Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau is making good progress after suffering a stroke Monday, the Montreal Gazette reports.
Élise Béliveau, the wife of the 80-year-old Hall of Famer, said Thursday afternoon that her husband is speaking, laughing and regaining some strength while he undergoes tests, still under close observation by specialists.
Beliveau won 10 Stanley Cups while playing for the Habs, and seven more as a team executive.
For hockey history buffs out there -- in a 1956 Sports Illustrated article, Montreal’s then-managing director Frank J. Selke said that Beliveau “is probably the classiest hockey player I’ve ever seen. He has a flair for giving you his hockey as a master showman. He is a perfect coach’s hockey player because he studies and learns. He’s moving and planning all the time, thinking out the play required for each situation.”
