Guy Lafleur

Guy Damien "The Flower" / "Le Démon Blond" Lafleur, OC, CQ (born September 20, 1951) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the most naturally gifted and popular players ever to play professional ice hockey. Between 1971 and 1991, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques in an NHL career spanning 17 seasons and five Stanley Cup championships.

Early years
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 an amazing 130 regular season goals. At the time, Lafleur idolized Jean Béliveau and Bobby Orr.

The Habs' astute General Manager, Sam Pollock, was keen to find a way to trade with the California Golden Seals to obtain their first round draft pick. He persuaded Seals owner Charlie Finley to trade the Seals' pick and François Lacombe in return for Montreal's first round pick and a veteran Ernie Hicke. It turned out to be one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history. However, during the 1970-71 season, the Los Angeles Kings were playing even more poorly than the hapless California Seals. The Kings were in danger of "beating" the Seals out for last place, and if this happened Pollock would lose his first overall pick. Pollock cleverly traded the aging but still valuable Ralph Backstrom to the Kings for two insignificant players. Backstrom's presence lifted the Kings out of last place, the Seals finished at the bottom, granting the Habs the first pick. Pollock hesitated between Lafleur and Marcel Dionne, but chose Lafleur with his overall no.1 pick.

Montreal Canadiens
At first, Lafleur struggled to live up to expectations in the league, but by 1974 had developed his trademark smooth skating style and scoring touch. He was a cornerstone of five Stanley Cup championship teams. He was one of the most popular players on a very popular team; fans chanted "Guy, Guy, Guy!" whenever he touched the puck. He became known among English fans as "Flower", while among French fans he was dubbed "le Démon Blond" (the Blonde Demon).

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 an album called 'Lafleur'. The album consisted of Guy Lafleur reciting hockey instructions, accompanied by disco music.

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

With Scotty Bowman, Ken Dryden, Jacques Lemaire, and several other key players retiring after the conclusion of the 1979 season, the Canadiens' dynasty came to an end, losing in the second round of the 1980 playoffs to the Minnesota North Stars in seven games. Injuries shortened Lafleur's 1980–1981 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. During the 1984–1985 season, after scoring only two goals in 19 games and unhappy with the amount of ice time he was receiving, he decided to retire and his departure from the Canadiens was considered acrimonious.

Return to NHL
After being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Lafleur returned to the NHL briefly from 1988–89 through 1990–91 with the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques. Lafleur remained one of the few players that did not wear protective helmets due to a grandfather clause.



Against the Edmonton Oilers in a 1988 exhibition game, Lafleur had six shots on goal which was the most in that game, and that performance earned praise from the Oilers' Mark Messier, as well as convincing Rangers manager Phil Esposito to sign Lafleur to a one year contract. During his first game back in the Montreal Forum, he scored twice against Patrick Roy during the Rangers' 7–5 loss to the Canadiens. As in his heydey with the Habs, the Forum crowd chanted "Guy! Guy! Guy!" every time he touched the puck, and he received huge ovations for each goal, and when he was introduced as the game's first star. 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, he reportedly turned down a $1 million offer from the Los Angeles Kings. He managed 24 goals in 98 games with the Nordiques over two seasons, the 38-year-old was still among the team's best players while receiving diminished ice time.

Oddly, the Minnesota North Stars selected Lafleur with the 20th and last pick in the 1991 Expansion Draft, this despite the fact that it was already well known that he was retiring for good at the end of the 1990–91 season.

He had already verbally agreed to an office job with the Nordiques and since his retirement papers had yet to be filed with the NHL offices, league tampering bylaws prevented him to accept an off-ice position with a team that didn't own his playing rights. In order to simplify his transition from player to an office job with the same team, a gentlemen's agreement between the two teams was made where his rights were traded back to Quebec for the NHL rights to Alan Haworth.

Accolades
Lafleur is the all-time leading scorer in Canadiens history, notching 1,246 points (518 goals and 728 assists) in his 14 years with the Habs. He led the NHL in scoring in 1976, 1977, and 1978. He tied for a Montreal club record with Steve Shutt for goals in a season with 60 in 1977–78 and holds the franchise record for points in a season with 136 in 1976–77. Lafleur became the first player in NHL history to score at least 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons as a Hab. Lafleur was also the fastest player (at the time) to reach 1,000 points, doing so in only 720 games. That record has since been broken by Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and a few others.

He won three Art Ross Trophies (1976, 1977, 1978), two Hart Memorial Trophies (1977, 1978), three Lester B. Pearson Awards (1976, 1977, 1978), and one Conn Smythe Trophy (1977). He was a member of the Canadian team in the 1976 and 1981 Canada Cup tournaments, winning the Cup in 1976, and was the recipient of the Lou Marsh Trophy in 1977.

Lafleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. Along with Gordie Howe before him and Mario Lemieux after him, Lafleur is one of only three players to have returned to the NHL after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He still holds the record for the most career point and assist totals in Montreal Canadiens history, as well as the second-highest goal total behind Maurice &quot;Rocket&quot; Richard. Lafleur was the sixth Montreal Canadiens' player to have his sweater number retired.

In April 2001, Lafleur placed 122 items - including 5 miniature Stanley Cups, 6 miniature Prince of Wales trophies, 1977 Conn Smythe Trophy, 3 Art Ross trophies, Hockey Hall of Fame plaque and ring, games-used jerseys, 4 Stanley Cup rings, and the first skates he ever wore - for sale. The items' selling prices totalled approximately $400,000 USD.

Besides the honours received during his playing career, in 1980 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2005, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

In 1998, he was ranked number 11 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

After retirement
Lafleur currently operates a helicopter rental company in Montreal that shuttles VIPs to and from the airport. He was at the controls when the Tampa Bay Lightning's André Roy proposed to his fiancée, the Stanley Cup serving as the engagement ring bearer. Guy Lafleur also owns a restaurant in Berthierville, Quebec, "Guy Lafleur Mikes Signature" It opened in 2002. Lafleur has opened a new restaurant, called "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge!" in Rosemère, Quebec, August 4, 2008.

Criminal conviction and acquittal
Lafleur's son Mark had a number of run-ins with the law, including charges of sexual assault. Part of Mark's bail conditions was that he remain at his father's house. In 2008, questions about Lafleur's testimony in his son's case resulted in an arrest warrant being issued for Lafleur, which his lawyer criticized as an unnecessary embarrassment. In 2009 Guy Lafleur was charged with obstruction of justice for helping Mark to break his curfew by driving him to a hotel to see his girlfriend; the trial was scheduled for April 2009. Lafleur has filed a $2.8 million dollar civil suit against police and prosecutors, claiming that his rights were violated.

On May 1, 2009 Lafleur was convicted and on June 18, 2009 was given a one year suspended sentence. Lafleur was also fined $100 and ordered to donate $10,000 to charity.

On August 17, 2010, Lafleur was unanimously acquitted of all charges by the Quebec Court of Appeal, throwing out his previous conviction.

Career statistics
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
 * Name was engraved on the Stanley Cup.
 * Name was engraved on the Stanley Cup.