Hockey legend Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion is back in the spotlight. The star of six Stanley Cup championship teams with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League is working toward a new goal –  improved sight for senior Canadians who are at risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Geoffrion, 71, has lost the sight in his right eye to the disease that is the leading cause of blindness for North America's 50-plus population. But he's confident that new knowledge about the value of vitamins and anti-oxidants will allow him to preserve the 20-20 vision he still has in his left eye. And he wants to share that knowledge.
"A guy like me can, maybe, change the minds of a lot of people. I can sell my disease to people to prevent them having what I have," he says. "If I can help one person 50 years old or over to avoid what I've got, I'm going to do it. Canadians were good to me when I was playing and I don't want them to see the blindness coming into their lives."
It's a frightening experience, Geoffrion says.  He noticed a few years ago that he was having trouble distinguishing colours and that his vision was obstructed by a growing black spot. "It grows like a dime, then it’s like a nickel and then it becomes a quarter and covers your whole eye and that's it. Ball game's over."    
One night, he says in his trademark raspy voice, he was watching television in his Atlanta home and told his wife, Marlene: "'Something's wrong with the television; the colour is bad.' She said, 'Boom, it's not the television. It's your eyes.'" A specialist issued the diagnosis of AMD, with no hope of saving the sight in the right eye. But the doctor told Geoffrion about studies showing that anti-oxidants – vitamins and minerals, such as C, E and zinc, and carotenoids like lutein – can prevent the development of AMD and even slow its progression.
Geoffrion began taking a product from Whitehall Robins called Centrum Select with lutein, and soon the company invited him to Canada to introduce the multi-vitamins to his 50-plus fans in Toronto and Montreal. (Other vitamin manufacturers have also jumped on the bandwagon, adjusting their formulations to include the anti-oxidants. Jamieson’s Adult 50+ Vita Vim, for example, advertises the addition of lutein “for better vision” while Novartis has a comparable formulation called Vitalux with Lutein.)
"I started to take this multi-vitamin with lutein and before I left to come to Toronto, I went to see my doctor. I have 20-20 vision and … you can be sure that I'm going to be taking it the rest of my life because I don't want to lose the left eye.
“I think this is the worst thing that could happen to anyone in the world - becoming blind.… I'd rather have another disease than losing both of my eyes."
Even the loss of one eye has had an impact on his lifestyle.
"I'm afraid to drive. I don't drive at all at night. During the day, I go slow, like a 95-year-old or 100-year-old man."
And, while he says he doesn't miss skating, he does try to maintain his golf game, albeit with limitations.
"I was a great golfer – I want to be humble when I say that. Three years ago I played a tournament with Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez and all those guys. I still play once a week but always with the same three guys – because they watch my ball. I don't know where my ball goes and they tell me."
Geoffrion's message is a simple one: "Go see your physician, for your eyes. Just do it.
“I took care of myself. I'm proud of what I accomplished in sports. I trained like you wouldn't believe. I played 18 years pro and I got hit a few times but that has nothing to do with this. I never had sickness in my eyes before. It just started three years ago. My specialist told me: 'Boom, it's old age.’''
And he hopes his fans will listen. "I had a lot of help in my life when I started playing pro. So if I can help somebody I will. I guarantee you that."