Bernie Geoffrion, the Montreal Canadiens' Hall of Fame wing who popularized the slap shot, a weapon that changed the face of hockey and brought him the enduring nickname Boom Boom, died Saturday in Atlanta. He was 75.
The cause was stomach cancer, said the Canadiens, who retired Geoffrion's number at the Bell Center in Montreal on Saturday night in a previously scheduled ceremony. Geoffrion's wife, Marlene, who flew from Atlanta for the ceremony, joined with their three children in hoisting a banner bearing his No. 5. It flies alongside the retired No. 7 of Marlene Geoffrion's father, the Hall of Famer Howie Morenz.
Geoffrion starred on six Stanley Cup championship teams in his 14 seasons with the Canadiens, then played two seasons with the Rangers. He scored 393 regular-season goals and won the National Hockey League scoring title twice. He later coached the Rangers, the Atlanta Flames and the Canadiens. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972.
Geoffrion became known as Boom Boom while playing junior hockey, a tribute to the sound of his slap shot when it left his stick, unleashed from a windup, and caromed off the boards. "When I slapped it, I thought it was the greatest thing ever," he told the New York Times in 1988.
Emile Francis, the Rangers' coach and general manager when Geoffrion played for them, recalled in that article how the high-velocity slap shot "was an enormous addition to the player's arsenal." The slap shot was seldom used before Geoffrion's arrival and was previously overshadowed by the wrist shot.
"Without a doubt it turned some 20-goal scorers into 50-goal scorers," Francis said.
At Saturday's tribute, Dollard St. Laurent, a longtime defenseman and teammate of Geoffrion's, told the Montreal Gazette: "He changed the game with the slap shot. Goalies were afraid to face him. He's the reason why goalies started wearing masks."
Geoffrion played on the Canadiens teams that captivated fans at the old Forum. Those teams included Maurice and Henri Richard, Jean Beliveau and Dickie Moore at forward; Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson on defense; and Jacques Plante in goal. All are in the Hall of Fame. They won the Stanley Cup in 1953, then captured a record five in a row, from 1956 to 1960.
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