RIP Guy Lafleur
- Thread starter wawa
- Start date
unfortunately my main memories of hockey started when Guy was declining in his later years with the Habs. Also the Habs teams in those early to mid 80 had a real defensive identity and player a really tight game compared to the rest of the free flowing NHL. Took some of the flair away from his game.
Quite possible. The Nords were a non playoff team in the 2 years before he arrived but I think they thought they could be close to a playoff team as they still had Stastney and Goulet. Instead they went really really bad winning 12 games in Guy’s first year — not that i blame Guy in any way for that he was productive for them (34 points in 39 games).
He would shoot between 100 to 200 shots by himself before practices or games.
Guy's biography entitled Overtime is a good read. I read the book several years ago but will never forget the passages about his participation in the famous Québec Pee-Wee Tournament which showcases the best 11 and 12 year old hockey players. When he was 10, his hometown of Thurso, Québec didn't have the resources to send a team. He ended up playing that year as a 10 year old ringer for Rockland, Ontario. To catch a ride to the Québec City tournanent, he had to walk across the frozen Ottawa River (1 mile wide) to the Ontario side, pulling his equipment and bags on a sled. He impressed so much that Thurso was able to raise funds and send teams led by Guy the next 2 years.
Being a Nordiques fan growing up I remember them all playing together. And I was right.
Sundin was drafted on June 17, 1989 1st overall by the Nordiques.. They signed Lafleur to a 2 year contract on July 14, 1989. Yes Sundin didn't play in Quebec for the 89-90 season but he played there with Guy in 90-91.
Owen Nolan was drafted in June 1990 and he played in the 90-91 season along with Lafleur.
The main reason Quebec wanted him was because Michel Bergeron demanded it. But they also thought he'd be a good mentor to Sakic, Sundin and eventually Nolan. Lafleur's desire was to end his career in Quebec which is why he turned down a better offer with Los Angeles Kings.
Guy played six seasons in Quebec City in Junior Hockey, (age 15-20), with the Aces and Remparts, so he wasn't exactly a stranger in town.
Quebec City is known for having very hot women. Locals say it's because in the 1600's when boats carrying les filles du Roi arrived from France, Montreal got the girls that the guys in Quebec City didn't want, sort of like when hashish is smuggled by boat; all the best product gets snapped up in Sept-Iles.
I bet the people were respectful and didn't overdo it if he spent a little time with him. These days people would be following him into the VIP with their cellphones.
January, 1991 I visited Montreal, and on the VIA Rail train back to Toronto, I sat next to Bryan Fogarty's brother. He had signed hockey sticks given to him by his brother, Mats Sundin, and Owen Nolan.
The taping on Nolan's stick blade was almost anal retentive; most of the blade was coverered, and each layer covered almost exactly 3/4 of the previous one, so the tape was consistently three layers thick. On Sundin's stick, there was a small patch in the center of the blade, as if it had been added in a few seconds.
The brother related this funny story about Bryan.
He had been out drinking in a club, he met a young lady there, yada yada, he spent the night at her apartment. In the morning, the phone rang, and he answered, as she was still sleeping. He recognized the caller's voice, and groggily said "Hey, Coach, how did you know I was here?".
Lafleur has an assist for 184 of shut’s 406 goals. They are still the most prolific combo in the nhl. Its very rare that 2 winger were able to connect together like that. Usually its a center/winger combo.
Agreed. Quebec City has a lot of beauties. I love visiting there.
I have an Owen Nolan signed stick but don't recall the blade being that heavily taped. I'll check the next time I'm at my storage locker.
I stand largely corrected. I was connecting a few things related to Nolan pertainimg to his junior days when I saw him a lot more than anybody here. I looked at the 1991 Quebec team stats before my original post but did not go down far enough as Owen really did struggle his first year with 13 points. Though he started the next year.
That 89-90 team was probably the worst ever team that had 4 hall of famers on it. It was probably the worse non-expansion team since 1967. And other than Sakic most of its young pieces on that team were disappointments. They ramped up their development and team building game after that .. really helped by the Lindros trade as well. Too bad they moved for the loyal fans that stuck through some really dark years.
