Guy Lafleur-Je me souviens. I remember. I will remember....

Je me souviens – Guy Lafleur

Known as the motto of Quebec and the phrase that adorns their license plates – je me souviens seems appropriate as a title for some of my final thoughts on Guy Lafleur. I remember. I will remember.

So many the world over have offered reflections and heartfelt remembrances on both his passing and his incredible career. I have been thinking of him and his family and his many teammates and close friends who have lost such a huge part of their lives and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to share my own few stories I experienced with the man and on the impact he had on the Montreal Canadiens, the sport of hockey, the Province of Quebec, the rest of Canada and hockey communities around the world.

I honestly feel at this point given how many interviews I’ve done that I have offered every single bit of remembrance I could but it behooves me to put a bow on my commentary with a Liam Maguire style obituary for this incredible athlete and selfless human being.

Guy Lafleur was at one time in his career the best player in the world. There are less than 25 men who can lay claim to this fact going back 100+ years in hockey and it wasn’t for only one shining or brief moment. Lafleur held this unofficial title for several years as he led all offensive categories in the NHL, won on the global stage and dominated post season play helping his team, the Montreal Canadiens to a series of Stanley Cups. That alone puts him in rarified air. Off-ice he had a larger-than-life persona that at face value was held under a veneer of shyness coupled with extreme humility all adding to his incredible aura. He carried himself with the grace of a Jean Beliveau yet his goal scoring prowess and his style on the ice was more akin to Rocket Richard.

He scored 130 goals in his last year of junior hockey playing for the Quebec Remparts and that success propelled him to the top of the draft class in 1971. Thanks to the ever shrewd Sam Pollock, the greatest general manager in NHL history, Montreal had obtained the California Golden Seals 1st pick in the draft the year before on my 11th birthday of all days, May 22, 1970. On that day Montreal made five trades involving twelve players, two draft picks and cash. The two picks were both used in one of the five transactions, the one where Montreal’s 1st pick in 1970 was sent to the Seals that summer and the Seals 1st pick came to Montreal the following year, Guy Lafleur’s draft year, 1971. California selected Chris Oddleifson 10th overall in 1970. The following season Montreal selected Guy Lafleur. You could say the rest is history but there were a few speed bumps to pass over first.

The pressure on Lafleur was immense. He had to deal with selecting a sweater number. Many thought he would ask the retiring Jean Beliveau for the vaunted number 4 which Guy had worn throughout junior to honour his idol. It was a conversation with Le Gros Bill where Mr. Beliveau suggested Guy find another number, make it his own given there was already so much pressure on him so that's exactly what he did.

Number 10 was available having been last worn for one game by Frank Mahovlich after the previous holder, Bill Collins, was traded to Detroit in a multi-player deal that was used to acquire the Big M in Montreal. There was no #27 available, Frank took 10 for one game, doffed it for Montreal’s next game when a 27 was ready to go. 10 stayed open the rest of the season, enter Lafleur that summer and we all heard the beginning of, " but des Canadien marque par le numero dix, Guy Lafleur!!" Close your eyes and picture Claude Mouton on the PA announcing a goal)

Lafleur’s auspicious beginning and his final numbers in his first season ( 29G-64pts) were looked down on by various league and media personnel especially given the early projections. When voting for the Calder Trophy for rookie-of-the-year was announced Lafleur did not receive a single vote. In fact his own goaltender Ken Dryden was the winner with fellow French Canadian scorer Richard ‘Rick’ Martin of the Buffalo Sabres finishing second and yet another French Canadian and Lafleur’s already longtime rival Marcel Dionne with the Detroit Red Wings rounding out the top three. Goaltender Gilles Meloche of the aforementioned Seals received one vote as did defenseman Dave Burrows of the Pittsburgh Penguins, also one vote…Nothing for Lafleur. Can you imagine saying that three seasons later? Just incredible.

I would like to share a few personal memories with you as I close out my reminiscence. You can find all of Guy’s stats and numbers elsewhere but if you don’t mind, I would like to indulge myself and tell you what he meant to me, and what I’ll remember about him.

Guy Lafleur was at that time the latest in what had been a long line of superstars who played in Montreal and who were mostly French Canadian. I include my favourite player of all-time Yvan Cournoyer on that list. Yvan enjoyed some of his best years while Guy was acclimatizing himself to the NHL. As Yvan was starting to wind down, Guy was taking off. For me as a Hab fan those days meant Wednesday and Saturday nights at home on the Kars Road in front of our new colour TV, our first one, in our back kitchen with a big fire going in the wood stove. Hockey Night in Canada was sacred. The Montreal Canadiens were our passion as a family.

My fandom was ratcheted up a notch when I went to the Montreal Forum for the first time, an incredible Saturday night, May 1, 1975. I attended the game with longtime friends Phil Byrne and Kevin Jardine. It was a few weeks before my 16th birthday. Montreal were hosting Buffalo in game 3 of their SF series. The Habs won 7-0 and I witnessed Lafleur’s first playoff hattrick. He scored his 3rd goal on a delayed penalty, taking the puck end to end and scoring on Gerry Desjardins who had come on in relief of Roger Crozier. I thought the roof was going to blow off.

Four years later Lafleur’s tying goal late in game seven vs the Bruins is regarded as his most important goal in the greatest game he ever played – by his own admission – and if the bolts on the roof were not shaken when that laser beam shot blew past Gilles Gilbert what I can tell you for sure is the railings and panels that comprised the tops of the three sections in the Forum where the standing room only crowd resided and were a cult group unto themselves, the areas identified by their colours, red, white and blue, they shook that night. They shook in my hands as God is my witness the night Guy scored Montreal’s 4th goal essentially ensuring overtime on the play where the late Danny Gallivan started the call by saying, ‘Lafleur, coming out rather gingerly.’

Those on-ice moments that I witnessed along with his final game ever in Montreal then as a member of the Quebec Nordiques and that amazing celebration for him are what I’ll store away for all time of Guy Lafleur the player. Guy Lafleur off the ice was something else. If you thought he couldn’t be any more impactful you’d be wrong.

The Shawville trip in 2018 to visit a man whose last wish was to meet Guy Lafleur will always be my number one off-ice memory. There are no words to describe that day. Guy piloting the helicopter, flying us over the Ottawa River, heading north over Hull toward Shawville, landing in a farmer’s field where we met with the Troke family and their patriarch, Wayne. It was 90 minutes of a script out of a Hollywood scene and Guy did it all on his time and on his dime. He was so gracious and warm with all of them, especially Wayne that it seems superfluous to offer another anecdote. So I won’t. I’ll finish by saying this and it leads to the photo I have chosen to post as my lead picture in my remembrance.

Yvan Cournoyer. Guy Lafleur. Liam Maguire. One of these things is not like the other but what it does signify and this has something to do with the location and the setting is, Yvan Cournoyer is my favourite player of all time. Guy Lafleur is my second favourite. They are forever linked by their association as teammates on my favourite team, as stars, as winners and as my idols and for me this is massively important. Additionally the first point Guy Lafleur ever recorded in the regular season in the NHL came Saturday night October 9, 1971 in a 4-4 tie with the New York Rangers. Lafleur picked up the only assist on a goal scored by Yvan Cournoyer. I watched that game at home in our back kitchen. I had played my first ever Bantam game that afternoon and all everybody was talking about was Guy Lafleur and that he was playing his first NHL game tonight. Lo and behold he gets his first point on a Cournoyer goal. You can imagine how thrilled I was with that.

Merci Guy….merci….for your power and beauty on the ice, for your selflessness and generosity off the ice and for inspiring countless millions the world over including a young boy on the Kars Road sitting wide-eyed watching his heroes.

Je me souviens. I remember. I will remember.

Postscript; the pre-game ovation for Guy Lafleur at the Bell Centre, Sunday night April 24th, 2022, lasted 10:10.