![]() ![]() 1 and the beginning of a dazzling period where disco was everywhere in the Western world. In 1974, The Hues Corporation saw their song “Rock the Boat” top the Billboard charts. Little wonder that at a time when everyone wanted to associate themselves with Lafleur, a disco album entered the dance. One summer, Lafleur had so many things going that he had to turn down Johnny Carson and an invitation to “The Tonight Show.” “He had so many endorsements, he was kind of mixed up in it all. ![]() “In those years, Guy was at his best and, I’m not exaggerating, he must have had around 25 projects in the works,” former teammate Pierre Mondou says. There was Guy Lafleur maple syrup, a Guy Lafleur table hockey game, Guy Lafleur rulers, even a line of No. Petrie had set up Guy Lafleur Enterprises to channel all of the Canadiens superstar’s endorsement contracts, from yogurt to luxury cars to soft drinks to department stores. This made Lafleur one of the most popular promotional vehicles in professional sports. … He was just better than everybody.”Īdd to his popularity and incomparable charisma the fact that even Hollywood stars wanted to meet him, and you have a larger-than-life athlete. ![]() “He had that style, he had that flair, so explosive and skating up and down the wing. “He was the one guy who it didn’t matter what team you’re rooting for, you’re rooting for Guy,” Sakic said at the time of Lafleur’s funeral in May 2022. And even as a child, he knew Lafleur’s popularity rose beyond his team’s. They were under his spell.įormer Colorado Avalanche star Joe Sakic grew up in British Columbia with a father who was a die-hard Canadiens fan. Petrie remembers, for example, attending a Canadiens game at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and noticing how the Sabres fans ignored where the puck was instead, their eyes and heads followed every movement Lafleur made on the ice. The way Lafleur’s popularity radiated into other NHL markets was also unique. It sort of lifted everybody’s collective spirits.” “And I don’t think it’s because the people got all ‘Guy! Guy! Guy!’ I don’t know if it’s that or not, because with his flowing hair, and his speed, and his technique, he just lit things up a level over anybody else that I’ve ever seen, even to this day. “There was always something quite magical when he hit the ice,” Alves recalled. His first game at the Forum made a strong impact. Alves had never attended a hockey game before the ad agency offered him tickets behind the Canadiens bench. Peter Alves, the “Lafleur!” producer, was composing jingles for an advertising agency when he moved to Montreal around the same time that Lafleur’s career really took off. But in the public eye, no star shone brighter than his. On the Canadiens, he tried to be just another player. In Montreal, at a time when the Canadiens were toasting with the Stanley Cup on an annual basis, Lafleur was ubiquitous. Lafleur’s legend was built within that six-season window when he overtook Bobby Orr as the NHL’s biggest star. And his 63 game-winning goals easily exceeded Flyers sharpshooter Reggie Leach, who was next with 41 over the same span. But Lafleur’s magnetism was such that at a certain point his connection with the public became at least as important as what he accomplished on the ice.īetween 1974-80, Lafleur scored 327 goals and amassed 766 points in 462 games, which was 39 goals and 83 points more than Marcel Dionne, second in those two categories during those six seasons. It’s true that if he hadn’t been the NHL’s most flamboyant star at the time, everything else would not have followed. “I mean, let’s face it, if you’re not Guy Lafleur on the ice, you’re not Guy Lafleur off the ice.” “It was because of hockey that he was what he was off the ice,” recalled Jerry Petrie, who was his agent in 1979. Involved in a host of projects, a spokesman for a thousand brands, Lafleur was the best-selling name in the NHL during the 1970s. As the 1970s drew to an end, Lafleur was the best player on the NHL’s best team, he had just won the Stanley Cup four times, and he was hoarding individual honors. That’s because Lafleur’s fame extended far beyond Québec’s borders and Montreal Canadiens fans. This bizarre idea that quickly became a curio and a collector’s item perfectly reflects Lafleur’s impact on popular culture. “Lafleur!” was conceived as a series of exercises to encourage young players to develop their hockey skills backed by disco music. No, the Canadiens superstar did not sing. The chic nightclub is where Guy Lafleur launched his eponymous disco album, “Lafleur! “Īt the time, everyone - including the musicians who had worked on this peculiar project - was wondering the same thing: “Guy Lafleur sings?” ![]()
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