MONTREAL – Right up until he completed his hat trick Sunday afternoon, there were no explosions of joy like the one when he scored his famous goal against the Boston Bruins in the 1979 playoffs. There was no magical moment like the one when he scored twice in a New York Rangers uniform upon his return to the old Forum. And there was no outpouring of love from the fans like the standing ovation given to Maurice Richard during the closing ceremonies for the Forum.
But when Guy Lafleur scored his third goal to complete the scoring in a 15-8 win Sunday for the Canadiens Alumni, the crowd of more than 15,000 at the Bell Centre broke into their first heartfelt chants of "Guy, Guy, Guy" and gave the Habs legend a long, sincere and emotional standing ovation.
There were still about five minutes left in the game when Lafleur scored, but referees Ron Fournier and Kerry Fraser made a sound decision to end the afternoon right then and there.
The game Sunday was part of a Lafleur goodbye tour that will also see games played in the The Flower's hometown of Thurso on Dec. 12 and in Quebec City – where Lafleur finished his 17-season NHL career – on Feb. 27.
The Canadiens Alumni team faced off against a team of NHL old timers made up entirely of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, including goalie Billy Smith, Pat LaFontaine, Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille, Peter Stastny, Daryl Sittler and Glenn Anderson.
The Habs old-timers also included Chris Nilan, Claude Lemieux, Stephane Richer, Patrice Brisebois, Stephane Quintal, Richard Sevigny and Gilbert Delorme.
