Guy Gerard Lapointe (born March 18, 1948) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

who played for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

and

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. He currently serves as Coordinator of Amateur Scouting with the NHL's

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

Career

Along with defencemen

Larry Robinson Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Ki ...

and

Serge Savard Serge Aubrey Savard, OC, CQ (born January 22, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, most famously with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations with t ...

, Lapointe was a member of the "Big Three" and played a key role in the Canadiens' winning the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

six times in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, 1973,

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, 1977, 1978, 1979. Nicknamed "Pointu" (a play on his name in French, where "pointu" carries most of the same meanings as "sharp" or "pointy" in English), Lapointe was famous for his sense of humour, powerful slapshot and brutal body-checks. One of his most famous pranks is probably the Vaseline coated handshake with then-Prime Minister

Pierre Elliot Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

as he was visiting the Canadiens' locker room. He was traded to the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and signed with the

after the following season. He retired in 1984 following a series of injuries. Following his retirement, Lapointe became general manager of the

Longueuil Chevaliers The Longueuil Chevaliers ("Cavaliers") were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, playing in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada at Colisée Jean Béliveau. They were founded in 1982 and set a Canadian Hockey League record for ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

, followed by a stint as associate coach with the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

. He later served as an assistant coach and later as a scout with the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

. He is currently the Chief Amateur scout with the

, a position he has held since the franchise's inception. Lapointe was inducted into the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

in 1993. In 884 NHL games, Lapointe recorded 171 goals and 451 assists for 622 points. He still holds the Montreal Canadiens' record for most goals in a season for a defenceman (28), and most goals for a rookie defenceman (15). His number (#5) was retired by the Canadiens on November 8, 2014. Since the #5 is already retired on behalf of Bernie Geoffrion, they will both share the honour. He is the father of three children: Guy Jr., Stephanie and Jordan.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Champion.

Awards and accomplishments

*NHL First All-Star Team (1973) *NHL Second All-Star Team (1975, 1976, 1977) *Played in NHL All-Star Game (1973, 1975, 1976, 1977)

International

International play

Early into his NHL career, Lapointe was chosen to play in the historic 1972 Summit Series against the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Lapointe accepted the invitation regardless of the fact his wife would give birth to his first child (Guy Jr.), during the series, while the team was in the

. He would compete internationally again for Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup and the 1979 Challenge Cup against the Soviets, which replaced that year's All-Star Game.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapointe, Guy 1948 births Living people Boston Bruins players Calgary Flames coaches Calgary Flames scouts Canadian ice hockey defencemen French Quebecers Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Houston Apollos players Ice hockey people from Montreal Minnesota Wild scouts Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Junior Canadiens players National Hockey League players with retired numbers Quebec Nordiques coaches St. Louis Blues players Stanley Cup champions Canadian ice hockey coaches