Has everything been said about Guy Lafleur? Has everything been said about the man, the legend, the myth? Steven Finn and Pierre Gince think not.
Together, the two men are launching the book Guy Lafleur et nous, which will be on shelves from April 5. The idea, basically: the testimonials of 50 people, former players, friends, confidants, who tell a little about their own Guy Lafleur, in their own way.
The project came from the author Pierre Gince, who already has three books in the And us series on the counter, including René Lévesque et nous, published in 2020. This one brings him into the world of sport and that’s why Finn, Lafleur’s teammate for two seasons with the Nordiques in Quebec, chose to join after thinking about it for a weekend.
“I don’t see myself as an author, but it’s quite an honor to have participated in this project”, explains the ex-player, who is nowadays at the head of a distribution company pharmaceutical.
From Ron Fournier to Marcel Dionne, from Paul Arcand to Chantal Machabée, it is a rather prestigious list of guests that scrolls through the time of 339 pages, divided into often touching testimonies. For example, Pierrette Chartrand-Lafleur, Guy’s mother, explains that, all these years later, she still resents the Canadian for having pushed her son towards the exit door in November 1984!
“His mother, she told us how much it hurt her when Guy retired from the Canadiens, adds Steven Finn. She told us, “They flushed my Guy!” Because in her eyes, it was still her baby… There are plenty of anecdotes like this in each of the chapters. For example, talking to Scotty Bowman, we ended up learning that he and Guy were still texting right before Guy passed away! Scotty had a reputation for being tough in the old days, but he also had immense respect for Guy, even when we spoke to him, then at almost 89 years old. »
To carry out this project, Pierre Gince wanted a co-writer from the 1970s Canadian era, but seeing that no one raised their hand, he turned to Finn, who rubbed shoulders with a lesser known Guy, that of the Nordiques, from 1989 to 1991.
“We talk less about that end, probably because the club was really bad,” admits the ex-defender. But when Guy arrived with the Nordiques, it gave the team some credibility. Also, it was very good for the development of Joe Sakic, who ended up winning the Cup later in Denver. Guy’s enthusiasm with the Nordiques was contagious. »
For Finn, it’s also a bit of an opportunity to come full circle, and to come back, perhaps one last time, to what Guy Lafleur was able to represent.
“I remember the first time he walked into the locker room, we were all like fans around him! Even though he was a teammate, the guys were asking for his signature, they wanted to have their picture taken with him. Guy was uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting when he arrived with the Nordiques, but he was already a legend by then…”
