A nostalgic Sunday at the Bell Center

This first day in the chapel in honor of Guy Lafleur was loaded with nostalgia. Pretty much everything that was told seemed unimaginable these days.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

It was Yvon Lambert who told the legend according to which Lafleur and Gilles Villeneuve had traveled “from the Lafontaine tunnel to the Vieux Pont de Québec, in 58 minutes. The pedal was basically tabarouette! »

“Guy Lafleur was going 100 miles an hour everywhere. 100 miles an hour when he went to Quebec, 100 miles an hour on the skating rink and 100 miles an hour on Crescent Street! added Réjean Houle, alongside Lambert.

It was Lambert, again, who relayed the words of Guy Carbonneau. “He said he had never seen Guy come to the arena in jeans. He was always busy after each practice. We were going to have our little beer, our meal, one beer at a time! We had lost one game out of 15, we had to talk about it! »

And what about this exchange between Houle and Lambert? Houle argued that the current must pass better between the players of the current edition of the Canadian and the old ones. “Hockey has changed. But our guys have to be present to explain to our young people what that means, our history: Howie Morenz, the Rocket Richard, Jean Béliveau. There, we have Guy Lafleur. Yvan Cournoyer… And even those who won less. »

At his side, Yvon Lambert grumbles. “You just have one more than me!” Lambert won four, Houle five. Figures practically unattainable for any player of the present generation, in an NHL with 32 teams.

Dangerous driving with impunity, players gathered around a big 50, collections of Stanley Cup rings… So many reminders that times have changed.

Waiting for the next

The Premier of Quebec, François Legault, also poured into nostalgia.

“All of Quebec is in mourning for Guy Lafleur. It brings back incredible memories, dropped Mr. Legault. At that time, we won the Stanley Cup, we were proud. It brought everyone together, Anglophones and Francophones. We were proud that Guy Lafleur, a local guy, was the best in the National League. It’s important, we’re starting from afar, we’ve been won over, so it’s hard for us to be winners. With Guy Lafleur, we were winners. »

Winners or not, conquered or not, they were tens of thousands to parade in front of the coffin of the Blond Demon. Quebecers, of course, but people from elsewhere too. Among the items placed at the foot of the Lafleur statue on the east side of the Bell Center was a letter from a Manitoban recounting his memories of Hockey Night in Canada. On a giant poster that fans could sign, a Benjamin described himself as “a Frenchman who learned to love hockey thanks to Guy Lafleur”.

But Lafleur obviously had a special appeal to Quebecers, if we trust the praise given to him by Ron Fournier. The former referee tried to explain Lafleur’s grace on skates, comparing him to Pavel Bure. “I saw him go by, I was more inclined to watch him, I didn’t call for punishment because there was just Guy who interested me! We are disconcerted when we see phenomena like that, he said.

“That’s on the ice, but off the ice, that’s what impresses me, certainly more than any character. Who have we been touched by in my time? Félix Leclerc, René Lévesque, the Rocket, Mr. Béliveau and ti-Guy. For me, it pretty much boils down to that. These are people who have marked the people of Quebec, who have touched us. These are people we cannot forget. We want to talk about these people. That’s why it’s important to tell young people how he was. »

How did these people stand out? “By their humility, their simplicity, their presence, their honesty, their way of behaving, enumerated the retired animator, supporting each syllable in é. They dominated in their own way. They were very, very close to the people. I could add Vigneault too. You meet them, there is an aura around these people. You meet them, you “shake”, you tell everyone.

“I come back to Guy. When we learned of his death the next day, everyone said to themselves: “Hey, don’t we have a photo with Guy? Do you remember that?” We opened our drawers, we looked for an autograph, a photo, something that reminded us of Guy. He was our friend, or almost. »

If we trust the profile of the people we met near the Bell Centre, these memories left by Lafleur have transcended the generations. There were obviously more seniors and members of the working population, but teenagers and children were there too.

“Today, it’s popa who says to his foams: “We’re going to see Guy”, continues Ron Fournier. It is the gathering of Quebecers. When do we get together, other than to protest because the union tells us to? When do we do it? And when are we going to do it again? Who’s next? I don’t see any myself. »

In short

The class of the Maple Leafs

Impossible to miss the great class demonstrated by Brendan Shanahan and the organization of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Shanahan, remember, is president of the Leafs, and his team begins the playoffs on Monday. He nevertheless made the detour to Montreal in the company of Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark and Rick Vaive for a last salute to Guy Lafleur. “The Maple Leafs have been the Canadiens’ rival organization for years, but we have tremendous respect, not just for the Canadiens, but for Guy himself,” Shanahan said in a scrum.

A popular program

Premier Legault was questioned about the Guy-Lafleur arena in Thurso, an outdated infrastructure for years. “We have a big challenge with the arenas in Quebec, recognized Mr. Legault. Isabelle Charest has set up a program to fund sports infrastructure. We have a program of 200 or 300 million and we had 1.5 billion in requests! There is work to be done. Of course, there is also something to do with schools and hospitals. But we have to make sure that the arena in Thurso is in good condition. »

What legacy in Montreal?

The Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, was also among the dignitaries on site. M^me Plante was notably revived on the way Montreal will pay tribute to Guy Lafleur. “We have to make sure that Guy Lafleur’s legacy lives on,” she replied. At the City of Montreal, we want to find a place that will honor his memory, so that our streets will forever remember his enormous legacy, as a hockey player and for his values. »