The QMJHL will retire Guy Lafleur’s number 4

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced today that Guy Lafleur‘s famous number 4 will be retired across the league for the start of the 2021-22 season. The QMJHL, in collaboration with the Quebec Remparts, will hold a ceremony during the team’s 25th anniversary season to honour Lafleur’s contributions to junior hockey.

Lafleur, who was elected the league’s all-time greatest player as determined by a panel of experts during the QMJHL’s 50th anniversary celebrations, played two seasons with the Quebec Remparts from 1969 to 1971. The Thurso, Que. native collected no less than 379 points (233 goals and 146 assists) in 118 games. He also led the 1971 Remparts to a Memorial Cup championship, the first of 13 national championships for the QMJHL.

Selected first overall in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, Lafleur played 1,126 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques. During his 17-year career, he won five Stanley Cups, three Art Ross trophies, two Hart trophies, three Lester B. Pearson Awards and a Conn Smythe trophy. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League welcomed “Flower” into its Hall of Fame in 1997.

“Even in retirement, Lafleur continues to be a first-class ambassador for the QMJHL,” shared Commissioner Gilles Courteau. “His legacy and contributions to the League are second to none and the retirement of his number four pays tribute to his incredible career and accomplishments.”

The number 4 becomes the second number retired by the QMJHL after Sidney Crosby’s number 87 in September of 2019.