Habs legend Guy Lafleur has died at the age of 70.
While condolences flood social media and highlight reels are put together as fast as editors can make them, Lafleur's place among the top of the Habs hierarchy is already obvious.
He is the all-time points leader, winning five Stanley Cups during the last extended period of Habs dominance and will forever be etched as one of the five best-ever for the storied Montreal franchise...
...but he was more than just a shooter.
THE LAST GREAT HABS SKATER
To play the game, you have to skate, and No. 10 flowed so smoothly and quickly that all the jersey tugging and slashing couldn't slow him down.
During his time at the top of the pile, Lafleur was the fastest player in the NHL to get to 1,000 points in just 720 games.
Since then, five have gotten there faster: No. 99, No. 66, the late Mike Bossy, Peter Stastny and Jari Kurri.
From 1974 to 1980, he skated his way through the league scoring 50+ goals in six straight seasons and over 110 points.
His smooth skating, with trailing blond locks became iconic, as players clutched, grabbed and slashed to knock him off his stride.
...now about those locks.
SANS CASQUE JUSQU'À LA FIN
There was a time when helmets were optional.
No visor, no helmet, no problem.
The era is over when the likes of Lafleur, Harold Snepsts and Craig MacTavish went onto the ice without anything on their heads but a fine head of hair and a moustache -- and Lafleur was among the most memorable.
It was perhaps the decision to do away with the only thing between a slapshot and a cracked skull that spurred Lafleur's dominance.
"Le Demon Blond" wore a helmet for his first three years in the league before ditching it in the fourth for the 1974-75 season when he started his string of six consecutive seasons with 50+ goals and 100+ points.
When he took to the ice for the final time with the Quebec Nordiques in 1990-91, he did it in helmetless style at the tail end of that era.
THE FOUR HORSEMEN HAVE PASSED
On the list of Habs great forwards, Lafleur can only be compared to three others: Maurice "Rocket" Richard (544 goals, 422 assists), Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard (358 goals, 688 assists) and Jean Béliveau (507 goals, 712 assists).
Lafleur grew up idolizing Béliveau, meeting him when he was 11 after scoring a hat trick as a Pee-Wee player.
With Henri's death in 2020 and Béliveau's in 2014, the Habs top four have all passed (The Rocket died in 2000).
Lafleur's 1,246 (518 goals, 728 assists) is unlikely to be surpassed with Brenadan Gallagher the closest among active players at 38th on the list with 377 points (193 goals, 184 assists).
It's noteworthy that Lafleur's points came in 961 games, compared to Béliveau's 1,125, Henri's 1,258 and the Rocket's 978.
SKATING FOR THE RED AND BLUE
When Lafleur came out of retirement for the 1988-89 season, he did so for fellow original six side the New York Rangers for one season.
When he suited up for the Quebec Nordiques in 1989, he truly cemented his legacy in La Belle Province for having donned the bleu-blanc-rouge and les 'Diques.
Not since Habs defector Jean-Claude Tremblay in 1972 had the Nordiques landed a player that so identified with the Tricolore.
If the Nordiques hadn't left for the Rocky Mountain range in 1995, Patrick Roy could have been on the list of greats donning both sweaters, but Lafleur, with all due respect to Richard Sevigny, Rejean Houle and Jocelyn Thibault, remains the only icon to have played for both teams.
BLOOMING EARLY
The Flower bloomed early.
He was the first star at Quebec City's International Pee-Wee tournament, playing from 1960 to 1964. Between 1962 and 1964, he was a Pee-Wee all-star, scoring 64 goals. He held the best individual performer title for 10 years before a boy named Wayne replaced him.
At 15 years of age and a paltry 135 pounds, Lafleur joined the Quebec Jr. Aces in the Q (QMJHL). He scored 161 goals in 100 games.
He then joined the Quebec Ramparts in 1969 at 18 and scored 103 goals and added 67 assists in 56 games.
In his final season with the Ramparts, this was his stat line: 62 regular-season games played, 130 goals and 79 assists. The Ramparts won the Memorial Cup as Canada's top Major Junior team in 1971.
His 209 points in a single season puts Lafleur seventh on the QMJHL's all-time list.
Habs GM Sam Pollock drafted Lafleur in 1971.
Lafleur's 136 points (56 goals, 80 assists) is 32nd on the NHL's all-time single-season points list. However, 19 of those above Lafleur are taken up by Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman.
Not bad company.
