Report:Guy LaFleur has passed away

[Brawndo]

 

[nfreeman]

RIP.  He was a superstar and a worthy contemporary of Perreault.

[Taro T]

1st Bossy, now him.  The 2 best pure goal scorers of the 70's.

RIP to the original Flower.

Still recall how he barely survived a car crash late towards the end of his time in Moe-ray-all.  His car hit a road sign that went through the windshield.  Just missed him.

[Stoner]

No, he didn't.

He skated away.

[KC Scouts]

Great player, what a talent! Although he played for one of our fiercest rivals I couldn't dislike him. Just awesome to watch. RIP 

[phil_soisson]

Tremendous player! I remember the Knox's and Sabres honored him at the Aud when he was with the Nordiques, I believe. It was one more reason to feel proud I was a  Sabres fan.

[bob_sauve28]

Just 70?? What happened? 

[Carmel Corn]

40 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

RIP.  He was a superstar and a worthy contemporary of Perreault.

Didn't Lafleur and Perreault play together for Team Canada once?  I can't remember who the third line member was, but Gilbert was really flying until he had an unfortunate injury that tournament.  

RIP to the "Flower", a loss of another great one!

[nfreeman]

3 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

Didn't Lafleur and Perreault play together for Team Canada once?  I can't remember who the third line member was, but Gilbert was really flying until he had an unfortunate injury that tournament.  

RIP to the "Flower", a loss of another great one!

It was a skinny guy named Wayne.  

[Eleven]

Now I have to wonder who the third one is going to be.

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Now I have to wonder who the third one is going to be.

It was already covered roughly a decade ago - the other '70's pure goal scorer - Rico.  He finally gets to show them what he could've done minus the knee injury.  He'd've been right there w/ them in the HHoF.

[North Buffalo]

Clark Gilles was the first

39 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Now I have to wonder who the third one is going to be.

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

😭

God I loathed the Canadians, but loved watching the Flower play.  RIP.  70 is much to young.  

[dudacek]

Legend

[LabattBlue]

😢

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

It was a skinny guy named Wayne.  

The Dream Line.

Suggestion: watch Perreault-Gretzky-LaFleur play together from games 1-4 of the 1981 Canada Cup.  They were a joy to watch.

[Pimlach]

RIP Guy Lafluer - another great player from the 70's.   Truly gifted.  

[nfreeman]

From the Athletic:

"The Flower" played 961 games for the Habs, recording a franchise-best 1,246 points.

…

Lafleur was born on Sept. 20, 1951 in Thurso, Quebec and was taken with the No. 1 pick by the Canadiens in the 1971 NHL Draft. He won Cups with the Canadiens in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the Canadiens’ 1977 Cup win.

He led the NHL in scoring three straight seasons from 1975-76 through 1977-78 and won the Hart Trophy in 1976-77 and 1977-78. From 1974-75 through 1979-80 he scored 50 or more goals including an NHL-leading 60 in 1977-78.

[matter2003]

Wasn't he the last helmetless player in the NHL?  Always remember watching him on the Rangers the last year and wondering why he had no helmet. Actually looked it up and there were some guys without helmets into the early 90s, so I guess he was one of the last ones but not the last one.

Edited April 22, 2022 by matter2003

[bob_sauve28]

Was he a smoker? 

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/guy-lafleur-obituary-1.5766441

The cause of death was not immediately known. However, Lafleur suffered through health issues in the latter stages of his life. In September 2019, he underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery, which was followed by lung surgery two months later.

Then, in October of 2020, he endured a recurrence of lung cancer.

[bob_sauve28]

Yup 

https://www.si.com/nhl/2012/02/29/players-smokingcigarettesnhlhockeyIf you ever saw the Montreal Canadiens' Hall of Fame winger Guy Lafleur away from a rink, chances are he had a cigarette between his right thumb and forefinger.

Mike Bossy, the Hall of Fame sniper who helped the New York Islanders win four straight Stanley Cups, smoked while answering postgame questions from reporters, as E.M. Swift's Sports Illustrated story from May 1983 documents.

[Taro T]

29 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Was he a smoker? 

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/guy-lafleur-obituary-1.5766441

The cause of death was not immediately known. However, Lafleur suffered through health issues in the latter stages of his life. In September 2019, he underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery, which was followed by lung surgery two months later.

Then, in October of 2020, he endured a recurrence of lung cancer.

You already answered your question, but darn near ALL of the French Canadian players that came into the league pre-mid-90's were chain smokers.  The better question would be which ones weren't.

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

Wasn't he the last helmetless player in the NHL?  Always remember watching him on the Rangers the last year and wondering why he had no helmet. Actually looked it up and there were some guys without helmets into the early 90s, so I guess he was one of the last ones but not the last one.

Craig MacTavish was the last player without a helmet.

[French Collection]

RIP Guy.

He was a joy to watch, so skilled.

I saw him play an old timers game after his first retirement. It was vs our local guys and he was toying with them but not in a show off-ish way. He probably could have scored at will but played at about 50% effort. He made his comeback with the Rangers the following year, so he still had it.

 

[bob_sauve28]