26-05-2025
Todd: Auston Matthews-Jean Béliveau comparison a bridge (way) too far
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But when Auston Matthews actually scored a goal in Game 6 of the Leafs-Panthers series (wow!) MacLean reached deep into that vat of tapioca pudding that passes for a brain … And compared Captain Peaheart with Jean Béliveau.
Yes, that Jean Béliveau. The man who won 10 Stanley Cups as a player and seven as an executive. Who won 24 playoff series in an era when teams played at most two or three series a year. Whose goals-per-game production actually went up in the playoffs, where the Leafs captain's goal production falls off a cliff this time of year.
Béliveau was a prince among men. A man who lived most of his adult life in the same modest home in Longueuil, who answered every fan letter he ever received and signed every autograph he was asked to sign.
Béliveau was, and is, the most respected individual in the history of the game. As an alleged student of hockey, MacLean ought to know that much.
