Funeral of Guy Lafleur: a turn of events for Jacques Lemaire

PUBLICATION

Jeff Drouin
April 27, 2022 (1:40 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The story between Guy Lafleur and Jacques Lemaire has been inflaming (again) the passions of Montreal Canadiens fans for the past few days, especially since an interview from 2017 resurfaced:

The ties were never really repaired between Lemaire and Lafleur, this is notably what Guy confided during this interview.

Following the death of the legendary number 10, see what the former head coach had to say:

"I must admit that it was a difficult time for him. People who followed hockey saw the same thing. I never had anything against Guy. I was there to win games and try to make the players better. I think we did that. We made it to the association finals. The following year, several players had good seasons, like Guy Carbonneau, Mario Tremblay and Pierre Mondou. It's a shame that Guy only played 19 games. I don't care if Guy's opinion of me has changed. That he doesn't like me, I don't care. Mine has never changed. Guy Lafleur has always been and will always be the Guy Lafleur that I have known. I have always felt a friendship for him and a great respect for what he has accomplished." - Jacques Lemaire

Then, the man who is now a special advisor for the New York Islanders made a small announcement: he confirmed that he would be present for the funeral of his former teammate.

That's where there's finally a turnaround. Reluctantly, Lemaire will miss Lafleur's funeral.

Despite the differences between the two men in the past, Lemaire now shows great respect for Lafleur and would have liked to be there.

However, he will not be able to. See an excerpt from the text just published by the excellent Guillaume Lefrançois, in La Presse:

"It happened what happened. But I never changed my point of view on Guy because of that," said Lemaire, in an interview with La Presse on Tuesday. Guy remained the player and the person I thought he was. If he said intense things about me, I have to get over it. But what he did for the Canadiens, for the people of Quebec, for the other players and for me, that's what remains. I'm not going to stop just because of one incident."

Lemaire wanted to attend Lafleur's funeral, as he revealed to Jonathan Bernier of the Journal de Montréal. He lives in Florida, as does Steve Shutt. Both had planned to take the same flight [...] Except that Lemaire is not vaccinated against COVID-19, because of a health problem he mentions. As an unvaccinated person, he would have been restricted in his activities upon arrival in Canada.

Excerpt from text by Guillaume Lefrançois.

Lemaire adds that he would have really liked to be there and that he respects the Blonde Demon immensely, but for the reasons mentioned above, this will not be possible. He won't be attending Lafleur's funeral.

For all the details: