from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,
The summation of an athlete’s career, especially those greatest at their sport, always comes down to numbers. So inevitably last week that was the case with Jean Beliveau, the sublime, larger-than-life Montreal Canadiens center, his name etched into the Stanley Cup 17 times, though his unremitting dignity, elegance, and grace truly immeasurable, unquantifiable.
Beliveau’s numbers, including the “4” he wore on the back of his Habs sweater for 18 full seasons, his 10-year captaincy, his bountiful goals and assists, will be easy to summon. They have long been engraved in silver, noted in NHL record books, inscribed on his plaque at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Those numbers are the hard facts of what he was, while his dignity, elegance, and grace, the very being of who Joseph Jean Arthur Beliveau was, are left but to the memory of those who saw him play, knew him in his life off the ice, absent his skates, his stick, or iconic CH sweater.
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