1) Early Life
Joseph Andre Bernard Geoffrion was born February 16th, 1931, in a suburb of Montreal. He was a direct descendant of early French settlers to the colony of Montreal (one of whom was a “King’s Daughter” – a collective of young French woman sent over to New France by King Louis XIV).
2) The Slap Shot
Bernie Geoffrion is considered a pioneer of the now famous “slap shot” in the National Hockey League. His shot was so hard and heavy that a writer for the Montreal Star gave him the name “Boom Boom” while he was still playing in Junior League.
3) Marriage to Marlene
Marlene Morenz was the daughter of Hockey Hall of Famer Howie Morenz and was introduced to Bernie by her brother at a figure skating event at the Montreal Forum. By the age of 8 Marlene had lost her father, one of her brothers and her mother and had lived in an orphanage and a convent.
She survived it all to become a figure skater but gave that up for Bernie, marriage and a family of her own. They married on May 3rd, 1952 and had three children – Linda, Bob and Danny. Marlene had a profound influence on “Boom”.
4) NHL Career
Geoffrion played his first NHL game when he was called up (along with Jean Beliveau) by Montreal Canadien’s Manager Frank Selke on December 16th, 1950. He wore number 5 and would go on to play 14 seasons for his beloved Canadiens and then 2 seasons for the New York Rangers.
5) Hockey Achievements
Just some of Boom Boom Geoffrion’s achievements included:
>Winning the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year
>Winning two Art Ross Trophies as well as the Hart Trophy (MVP) in 1961
>Becoming the only the second player to score 50 goals in one season (after Maurice “Rocket” Richard)
>Winning 6 Stanley Cups (Including 5 in a row)
>Being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
6) Teammates
Geoffrion played junior hockey against future teammates including: Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore and Jaques Plante among others. On the Montreal Canadiens he played on a stupendous line with Beliveau and Bert Olmstead and later with Henri Richard and Dickie Moore. He also had Hall of Fame defenseman Doug Harvey on the blue line.
7) Rocket Richard’s Shadow
Despite his amazing talent and scoring, Geffrion was on a team of future legends and perhaps no one more so than Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. Despite leading the league in points one year Geoffrion had to settle for 2nd Team All-Star behind Richard.
However, it was when Richard had been suspended by Commissioner Clarence Campbell and Bernie scored a goal to pass Richard that the Montreal fans turned on Boom. He was sensitive to criticism and pleaded with the fans that he “couldn’t not score”. He actually considered leaving the game but Richard and Beliveau talked him out of it.
8) Coaching Career
Geoffrion had high hopes of coaching his beloved Canadiens and so he retired and took his first job as a coach with the minor league Quebec Aces in 1964. He went on to coach the New York Rangers and the Atlanta Flames and finally fulfilled his dream of coaching the Habs in 1979. Unfortunately coaching caused him a lot of stress and his stomach ulcers often sidelined him and ended up cutting short his coaching career.
9) His Faith
In 1979, Marlene Geoffrion was invited to attend a Bible study in Atlanta. She hadn’t wanted to go but relented out of sheer boredom. She was profoundly affected by that Bible study and soon became a Christian. She began to pray for Boom. Ed Kea, a player for the Atlanta Flames, invited them to a Christian conference for athletes and it was there that Marlene recalls,
“One of the speakers asked a question that caught our attention: “If you were to die today, where would you go?” Boom couldn’t answer that question, and it bothered him. He spoke to Ron Pritchard a former NFL player and Ron shared with him. He prayed with Boom and told him not to put off his desire to become a Christian, as tomorrow may never come. Let me remind you. We were religious, but we didn’t have a relationship with the Lord. Boom accepted Jesus into his heart in June, 1979. We began to attend a weekly Bible Study.”
10) Death & Legacy
Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion was finally due to have his number retired at the Montreal Forum on March 11th, 2006. Unfortunately, Bernie passed away due to stomach cancer just hours before the ceremony was to take place. He had made Marlene promise to go no matter what though – and she did.
Before 21,000 adoring fans, her father, Howie Morenz’s number was lowered to half-mast and her husband, Bernie’s, was elevated to meet it there. Then together both numbers were raised to the rafters in an emotional and fitting tribute to one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
One of Bernie's favourite Bible verses:
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36
Note: Bernie and Marlene’s son Dan played 111 games in the NHL for the Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets. Dan’s son, Blake Geoffrion was a second round pick of the Nashville predators and proudly wore number 5 in honour of his grandfather.
Sources and Further Reading:
“Boom Boom: The Life and Times of Bernard Geoffrion” - Geoffrion and Fischler
https://thehockeywriters.com/hockey-royalty-part-two-bernard-boom-boom-geoffrion/
https://www.hockeyministries.org/home-ice/blog/tmarlene-geoffrion/
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