Cournoyer on Lafleur: 'I'm going to miss him everyday'

MONTREAL -- Shortly before the Canadiens paid tribute to Guy Lafleur last Sunday, a group of his former teammates gathered at the Bell Centre to share their favorite memories of him.

We caught up with a few of the alums, including Yvan Cournoyer, Lucien DeBlois, Bob Gainey, Rick Green, Réjean Houle and Chris Nilan.
Here are some of the best Lafleur stories from the media availability:
Yvan Cournoyer
"When I saw him for the first time in Verdun, I said, 'Wow!' I'd won five Stanley Cups before he arrived. I said, 'With this guy, I'm going to win more Stanley Cups.' And I was right. I've been thinking about Guy the last two years when he started to get sick and having problems with his health, but you don't forget a guy like Guy. I'm talking about the man. The man is so popular, but he deserves it. He's a natural with the people. Guy loves everybody and everybody loves him. He's just a natural guy. We were together for 40 years, and everytime we see each other, we shake hands. I'm going to miss him everyday."

Lucien DeBlois
"There's a story about his return after three-and-a-half years, the first White vs. Blue game of the Rangers in Trois-Rivières. His first shift on the ice, the first time he got the puck at the blueline, he scored a typical Guy Lafleur goal at full speed. He took a slap shot from inside the blueline and scored against John Vanbiesbrouck on his first shift after being away for three-and-a-half years of retirement. His legend status had already been established, but that cemented it. It was just an intra-squad game, but it was something special."

Bob Gainey
"One I remembered was the homecoming of Guy Lafleur when he was with the New York Rangers. The first time the Rangers came to play at the Forum, he was not involved in the game, he was injured, so the expectation just built until he was going to make that appearance. At some point in the game, the score was tied and he had both New York Rangers goals. There were still a few of us left on the team who had been playing with him, and so we weren't quite sure whether to cheer or not cheer for him. Ultimately, the Canadiens won the game, but I thought it was just an incredible story of perseverance and still being able to show flashes of brilliance that used to be so common, but maybe aren't so common now."

Rick Green
"I know there's a lot of people that have spoken about what he was like away from the rink, what type of caring person he was. This was an all-around great guy that just had incredible success as a player, and then he just really, really did everything he could possibly do to help the fanbase and just be him. He was just a natural guy that was a naturally good person with no error and no ego."

Réjean Houle
"What I remember most about Guy is, when we weren't playing well, which wasn't often, Scotty Bowman divided us into two teams and made us practice 5-on-5, 4-on-4 and 3-on-3. At 3-on-3, nobody could rival Guy Lafleur. If he had space on the ice, you couldn't catch him. He was a notch above everybody else. When it was 3-on-3, everybody skated to the bench quickly so they wouldn't have to practice against him because he was so good. He laughed about that."

Chris Nilan
"My first year, I had a practice. There was no practice for the team, but I had to go on the ice because I was the only rookie. Guy was coming back from injury, and the two of us skated together, just me and Guy Lafleur. It was unbelievable. We passed pucks, he gave me some tips on shooting. I never quite got the shot that Guy had, but he tried. I'll never forget that day. It was so special for me. We went to lunch afterwards. It's funny, the year before I was at Northeastern University driving around in a beat up, old Montego MX with my friend Joe Mahoney going to lunch at McDonald's, and the following year, I'm going to lunch with Guy Lafleur at Les Beaux Jeudis or Thursday's. I couldn't believe I was here, and I couldn't believe that he invited me to lunch that day. He always treated me with respect, never less than. Some superstars put themselves on another level, kind of on a pedestal, but not Guy. He never looked down on me, never treated me less than. He was just an awesome guy."

Guy Lafleur is lying in state at the Bell Centre over the next two days.
Fans can pay a final tribute on Sunday, May 1 from noon to 8:00 p.m. and Monday, May 2 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Access will be permitted via the building's main entrance at 1909 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal.