The hockey legend who dominated the sport

1951–2022

No one had trouble picking out Guy Lafleur on the ice. The legendary rightwinger for the Montreal Canadiens zipped across the rink helmetless, his long blond hair flowing behind him, before unleashing a killer slapshot or deft backhand that, 560 times in his NHL career, hit net. The Canadiens’ all-time points scorer led the team to five Stanley Cup victories—including four consecutive wins from 1976 through 1979. His enthusiasm for hockey never dimmed, and such was his glee at the Canadiens’ 1978 victory that he plotted to temporarily steal the trophy to show it off in his small hometown, Thurso. After asking the cup’s handler for his car keys during a photo shoot, he sent a friend off to make a copy of them. “I told my friend,” he recalled in 2017, “after Claude [the Cup handler] brings the Cup back to his trunk, you steal the car.”

Guy Lafleur

The son of a welder, Lafleur grew up in rural Quebec obsessed with hockey, said the Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada). “He skated for hours” on a rink in his backyard and he slept in hockey gear so he could be ready for practice early. By 11, he was already being heralded as a prodigy, and he scored 465 points in two seasons in the Junior Hockey League. “High expectations” dogged Lafleur when the Canadiens drafted him in 1971, said The Washington Post, and when he struggled in his first two seasons, “the public disappointment was loud and clear.” But when Lafleur ditched his helmet in the 1974-75 season, “he began to play like a superstar.” Over six consecutive seasons, he consistently scored at least 50 goals and 100 points as the “Habs” dominated the NHL.

In the 1980s, Lafleur battled injuries, nearly died in a car crash, and “butted heads with coach Jacques Lemaire,” whose regimented defensive approach hemmed in Lafleur’s freewheeling style, said ESPN.com. Lafleur retired at 33, but shortly after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, he announced his un-retirement and played one season for the New York Rangers and two for the Quebec Nordiques. In 2008, statues of Lafleur and three other Canadiens greats—Howie Morenz, Rocket Richard, and Lafleur’s onetime idol Jean Beliveau—were unveiled at the team’s stadium. “I’d rather still be playing,” Lafleur said, “than have a statue.”