Montreal Canadiens hold ceremony for Guy Lafleur

The Montreal Canadiens held a pre-game ceremony on Sunday night for Guy Lafleur in honour of his passing on Friday.

The ceremony began with a video tribute for Lefleur. It started with photos and highlights of Lefleur with audio clips of him talking about himself as a player, as well as his love of the game. After that, they played more highlights of Lefleur’s career, with Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” playing in the background.

The video received a nearly 10 minute standing ovation from the audience at the Bell Centre, including various chants of “Guy!” and the infamous “Olé!” song heard many times from Canadiens fans. The ceremony concluded with a moment of silence for Lafleur.

Lafleur is considered to be one of the greatest players to ever play for the Canadiens, if not to ever play the game of hockey. He spent parts of 17 seasons in the NHL with the Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Quebec Nordiques, with 560 goals, 793 assists, and 1,353 points in 1,126 games, including six straight seasons with more than 50 goals and 100 points from 1974-1980. He won five Stanley Cups in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979, as well as three Art Ross trophies, two Hart trophies, three Lester B. Pearson awards, and a Conn Smythe trophy win. Lafleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.