Flower Power Glory Days
As we wave an enthusiastic goodbye and fare thee well to Pierre Gauthier and the Bob Gainey managerial era, I would like to discuss another Habs legend Guy Lafleur. I'd say from 1975 to 1980 Guy Lafleur was the best hockey player in the world. Guy didn't break many records during his time at the mountaintop. My blog wants to point out why. As great as Guy was, I always felt there was something missing or more a missed opportunity.
Guy Lafleur was sensational with the Quebec Remparts during his junior career. In his final junior year he had 130 goals in 62 games. The Remparts also won the Memorial Cup. This may have been the last time Guy was unleashed to his full capacity.
Through the shenanigans of Sam Pollock, Guy Lafleur was drafted first overall by the Stanley Cup champions. The year before Jean Beliveau retired a 10 time Cup winner, and big Jean classy as ever had offered his number 4 to Guy. Luckily Guy turned it down. Guy was bright enough to state he wanted to create his own history and chose number 10 previously worn by the likes of Ted Harris and Bill Collins. Unfortunately for Guy, he joined the Habs at a time when they were already laden with future hall of famers like Yvan Cournoyer and Frank Mahovlich who insisted on their time on the powerplay and so forth. Therefore Guy became a third liner his first year. I remember him sheepishly skating up and down the wing rarely showing any flash of brilliance. His first goal was a well aimed wrist shot that any average player would have scored. In fact Guy seemed overwhelmed not only by his own teammates and the big expectations of fans, but also by the wonderful rookie campaigns of rivals Rick Martin and Marcel Dionne. Marcel Dionne chosen second overall would be his lifetime rival. Guy Lafleur did not come close to winning the Calder as rookie of the year. It must have been a cold shower for Guy to go from golden boy in waiting with 130 goals to a measly 29 goals in his rookie NHL campaign. Four habs scored more goals than Guy including the Big M and the Roadrunner. There were other failed golden boys on the Habs at the time including Marc Tardif and Rejean Houle who had had stellar junior careers but unconvincing NHL starts.
Guy's second year was virtually a carbon copy of his first year. In fact he was so average and inhibited, Derek Sanderson remarked after a game with the Bruins he had barely noticed Lafleur. He also said Guy Lafleur was no superstar. The Habs won the cup that year in spite of Lafleur who was barely used in the playoffs. Then came the disasterous third year where Guy's goal total plummeted to 21 goals while rival Rick Martin got more then 50. Yes many were wondering aloud why the Habs had picked someone from a boondock like Thurso, while Rick Martin a Montreal native had been cast aside.
After his third year there seemed to be a magical transformation and Guy Lafleur came out of his self inflicted closet. Was it the fact that the old guard was leaving or aging? Henri Richard was on the verge of hanging it up. Frank Mahovlich, Marc Tardif and Rejean Houle had gone to the WHA. All eyes turned once again to Guy Lafleur. Would he ever live up to his potential? Guy did something no one can do nowadays he took off his helmet. He played helmetless and his blond mane began to be noticed by the fans and seemingly by his teammates. He burst out of the gates like a cannon or in the habs tradition like a rocket. Joining him on a line for the first time was a renowned junior sniper Steve Shutt and in the middle the smooth veteran playmaker Peter Mahovlich. The line clicked and the icetime came with it. As the year progressed Guy started to get better and better. People began to see blinding speed and incredible accuracy with Guy's shot. He was a superb passer too. The other teams began to notice as well and now the wondering out loud was what had happened the first three years. The Habs did not win the Cup in Guy's fourth year being eliminated by the Sabres in the third round. In a remarkable moment during that playoff round I remember Lafleur getting the puck and being chased by the French Connection line of Perreault, Martin and Robert. All three of the Sabres had been gaining notoriety for their speed but they could not catch up to Lafleur. I saw Perreault shake his head and then I knew Lafleur was better. He was in a different league reserved for the likes of Orr, Beliveau and Howe.. Lafleur dominated that playoffs scoring 12 goals in 11 playoff games. However, the Habs lost and Scotty Bowman the Habs brilliant coach vowed to never ignore the defensive aspect of the game again. This would come back to haunt Lafleur.
The Canadiens had also drafted a few years back the defensive equivalent of Guy Lafleur in Bob Gainey. Gainey had great speed and used his body and in the words of James Brown was the hardest working man in the NHL. As well, the Habs had a trio of stellar defencemen in Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, and Guy Lapointe. In nets, already a legend, Ken Dryden seemed to never lose. Scotty Bowman was the genius Maestro behind the bench who wanted two things: the best record in the NHL and the best goals against average.
Lafleur continued his scinitillating play the following year. However, Bowman stressed the defensive aspect. Therefore if the Habs had a 1 or 2 goal lead in the third period, Bowman would throw out a majority of the time Gainey who paired with Doug Jarvis and Jimmy Roberts would be on the ice for virtually every faceoff in their own end. Guy Lafleur would have limited ice-time in the third period, unless Bowman decided he needed some speed and put Lafleur on Gainey's line in a defensive role. Lafleur had impressive stats but how much more impressive would they have been if the Habs had played firewagon hockey? Unlike the Oilers of the 80's who never won the Vezina for best goals against and who didn't mind winning 8-7 if need be, the Habs under Bowman wanted as few shots as possible on Dryden. Therefore, Guy Lafleur sacrificed his offensive stats for the team. The Habs of this era broke all team records for points and fewest losses and they topped the offensive stats. However, the offensive stats were always limited by Bowman's defensive strategy. The question that must be put out is could Lafleur have scored 80, 90 goals and equalled Gretzky if the Habs had played like the Oilers of the 80's. While the Oilers had Paul Coffey, the Habs had a trio of similar defencemen. How many more points could Lafleur have put up if they left the defensive aspect behind. As an asterisk, in the famous New Year's Eve game against the Soviet Red Army in 1975, Bowman decided to move Lafleur from his regular linemates and played him with Jarvis and Gainey virtually the whole game. Many people blamed Dryden for the tie, but maybe if Lafleur had been allowed to play offensively the Soviet Red Army would never have come back to tie it. As a sidenote, the Habs won the Cup that year. However, Lafleur seemed to stutter at the end and did not score against the Flyers until the final game.
The very first hockey game I ever attended was in 1976. It was August and Team Canada was in training for the first Canada Cup. The folks at the Forum decided to allow people into an intrasquad game involving all those intially chosen for Team Canada. There was barely any publicity and as a starstruck kid I swooped up a ticket. I was shocked when I saw the seat; it was where Senator Molson sat right behind the bench. Scotty Bowman was standing in front of me and the likes of Denis Potvin and Gil Perreault were sitting on the bench. Also participating in the game were legends such as Bobby Hull and Bobby Clarke, Phil Esposito and Darryl Sittler. Ok it was August so some players were not in the best of shape. However, as I watched there was little doubt who was the best player out there. In fact, Lafleur was so fast he seemed to be a blur while the other players were very ordinary and mechanical. I said to my cousin sitting beside me for all to hear including Scotty Bowman, Guy Lafleur is by far the best player. The crowd was sparse so I knew the bench heard me.
Nos Glorieux were truly glorious from 1975 to 1979 and Guy Lafleur played a prominent role. He would win numerous trophies including the Art Ross and the Hart. However, his offensive stats were stunted because of Bowman's emphasis on defence. As much as the Habs relied on their defense and Gainey's line to help them win games, it was Lafleur who was relied upon to get them the needed goal in a close game or on the powerplay. Lafleur seemed to never fail the team. In fact, akin to Babe Ruth, after having visited a sick child in the hospital, Lafleur guaranteed a goal in his following game against the Leafs. Not only did he deliver but he scored two goals that night.
In probably his most important goal, Lafleur delivered in 1979. The Habs were behind the hated Bruins in Game 7 of the semi-final with a few minutes to go. The famous too many men on the ice penalty was called on Don Cherry and Stan Jonathan (the culprit). What was at stake was the prestige of the Habs, the 4th Stanley Cup in a row for the 70's Dynasty, the last kick at the Habs can for many including Bowman, Dryden, Cournoyer, and Lemaire. The play seemed to happen in slow motion and Lafleur taking a drop pass from Lemaire took a slow but accurate shot and scored on Gilles Gilbert. The game was now tied with little time to go. The Habs eventually would win in overtime. All was good in Habs land. In fact looking at that game in hindsight, Lafleur had played excellently the whole game in spite of the subpar performances of many including Dryden and the defence. The Habs would win their 4th Cup and it would be the end of an era. It was strange that after the final series several players lifted Bob Gainey on their shoulders. Gainey had played with his usual intensity the whole playoffs. However, if not for the Flower and his crucial goal, that intensity would have amounted to nothing.
This leads to the question who was more important to the Habs Bob Gainey or Guy Lafleur? In the ensuing years, it became apparent the Habs missed the critical goal here or there without Lafleur. It was painfully apparent in 1980 when the Habs were eliminated by the North Stars. Lafleur had been injured in the previous series by Pat Boutette and was not in good health. Bob Gainey was still playing with intensity but there was no Lafleur to win the close game. In 1981-82, when Serge Savard left for the Jets, the captaincy was given to Bob Gainey. Before this, the habs tradition was to give the captaincy to the senior member of the team. Other than Jean Beliveau who had been given the captaincy over Geoffrion, the tradition had been clear as Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer and Serge Savard had become Captains due to their senior status. For some reason, Lafleur had been bypassed for Bob Gainey. I always wondered if this had affected Lafleur. Wasn't he the best player on the team who had scored the important goals? Lafleur never complained but in the following years his goal totals kept declining. Lafleur decided to break tradition as well as he would go on to play for the Nordiques and the Rangers unlike previous legends like Richard and Beliveau.
Other factors led to Lafleur's decline including his lifestyle at the time of partying hard and chain smoking. Pierre Larouche had also been named as a negative influence. It always made me wonder if Lafleur had been named captain with the responsibilies that came with it, maybe he would have regained his scoring touch and his passion. When he was at the mountaintop, Lafleur had gone to the rink several hours before everyone else and practiced incessantly. Now he had become a party animal. I am left to wonder what might have been.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTnbTAzOOw8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12-x70nq0vI
Guy Lafleur was sensational with the Quebec Remparts during his junior career. In his final junior year he had 130 goals in 62 games. The Remparts also won the Memorial Cup. This may have been the last time Guy was unleashed to his full capacity.
Through the shenanigans of Sam Pollock, Guy Lafleur was drafted first overall by the Stanley Cup champions. The year before Jean Beliveau retired a 10 time Cup winner, and big Jean classy as ever had offered his number 4 to Guy. Luckily Guy turned it down. Guy was bright enough to state he wanted to create his own history and chose number 10 previously worn by the likes of Ted Harris and Bill Collins. Unfortunately for Guy, he joined the Habs at a time when they were already laden with future hall of famers like Yvan Cournoyer and Frank Mahovlich who insisted on their time on the powerplay and so forth. Therefore Guy became a third liner his first year. I remember him sheepishly skating up and down the wing rarely showing any flash of brilliance. His first goal was a well aimed wrist shot that any average player would have scored. In fact Guy seemed overwhelmed not only by his own teammates and the big expectations of fans, but also by the wonderful rookie campaigns of rivals Rick Martin and Marcel Dionne. Marcel Dionne chosen second overall would be his lifetime rival. Guy Lafleur did not come close to winning the Calder as rookie of the year. It must have been a cold shower for Guy to go from golden boy in waiting with 130 goals to a measly 29 goals in his rookie NHL campaign. Four habs scored more goals than Guy including the Big M and the Roadrunner. There were other failed golden boys on the Habs at the time including Marc Tardif and Rejean Houle who had had stellar junior careers but unconvincing NHL starts.
Guy's second year was virtually a carbon copy of his first year. In fact he was so average and inhibited, Derek Sanderson remarked after a game with the Bruins he had barely noticed Lafleur. He also said Guy Lafleur was no superstar. The Habs won the cup that year in spite of Lafleur who was barely used in the playoffs. Then came the disasterous third year where Guy's goal total plummeted to 21 goals while rival Rick Martin got more then 50. Yes many were wondering aloud why the Habs had picked someone from a boondock like Thurso, while Rick Martin a Montreal native had been cast aside.
After his third year there seemed to be a magical transformation and Guy Lafleur came out of his self inflicted closet. Was it the fact that the old guard was leaving or aging? Henri Richard was on the verge of hanging it up. Frank Mahovlich, Marc Tardif and Rejean Houle had gone to the WHA. All eyes turned once again to Guy Lafleur. Would he ever live up to his potential? Guy did something no one can do nowadays he took off his helmet. He played helmetless and his blond mane began to be noticed by the fans and seemingly by his teammates. He burst out of the gates like a cannon or in the habs tradition like a rocket. Joining him on a line for the first time was a renowned junior sniper Steve Shutt and in the middle the smooth veteran playmaker Peter Mahovlich. The line clicked and the icetime came with it. As the year progressed Guy started to get better and better. People began to see blinding speed and incredible accuracy with Guy's shot. He was a superb passer too. The other teams began to notice as well and now the wondering out loud was what had happened the first three years. The Habs did not win the Cup in Guy's fourth year being eliminated by the Sabres in the third round. In a remarkable moment during that playoff round I remember Lafleur getting the puck and being chased by the French Connection line of Perreault, Martin and Robert. All three of the Sabres had been gaining notoriety for their speed but they could not catch up to Lafleur. I saw Perreault shake his head and then I knew Lafleur was better. He was in a different league reserved for the likes of Orr, Beliveau and Howe.. Lafleur dominated that playoffs scoring 12 goals in 11 playoff games. However, the Habs lost and Scotty Bowman the Habs brilliant coach vowed to never ignore the defensive aspect of the game again. This would come back to haunt Lafleur.
The Canadiens had also drafted a few years back the defensive equivalent of Guy Lafleur in Bob Gainey. Gainey had great speed and used his body and in the words of James Brown was the hardest working man in the NHL. As well, the Habs had a trio of stellar defencemen in Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, and Guy Lapointe. In nets, already a legend, Ken Dryden seemed to never lose. Scotty Bowman was the genius Maestro behind the bench who wanted two things: the best record in the NHL and the best goals against average.
Lafleur continued his scinitillating play the following year. However, Bowman stressed the defensive aspect. Therefore if the Habs had a 1 or 2 goal lead in the third period, Bowman would throw out a majority of the time Gainey who paired with Doug Jarvis and Jimmy Roberts would be on the ice for virtually every faceoff in their own end. Guy Lafleur would have limited ice-time in the third period, unless Bowman decided he needed some speed and put Lafleur on Gainey's line in a defensive role. Lafleur had impressive stats but how much more impressive would they have been if the Habs had played firewagon hockey? Unlike the Oilers of the 80's who never won the Vezina for best goals against and who didn't mind winning 8-7 if need be, the Habs under Bowman wanted as few shots as possible on Dryden. Therefore, Guy Lafleur sacrificed his offensive stats for the team. The Habs of this era broke all team records for points and fewest losses and they topped the offensive stats. However, the offensive stats were always limited by Bowman's defensive strategy. The question that must be put out is could Lafleur have scored 80, 90 goals and equalled Gretzky if the Habs had played like the Oilers of the 80's. While the Oilers had Paul Coffey, the Habs had a trio of similar defencemen. How many more points could Lafleur have put up if they left the defensive aspect behind. As an asterisk, in the famous New Year's Eve game against the Soviet Red Army in 1975, Bowman decided to move Lafleur from his regular linemates and played him with Jarvis and Gainey virtually the whole game. Many people blamed Dryden for the tie, but maybe if Lafleur had been allowed to play offensively the Soviet Red Army would never have come back to tie it. As a sidenote, the Habs won the Cup that year. However, Lafleur seemed to stutter at the end and did not score against the Flyers until the final game.
The very first hockey game I ever attended was in 1976. It was August and Team Canada was in training for the first Canada Cup. The folks at the Forum decided to allow people into an intrasquad game involving all those intially chosen for Team Canada. There was barely any publicity and as a starstruck kid I swooped up a ticket. I was shocked when I saw the seat; it was where Senator Molson sat right behind the bench. Scotty Bowman was standing in front of me and the likes of Denis Potvin and Gil Perreault were sitting on the bench. Also participating in the game were legends such as Bobby Hull and Bobby Clarke, Phil Esposito and Darryl Sittler. Ok it was August so some players were not in the best of shape. However, as I watched there was little doubt who was the best player out there. In fact, Lafleur was so fast he seemed to be a blur while the other players were very ordinary and mechanical. I said to my cousin sitting beside me for all to hear including Scotty Bowman, Guy Lafleur is by far the best player. The crowd was sparse so I knew the bench heard me.
Nos Glorieux were truly glorious from 1975 to 1979 and Guy Lafleur played a prominent role. He would win numerous trophies including the Art Ross and the Hart. However, his offensive stats were stunted because of Bowman's emphasis on defence. As much as the Habs relied on their defense and Gainey's line to help them win games, it was Lafleur who was relied upon to get them the needed goal in a close game or on the powerplay. Lafleur seemed to never fail the team. In fact, akin to Babe Ruth, after having visited a sick child in the hospital, Lafleur guaranteed a goal in his following game against the Leafs. Not only did he deliver but he scored two goals that night.
In probably his most important goal, Lafleur delivered in 1979. The Habs were behind the hated Bruins in Game 7 of the semi-final with a few minutes to go. The famous too many men on the ice penalty was called on Don Cherry and Stan Jonathan (the culprit). What was at stake was the prestige of the Habs, the 4th Stanley Cup in a row for the 70's Dynasty, the last kick at the Habs can for many including Bowman, Dryden, Cournoyer, and Lemaire. The play seemed to happen in slow motion and Lafleur taking a drop pass from Lemaire took a slow but accurate shot and scored on Gilles Gilbert. The game was now tied with little time to go. The Habs eventually would win in overtime. All was good in Habs land. In fact looking at that game in hindsight, Lafleur had played excellently the whole game in spite of the subpar performances of many including Dryden and the defence. The Habs would win their 4th Cup and it would be the end of an era. It was strange that after the final series several players lifted Bob Gainey on their shoulders. Gainey had played with his usual intensity the whole playoffs. However, if not for the Flower and his crucial goal, that intensity would have amounted to nothing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTnbTAzOOw8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12-x70nq0vI
Comments
Post a Comment