Beliveau signed historic contract with Canadiens 70 years ago

The courtship, at long last, was over.

Seventy years ago, on Oct. 3, 1953, in a wood-paneled office on the second floor of the Montreal Forum, Jean Beliveau was wed to the Montreal Canadiens, a marriage that would last more than six decades until the hockey legend's death in 2014.

"It was always my dream to play for the Canadiens, even for the two or three years that I didn't want to sign," Beliveau said with a grin in 2013, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of his historic contract signing.

The term, agreed to that Saturday, was for $105,000 over five years ($21,000 a season), "the highest contract ever given any player, highest by a city block," Canadiens general manager Frank Selke Sr. told assembled reporters.

Jean Beliveau signs autographs for Quebec Aces fans in 1952, and in his first Montreal Canadiens portrait in 1953.

An image taken by Canadiens photographer David Bier in Selke's office is one of the classics in franchise history: Beliveau is beaming with pen in hand, seated at Selke's desk. The GM is on the left, coach Dick Irvin Sr. on the right, the latter's sign of "V" indeed one of victory.

Through his retirement at the end of the 1970-71 season, Beliveau would win 10 Stanley Cup championships as a player -- five consecutive from 1956-60, then five more, as captain, from 1965-71. He would win another seven as a senior vice president through his retirement from the front office Aug. 31, 1993, his 62nd birthday.

The 1953 contract signing brought Beliveau, then 22, into the Canadiens family after the team had made multiple bended-knee proposals to the brilliant young center of the Quebec Senior League's Quebec Aces. He politely declined each time.

But Beliveau knew that he'd one day land with the Canadiens, on his own schedule.

Jean Beliveau at close quarters with Toronto goalie Johnny Bower during a 1960s game at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Montreal's pursuit of the superstar-to-be was a soap opera of the highest order. The provincial capital of Quebec City had a red carpet rolled wherever he walked, Beliveau as well paid in senior as NHL stars Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings and the Canadiens' Maurice "Rocket" Richard.

More importantly to Beliveau was his loyalty to the generous Aces and the kindness he was shown.

He had reported to Canadiens training camp several times in the early 1950s and even appeared in a handful of games for a look-see.

Beliveau's NHL debut, Dec. 16, 1950, at the Forum against the New York Rangers, saw him named first star for his nine shots on goal. He scored in his second game a year later, then sparkled in a three-game December 1952 call-up from Quebec, scoring five times before returning to the Aces, who were led by future NHL coach Punch Imlach.

Jean Beliveau as featured in a Feb. 1, 1952 story preview in the Toronto Star.

The mating dance grew comical, Quebec's media covering the story almost around the clock. In the home of the Canadiens' arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs, a Feb. 1, 1952, newspaper item previewed a feature on Montreal's vain pursuit with a sort-of "wanted" poster.

A Quebec newspaper would publish its own similar notice a few months later, adding one inch and 10 pounds to the Star's claim of Beliveau measuring 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds.

Beliveau's decades-long relationship with Molson Breweries had been in the works before he signed with the Canadiens, brewery executive Zotique Lesperance -- also a broadcaster and newspaper columnist -- having made regular trips to see the player on and off the ice.

"Mr. Lesperance would drop by the Quebec Colisee (arena) and tell me, ‘If you ever come to the Canadiens, come see us at the brewery,'" Beliveau recalled.

Jean Beliveau looks for a rebound against Chicago Black Hawks goalie Denis DeJordy during a 1960s game at the Montreal Forum.

In the summer of 1953, having just married Elise Couture in Quebec City, he would meet with Senator Hartland de Montarville Molson, four years later president of the Canadiens, "and the senator and I shook hands. That was my contract with Molsons."

Beliveau would work with the brewery's sales promotion department for the next 18 years, ultimately named a vice-president and board member. He would joke that he in 1953 he was married three times: to his wife, to Molson and to the Canadiens.

It was six weeks after his handshake agreement with Senator Molson that Beliveau finally arrived in GM Selke's Forum office, the Quebec Senior League having been turned pro, its marquee star having become Montreal's property.

Beliveau signed his historic contract just hours before taking part in the NHL's seventh All-Star Game, played that night at the Forum. He assisted on Richard's goal in a 3-1 loss for coach Irvin's defending Stanley Cup-champion Canadiens against Boston Bruins coach Lynn Patrick's all-star squad.

Jean Beliveau won 10 Stanley Cup championships as a player with the Canadiens. The on-ice portrait was his favorite, appearing on the cover of his 1994 autobiography.

Reporters were camped outside Selke's office at midday, a long meeting the previous day having failed to produce an agreement. Finally came news at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Selke opening his office door with both joy and relief.

The signing came in time for the final edition of the afternoon Montreal Star, legendary hockey writer Red Fisher among those at the Forum awaiting the proverbial puff of white smoke from the Forum chimney.

"The signing appeared to lift a tremendous load from the shoulders of both Beliveau and Selke," Fisher wrote. "They had gone into their umpteenth huddle of the year at 10 o'clock this morning and, at one stage, appeared to be as far apart as they had ever been.

"About 90 minutes before the actual signing, Selke had come out of his closed meeting to wearily tell waiting newsmen that ‘Beliveau hasn't signed yet and I can't force him to do so.' About 90 minutes later, the contract was signed as photographers' exploding bulbs sent flashes of light hissing across Selke's smartly decorated office."

NHL President Clarence Campbell was delighted by the signing, saying that Beliveau "comes to this League as the most publicized hockey player of all time. It follows that his signing can't help but attract fans wherever he plays. He should prove most beneficial to his club and to the rest of the League."

Jean Beliveau photographed with his replica No. 4 sweater in the Canadiens dressing room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 1993. He had retired from the team's front office three months earlier.

Born in Trois-Rivieres and raised in Victoriaville, each about 60 miles from Quebec City, Beliveau would play every one of his 1,125 regular-season NHL games for the Canadiens, finishing with 1,219 points (507 goals, 712 assists) en route to his 1972 Hockey Hall of Fame induction. He had 176 points (79 goals, 97 assists) in 162 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

His trophy case includes the 1955-56 Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL in points, the 1955-56 and 1963-64 Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player and the inaugural Conn Smythe Trophy in 1965 as MVP in the postseason. In 2009, the NHL bestowed upon him its Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his playing career and his charity and ambassador work well beyond a hockey arena.

Beliveau would follow Richard as the Canadiens' second great French-Canadian star of the modern era. The year he retired, Guy Lafleur would debut with the franchise to become its third and its most recent.

But 70 years ago, there wasn't much noise in Montreal about succession to the throne, the Rocket with five more championships to go before his 1960 retirement. A walk to the altar was cause for celebration all by itself.

"This is the greatest thrill of my long career in hockey," Selke said. "The fact that I'm able to offer a contract of this nature to a young fellow from a little town like Victoriaville only proves that gold is where you find it."

Little did Selke and his organization know that they had hit the mother lode.

Top photo: Jean Beliveau with Montreal Canadiens general manager Frank Selke Sr. (left) and coach Dick Irvin Sr. upon signing his first contract Oct. 3, 1953, and with Maurice "Rocket" Richard at the Montreal Forum during the mid-1950s.