Guy Lafleur

At 73 years old, Guy Lafleur has this physical status:

As a youth, he played at the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament three consecutive years from 1962 to 1964, and scored a tournament record of 64 points. In his teens, Lafleur gained considerable recognition for his play as a member of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he led his team to the Memorial Cup in 1971, scoring 130 regular season goals. At the time, Lafleur idolized Jean Béliveau and Bobby Orr. He gained the nickname "Le Turbo de Thurso" while playing with the Remparts, coined by Radio Canada broadcaster Jean-Bernard Rainville.

With Lafleur and fellow Quebecer Marcel Dionne among the top prospects in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, the Habs' general manager, Sam Pollock, was keen to find a way to trade to obtain one of the top two picks. He persuaded California Golden Seals owner Charlie Finley to trade the Seals' 1971 first-round pick and François Lacombe in return for Montreal's 1970 first-round pick and veteran Ernie Hicke. Oakland finished last, leaving Montreal with the first overall pick. Pollock hesitated between Lafleur and Dionne, but chose Lafleur with the first draft choice.

Lafleur wore No. 10, as Beliveau originally asked Lafleur to take his No. 4, then had second thoughts, saying, "Don't try to be a second Jean Beliveau. Be the first Guy Lafleur. Take a number and make it your own." Lafleur received little ice time in his rookie season, as the Canadiens were deep in veteran players. During his first three seasons, Lafleur struggled to live up to expectations in the league as he posted average statistics—the more so in that Dionne became an immediate star in Detroit who led his team in scoring over his first three seasons.

By his fourth season, 1974–75, Lafleur had developed his trademark smooth skating style and scoring touch, making him one of the most popular players on a very popular team; fans chanted "Guy, Guy, Guy!" whenever he touched the puck. Lafleur was described as a "Jackson Pollock painting on ice, a frenetic innovator who pushed the boundaries of his art beyond what had ever been conceived, a singularly dynamic force that turned an everyday sight as simple as a man on skates with a puck on his stick into a masterpiece — something you had seen before, perhaps, but never quite like that". Opposing players often hooked and slashed Lafleur, but he never retaliated. Former teammate Réjean Houle said that “Guy lived 100 miles an hour. One hundred miles an hour everywhere. One hundred miles an hour when he went to Quebec in his car. One hundred miles an hour on the rink. One hundred miles an hour on Crescent St. Besides his on-ice artistry, Lafleur was also known for his charisma as he was frequently in demand with the press and fans, with former Montreal Gazette sports columnist Michael Farber saying “Jean Béliveau was magisterial. Jean Béliveau was our father — and Guy Lafleur was our cool older brother. Lafleur wasn’t a quiet guy and if you look at his era, that was not a quiet time. Lafleur was a product of the ’70s. There were loud colours, loud clothing — we’ve seen pictures of the sideburns". Those who encountered Lafleur personally lauded his down-to-earth persona and humility. Lafleur became known among English fans as "Flower" due to his literal translation of his surname, while among French fans he was dubbed "le Démon Blond" (the Blond Demon). He was one of several players nicknamed "The Flying Frenchman".

Lafleur was a cornerstone of the Canadiens' four straight Stanley Cup championships from 1976 to 1979, including being named playoff MVP in 1977. During the 1978 Stanley Cup finals, Boston Bruins head coach Don Cherry ordered his players to put their sticks up and hit Lafleur whenever they encountered him. At the end of the series, Lafleur's head was swathed in bandages after numerous slashes from Bruin players. After Montreal won the Stanley Cup, he borrowed it for the weekend without telling anyone to show his friends back home in Thurso, where he set it out on his front lawn for all his neighbours to see.

In 1979, Lafleur released the album Lafleur!, consisting of Guy Lafleur reciting hockey instructions, accompanied by disco music.

With Ken Dryden, Jacques Lemaire, and several other key players retiring after the conclusion of the 1979 season, the Canadiens' dynasty came to an end with the team losing in the second round of the 1980 playoffs to the Minnesota North Stars in seven games. Injuries shortened Lafleur's 1980–81 season and his production dropped significantly (during the previous six seasons, Lafleur had reached or exceeded 100 points and 50 goals). In the following seasons, he was overshadowed by Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.

While driving home on March 24, 1981, Lafleur fell asleep at the wheel of his Cadillac and crashed into a highway fence. A metal post pierced the windshield, missing his head by an inch while grazing his right ear. During the 1980–81 season, Lafleur appeared in only 51 games and scored 27 goals. It was the first time since the 1973–74 season that he failed to score 50 goals or more in a season.

The 1983–84 season produced Montreal's first losing record of the expansion era, and resulted in coach Bob Berry being replaced 63 games into the season by Lafleur's former teammate Jacques Lemaire. At first, Lemaire's hiring was seen as a success as he guided the Canadiens to their first playoff series victories since 1980 and reached the Wales Conference Final. Though the Habs' new coach had been Lafleur's centreman during many of the glory years of the 1970s, the former linemates quickly struggled to transform their relationship to an amicable one between coach and player. In time, Lemaire became renowned as one of the NHL's finest defensively-minded coaches. Lafleur was always an offensive-minded player who believed his productivity overshadowed any defensive weaknesses. Lemaire's insistence that everyone on his teams contribute defensively promptly caused a rift between him and Lafleur that never healed. By 1985, due to a rocky relationship with Lemaire, Lafleur felt this had become intolerable and requested a trade. General manager Serge Savard refused Lafleur's request, as trading one of the most popular players in Canadiens history would have incurred a severe backlash from fans and the media. With no other options, Lafleur decided to retire, and his departure from the Canadiens was considered acrimonious.

After being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Lafleur came out of retirement to return to the NHL for three more seasons, from 1988 through 1991, with the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques. Lafleur remained one of the few players who did not wear protective helmets due to a grandfather clause. According to Wayne Gretzky, Lafleur "was quicker and faster without wearing full shoulder pads".

Against the Edmonton Oilers in a 1988 exhibition game, Lafleur played well enough to earn praise from the Oilers' Mark Messier and convince Rangers general manager Phil Esposito to sign Lafleur to a one-year contract. During his first game back in the Montreal Forum, he received a standing ovation when he came on the ice, and as in his heyday with the Habs, the crowd chanted "Guy! Guy! Guy!" every time he touched the puck. Lafleur scored twice against Patrick Roy, to heavy applause, during the Rangers' 7–5 loss to the Canadiens, and was awarded the first star of the game. Although his high-scoring days were well behind him, his stint with the Rangers was moderately successful, and he helped the team to first place in the Patrick Division until being knocked out by a knee injury.

Lafleur then followed dismissed Rangers head coach and close friend Michel Bergeron to the Nordiques for his final seasons. Intending to finish his hockey career in Quebec where he had started, Lafleur reportedly turned down a $1 million offer from the Los Angeles Kings which would have allowed him to play alongside Wayne Gretzky. Lafleur managed 24 goals in 98 games with the Nordiques over two seasons, while also mentoring emerging star center Joe Sakic, Despite Lafleur's presence, the Nordiques owned the NHL's worst record in both seasons Lafleur played with them. During Lafleur's final NHL game he was cheered every time he touched the puck and leapt over the boards and received a long standing ovation; the referee for that contest was Paul Stewart (coincidentally Stewart's final NHL game as a player was when his Nordiques played against Lafleur's Canadiens on April 6, 1980).

The Minnesota North Stars selected Lafleur with the final pick in the 1991 Expansion Draft. Lafleur had decided to retire for a second and last time as a player, and he had already agreed to an off-ice job with the Nordiques. The league's bylaws prevented him from accepting a job with a team that did not own his playing rights. The North Stars solved Lafleur's quandary by trading him back to Quebec. In exchange, they received the rights to a former Nordique who had been playing in Switzerland for two years, Alan Haworth. Haworth played just one more year of professional hockey, and never returned to the NHL.

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