Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur was on hand at the Bell Centre yesterday, handing out the annual Awards of Excellence and Merit that bears his name to deserving Quebec athletes. Never one to bite back an opinion, Lafleur shared his thoughts on the Canadiens playoff run that ended on Monday.
While Lafleur is proud of the team’s accomplishment this spring, it does take a great deal to impress the five time Stanley Cup winner. He was quoted as saying that the team did “better than last year”, which is basically Guy-speak meaning the team fell short in his eyes.
In the Montreal Gazette article, Lafleur mentions that he offered his advice to Scott Gomez when the Canadiens’ center visited his Rosemere restaurant recently. His suggestion to Gomez was on the ball. Said Flower to 91:
“It’s nice to see you coming into the other team’s zone and try to turn around to make a nice play, but you have to shoot. The opponent knows what you’re going to do.”
In regards to Andrei Kostitsyn‘s often foggy play, Lafleur curiously laid off the player and pointed out teammates.
“In our days, if a guy would play that style he would have 18 guys on his back to shake him up. You need that to win.”
Most interesting of all was Lafleur’s take on the never ending goaltending controversy in Montreal. For the moment, it seems that Lafleur is against moving either stopper, but that the scenario is tied to the return. With former Habs’ GM Rejean Houle in the room, Lafleur wasn’t shy to speak his mind.
“You can’t just get rid of Price or Halak like they did with Patrick Roy, where they got nothing in the trade. You don’t want to take a step back three or four years behind.”
You can read more on Lafleur’s angles, and other Canadiens related pieces at this Gazette page.
