#A BOOM BOOM BOOM TV#

The Rocket was on the sidelines when Geoffrion finished the 70-game season with 38 goals and 37 assists. Richard had been suspended by NHL president Clarence Campbell for the final three games of that regular season, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, for a stick-swinging, linesman-punching melee against the Boston Bruins. The Forum crowd went bonkers, celebrating Boomer's achievement in a way they hadn't recognized his 1954-55 scoring title that gave him a one-point edge on Rocket Richard, his friend and iconic teammate. If the slap shot existed before Geoffrion's day, it was Boomer who is credited with popularizing it.Д«ut it was on Mawith a close-range shot, one skittering inside the goal post without great velocity, when the Montreal native was made most famous, his 50th goal of the 1960-61 season coming against Toronto Maple Leafs rookie goalie Cesare Maniago, an emergency call-up. 'I look at the number of your father up there,' Geoffrion once told Marlene. 7 of his late, legendary father-in-law, Howie Morenz, who decades ago had been voted by sportswriters as the greatest hockey player of the first half of the 20th century. On the red carpet that night were a son, Danny, and a grandson, Blake, both of whom had gone on to play briefly for the Canadiens, in 1979-13 respectively.ДЇittingly, Geoffrion's banner was hoisted beside the No.

Boomer's number was raised to the rafters of the Bell Centre that night above his widow, Marlene, their three children and his extended family. 5 jersey in a ceremony that had been arranged months previously. In a sad twist, his passing came 12 hours before the Canadiens retired his No. Geoffrion died in Atlanta 10 years ago next month, lost to stomach cancer at age 75 on March 11, 2006. 'I couldn't fall down with millions of people watching but at the commercial break I sure felt it.') 'Probably the worst injury I had,' Giacomin later told me.

#A BOOM BOOM BOOM TV#

(Rehearsal went perfectly but on live TV Geoffrion rifled a shot into Giacomin's throat, leaving him without a voice for a week.

There is Geoffrion's unofficial record that never will be matched: Between 1951-60, the Canadiens a championship finalist for 10 consecutive years, Boomer was the only player to appear in all 53 games played in the Stanley Cup Final.Д«ut Geoffrion's unabashed love of life and all that went with it is what still stands out since his passing - from his cheesy Miller Lite beer endorsements on TV and in print advertising, to his curly later-years perm, to his 1966 appearance with New York Rangers goaltending teammate Eddie Giacomin on 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.' * Eleven appearances in the NHL All-Star Game. * Second player in NHL history, behind teammate Maurice 'Rocket' Richard, to score 50 goals in a season, that coming in 1960-61. * Recipient of the 1960-61 Hart Memorial Trophy as the player voted to be most valuable to his team. * Twice winner of the Art Ross Trophy, in 1954-61, as the League's top point-scorer. * The 1951-52 Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. * Six Stanley Cup championships won: 1953, then 1956-60 inclusive. Photos of the Hall of Famer are on display throughout the Canadiens' Bell Centre home, his on-ice achievements celebrated - even if they sometimes can't keep pace with the mischief this bon vivant got into off it. Memories remain rich in Montreal of Boom Boom, so nicknamed by a 1950s Montreal sportswriter for the sound of the puck hitting first Geoffrion's stick, then the boards.

A boom boom boom