Montreal, QC -- (Sports Network) - Hockey great Bernie Geoffrion died Saturday morning after a brief battle with stomach cancer. He was 75 years old.

According to the Montreal Canadiens, for whom Geoffrion starred in the 1950s and early '60s, the Hall of Famer died at an Atlanta hospital.

Geoffrion was credited with inventing the slap shot, and thus earned the nickname "Boom Boom." He was the Hart Trophy winner as the league's MVP for the 1960-61 season when he became the second player to score 50 goals in a season, was the Calder Trophy winner as the top rookie in 1952 and was twice the Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL scoring champion.

The Canadiens went ahead with a planned ceremony Saturday night to retire Geoffrion's No. 5. The raising of his sweater took place before a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers, for whom Geoffrion played the final two years of his career.

Geoffrion was born in Montreal and played for the hometown Canadiens from 1950 through 1964, winning six Stanley Cup titles. After a two-year retirement, he played two seasons with the New York Rangers and called it quits for good after the 1967-68 season.

In 883 career regular-season games, Geoffrion recorded 393 goals and 429 assists for 822 points. He also notched 58 goals and 60 assists for 118 points in 132 playoff games.

Geoffrion was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in June of 1972, then later that year became the first head coach of the Atlanta Flames. He led the Flames to the playoffs in their second year of existence and finished with a record of 77-92-39 before stepping down for health reasons.

Prior to the 1979-80 season, Geoffrion was named the head coach of the Canadiens, but his tenure lasted just 30 games again for health issues.

Geoffrion had made Atlanta his home since his coaching days with the Flames, who eventually moved to Calgary.