Music: {allcanada} GRETZKY: PLAYOFF MVP AWARD SHOULD BE RENAMED AFTER BELIVEAU

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

{allcanada} GRETZKY: PLAYOFF MVP AWARD SHOULD BE RENAMED AFTER BELIVEAU

Over 180 Retail and Restaurant Gift Cards

If The Great One had a say in how the Stanley Cup and playoff MVP award should be presented, it would be done involving another hockey great in his own right.

In an interview with Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Wayne Gretzky suggested that the Conn Smythe Trophy should be renamed after Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau and that the Montreal Canadiens legend should be present when it's presented each year.

"What I'd like to see is the Conn Smythe Trophy be renamed the Jean Beliveau Trophy, and have (Beliveau) come onto the ice with the commissioner to present the award to the MVP and then stay by the commissioner's side for the presentation of the Stanley Cup," said the four-time Stanley Cup champion.

Beliveau, who won 10 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens, was the first-ever recipient of the playoff MVP award in 1965. Gretzky won the trophy twice as captain of the Edmonton Oilers in 1985 and 1988.

"When I was growing up and would see Jean Beliveau get the Cup from Clarence Campbell, or watch Denny Potvin be presented the Cup by Mr. (John) Ziegler, to me, that was what hockey and winning the Cup was about," Gretzky explained to The Post.

"You wouldn't have anyone booing with Jean Beliveau on the ice, so I think that would solve the problem. I think the NHL is about the winning captain getting the Stanley Cup from the NHL president or commissioner. I would never want that to change."