Montreal Canadiens right winger and Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur of Thurso, Quebec passed away on Friday at the age of 70 of cancer. Lafleur was with the Canadiens from 1971 to 1985, and then retired for three seasons before joining the New York Rangers in 1988-89, and the Quebec Nordiques for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons.
Lafleur will forever be remembered for his hair, which flew regularly as he breezed down the zone, during an era when players did not wear helmets. Interestingly according to Rob Suggitt, the publisher of Edmonton Hockey Magazine and Calgary Hockey Magazine, Lafleur did wear a helmet in the early stages of his National Hockey League career.
In 1126 regular season games, Lafleur had 560 goals and 793 assists for 1353 points. He was a +446 with 399 penalty minutes, 420 power-play points, five shorthanded points, and 3516 shots on goal.
Lafleur’s most fabulous season came in 1976-77. He notched career highs in assists (80), points (136), and plus/minus (89). He won the Hart Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Award, Art Ross Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, Stanley Cup, Lionel Conacher Award and Lou Marsh Award all in the same season. Lafleur also won the Stanley Cup in 1973, 1976, 1978, and 1979, the Hart Trophy in 1978 when he had a career-high 60 goals, and the Lester B. Pearson Award and Art Ross Trophy in 1976 and 1978. Lafleur also played in six NHL All-Star Games, and was a first-team NHL All-Star six straight seasons from 1975 to 1980.
Also from 1975 to 1980, Lafleur became the first player ever to have 50 goals and 100 points six straight years. In the playoffs, he had 58 goals and 76 assists for 133 points. Lafleur was a +53 and had 67 penalty minutes, 14 power-play goals, 14 game-winning goals, and had 370 shots on goal.
Lafleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. He received the Order of Canada in 1980, and had his number 10 was retired by the Canadiens in 1985.
