Quebec said a last goodbye on Tuesday to its number 10: Guy Lafleur.
The national funeral of the former great hockey star was held at Marie-Reine-du-Monde Cathedral, two blocks from where the Montreal Canadiens play and where the body of the Blond Demon had been buried. burning chapel the previous two days. The ceremony, which was attended by several hundred people, inside and out, was once again an opportunity to pay tribute to his exceptional talents as a player as well as his human qualities.
In the cathedral, many politicians, many old and young hockey players and other public figures came to surround family and loved ones. We saw in particular the Prime Ministers of Quebec and Canada, François Legault and Justin Trudeau, former Quebec Prime Ministers, several other elected officials, many former Canadian players, members of the current team, former players of other teams, the Commissioner of the National Hockey League, Gary Bettman, artists as well as a little more than a hundred people from the public who had come to attend the event outside, but that we invited inside.
As it should be, it was the Bell Center announcer who had been entrusted with the role of introducing the people invited to pay tribute to the deceased with, whenever possible, the number of their jersey.
During a ceremony that took place in an emotional silence broken by many laughs, the former goalkeeper and number 33, Patrick Roy, recalled the triumphant welcome that the supporters of the Canadian had reserved for Guy Lafleur when he returned to the Montreal Forum in a New York Rangers uniform. That evening in February 1989 was “so magical that when he ‘scored’ two goals, I got a standing ovation! “Beyond the statistics, prowess and exploits, today we take full measure of your legacy and the values of the heart that you have instilled in generations,” said the goalkeeper.
The former captain of the Canadian and number 12, Yvan Cournoyer, thanked the general manager at the time, Sam Pollock, for having drafted the young star of the Quebec Remparts and for having allowed him to have such a teammate. Former defender and number 19, Larry Robinson, recalled for his part a sentence that Guy had said to him and that he always put into practice: “Play every day as if it were the last. »
“Guy was an extraordinary player who could do things on the ice that we all dreamed of being able to do, said another former captain, Guy Carbonneau, number 21. But what made him really special was how he did feel the people around him. He inspired them and made them feel important. »
The organization of the Canadian has often paid the price for Guy Lafleur’s outspokenness, admitted its owner, Geoff Molson. “Sometimes his comments were hard to take, but he was usually right. He was nevertheless “an outstanding ambassador” with “immeasurable influence”. On the ice, “he was the best player on the best team in the world”. Off the ice, he showed himself to be “a man with class and a humility that overshadowed the fame and star status he had.”
My father, this hero
“There are so many things I admire about my father,” said his son Martin of Guy Lafleur. “He was proud of us, even in the difficult times we went through as a family. If he “always took care of his family despite his many commitments”, he also wanted to “take care of everyone, even the people he didn’t know”.
It was impossible, over the past 50 years, to go to a restaurant with him without him agreeing to take at least a few minutes to sign the autographs that were asked of him, said his sister-in-law, Francine Barré.
“I will remember for a long time, like all of you, the great hockey player he was, with his so natural skating, his smile, his hair in the wind, but above all, I will remember the humble, generous man , straight, upright that he was,” she said.
“He leaves a bit of himself in the hearts not only of his family members, his in-laws and his friends, but also in that of each Quebecer,” she concluded before Ginette Reno come perform his song The essential and move on to the more religious part of the ceremony, presided over by the Archbishop of Montreal, Christian Lépine.
Thousands of numbers 10
It was to applause that the coffin, covered in the blue-white-red colors of the Canadian, was escorted down the central aisle to the outside of the cathedral. Like a wave that continued its course, the applause spread to the hundreds of people who had followed the ceremony outside on giant screens. As at the Forum for so many years, we heard voices chanting “Guy, Guy, Guy! “. Others simply said “Thank you, Guy! » during the passage of the funeral procession.
Annie Côté and Jocelyn Murray should have been from this crowd. The new retirees had come down from Alma to go to the Ardent Chapel on Sunday. “He was my childhood idol, says Jocelyn, a number 10. I watched him play on TV on Saturday nights and then I tried to do like him the rest of the week on the ice. »
Luck wanted, Tuesday morning, that we spot them with their Canadian jerseys and that we invite them to attend the ceremony inside the cathedral. “It was very beautiful, very moving,” says Annie.
She admits, a little embarrassed, that she never particularly loved the Montreal team, “but today is different. It’s about Guy Lafleur, ”she explained before the couple went for a last walk around the statue of the Blond Demon at the Bell Center.
Guy Lafleur died on April 22 of lung cancer, at the age of 70. The native of Thurso, Outaouais, played 17 seasons in the NHL, including 14 with the Canadiens, becoming the leading scorer in the history of the Montreal team. He is survived by his wife, Lise, his sons, Martin and Mark, his mother, Pierrette Lafleur, his granddaughter, Sienna-Rose, as well as his sisters, Lise, Gisèle, Suzanne and Lucie.
With The Canadian Press