the scoring championship and the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL.
"It was the best year of my career," Geoffrion said. "I had great confidence and when you have confidence, sometimes everything goes in."
Despite Richard's retirement, the Canadiens shared Geoffrion's confidence. They added swift left wing Gilles Tremblay and were fortified with future Hall of Famers up and down the lineup heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Canadiens faced the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round.
"We respected them because they had two of the best forwards in the League -- Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita," Canadiens forward Dickie Moore said.
The Black Hawks were also tough. Defensemen Jack Evans, Elmer Vasko and Pierre Pilote were physical, and their coach Rudy Pilous believed they could win that way.
"Chicago wasn't a bully team, but they were tougher than any team we had faced in the past few years," Geoffrion said.
Montreal won 6-2 in Game 1 at The Forum but paid a price for the victory. Evans checked Jean Beliveau hard into the boards and the big center never was the same force for the rest of the series.
Chicago rebounded to win 4-3 in Game 2 and then took the series lead with a wild 2-1 win in triple overtime in Game 3. If that wasn't bad enough for the Canadiens, Geoffrion sustained torn ligaments in his left knee.
Montreal bounced back to win 5-2 in Game 4 but Chicago's 3-0 victory in Game 5 left the Canadiens one loss from having their Cup streak broken. Still, Canadiens coach Toe Blake remained confident.
"Our team always plays its best under pressure," Blake insisted as his team boarded a train for Chicago.
Fair enough. But Beliveau was playing hurt and Geoffrion's leg had been put in a cast.
"The doctor said it would have to stay that way until April 7th," said Geoffrion, "but our do or die game in Chicago was on April 4th and I wanted to play."
While sitting in the train's parlor car with defenseman Doug Harvey, Geoffrion said, "Listen, Doug, I want to help but I got this cast on my leg. What am I gonna' do about that?"
To which Harvey replied, "Why don't we cut it off, see how you feel without it? If you think it's okay, try working the power play."
Harvey's plan intrigued his buddy, especially after the defenseman returned from the train's kitchen with a knife. The pair then disappeared into a washroom. Geoffrion put his leg up on a chair and Harvey went to work
"I watched Doug saw away at the heavy plaster cast," Geoffrion said. "He cut it lengthwise; and the way the train was bouncing around it was a miracle I wasn't cut.
"It seemed to take hours to complete the job. I breathed a sigh of relief when he was done but soon had second thoughts. Pain shot up my leg when I stood up."
The leg hurt so much Geoffrion hardly slept that night. The next morning his cast-less leg was the talk of the team until Blake saw it and reprimanded the two culprits.
"I begged them to freeze the knee," Geoffrion recalled, "and they relented. I wasn't trying to be a hero, but I did have a sense of loyalty and if my team ever needed a boost, this was it."
Twice during Game 6 Blake sent Geoffrion out on power plays and twice -- after being legally checked - the forward knew that he was finished. Black Hawks goalie Glenn Hall helped shut out the Canadiens 3-0 and they failed to win the Stanley Cup a sixth straight season.
"I don't know what was more painful, the thought of losing the Cup or the pain that was rushing through my knee now that the painkillers were wearing off," Geoffrion said.
"The pain was so intense that when the train finally got to Montreal tears were streaming down my face and I had to leave on crutches."
Years later, long after his injury had healed, Geoffrion looked back with pride and no regrets about Harvey's bit of makeshift surgery.
"Hey, how many times does a team have a chance to win six straight Cups? For me, it was a case of now or never. So, me and Doug did what we thought would help," he said. "Sure, it didn't work but I'm glad we at least tried."