Robert and Danny Geoffrion as well as other family members will stand in for the former Montreal Canadiens scoring star when his No. 5 jersey is raised to the Bell Centre rafters on Saturday night before a game against the New York Rangers.
The 75-year-old Geoffrion, who has been admitted to a hospice in Atlanta with inoperable stomach cancer, could not be present for an honour he has waited decades to receive.
He asked his sons to represent him at the ceremony.
''We're here for the celebration,'' Danny Geoffrion said Friday. ''As hard as it is, with a little bit of help from God, we're going to make this happen.
''It's a celebration and that's what it should be. It shouldn't be a funeral. We're coming to bring closure to this for Dad.''
He said the ceremony is not likely to be televised in Atlanta, where Geoffrion has lived since the 1970s, so they hope to bring him a videotape.
The brothers said Geoffrion went on intravenous feeding this week, hoping to build up strength to make the trip, but he caught an infection and his health began deteriorating. On Thursday, his wife Marlene and daughter Linda had him admitted to a hospice, which Danny called ''the last stage.''
''It hasn't been determined how much time he has left, but it's a day-to-day situation from what we can see.''
Danny Geoffrion said a tumour was discovered in his father's stomach during a check-up two weeks ago.
Doctors operated last week, but found the disease had spread too much to be removed.
Danny said his father has ''a lot of pride'' and didn't want to attend unless he was fit enough to walk onto the Bell Centre under his own strength and address the crowd.
