early in his playing career, he had a reputation for letting his temper get the best of him. one such example occurred late in the second period of a canadiens' 3–1 loss to the rangers at madison square garden on december 20, 1953. with a two-handed swing, geoffrion's stick made contact with the left side of ron murphy's face, resulting in a broken jaw and concussion. the injuries ended murphy's season. geoffrion was suspended for the remaining matches between the two teams in that campaign.