Guy Lafleur in 2005 with Canadian Forces Capt. Dave Pletz, today a Colonel, and seated in an F-18 pre-flight.
Aviators are a tight family, and it was with a heavy heart that Lafleur learned about the Sunday crash of one of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerobatic-team Tutor jets in Kamloops, British Columbia. The crash took the life of Capt. Jenn Casey, the team's public affairs officer.
Lafleur said his heart went out to the family, friends and colleagues of Capt. Casey, and he spoke of an invitation he'd been extended by the Snowbirds a few years ago to take a flight in Bagotville, Quebec.
"In 2005, before I went to Afghanistan on a goodwill mission with the Canadian Forces, I went up in an F-18 (fighter jet) for almost two hours," Lafleur said. "I thanked the Snowbirds for their offer but told them that I'd had my thrill in an F-18."
Lafleur remains a massively popular figure in the Canadiens family, the winner of five Stanley Cup championships through their glorious 1970s. He scored 518 goals between 1971-85, second in Canadiens history behind Maurice Richard (544), then 42 more for the New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques from 1988-91. He returned to the NHL following a four-year retirement, by then having been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.