Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, October 11, 2019 After winning the 1978 THE FLOWER By The Old Sachem, Bill Stewart umber 10 of the Montréal Canadiens in the seventies and eighties was known as “The Flower” and also as “Le Démon Blond” to the fans. Guy Damien Lafleur was born September 30, 1951, in Thurso, Québec, Canada. He was the first professional ice hockey player to score 50 goals in the National Hockey League and score 100 points in six straight seasons. Although he had his greatest seasons with the Montréal Canadiens, he later played for the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques. During his career of 17 seasons, he was part of five Stanley Cups with the Canadiens. Lafleur was named as one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history in 2017. He was a right wing, stood 6 feet tall and weighed 185 pounds in his playing career. Guy received a hockey stick for Christmas in 1956, and he N proceeded to use the piece on local ponds. He was selected to play in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament three consecutive years, 1962, 1963 and 1964, scoring a tournament record of 64 points. As a teenager he starred for the Quebec Remparts of the Québec Major-Junior Hockey League, leading his Ramparts to the Memorial Cup in 1971, when during the regular season Lafleur scored 130 goals. The 1971 NHL draft had two spectacular players, Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne, and the “Les Habitants” General Manager was determined to select one of the two for the Canadiens although they were low on the draft list. He got the California Golden Seals, owned by Charles Finley, to trade their first-round pick and François Lacombe in return for the Canadiens’ firstround pick of the previous year, 1970, Ernie Hicke. Oakland finished last that year, Bill Stewart The Old Sachem which gave Montréal the first overall pick and they selected Lafleur. It turned out that Dionne became an immediate star for the Detroit Red Wings while Lafleur struggled in his first season in the big league. As he improved each year in the Canadiens’ roster, in 1974 he became a team leader and star as he developed a very smooth skating style and a fantastic scoring touch which made him a favorite of the Canadian fans, and even recognized as a very good competitor around the league. Fans speaking English knew him as “Flower” as the literal translation of his name, but to the French-speaking crowd he was known as “Le Démon Blond,” the Blond Demon. Stanley Cup, Lafleur brought the trophy back home to Thurso for the weekend to show off the trophy to his home towners. After the 1979 season, Guy released an album, “Lafleur,” which contained hockey instructions for youngsters with Lafleur’s voice and disco music accompaniment. The 1980 season was not so resounding because goalie Ken Dryden (whom I have written of earlier) and center and Captain Jacques Lemaire along with several other players retired. The Les Habitants lost to the Minnesota North Stars in the second round of the playoffs in seven games. With injuries over the years, Lafleur’s production fell off in the 19801981 season, and Mike Bossy of the Buffalo Sabres and Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers took over as the top guns of the league. Driving his car on March 24, 1981, Lafleur fell asleep at the wheel of his Cadillac and crashed into a highway fence. A metal post pierced the windshield, tearing off part of his ear. Injuries led to Guy only appearing in 51 games and scoring 27 goals. In the 1984-1985 season, his scoring was diminishing and he had problems with the manager, Lemaire, and the feelings between the two became intolerable because the manager demanded that all players contribute full scale defensively, which was not part of Lafleur’s game. His spectacular offensive abilities overshadowed his lack of defensive weaknesses. Guy went to Serge Savard, the General Manager of the Canadiens, and requested that he be traded. Savard was leery of removing one of the most adored players to ever play for Montréal, so Lafleur retired. Lafleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988. He then came out of retirement and signed with the New York Rangers, and later he played for the Québec Nordiques. He retired as the all-time leader in scoring for the Canadiéns, with 2,246 points; that included 581 goals and 728 assists. He led the league in points in 1976, 1977 and 1978, and tied the Montréal club record of 60 goals in the 1977-1978 seasons and was the Montréal all-time leader in points scored with 136 in the 1976-1977 season. He won three Art Ross Trophies OLD SACHEM | SEE PAGE 16
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