Guy Lafleur 1951-2022 | The idol of a lifetime

Spring 1975, I am in my room. I have my newspapers, my scissors, my glue, my three-hole sheets and my big green satchel. And above all, I have such a strong feeling in me that I have to see it, that I have to write it down. I cut out the silhouette of a CH player. A beautiful color photo that represents it well; gaze intense, one skate in the air, ready to provoke the scoring opportunity. I glue it on my sheet. Then I write, in big square letters: LAFLEUR, THE BEST SCORER IN A SEASON IN ALL THE CANADIAN’S HISTORY!

This is the feat he has just accomplished. After three respectable first seasons in the National League, number 10 has just exploded. On the ice and in my heart. He just became the best hockey player in the world. And my idol for life.

I want, from the bottom of my pad, in NDG, to summarize his. Already. He’s only 23! So here is what I call the little story of a great player: “Young Guy Lafleur was born on September 20, 1951, in Thurso. He will be the only boy in the Lafleur family, the other members being 4 young girls. “We have the style we can. Then, I recount his exploits in his hometown, with a photo of him as a kid alongside the seven pucks of his seven goals in the same game. The glory in Quebec, the repechage and his first years in Montreal followed. I’m going to an editorial: there were a lot of expectations of Lafleur because we saw him as Béliveau’s successor, it was unfair, the Perreaults and Martins didn’t have that pressure, because that there had been no one before them in Buffalo. Well seen. Then, I summarize what I call the years of the helmet, before arriving at the stage mane in the wind. I add a photo gallery of the highlights of his career and I conclude, in square letters, of course: THERE WAS MORENZ, RICHARD, BÉLIVEAU, TODAY A NEW STAR WAS BORN: GUY LAFLEUR.

My special notebook is finished. Nobody will read it. I didn’t write it for that. I wrote it for me. As one writes his personal diary. To free your heart. To entrust the love we feel towards someone.

I like Guy Lafleur. Deeply. Because every time he jumps on the ice, nothing and no one else exists. I like Guy Lafleur because every time he scores a goal, he makes me scream with joy. Strong. Stronger than any other player.

My schoolbag never stopped growing. 1975 was just the beginning. There was the Stanley Cup, in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979, all the individual trophies, the All-Star games, the Canada Cup. I pasted some pictures. I used some, Bic pens. I blackened some, three-hole sheets. To tell the legend as it was being written. For the simple pleasure of reading it. In my words. Season after season, I kept paying homage to the Blond Demon. Season after season, my passion for writing kept growing. Maybe one day people will even read what I write. My dream would be to have a column in The Press. I know, it’s crazy, but how can you not believe in your dreams when your idol is Guy Lafleur?

Friday morning, when I learned the sad news, I immediately wanted to find my old satchel, I immediately wanted to find the young person that I was, the young person of ten years, who had fallen in admiration in front of Guy Lafleur.

An admiration that has never been denied. I was very lucky to meet him a few times, even to have long conversations with him. His words were always as precise as his slap shot. No ambiguity. Straight to the goal. And what simplicity! How close! He never took himself for his statue. He was always a team player, which we were all part of.

Lafleur rhymes with heart. That’s what we remember from him. More than the record keepermore than the member of the Hall of Fame, he is the man of heart who brings us to tears today.

47 springs ago, I thus ended my first tribute to his greatness: “TODAY, A NEW STAR IS BORN…”

And 47 springs later, I will not end this ultimate tribute with: “Today, a star died. ” Nope.

Today, a star has risen to heaven where it will never cease to shine.