Funeral of Guy Lafleur | Guy’s Last Curtain

It was around 11 o’clock on Tuesday when Guy Lafleur caused an ovation, another, as he used to do.

Richard Labbe
The Press

This time, the decor was less sporty, more solemn: the Marie-Reine-du-Monde cathedral, in downtown Montreal. This time, there weren’t going to be hair blowing, slapshots on one reception or pucks in the back of a net, so many images that have been flashing in our collective memories since his death, which occurred on April 22.

But this time, as before, there was going to be this: emotion. A lot of emotions.

“Rest in peace, my friend, everyone here knows you’re a real one,” said ex-goalkeeper Patrick Roy, during his turn at the microphone.

There was emotion outside, boulevard René-Lévesque, where hundreds of supporters, often dressed in the famous number 10 red sweater, began to chant the traditional “Guy! Guy! Guy! at the sight of the coffin.

There was also emotion inside the church, because that’s where you could see the inevitable and the irreversible: this moment was going to be Guy’s last lap.

Everybody was there. The members of this edition of the Canadiens, including goaltender Carey Price and captain Shea Weber. Famous players who have known the flames with and against Guy, such as Joe Sakic, Gilbert Perreault and Kevin Lowe. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, and François Legault, Premier of Quebec, had also chosen to be there, as had several former Canadians, Serge Savard, Yvan Cournoyer and other Lucien Deblois, all of whom came to give a last little stab at their missing brother.

This is also how Guy arrived, as he liked to arrive: with teammates. Steve Shutt, Yvon Lambert, Pierre Bouchard, Mario Tremblay, who all skated with him during the glorious 1970s, pushed the coffin as they arrived in the cathedral. There are farewells that are not so easy, this was one; former defender Guy Lapointe, one of the seven porters with sons Martin and Mark, could not hold back his tears as he took his first steps in the church.

Behind the microphone, the elders took turns for several moving testimonies. Sometimes the tone was joking, probably because Guy would not have wanted a tribute to his subject without any touch of humor.

“He brought out the best in his teammates and you had to be at your best to keep up with him,” said another Guy, Carbonneau this one. When I arrived at my first Canadiens training camp, I had to pinch myself. I had been made to play with Steve Shutt and Guy Lafleur. I must not have touched the puck once, for fear of disappointing them… But I was with my idol. »

This passing time is also those elders who have lived and who have lived a lot, who must also return according to the tributes, no doubt in spite of themselves. Eight years ago, in memory of another legend named Jean Béliveau, Yvan Cournoyer delivered a touching testimony. He did it again for another start.

“The first time I saw Guy on the ice with us, I was really impressed,” said the former Canadiens forward. I thought to myself, what a good player he is going to be! Thank you, Sam Pollock, for drafting Guy Lafleur. It allowed us, the players and the spectators, to appreciate it for several years and to win five more Stanley Cups…”

Larry Robinson, also a teammate from the good old days, wanted to recall a few truths.

“Guy once said, ‘play every day like it’s your last’… I don’t think anyone has embodied that philosophy as much as him. Not only did he play every game to the fullest, but he also lived his life to the fullest. »

Through words, notes were needed, because that too, Guy would have liked. Ginette Reno came to sing The essentialthe text of which could practically have been written for him and no one else: “The rest doesn’t matter, the only truth is for someone, whatever happens, it’s to enter their heart and never come out…”

At the end of the tributes, after some 90 minutes of this goodbye that we would have preferred to avoid, we had to face the facts: Guy was going to have to leave us, and forever. This time, there would be no return, even if Yvan Cournoyer remains hopeful: “Guy left us too soon, but if he wants to come back again, you are welcome, Guy. “Later, Cournoyer will admit to feeling” a little lonely “… before bursting into tears.

Then everyone got ready to go out to the sound of My Waysung by Frank Sinatra, whose text is about the inevitable end and the last curtain, which we must face one day or another.

It’s Guy’s turn now, and on this Tuesday of national mourning, he faced the last curtain with his fair-weather grace. Because deep down, legends never die.

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