The Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League have signed retired fifty-three year old hall of fame member Guy Lafleur. Initially, speculation was that Lafleur would have some sort of front office position, those in attendance were shocked when it was announced that Lafleur was to play for the Leafs. This makes Lafleur the oldest player in the NHL by far. The announcement was held at a Maple Leaf press conference at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. At the press conference Lafleur was presented with the number ten jersey he is to wear. This marks the second time Lafleur has come out of retirement to resume his hockey career.
The Maple Leafs have long tried to build championship teams using aging hockey veterans rather than building on young talent, this strategy has not even produced a Stanley Cup final appearance. The signing of Lafleur marks the most extreme example of the strategy. Anonymous sources close to the Leafs organization, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have shed light on the signing. Maple Leaf general manager, John Ferguson, after watching the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup using a core of talented young players from the Quebec major junior league wanted to follow suit. However, rather than send scouts to scour the Quebec league, Leaf management wanted to sign already proven Quebec talent, even if those players were a little past their prime. Initially, Ferguson demanded to sign arguably the greatest player to come out of Quebec, Maurice “Rocket” Richard. Ferguson reportedly refused to believe staff members who informed him that Richard had died in 2000. It took a signed letter from the estate of Maurice Richard and a copy of the death certificate to convince Ferguson that the legend was in fact deceased. Apparently, Ferguson thought that the Maple Leaf’s arch rival Montreal Canadiens were somehow standing in the way and preventing the Leafs from signing Richard. With Richard not being a possibility, Ferguson turned his attentions to living Quebec players. However, because most Quebec born players are brought up die hard Montreal fans with an ingrained hatred for the Maple Leafs most refused to even entertain the idea. Lafleur was reportedly cool to the idea to start as well, but when a contract in excess of two million dollars a season was offered along with a donation to his prostate cancer foundation it turned out to be too good to refuse.
Lafluer had a spectacular and storied career with the Montreal Canadiens, he retired from the Canadiens in 1985. Lafleur was inducted into the hockey hall of fame in 1988. Lafleur then came out of retirement in 1988 and played for the New York Ranger and Quebec Nordique until 1991, when he again retired. Lafleur was famous for being one of the last players to not wear a helmet, because of his age and a grandfather clause he was able to ignore the mandatory helmet rule. His long hair and attractive appearance made him a favourite amongst the ladies. Lafleur still plans not to wear a helmet when he skates for the Leafs, even with the prevalence of high sticking in the modern NHL. Lafluer has reportedly been training all summer and cut his cigarette consumption back to two packs a day, the level it was at when he won five Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970’s.
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