Pierre Pilote played more than 500 games in his thirteen year National Hockey League career – including some against former Montreal Canadiens great Jean Beliveau.
“He was tall and had the same ability and the same speed as a small player so had the long reach – very smart and he was very smart and he could skate also,” says Pilote.
Pilote says everybody respected Beliveau both on and off the ice. He was in his words the complete hockey player and was respected because of his leadership.
On Wednesday, Pilote talked about a photo of him and Beliveau, battling for position in front of the net. Pilote says it’s the perfect example of how good he was.
“I should’ve been in-between the goaltender and him but he was inside, where I should’ve been so that was one strong part of him.”
But Pilote says he did at times get the best of his friend.
“We did collide one time and he ended up with the worst end of it he had his head down.”
At his home on Wyevale on Wednesday, Pilote told CTV News a story about Beliveau. They were in Montreal a few years ago at a Canadiens/Leafs game and something happened Pilote will never forget.
“Somehow they presented a sweater to somebody; it was a beautiful original sweater. I said man I’d like to have one of them. That’s all I had to say and a week later I had one at my door. He sent me an original Blackhawks sweater.”
And his friend’s passing is something that has made Pilote think about life and the life Jean Beliveau lived.
“We live a very short time and we got to make it sweet…and he was a sweet guy. That’s all I can say.”
