Lafleur had quadruple bypass surgery Sept. 26, 2019, three days after he went for a routine medical exam to have his helicopter pilot's license renewed. Emergency surgery was performed after further examination found four of his coronary arteries fully blocked and a fifth clogged at nearly 90 percent.
The 69-year-old was hospitalized two months later for the removal of one-third of his right lung on Nov. 28 after doctors discovered cancerous tumors when his heart condition was being diagnosed.
Specialists chose not to do a biopsy, instead opting to remove the upper lobe of his right lung.
After a lengthy convalescence, Lafleur returned to Bell Centre in early February, looking hale and hearty during his first visit to the Canadiens arena since the previous fall. It would be six weeks following lung surgery before he would know results of tests on the tumors. And it would be a month after leaving the hospital before he could keep his food down; he dropped from 235 pounds to 195. In February he was back up to 210, where he said he wanted to stay.
A long-absent healthy color back in his cheeks since quitting his lifelong smoking habit, Lafleur visited fans in corporate suites that night and moved to dial back from his typically frantic schedule to a modified calendar of activity, representing the team as an ambassador.
Immensely popular with Canadiens fans decades past his glory days on the ice, a reminder of the team's 1970s dynasty, Lafleur was overwhelmed by the support he received during his health crises last year.
"It's unbelievable, the support I've had. It's been so encouraging, I can't thank people enough," he said in February. "I've been told by so many, 'Don't worry, things will turn out well, take it one day at a time.'"
Lafleur has been busy in recent months, in September appearing at the Montreal-area charity golf tournament of Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin and in recent weeks working to promote lines of spirits and wine that bear his name.
The native of Thurso, Quebec, played 1,126 games during his 17-season NHL career, winning five Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens, scoring a Montreal-record 518 goals between 1971-85. He scored 42 more for the New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques from 1988-91, returning to the NHL following a nearly four-year retirement, by then having been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
