St. John’s, NL. — It was the IceCaps home-opener on Friday night at Mile One Centre. On hand was Montreal Canadiens legend Guy Lafleur who participated in the ceremonial puck drop. Currently, Lafleur is an Ambassador with the Canadiens.
During the second intermission Lafleur was the intermission guest of St. John’s IceCaps broadcaster Brian Rogers. The two had a lengthy conversation with anecdotes about Lafleur’s playing days.
As Rogers steered the interview to the early part of Lafleur’s career, out of the blue Guy decided to talk about the Shea Weber – P.K. Subban trade.
“The point is hockey is not a one man show and that’s why they got rid of P.K.”
Lafleur said, “The point is hockey is not a one-man show and that’s why they got rid of P.K. It’s a good trade for P.K. to go to Nashville because I think Nashville needs that type of player. They need a show, a showman and P.K.’s the right guy.”
Lafleur was much more positive about the return in the trade saying, “For us, the Montreal Canadiens, to get Shea Weber, it is fantastic because he brought in so much stability defensively and he’s pretty mature, so the players…” Lafleur trailed off.
“…it seems like players didn’t like what P.K. was doing.”
“Right now, in Montreal, in the dressing room, I didn’t go there, but I’m sure that the team spirit is a lot better. And they are more positive about playing night after night, compared to last year where it seems like players didn’t like what P.K. was doing.”
Lafleur reasoned, “But it’s a good trade for both organizations. I wish my best to P.K. I’m sure that he is going to do well. But in Montreal we can’t complain about that trade.”
As Rogers listed positive qualities about Shea Weber including leadership, Lafleur interjected, “I tell you Carey Price loves him. There’s nobody standing in front of the net.”
Rogers asked the legendary Canadien to weigh in on the Habs strong start. Lafleur said that it was something that he doesn’t consider given that they also got out of the gate quickly.
Lafleur continued, “You see what I’m saying, right now there’s stability, there’s spirit and everybody does their job but they’re doing it very well. There’s no animosity among certain types of players.”
“That’s the key to win a lot of games,” said Lafleur. “You have to pull the wagon together and everybody has to give 100 per cent and that’s how you’re going to win games.”
Lafleur ended the topic by saying, “Hockey is not a one man show, it’s a team effort. If you don’t work as a team — even if one or two guys aren’t working — you’re not going to win. That’s the way it is.”
[…] point is hockey is not a one-man show and that’s why they got rid of P.K.,” Lafleur told Rogers as reported on the AHL Report. “It’s a good trade for P.K. to go to Nashville because I think Nashville needs that type […]
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